This London burger has been named the best in the UK for 2026

Quarterpounder connoisseurs, listen up. The UK’s best burger has just been crowned for 2026 – and you may be surprised to hear that a national chain has come out on top.

Now in its 12th year, the National Burger Awards brings together restaurants, pubs and street food vendors to battle it out to see whose burger is crowned the best in Britain.

This year’s winning patty was the brainchild of Honest Burgers, which operates 45 restaurants across the country.

Its victorious sandwich, The Honest, was cooked up by co-founder Tom Barton, made from dry-aged beef, thick cut Wiltshire bacon, homemade beef and onion relish, XL cheese, pickles and diced onion.

While Honest Burgers has outposts up and down the UK, The Honest is only available at one of those locations – and, excitingly, it’s here in London. You can get The Honest at Honest Burgers’ Smash + Grab site in London’s Liverpool Street.

‘The burger we won with is an evolution of the original Honest, so we just upped every ingredient and the results are obvious,’ said Adam Layton, head of food at Honest Burgers.

The British burger chain, which beat 15 other contenders in the final on Tuesday (March 24), was a debutante at the 2026 competition.

Second place in the signature round went to London’s Burger & Beyond, which was also a new entrant this year, while third place was awarded to Newcastle’s Meat Stack.

Burger Chef of the Year went to Tom Curtis from Dodo Pub Co (pictured above). Charlie Wood-Jones from Cawsburger cooked up the Plant-Based Burger of the Year, while the Bloggers’ Choice Award went to previous National Burger Awards winner Nick Watkins from El Perro Negro. The Great Shake Challenge, which saw operators battle it out to see whose milkshake creation was named best in the UK, was won by Greg Olejarka from Crane Feasts.

The best burgers in London, according to Time Out.

Did you see that one of the best burgers in the city is coming to north London?

Plus: 10 London bakeries have been crowned the best in the UK for 2026.

Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.

Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.