Best Burgers in Milwaukee: Butter Burgers

The best burgers in Milwaukee are butter burgers, served at old lunch counters and frozen custard stands. Solly’s Grille in Glendale, just north of the city line, has been slathering butter on its burgers since 1936, and Kopp’s Frozen Custard has paired jumbo burgers with custard since 1950, with stands in Glendale, Brookfield and Greenfield. Inside the city, look in the Historic Third Ward, Walker’s Point, Bay View, the East Side and along Brady Street.

Butter is the point. A Wisconsin butter burger is cooked on a flat-top and gets butter on the bun, on the patty or both; at Solly’s, the patty is cooked in butter and topped with more. Solly’s was named a James Beard America’s Classic in 2022, and Culver’s, founded in Sauk City in 1984, carried the ButterBurger name far beyond Wisconsin. A Milwaukee burger meal usually ends with a cup of frozen custard, and fried cheese curds are the standard side.

Burgers in Milwaukee: key facts

• Local style: the butter burger, cooked or finished with Wisconsin butter.
• Oldest butter burger counter: Solly’s Grille in Glendale, run by the same family since 1936.
• The custard pairing: stands such as Kopp’s sell burgers and frozen custard side by side.
• Neighborhoods to explore: the Historic Third Ward, Walker’s Point, Bay View, the East Side and Brady Street.
• Local tradition: Friday nights belong to the fish fry, served in bars and supper clubs across the city.
• Currency: US dollar (USD); Wisconsin sales tax and the tip are added to the listed price.

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