Best Burgers in Dallas: Drive-Ins and Grills

The best burgers in Dallas range from a 1960s drive-in to chef-run grills. Keller’s Drive-In in Lake Highlands, opened by Jack Keller in 1965, still serves its No. 5, a thin patty on a poppy-seed bun, to customers who eat in their cars. For newer burgers, look in Deep Ellum, Lower Greenville, the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff, Uptown and Knox-Henderson.

North Texas takes its hamburger history personally. Athens, a small city about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Dallas, claims that a cook named Fletcher Davis served one of the first hamburgers there in the 1880s, a claim disputed by several other American towns. In Dallas itself, the burger is a car culture dish: drive-ins, wide parking lots and a metro area that stretches to Fort Worth, about 30 miles (50 km) west. Jalapeños, bacon and big portions are normal on local menus.

Burgers in Dallas: key facts

• Neighborhoods to explore: Deep Ellum, Lower Greenville, Bishop Arts in Oak Cliff, Uptown, Knox-Henderson and Lake Highlands.
• Drive-in classic: Keller’s Drive-In, open in Lake Highlands since 1965, with car-side service.
• Local history: Athens, Texas, presents itself as a birthplace of the hamburger.
• Getting around: DART light rail reaches Deep Ellum and Downtown, but most burger trips need a car.
• Paying: prices are in US dollars (USD), with Texas sales tax and a tip added to the menu price.

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