Pensacola’s Burger Game is Spot On!

Whether it’s a beach town, a mountain resort or even the first vacation colony on the moon (once some billionaire builds it), every tourist destination on the planet better be able to compete for the best burger you ever ate. Pensacola is ready, willing and able to meet that challenge.

With so many savory, saucy and spicey options, there’s almost too many to choose from. Let’s bite this burger one neighborhood at the time:

Downtown Pensacola

McGuire’s Irish Pub

As anyone who’s ever even heard of Pensacola can tell you, McGuire’s Irish Pub has a burger menu that is both exotic and exhaustive. Their three-quarter pound burgers are custom ground from the restaurant’s steak trimmings and seasoned to perfection.

The menu offers more than two dozen burger variations, ranging from a brie and blueberry chutney burger to one piled high with mac and cheese.

But nobody reviews the burger choices without salivating over the Grand Burger. Oh my! This burger is crafted with custom ground filet mignon, chargrilled, served with a side of caviar, merlot sauce and a bottle of imported champagne.

Blue Dot Barbecue

Blue Dot Barbecue is a working man’s kind of joint that serves a heck of working man’s kind of burger. This no-frills neighborhood hub with wooden stools and tables has been satisfying hungry Pensacola appetites since 1946.

The menu sticks to doing a few things great: ribs and burgers. The classic Blue Dot Hamburgeris the perfect balance of mayo, mustard onion and tomato. It’s the kind of burger you smash hard and make all oozy. Better get extra napkins!

Union Public House

Anybody who tries to deride burgers as “lesser” fare should visit Union Public House. This is one of the hottest restaurants in Pensacola. Located in the heart of downtown, it offers dining room tables with a great view of the bustling streets as well as sidewalk seating. It’s a prime location for Pensacola’s monthly Gallery Night or any of the many evenings when downtown is buzzing.

The Union Public House menu highlights edibles like confit duck leg, wild boar sloppy joes, and lamb curry. So, you know the burger is going to be an exercise is culinary elevation: The UPH Burger features braised short rib, kale, tomato, cheddar, bacon and, house aioli.

Definitely not your father’s burger.

Sauce Boss @ The Handlebar

The Sauce Boss is an award-winning food truck that provides its delicious meatiness to crowds of hungry bar-goers outside of Pensacola’s landmark pub, The Handlebar.

Try the burger called The Handlebar, a patty melt with two smashed patties on bakery black garlic sourdough, made exclusively for the Sauce Boss, topped with parmesan and Monterey jack cheeses, house pickles, and 196 Sauce. The sauce is a balanced aioli with black garlic fermented locally for 196 hours. The taste is sweet with hints of balsamic vinegar.

Pensacola Beach

Casino Beach Bar & Grille

This is one of the few restaurants on the beach where the view really is right up there with the food - Casino Beach Bar and Grille. Situated at the base of the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier, diners can take in sand, surf and sunshine as far as the eye can see in every direction.

The vista is truly breathtaking, just like the taste of the Casino Burger. This massive sandwich stars a half pound steak burger patty, muenster cheese, applewood-smoked bacon, avocado lettuce, tomato, pickles, red onions, and straw onions, all on a jalapeño-cheddar bun. The sight of that burger sitting on your plate is as breathtaking as it gets.

Paradise Bar & Grill

Paradise is an open-air entertainment venue and is as beach casual and comfy as you could ask for. Shake the sand off your feet, enjoy a delightful adult beverage, take in some tunes, and go to town on the Black and Blue Burger, a blackened half pound certified angus burger, served with blue cheese and fries. Tangy!

East Pensacola

Jerry’s Drive-In

Generations of locals and visitors alike have feasted on the hearty, down-to-earth burgers at Jerry’s Drive-In, a fixture in East Pensacola since 1939.

Like the whole menu at Jerry’s, the burgers are classic, no-frills griddled greatness. Perhaps Jerry’s most recognized burger is the Pig Burger – an homage to Jerry’s iconic pig sign. This protein-packed nosher piles on BBQ pork, bacon, Cole slaw, BBQ sauce and Swish cheese! Make sure you order your order a side of Jerry’s Sauce, Crackers and Pickles (If you don’t try the sauce, were you really even there?)

Brown Bagger

Surely, if anything can make Brussel’s sprouts attractive, deep drying them and serving them alongside a top-notch burger should do the trick, right?

Maybe.

It would be pretty hard to go wrong with any side that might come with the burger beasts this food truck offers. Try the Jumpin’ Jack Burger. This fiery entrée includes a quarter pound Wagyu beef patty, topped with pepper jack cheese, grilled jalapenos and your choice of toppings, served on a potato bun.

Don’t worry about the Brussel’s spouts. The Brown Bagger has got fries, too.

Perdido Key

The Jellyfish Bar

As a bar and restaurant with a decidedly tropical feel, the big draw at the Jellyfish Bar is the seafood (along with some legendary martinis). From shrimp po’ boys to blackened gorgonzola wahoo, the menu has a distinct bend toward the surf rather than the turf.

But meat lovers, never fear, the Jellyfish Burger will satisfy your passion. The star of this flavorful sandwich is a slice of fried green tomato - a savory, juicy tart punch - accompanied by smoked bacon, crispy onion strings, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and “stinger” sauce.

No actual jellyfish are harmed.

There you have it, Pensacola. Burgers galore. You hungry yet? I know I am!

Author

Louis Cooper

Louis Cooper has lived in Northwest Florida since 1997 when work brought him here directly out of college. But he has since come to think of the Pensacola area as his home. He had a career at the Pensacola News Journal and the Northwest Florida Daily News covering local government, business and community. He currently works in freelance marketing and professional writing. He lives with his husband, Craig Webster, and their dogs, Angus and Riley, in Pensacola.

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