11 great new burgers to try right now in the Twin Cities area

"There has to be a burger" is the refrain heard from chefs in just about every restaurant kitchen that's pulling together a new menu. The challenge becomes not whether to put a burger on a menu, but how to make it stand out.

The latest crop of burgers adds to the collective voracious appetite for great beef, buns and everything that comes in between. And chefs are paying attention to the details, from signature grinds and carefully selected toppings to the width and smash degree of each ground meat creation.

This retro sports bar may be one of the latest newcomers to the Lyn-Lake scene, but the come-one, come-all dive vibe makes you feel like it's been there forever. The affordable, approachable food menu includes an $8 smashburger. Two thin patties with nicely charred edges, grilled onions and American cheese keep things no-fuss, while a creamy and tangy house sauce puts a personal stamp on it. If you love what's in the burger, an order of "wild style" fries with those familiar toppings should be right up your alley.

With years of delays for his brick-and-mortar restaurant, fire-master Jason Sawicki perfected the smashburger from his Fare Game food truck instead. Now there's a warm restaurant in which to sit down to eat it. The patties' edges are thin and crispy, the buttered milk bun is fluffy yet sturdy, the double ($15.50, or $12.50 for a single) is dripping with American cheese and caramelized onion bits, and the white BBQ sauce (which a server described as southern ranch dressing) is a not-too-overwhelming creamy element. You'll use those mustard pickles to cut through the richness, but all in all, it's a balanced, can't-stop-taking-another-bite dream burger. Worth noting: For a radically different take, try Sawicki's duck burger.

The bacon goddess wagyu ($30) starts with a thick, steakhouse-style wagyu butter patty and sweetly glazed bacon, then takes a salad-y turn with lettuce, tomato and an avocado-based green goddess dressing. The truffle fries, which are included, are some of the heartiest we've encountered, perfectly crisp with the creamiest mashed potato interior. This burger is available at both lunch and dinner, but Boketto's lunch menu offers a couple other burger options, too.

The 50th and France addition is changing the sports bar game with its luxe food offerings. Not to be missed is the elote burger ($18), with two double-pressed patties from prime chuck ground in house, white American cheese, a smoky chipotle mayo and sliced jalapeños for a kick. But the real kicker is the dressed-to-impress, piled-high relish on top. In essence, it's deconstructed elote with all the things we love, including charred corn, queso fresco, lime juice and Tajin seasoning. Also getting the royal treatment are the buns, made by Rustica exclusively for the restaurant. Continue your first-class sports bar experience with an order of shoestring fries. Served with crème fraîche and caviar, it's also a game changer.

For the 1881 Burger ($14), two patties totaling 8 ounces of ground sirloin come bare, but you can add cheese ($1) or bacon ($2) to dress them up. (Lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and pickles are included.) On the side is your choice of fries or soup of the day; an extra $2 will get you sweet potato fries. Available at lunch only.

Even before the restaurant opened, chef Jeremy Wessing described this burger to consulting chef Tim McKee as "a serious burger." It's clear Wessing didn't come just to make an appearance on the burger scene, but is competing to be one of the best in town. Every element was given intense consideration and attention. Wagyu brisket from a farm in Eden Valley, Minn., is ground with chuck before getting smashed into the flat-top for just the right amount of meat skirt. Patties are stacked on a richly toasted brioche bun. Accoutrements include a melty square of white cheese, thick-cut housemade pickles, and fried onions that give a little nod to the Oklahoma-style of cooking the meat with onion. A judicious dollop of burger sauces finishes the whole thing off. It's available a la carte off the bar menu ($18) or with fries as an entree ($23).

Heather Asbury brought much of what people love about her south Minneapolis neighborhood restaurant Heather's to Minnetonka with its recent expansion: the salmon bowl, the chicken paillard pasta and more. But she took liberties when it came to the burger lineup, adding a few new ways to consume meat on a bun. One of them is the curry turkey burger ($18, side included), which is built around a Wild Acres turkey patty that's so warmly spiced and soft, it borders on meatloaf territory. It's decorated with a bright red cabbage slaw, sweet apricot chutney mayo and pickled jalapeños that give real heat. True to the Heather's ethos, everything tastes freshly picked: just look at the color of that single, flawless leaf of lettuce.

A good local joint needs a good burger. Local Rumor has fast become the casual go-to walking spot for Merriam Park neighbors, and the burger ($12), served solo on a white plate, is a good hang. Hand-formed meat is fried and built up with two layers of cheese, pickles and a bloop of garlic aioli. Since everything is a la carte, it can be ordered alongside a small plate of charred cauliflower, de rigueur with French fries or with a bold little pan of T.T.H.D. (Tater Tot Hot Dish.)

Before Lynette, there was Lyn 65. For fans of the beloved restaurant that once electrified a Richfield strip mall, Lyn 65′s legendary burger lives on at Lynette, the new Longfellow neighborhood cafe by day and fine-dining restaurant by night. With two smash patties, melted American cheese, pickles, a bun that's been smeared with dijonaise, the elements all come together in a meaty juices-dripping-down-your-chin kind of hedonism. It comes with a smattering of hand-cut fries for $16.

Chef/owner TJ Lauthe's burger at So & So's food trailer, in residency at Sociable Cider Werks, offers a glorious entry into the skinny burger arena because it packs so much into every element ($14). The lettuce is fresh, crunchy-crisp and shredded, the onions carry the beefy scraped-up bits from the grill, a tomato tastes like an actual tomato and the cheese is more than window dressing on that balanced patty of meat. Adding bacon is supposedly optional, but we wouldn't recommend going without.

The price is right at this new Hwy. 7-adjacent burger and shake shack. Oklahoma-style smashburgers start at $5.99 for a single patty ($9.99 for a double and $12.99 for a triple), made ingeniously on a blisteringly hot griddle with a robotic smasher that cooks it simultaneously on both sides in just 30 seconds. The onions are caramelized right into the meat, which is served straight up with an American cheese slice on a potato bun.