Best Burger In VA Praised By Popular Food Website

VIRGINIA — Citizen Burger Bar in Charlottesville serves the best burger in Virginia, according to a report from Chowhound, a website for food aficionados or, alternatively, food nerds.

The list titled “The Hands Down Best Burger in Every Single US State” features a variety of preparation methods. It was released just in time for National Hamburger Day, which is Wednesday, May 28.

There’s no one way to prepare a burger. Even those claiming to be “classic” burgers have major differences, especially in the toppings.

To find the best burgers among what the research firm IBS World estimates are more than 80,000 burger joints and restaurants across the country, Chowhound looked first at restaurants that excel in both classic and creative burger preparations. The process also included taste testing, online research, and outreach on local social media communities and to trusted contacts in the restaurant and food media industries.

Here’s what Chowhound liked about the burgers at Citizen Burger Bar:

“The restaurant proclaims that it sells 'the people's burgers,' with locally sourced buns, grass-fed-and-finished beef, and Virginia cheeses. Take full advantage of the customizable, build-your-own burger menu, where you can top your creation with black onion, local mushrooms, fried pickles, and aged provolone. Notably, Citizen Burger Bar also offers a truffled brioche roll."

Customer Edward Oates said on Google reviews: "The beer selection here is impressive and has a huge selection of draft and bottled beverages. The burger selection is endless - but we opted for the special house Citizen burger, and I got a side of mushrooms. The fries were amazing! The truffle fries even more so - highly recommend the upgrade. The burger itself was cooked to our preference, the cheese was melted perfectly, and the toppings were on point. All in all, highly recommend this place and really want to go back and try the salmon BLT!"

The restaurant website describes itself: "At Citizen Burger Bar, we believe kicking back with a tasty burger and a beer is one of life’s essential liberties. To secure that sacred right for the people of Charlottesville, we teamed up with a few exceptional nearby farms and designed a menu around locally produced, top-tier ingredients. It’s a simple plan. No muss, no fuss, and definitely no hormones – just uncommonly good stuff to eat and drink, much of it hailing from our own little patch of earth. This is Citizen – the Burger Bar for the People. Please, make yourselves at home."

You can find Citizen Burger Bar in Charlottesville's Downtown Mall, 212 E. Main St. Hours are Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight (kitchen closes at 10:30 p.m.); Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight (kitchen closes at 11:30 p.m.).

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The full 50-state list offers some intriguing takes on what is widely regarded as America’s favorite sandwich. Some are made with grass-fed wagyu beef, others with ground turkey, and still more with salmon and other critters. Some may not contain meat at all. Cheeses vary from classic American to blue cheese to goat cheese.

In Hawaii, the Honolulu Burger Co. presents the “Alpha Elvis,” which has bacon, banana and peanut butter, or the “Loco-Moco,” made with Spam, bacon, an egg, and mushroom gravy.

And then there’s Mike Duffy’s in St. Louis, Missouri, whose offerings include the award-winning Cajun burger with hot jalapeños and Cajun aioli or the fully customizable and vegetarian black bean and quinoa burger. The restaurant also allows substitutions of bison or salmon.

“Whether you’re a burger traditionalist or an avant-garde burger consumer, the restaurants on this lineup will have a solid option for both schools of thought,” Chowhound’s Jane Godiner wrote.

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