Best Burgers in Algiers: Hydra to Didouche

The best burgers in Algiers are concentrated on the heights above the bay: Hydra and its Sidi Yahia restaurant quarter, then El Biar, Ben Aknoun and Dely Ibrahim, and further west Chéraga. In the city centre, along rue Didouche Mourad, burger and sandwich shops serve students and office workers. All meat is halal, and beef, chicken and merguez share the grill.

Street food in Algiers runs on bread. Karantika, a baked chickpea flan seasoned with cumin and harissa and served inside a piece of baguette, is a city classic, sold by the slice. Chawarma shops and merguez sandwiches are everywhere, so a burger here competes with fast, cheap and well-spiced rivals. Algérois eat late in summer, and during Ramadan the centre fills after iftar, when snack bars stay open well into the night.

Burgers in Algiers: key facts

• Neighbourhoods to explore: Hydra and Sidi Yahia, El Biar, Ben Aknoun, Dely Ibrahim, Chéraga and the centre around rue Didouche Mourad.
• Street-food benchmark: karantika, chickpea flan in a baguette.
• On the grill: beef, chicken and merguez, the spiced lamb or beef sausage of the Maghreb.
• Currency: Algerian dinar (DZD).
• Getting around: the Algiers Metro, open since 2011, the tramway to the eastern districts and cable cars up the hillsides.

Every guide we publish on Algiers is dated and lists only venues, addresses, prices and ratings we could verify. For Tunis, Cairo and other cities, see our burger restaurant guides.