Best Burgers in Helsinki: Kallio and Beyond

The best burgers in Helsinki are concentrated in Kallio and neighbouring Sörnäinen, north of the Long Bridge, where smash-burger counters and bars with burger menus line the side streets. A second cluster sits in the centre, around Kamppi and Punavuori. Several kitchens put Finnish beef front and centre on the menu.

Finland had a burger culture before most of Europe. Hesburger, now the country’s largest fast-food chain, traces back to a grill kiosk that Heikki Salmela opened in Naantali in 1966; the first Hesburger restaurant followed in Turku in 1980. In Helsinki, that kiosk culture survives in the grilli, a late-night stand serving burgers, sausages and fries to people heading home from the bars. The other big meal out is lounas, the weekday lunch, which Finns eat early, often from 11 am.

Burgers in Helsinki: key facts

• Neighbourhoods to explore: Kallio, Sörnäinen, Hakaniemi, Kamppi, Punavuori and Kalasatama.
• Local format: the grilli, Helsinki’s late-night grill kiosk, still a fixture in Kallio.
• Food halls: the Old Market Hall on the South Harbour and the Hakaniemi Market Hall; Teurastamo, a former abattoir near Kalasatama, hosts food venues and events.
• Currency: euro (EUR), which makes Finland the only Nordic country on the euro. Cards are accepted almost everywhere.
• Getting around: trams cover the centre and Kallio, and the metro runs east through Hakaniemi, Sörnäinen and Kalasatama.

Every guide we publish on Helsinki is dated and lists only venues, addresses, prices and ratings we could verify. For the rest of the Nordic region and beyond, see our burger restaurant guides by city.