Best Burgers in Beijing: Where to Look

The best burgers in Beijing are found mainly in Chaoyang District, around the Sanlitun bar and embassy area and the Guomao business district, and in the hutong lanes near the Drum Tower (Gulou) in Dongcheng. Wudaokou, in the university district of Haidian, serves a student crowd with cheaper, casual places.

Sanlitun grew up next to the embassy compounds, which is how it became the city’s main district for Western food and drink. The hutongs around Gulou and Nanluoguxiang work differently: small bars and kitchens fit into converted courtyard houses, often with only a few tables. Beijing’s own cooking runs on wheat and duck. Roast duck is the dish visitors come for, zhajiangmian noodles are the local lunch, and breakfast is often a jianbing folded on a street griddle. Wudaokou, close to Tsinghua University and several other campuses, is where prices drop.

Burgers in Beijing: key facts

• Neighbourhoods to explore: Sanlitun and Guomao (Chaoyang), Gulou and Nanluoguxiang (Dongcheng), Wudaokou (Haidian).
• Local specialty: Peking roast duck, zhajiangmian and jianbing.
• Currency: renminbi yuan (CNY). Hutong bars and street griddles alike take Alipay or WeChat Pay.
• Getting around: the Beijing Subway. Line 10 stops at Guomao and Tuanjiehu, a short walk from Sanlitun; Gulou Dajie is on Lines 2 and 8; Wudaokou is on Line 13.
• Hutong tip: many lanes are too narrow for cars, so plan to walk the last stretch.

Every guide we publish on Beijing is dated and lists only venues, addresses, prices and ratings we could verify. For other cities, browse our burger restaurant guides by city.