Best Burgers in Taipei: Where to Look

The best burgers in Taipei come in two forms: American-style beef burgers in sit-down burger bars, which cluster in Da’an, Xinyi and Zhongshan, and the pork-patty burgers sold every morning by neighbourhood breakfast shops. Start around Zhongxiao Dunhua and Xinyi for the first kind, and on almost any residential street before noon for the second.

Taipei had a burger habit long before the craft burger wave. Western-style breakfast shops, known as zaocan dian, open at dawn and sell burgers built on a heavily seasoned pork patty, a fried egg, slices of raw cucumber and a sweet mayonnaise, next to dan bing egg crepes and turnip cake. The city also has its own bun-and-filling classic. The gua bao, a folded steamed bun filled with braised pork belly, pickled mustard greens, crushed peanuts and coriander, is often nicknamed the Taiwanese hamburger.

Burgers in Taipei: key facts

• Neighbourhoods to explore: Da’an (the East District around Zhongxiao Dunhua), Xinyi, Zhongshan and Ximending, where the crowd is younger.
• Local style: the breakfast-shop burger, with a marinated pork patty, egg, cucumber and sweet mayonnaise.
• Local specialty: the gua bao, a common snack at night markets such as Raohe and Shilin.
• When locals eat burgers: pork-patty burgers before noon, beef burgers at lunch and dinner.
• Currency: New Taiwan dollar (TWD). The EasyCard used on the metro also pays at many convenience stores.
• Getting around: the Taipei Metro (MRT) serves every district listed above.

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