Best Burgers in Nagoya: Sakae, Meieki, Ōsu

The best burgers in Nagoya cluster in three districts: Sakae, the downtown shopping centre; Meieki, the towers around Nagoya Station; and Ōsu, a neighbourhood of covered arcades, secondhand shops and street food. Students and cafés add a fourth area further east, around Motoyama and Kakuōzan.

Nagoya has a cuisine of its own, known in Japan as Nagoya meshi, and it is bold: miso katsu glazed with dark Hatchō miso from nearby Okazaki, peppery tebasaki chicken wings, hitsumabushi grilled eel over rice. Those flavours sit well on a bun, so miso sauces and fried chicken are the local touches to watch for on a burger menu. Nagoya Cochin, the region’s heritage chicken breed, is another name worth knowing. The city is also famous for its kissaten coffee shops and their “morning service”, a free breakfast set served with a morning coffee.

Burgers in Nagoya: key facts

• Neighbourhoods to explore: Sakae, Meieki, Ōsu, Fushimi, Motoyama and Kakuōzan.
• Local specialty: Nagoya meshi, from miso katsu to tebasaki wings.
• Regional ingredients: Hatchō miso from Okazaki and Nagoya Cochin chicken.
• Breakfast habit: morning service at the kissaten, where toast and a boiled egg usually come with the coffee.
• Getting around: the Higashiyama and Meijō subway lines link Meieki, Sakae and the edge of Ōsu.
• Prices: in yen (JPY), taken only from a dated menu or official page.

Every guide we publish on Nagoya is dated and lists only venues, addresses, prices and ratings we could verify. Explore more cities through our burger restaurant guides.