Shantytown in Bloomington, great dive bar burgers. Top notch tater tots as well. Reasonable prices – $7.75 for a bacon cheeseburger. Their Club sandwich is also really good.
Sandy’s Tavern in Richfield is another good dive bar in this area of town.
Blue Door Pub has about 8 burgers that could be on that list. A sleeper burger joint is in White Bear called Burger Bar. It’s only been around for 3 or 4 years but they have LEGIT burgers and their roast beef sandwiches are the best around. They also do a Burger of the Month that is usually pretty wild.
No Anchor Bar is superior, rookies….
Seriously, all the time up with Cam and he has not taken you there?
Oh yeah, I’ve been to the Anchor many times, including Cams grooms dinner I believe. Galleybuster and like $3 Keystone Light 40 oz taps is about as good as it gets! Places like the Anchor, are why there’s a lot of room among the WR’s and DL on this list still. 
BigWerm if you ever make it to Gunnison CO you have to check out the Power stop gas station on the north side of town.
Simply awesome burgers. They have won numerous awards. Do not judge the place by its looks though. Those pot smoking cooks can cook.When I used to elk hunt there we had a ritual. The morning before hiking in we would hit up the power stop for a chorizo breakfast burrito. Two weeks later when we would hike out of the mountains we hit them up for a burger before hitting the road.
Haha I love it! The chorizo sounds a little dangerous on the hike in, but I bet that burger on the way out is otherworldly. Also, for anyone not aware, I worked in a number of different restaurants/food industry jobs, and your cook is usually stoned. Not always, but usually. And doesn’t matter if it’s the sub shop, sit down restaurant or fine dining. 
One of the better cheap burgers for me is the Anchor Bar in Superior WI. No A/C in the summer can be bummer though. I had a Kobe beef burger in San Francisco that was $40 a few years ago.It would have been $55 had I added foie gras. 
The texture was odd. It kind of melted in your mouth and wasn’t like ground beef. The flavor was outstanding. Kind of like a juicy greasy burger, but not greasy. Not worth the money, but I figured I would try it once. I also like the 60/40 burger at the Red Cow.
Anyone have any suggestions for the Hudson, River Falls, Red Wing, Hastings areas? We’ve done Kings before on the way to the cities and thought the burgers were good. I wouldn’t put them off the chart though.
Agave in Hudson probably has the best burgers in my opinion for Hudson Restaurants. Most people go there for their Nachos. Barkers is also good for Burgers in Hudson.
Parlour I think has some of the best burgers in the cities but can be a little spendy. They also have a great Old Fashioned.
Short Stop is added to the list
Let me know when you plan on hitting it up and I will meet you there. I might even pick up the tab.
Anchor Bar is where my oldest girl & her Superior raised hubby had their going away lunch. I did a carry out back to their place as they packed up. Truely a Twin Ports institution.
Mugg’s in downtown Wahkon has great burgers. The GB is never frozen and the fries are hand cut. The prices are higher compared to the Wahkon Inn. Both deserve a try.
Some of my Central MN favorites and I will not mention any chains. The first is in the small Town of Freeport on 94 the corner bar any of there burgers are great. Up along Hiway 10 scotty’s log bar.
Like others Have said The anchor bar is one of my favorites with its burgers and spotted cow On tap.
Anyone have any suggestions for the Hudson, River Falls, Red Wing, Hastings areas? We’ve done Kings before on the way to the cities and thought the burgers were good. I wouldn’t put them off the chart though.
When the wife drags me to concerts I’m always pushing for food and drinks on this side versus in the cities at double the cost for worse food.
Werm how far do you travel for the reviews? You find me a drop dead burger along the river, and I’ll put you on fish when you’re down here
Nauti Hawg in Diamond Bluff. Biker bar with boat dock on the river.
Crave in Woodbury has a wagyu burger and really good service. I think it’s in my top five.
Crooked pint in st cloud is great. The best burger I’ve ever had however is at the Wilton liquor store my goodness! Corner in bemidji used to have the best burger but since they rebuilt it’s not as good and Wilton is amazing.
Crooked pint is Yummy. I would put their Juicy Lucy near the top of them.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Brad Dimond wrote:</div>
Shantytown in Bloomington, great dive bar burgers. Top notch tater tots as well. Reasonable prices – $7.75 for a bacon cheeseburger. Their Club sandwich is also really good.Sandy’s Tavern in Richfield is another good dive bar in this area of town.
use to eat at Shantytown in Bloomington often when I worked at Toro. I think the Toro employees keep that place open.
Crooked pint is Yummy. I would put their Juicy Lucy near the top of them.
A few years ago they had some special for like $5 a juicy lucy and fries and I had them like 3 times a week. You gotta make sure to let cool a bit!
I’m a big Juicy Luck fan so my top 3 would be: Matts, Crooked Pint, and 5-8 Club. In the 80’s and 90’s I would have had the 5-8 club at the top of the list. They have fallen off in recent years, but still make a great burger
I’m a big Juicy Luck fan so my top 3 would be: Matts, Crooked Pint, and 5-8 Club.
You should go to the Blue Door and the Nook/Shamrock’s imo they are right up there with Matt’s for best Jucy Lucy. We have a Crooked Pint in Chaska looking over the curling rink, cool atmosphere but the food is usually mediocre at best. And same with the 5-8, and their claims at Matt’s throne! 
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Brad Dimond wrote:</div>
Shantytown in Bloomington, great dive bar burgers. Top notch tater tots as well. Reasonable prices – $7.75 for a bacon cheeseburger. Their Club sandwich is also really good.Sandy’s Tavern in Richfield is another good dive bar in this area of town.
We were there last week. The patio they added a couple of years ago is nice.
Gas Can in Brainerd has a decent burger.
Burger Dive on Bay Street is worth a stop I would not say it is the best burger I have ever had but it definitely it is top 10 in the metro for me.
You should go to the Blue Door and the Nook/Shamrock’s imo they are right up there with Matt’s for best Jucy Lucy. We have a Crooked Pint in Chaska looking over the curling rink, cool atmosphere but the food is usually mediocre at best. And same with the 5-8, and their claims at Matt’s throne!
Totally agree. 5-8 is way overrated.
My first experience with a juicy lucy was Nook. Totally impressed. It was years later that I had a second at crooked pint to know which is better, but both were fantastic.
Can we get a thread going about wings? Runyons has the best hot wings I have ever had. Man those are good, I am not sure what they do, but they are so crispy and the sauce is fantastic. I just dont like that area of Mpls to go down there.
y first experience with a juicy lucy was Nook
I have made my own at home and thought they were good. Just ordered one the other day from Lucy’s Burgers in Blaine, new place to me and thought I would give there’s a try and was not impressed the burger was a bit over done almost crispy outside and inside was not severely over done, still had some pinkish by the cheese. Just would not order one from them again, may try a regular burger if we go back.
I’ve gone to the Nook three times and wasn’t impressed. The place is cool, it’s history is cool, the Spanish Fly is excellent, but everything else I’ve had was really bland. I’ll go to Blue Door over the Nook any day of the week.
But now that Burger Bar is in WBL I don’t go many other places for burgers.
Totally agree on Anchor bar as far as around my area. Another sleeper up in this neck of the woods is the Breeze Inn… really good stuff there.
I grew up by Matt’s and the 5-8.
They are THEY MOST OVERATED burger of all time.
FYI: the cheese belongs on the top of a burger.
Liberty’s in red wing has an awesome sausage burger.
Are they open again after that car rammed the building??
Liberty’s in red wing has an awesome sausage burger.
Are they open again after that car rammed the building??
Yes, my FIL goes there weekly.
The best burger I have ever put in my mouth came from the world famous Harbor Bar in Hagar City. Unfortunately it was not the BK special Spam burger but the “Bilge Burger”. That was also 8-10 years ago and there have probably been 50 different cooks in there since but man was that one good that day!
As for a consistently great burger, you can’t go wrong with a Culvers deluxe. Never had a bad one in my lifetime.
There is alot of overpriced so so burgers on this list.
Come to North branch with 12 bucks on you and get a burger worth 12 bucks and be full, along with some home cut potatoe fries, the way its supposed to be. Many times I’m jealous of the good eaterys around the cities and how close you guys are to them. But reading this list I’m not to jealous at all
The Anchor Bar in Superior is overrated. There, I said it. It’s a good cheap dive bar burger but it’s not something I crave when I go to the Twin Ports. Fitgers is relatively expensive but far far better. They sear their burgers perfectly and the olive burger is the best burger with cream cheese on top I’ve had.
Lots of chain restaurants are making good burgers now too but there’s just no personality in a chain restaurant.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
