12 Impressive Chain Cheeseburgers From Non-Burger Restaurants

When you're thinking about (or, if you're burger-obsessed, "constantly daydreaming about") wolfing down a hamburger, you might be thinking of grabbing one from the countless number of fast food burger joints scattered across the U.S. And that makes sense, as burger and sandwich shops make up the largest single segment of the 790 million dollar fast food industry, accounting for 35.91% of all sales, according to one 2025 survey (via Fortune Business Insights). And that's a lot of burgers. 

But just because there are a ton of fast and convenient burger chains out there, that doesn't mean they're serving the best burgers. (Which is why it might be useful to have a guide to American burger chains ranked from worst to best.) Also, that doesn't mean that burger chains have a monopoly on great hamburgers, as there are a number of other restaurants that offer their versions of this American diet staple. Here are some chain restaurants that aren't known for their burgers, but serve up delicious ones, nonetheless.

While it's often referred to as the "McDonald's of the Philippines," fast food chain Jollibee isn't really known for its burgers. Instead, it's recognized for its Filipino-inspired menu, with items like its Jolly Spaghetti dish, which is covered in banana ketchup, a sweet and savory sauce invented in the Philippines during World War II due to a lack of tomatoes. Or it's delicious Chickenjoy, a fried chicken dish served with savory gravy.

But that doesn't mean the chain doesn't have burgers, and one in particular — the Angus Aloha Burger — is particularly tasty. It's made with a quarter pound of certified Angus beef covered with melted American cheese, grilled pineapple, bacon, and the chain's Aloha Sauce: a tangy, honey mustard-style condiment. All of this is piled up on a buttered, grilled brioche-style bun. The finished result combines to create a delicious mix of sweet and savory flavors that's unique among all the burger offerings out there. It's also the most convenient option on this list, as you can grab this one through a drive-thru window.

Outback Steakhouse is probably best known for its Bloomin' Onion, a deep-fried gigantic onion appetizer that can be extremely hard to resist. So it makes sense that their best burger leans heavily on that show-stopping appetizer, as well. The Bloomin' Burger offers a half-pound beef patty covered with Bloomin' Onion Petals, smaller pieces of the iconic app, scattered on top. Then it's covered in melted American cheese, along with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles. And to seal the deal, it's also slathered in Bloom Sauce, the tangy, spicy blend of spiced mayo and horseradish that accompanies a Bloomin' Onion. 

It's a mix that's extremely popular with diners, with one Reddit reviewer calling it "My go-to every time I go to Outback," while another described it as "10/10 easily worth the money too !" And the burger recently received some extra attention online, when outlets began reporting on a popular viral hack of pouring an order of Outback's Tasmanian Chili onto the burger to make a version of a chili burger.

While Cracker Barrel is open for all meals, it's widely known for its all-day breakfast menu, which offers a wide range of egg dishes, breakfast meats, and its signature hashbrown casserole. And while you could order all of those dishes separately, the lunch menu presents a way to order them in one dish: via the Breakfast Burger. 

That burger has all the best parts of the breakfast menu, including bacon, a sunny-side egg, and that signature hashbrown casserole. But even without all that, the burger would still be pretty hefty, as it's already a half-pound beef patty covered with American cheese. Now, if you'd think that might be a lot to cram onto one burger, you might have a point. But with that much energy and volume, is it any wonder that it's such a popular item on the Reddit thread r/stonerfood? "Cracker Barrel burgers a completely unknown gem," said one commenter.

Denny's is another chain known for its breakfast offerings, although unlike Cracker Barrel, many of its locations are open 24/7. That gives it a bit more of a "the club is closed, what's open?" vibe than its more laid-back, country-themed competitor. 

This chain is also known for its large Slam Combos, which are big plates that offer breakfast combinations you can customize at a value — the kind of big, healthy portions that are easy to find when your eyes are blurry at 2:30 in the morning. So, you might not expect a chain focused on basic meals to offer a 15-ounce burger with surprisingly layered flavors. 

But their Bacon Avocado Burger is refreshingly different, offering applewood-smoked bacon, fresh avocado, aged white cheddar cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, red onions, and pickles on a golden brioche bun. It was first introduced to the menu in 2018, when the chain was trying to rebrand itself, introducting "Burger Town, USA," with a new line of made-to-order, 100% beef burgers. It's since become a staple of the menu, and customers are still praising it online, with one Facebook commenter writing, "They don't use processed patties, the bacon is nice and crispy and there [are] plenty of veggies as well. A very good burger equal to many higher end restaurants."

Speaking of all-night diners, Waffle House is another fast food chain that's known more for its breakfasts than its burgers. Well, it might also be known more for late night shenanigans than either of those, but we're just going to focus on the food here. 

And, Waffle House is more than just waffles. The Georgia-based restaurant also got some of the 13 best chain restaurant burgers under $10 in the U.S.  And we'd like to especially spotlight its Texas Angus Patty Melt, a hot and tasty burger that features a quarter pound of beef mixed with grilled onions and two slices of melty American cheese, served on slices of crispy, buttery Texas Toast. Maybe it's a little fancier than it needs to be — after all, we certainly didn't expect Waffle House to offer Angus beef on a sandwich — but we're certainly not going to complain about it.

While they didn't start exploding in popularity until the early 2020s, smash burgers have been around since the 1960s. While some debate their origins, this style of pressed burger is popularly credited to a Kentucky restaurant called Dairy Cheer, where the chef realized that pressing a burger patty into the hot surface of a grill would add extra flavor by browning the meat, while also locking in juices.

Chili's jumped on the smash burger bandwagon in 2024 with its half-pound Big Smasher, advertising it as having twice the beef of a Big Mac. And the burger was clearly inspired by McDonald's signature burger, based on its similar ingredients including American cheese, pickles, diced red onions, lettuce, and Thousand Island dressing. And that comparison wasn't lost on diners, as one Reddit reviewer described it as "surprisingly solid," adding that it "eats like a bulked up single-decker Big Mac."

At first glance, Longhorn Steakhouse's Half-Pound Steakhouse Cheeseburger might not seem too remarkable. After all, it doesn't give you any fancy gimmicks, such as adding avocados, grilled onions, or an entire breakfast balanced on top of it. But the real draw here is the simplicity of it. It's just a basic burger, done really well. 

Longhorn grills up a half-pound burger, topped with your choice of cheese(American, Cheddar, or Swiss), and lettuce, onion, tomato, and pickles on a toasted potato bun. Oh, and it's also covered with in the chain's signature burger sauce, a tangy concoction with hints of barbecue and mayo. And for an extra $1.50, you can add some applewood smoked bacon on top, too.   

What makes it even more appealing is the price, as you can find this burger on the Longhorn lunch menu for $11.99. That's a great deal for a sit-down restaurant like Longhorn, and online reviewers are quick to praise the combination of quality and value. One Reddit thread featured comments like, "These burgers are probably the absolute best you can find at such a price, especially during lunch," and simply, "This burger brings me happiness."

While the offerings on this list have been tasty (and cheesy), they haven't been particularly spicy. So, if you're looking for a burger with plenty of heat, you might want to try this one from Buffalo Wild Wings, which is topped with a healthy amount of Hatch chile peppers, a type of green pepper harvested in New Mexico that range from medium to hot on the Scoville pepper scale. (If you're cooking on your own, Hatch chiles can really help you recreate New Mexico's best flavors on your stovetop.) 

And Buffalo Wild Wings really gives you plenty of peppers for the price, as the burger is covered with Hatch chile aioli, pickled peppers, and a bunch of straight-up Hatch chiles. But all that pepper doesn't result in too much heat, as the blend of pickled peppers and onions adds a sweet balance. The burger itself doesn't disappoint either — the two hand-smashed beef patties and American cheese would be great on any other burger.

Reviewers on Reddit have praised the combination of flavors, writing, "This is one of my favorite burgers of all time," and, "This is one of the best burgers I've had anywhere. It's perfect."

The Cheesecake Factory gets a lot of jokes about its gigantic range of over-the-top food offerings, which includes around 250 different menu items. (Most casual dining restaurants typically average around 20 to 40 items.) But the logic behind the Cheesecake Factory's ridiculous menu is that it's meant to be huge and extreme, to steal diners from competitors and to draw attention online. And it doesn't hurt that the over-the-top food is often the best stuff on the menu. 

Case in point: its Macaroni and Cheese Burger, which is topped with several of the chain's fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls, along with a hearty portion of extra gooey cheddar cheese sauce. Is it a lot? Definitely. But it's also delicious, and draws diners in with its extra amount of cheesy goodness. And the burger it's based on is no slouch either, as this classic chophouse burger is made of certified Angus beef.

This decadent burger has its share of online admirers, with one redditor writing, "The quality of meat, cheese and bread is crazy good. Had a bite of my husband's leftover and I ended up killing the rest of it!"

Texas Roadhouse is another steakhouse chain that focuses on the quality of its hand-cut steaks, offering a range of ribeye, sirloin and New York strip on its menu. And that quality meat passes down to its burgers, as it makes its patties made from "steak grind," ground up pieces of those steaks made while cutting them. So, you get to taste some of the best meat options on this menu, at a somewhat smaller price. (The burger will run you $16.99 at the chain's California locations.)

It's also covered in sauteed mushrooms, barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato, and onion, with American and jack cheeses. The sauteed mushrooms really give an extra kick of umami flavor to the burger, and blend well with the mix of cheeses. It's not surprising that this burger was included when we found the 12 absolute best Texas Roadhouse entrees under $20.

One redditor described it with four simple words: "huge and just delicious."

Now, you might be asking, What would a seafood restaurant like Bonefish Grill know about meat? Well, Bonefish, also known as BFG, already has some meaty credentials, as its run by Bloomin' Brands, Inc., the company behind another restaurant on this list: Outback Steakhouse. 

And that might explain the quality of the BFG burger, which features a wood-grilled half-pound beef patty. That tasty meat flavor is enhanced by a layer of sharp cheddar cheese and a helping of the chain's tangy Bang Bang Sauce, which is traditionally served with the chain's signature Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer. In fact, you can even add an order of those shrimp on top of your BFG burger, as a Bangin' BFG Burger. That mix of cheese and sauce combines to give the burger a nice kick of flavor that goes above and beyond its wood-grilled patty.  

As for online reviews, one Yelp reviewer described it as "big and juicy" and "one of the best we've had!"

Ruth's Chris is a popular steakhouse with 161 locations across the globe. It's also a little fancier than the rest of the chains on this list, edging into the realm of fine dining.

Another way it distinguishes itself is in how it cooks its meat, as it proudly advertises the unique way Ruth's Chris Steak House cooks up its steaks to perfection. The chain can also brag about the quality of its meat, which according to it the FAQ page on its website, is made from only the highest quality USDA Prime beef, specificallyk from prime or high cuts of choice, corn-fed Midwestern beef. And its burger is no exception, as each one is made from a 10-ounce custom ground prime beef patty. You can also choose from a choice of cheeses (cheddar, Swiss or blue), but otherwise, there's no gimmicks to it. It's just good quality meat served simply and tastefully, befitting the fine dining atmosphere. 

As you might imagine, reviews are excellent, with one Facebook reviewer writing, "The meat and cheese had so much flavor and was cooked perfectly. This is what a burger should be."

For this list of best non-burger chain burgers, we weighed several factors. We favored burgers made from better quality meat like prime or Angus beef, or with higher quality ingredients. And, we also factored in online reviews, weighing online praise and comments for each sandwich.