Meet 2025's Best New Burgers

While it's not long until our Hot & Spicy Fest, we still have burgers on our mind – specifically, some of Beijing's newer burger slingers! Back when we announced that Side Street was crowned the 2025 Juicy Burger Cup Champion, we also announced that the winner of the Best New Burger was Wagyu Kaiju, along with a few runners-up. Now, let's take a look at this year's Best New Burgers.  

Please note: Some of these establishments have multiple locations; for brevity's sake, we've listed one for each. You can check Dianping for more locations.

Winner: Wagyu Kaiju 和牛怪物汉堡

This year's Best New Burger and #14 overall in the Juicy Burger Cup, up-and-coming burger spot Wagyu Kaiju has been winning over hearts and stomachs since they first came onto the scene in the capital. As you might guess from the name, their burgers are all about using high-quality wagyu beef, however without an exorbitant price tag. 

At the Juicy Burger Fest, some particular favorites were The Lidless Eye Wagyu Burger (RMB 48), which is inspired by Sauron, the Lidless Eye from The Lord of the Rings, and sees an Australian M5+ Wagyu beef patty topped with a fried egg, bourbon onion sauce and secret teriyaki sauce; along with their Signature Wagyu Kaiju Burger (RMB 48). They've got an impressive ten different burgers on their menu, and if you want to stray away from the wagyu, they include a Pulled Pork Burger (RMB 38) and a Chicken Burger (RMB 28).

WAGYU KAIJU (Shuangjing branch)
At the intersection of Tianli Jie and Huili Lu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区天力街和惠力路交叉口
Hours: 10am-10pm
Phone: 133 7017 5304; 192 2012 4824

Runner Up: HUNGER DOG 饿狗

HUNGER DOG opened last year, and its owner, who was inspired by his time living in LA, wanted to recreate the same taste and feeling of an LA burger joint here in Beijing. In this year's Juicy Burger Cup, HUNGER DOG narrowly missed out on the Top 16, coming in at #18. They've already made a name for themselves with bold flavor creations like the Banana Superman Burger (RMB 66), which contains fried banana slices, or the Greasy Angel Burger (RMB 77), which is topped with a black bun, bacon, and sliced cherries. However, the standout star has to be their signature Hunger Dog Burger (RMB 98), crafted in the traditional West Coast fashion and featuring three bun layers, with melted Swiss cheese draped over two handcrafted patties. It's all finished with a fried egg and a thick slice of pineapple.  

Hunger Dog 饿购
18 Gongrentiyuchang Donglu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工人体育场东路18号
Hours: 11am-10pm
Phone: 139 1068 6405

Runner Up: JING SLOW Handcrafted Burger 京悠手工汉堡

Established less than a year ago, Dongsi-based burger spot JING SLOW is the newest spot on this list; however, it still ranked an impressive #25 in the Juicy Burger Cup. Along with classic burger offerings like the Angus Wagyu Burger (RMB 49), they also specialize in putting traditional Chinese flavors in burger form. This is really showcased by the Yongdingmen Mutton Skewer Burger (RMB 49). Influenced by JING SLOW's founder's childhood memories of eating lamb chuanr in Beijing's Yongdingmen area, it takes lamb skewers and sandwiches them inside a burger bun. Another fusion of flavors is the Cai-Kovsky Burger (RMB 29), which features Chinese-style hand-shredded chicken.

JING SLOW
C01, Chao Dong Li MiniMall, 36 Dongsi Nan Dajie, Dongcheng District
东城区东四南大街36号潮东里MiniMall内C01商铺
Hours: 7.30am-8.30pm
Phone: 185 1531 2605

Runner Up: Pizza Hut 必胜客

Pizza Hut recently decided to delve into China's burger scene and managed to secure itself the #20 spot in our Juicy Burger Cup. At the Juicy Burger Fest, they debuted two seasonal, limited-edition burgers: the Classic Spicy Crayfish Chicken Burger (RMB 35) and the Salted Egg Yolk Crayfish Chicken Burger (RMB 35), both of which feature 12+ whole hand-peeled crayfish and a chicken thigh patty and are still available now. Other more classic offerings include 0-Additive Angus Beef Cheese Burger (RMB 35), the Cheese Wagyu Supreme Burger (RMB 35) and the Signature Chicken Burger (RMB 19.9). Something that really sets Pizza Hut's burgers apart is their exclusive homemade buns, which are made from pizza dough and then topped with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Pizza Hut (Dongzhimen branch)
27 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District
朝阳区东直门外大街27号
Hours: 7.30am-10pm
Phone: 150 1010 0792

READ: Juicy Burger Cup 2025: Beijing's Top 16 Burgers

Images: courtesy of the venues