Best Burgers in Xi'an: Rou Jia Mo and More

The best burgers in Xi’an start with the city’s own: the rou jia mo, a round bread split and stuffed with chopped braised meat, often described as the Chinese hamburger. Look for it in the Muslim Quarter behind the Drum Tower, where Hui cooks make beef and lamb versions. Western-style beef burgers are easier to find around the Bell Tower, in the Xiaozhai shopping district and in Qujiang, around the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Rou jia mo is a Shaanxi street food with a long history. The classic Xi’an version uses la zhi rou, pork braised for hours in a spiced broth, chopped on the board and packed into a baiji mo, a flat bread baked on a griddle until the outside turns crisp. In the Muslim Quarter, where pork is not served, the filling is braised beef or lamb instead. The same streets sell the other Xi’an staples: biangbiang noodles, liangpi cold noodles and yangrou paomo, lamb soup with crumbled bread.

Burgers in Xi’an: key facts

• Local burger: the rou jia mo, braised meat in a griddle-baked baiji mo.
• Neighbourhoods to explore: the Muslim Quarter (Huimin Jie) by the Drum Tower, the Bell Tower area, Xiaozhai and Qujiang.
• Inside the walls: the Bell Tower stands at the centre of the Ming-era city wall, the easiest landmark for getting your bearings.
• Currency: renminbi yuan (CNY). Stalls in the Muslim Quarter take Alipay and WeChat Pay too.
• Getting around: Xi’an Metro Line 2 runs north to south through the Bell Tower and Xiaozhai.

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