Why do the most popular burgers in Israel shit on popular New York burgers?
A few months ago, for the first time in over 6 years I returned to the United States to visit after moving to Israel. I came with two main goals, to visit family and eat good food. My biggest anticipation was going to eat all the insane-looking burgers I’ve seen plastered over social media, and when I finally came face to face with one of those burgers and took a satisfying bite, all I could think to myself was “Mediocre as f*ck”.
I feel that I can call myself a connoisseur of burgers if I do say so myself. I’ve been eating, enjoying, savoring, and respecting burgers for as long as I remember, and when I began my army service I even went as far as to begin rating burgers from popular restaurants all over Israel on an Instagram page I created.
When I last visited the States, I was so excited to try all of the insane-looking and high-quality burgers I saw on my For You page of TikTok, and I can say without a doubt that I was disappointed by the experience. Now, I didn’t try a million burgers, I had around four on my three week trip there (I know not nearly enough but bear with me), but I can say with certainty that if I bring four equally praised burgers from Israel, my rating will be higher on the Israeli burgers over the American ones. There will be the people who swear by the burgers in the States…even Israelis who have only visited the States once or twice in their lives, but I can guarantee you that in a blind taste test, the Israeli burgers will be triumphant every time.
Some Context:
While I’m no professional in the burger industry and I don’t have any contacts in the big burger world, I would like to give some context and cultural insights that I’ve seen between the burgers in the States and Israel.
A lot of the differences between the burgers comes down to Kosher laws. Even though most of the popular Israeli burgers are not Kosher, the restaurants will most likely make burgers at the same level that fit a Kosher lifestyle (No cheese, pork, seafood), making it accessible to people who don’t necessarily keep Kosher but do prefer their burgers without cheese or pork. To add onto that is the fact that most restaurants don’t even carry pork and use substitutes. For example, instead of bacon, most restaurants use goose breast to mimic the effect of bacon (It doesn’t work). Lastly on this topic, the burger meat quality is much higher in the average Israeli burger. This has to do with Kosher laws and general butcher practices in Israel that make the taste of the meat 10 times better.
In general, I feel that the “classic American burger”(Cheese, onion, tomato, lettuce, pickles, bacon, ketchup, mustard) isn’t something that is super popular in Israel and most Israeli places will try and jazz up the majority of their burgers. You can see this with the most popular burger joints in Tel Aviv having completely different menu items and not coming close to the classic American burgers sold in the States.
The Burgers:
The first burger I had the pleasure of trying in the US was a very popular burger on social media (Especially TikTok) called 7th Street Burger. It’s your classic cheap fast food smash burger on a potato bun, cheese, house sauce, and grilled onions. I’ll tell you where it came short, the meat itself. It just didn’t feel like it had the same quality as previous burgers I’ve had in Israel, not to say it wasn’t tasty, just not on the same level. Compared to the “cheap” (Nothing in Israel is cheap) fast food burger joints in Israel like Port 19 and M32 which are very similar in concept: meat, bun, onion, cheese, and sauce. The meat itself on the Israeli burger carries in my opinion and we see this pattern repeat itself.
I’ll move on to what I like to call, the diner style burger which we ordered out from a place called Burger Club Astoria. I discovered this place by chance only because it’s next to my dad’s apartment and it’s his go-to order whenever he orders burgers. It’s your typical diner style burger with a bunch of different toppings to add. I got a mac and cheese burger just to try something a bit more extravagant. This was probably my favorite, or second favorite burger I had during my stay in NY and the closest to being on par with Israeli burgers. However, compared to a burger like The Mossad which is a very similar diner style burger with a multitude of variations to make your burger more interesting, The Mossad still takes the trophy in my opinion and as before, it comes down to meat quality.
Onto the only burger on this list that also exists in Israel and I can say that I genuinely really enjoy it in both countries, Shake Shack. It is one of my favorite burgers and it has a huge bonus in that the meat is tasty. I don’t know if it’s better quality or if they just pump a boatload of chemicals into it but for some reason, I love their burgers. Plus it's a smash patty with cheese, tomato, and bacon. What's not to love? Let's be real. From my trip this is the only burger that I can say is on par with the majority of Israeli burgers and dunks on any real fast food burger chain in Israel (McDonald's, Burger King, Burger Ranch, etc..).
Finishing off with a “Fancy” burger, Au Cheval. The $30/110NIS burger with a sunny side up egg, cheese, and thick cut bacon was hyped up to be the culinary highlight of my trip. Now while it was tasty, I 100% would prefer one of my favorite expensive burgers in TLV like Gourmet 26 Prozdor, or Fat Cow, which in comparison to Au Cheval's burger aren’t even that expensive. Now it’s not even about the price, taste wise it just doesn’t compare, even Fat Cow which is just meat, cheese, and sauce is so much better in and it all circles back to the quality of the meat.
I do believe that burgers are better in Israel, with their taste, ingredients, freshness, and variety. But that’s not to say that you can’t find a damn good burger in the States as well. After all, that's their national dish. I’ll let you know if I find one that lives up to the title.
We want a part 2!!!! 🔥🔥
BBC. Benny the Burger Connoisseur!