Much like the burger at Peter Luger, the one at Red Hook Tavern is all about the meat. It’s just one big patty with American cheese and a cross-section of onion on a sesame bun that plays its role perfectly without causing any distractions. The burger is intensely rich and salty - but we’re pretty sure we could eat several in one sitting. Maybe that’s because the patty is surprisingly light for its size, or maybe it’s because we lack self-restraint.

The burger at Raoul's is unlike any other on this list—because every inch of the patty is encrusted with black peppercorns. If you like black pepper, you'll love this thing. If you don't, you'll still probably enjoy it. Rather than cheddar or American, the burger comes topped with creamy St. Andre cheese (in addition to cornichons and watercress), and the whole thing is intensely buttery. The fries that come on the side are also perfectly crisp and salty.

Lord's in Greenwich Village only makes 12 of these bad boys a day. So getting your hands on one requires a reservation at a time that starts with five. The burger, blanketed in a layer of sharp Welsh Rarebit, is worth the fuss. It’s served on a pretzel bun with a slab of onion, making the whole thing supremely savory. Between the burger, the excellent cocktails, and the comfortable pub vibe, Lord's is a great place for a date.

Beef burger purists, avert your eyes. The Cervo’s burger is made from ground lamb. The meat itself is soft and luxurious, and the celery-forward slaw and big dollop of aioli do a fantastic job of making cheese seem absolutely unnecessary on a burger. You can add marinated anchovies for $3, and if you’re a little fish freak, you should. Split this with someone on the prime people-watching patio looking out onto Dimes Square, or eat it with some vermouth all by yourself at the bar.

We know the single vs. double debate comes down to personal burger-eating preferences, but after having both options at Nowon in the East Village, here’s where we stand: you’ll taste every ingredient more prominently in their new medium-rare Pat Lafrieda single-patty burger. By comparison, their double smash patty feels like eating gobs of tangy kimchi mayo and American cheese with a side of burger. If you like to taste high-quality steak meat in your burgers, you’ll love Nowon’s thick version.

Yes, at $33 this burger is ridiculously expensive, but this isn’t a list of the most morally defensible foods in NYC. The Black Label Burger at Minetta Tavern was one of the first super-luxe burgers in the city, and it’s still one of the best. Maybe it’s the butter-basted patty made from dry-aged ribeye, or the mound of caramelized onions, or the custom Balthazar bun. Or maybe it’s all three.

The burgers at Smashed are all about texture: thin, lacy, burnished, patties; gooey cheese; grilled and raw onions (an inspired move); pickles for crunch; and special sauce. All that on a fluffy, slightly steamy potato bun. When you get your teeth through every individual layer, it causes a near alchemical reaction. We like that these burgers aren’t too messy, making them a great lunch option—and they’re also open until 3am on the weekends.

Despite having only a few ingredients, the cheeseburger from 7th Street keeps digging its way into our brains Inception-style. Roughly-chopped sweet onions are pressed into a 75/25 Schweid & Sons beef patty as it’s smashed with a spatula, resulting in something that’ll remind you of a White Castle slider. The whole thing, with its gooey yellow American cheese, is an unapologetic salute to salt and fat. When you stop by, you’ll probably see a big crowd blocking the sidewalk.

If Gotham Burger Social Club’s double smashburger had its own Instagram account, it would probably post a photo of its brown, griddled bun with the caption “So I did a thing.” Lots of places toast the inside of their buns for a buttery crisp, but GBSC on the Lower East Side toasts the exterior of the top bun, then layers it with lacy, caramelized beef patties, steamed onions, pickles and pickled jalapeños, plus a slice of gooey american cheese. The result is a textural wonderland.

4 Charles is from the people behind Au Cheval, and the burger here is similarly fantastic. Like at Au Cheval, it has two patties, tons of cheese, plenty of sauce, and a bun that soaks it all up. The burger is cut tableside by a white-gloved server, and it’s often shared as an appetizer before the $99 prime rib arrives. 4 Charles looks like a rich uncle’s cigar room, and it’s nearly impossible to get a reservation before 11pm. But once you’re in, it’s one of the best burger experiences in NYC.

Diner is a classic Williamsburg restaurant that’s located in an old dining car. The nightly-changing menu will be scribbled onto your paper tablecloth by a server with better hair than you, and while anything that person writes down will be fantastic, the best thing here is the one thing that never changes: the burger. It’s a thick but not too-thick piece of meat with sharp cheese, a soft bun, and thick, crispy fries. You could split it with someone, but please don’t.

The “Hot Mess” from Harlem Shake is our pick for the best smash burger in NYC. We never thought ground beef could get this crispy until we tasted the edges on these patties. And the satisfying caramelization in combination with some of the pickled cherry pepper-bacon relish make for a burger that is wildly better than Shake Shack. Plus, the owners all grew up in Harlem, do their best to hire from within the community, and donate part of their profits to tons of local charities and initiatives.

At Keens, you’ll get a burger that would pair nicely with a few puffs from one of the 40,000 pipes on the ceiling. It has a thick hunk of meat with that uniquely beefy funk you get when a burger is made with steak trimmings, with enough juice in it to dye the bottom bun pink. Expect a decadent, nicely charred patty on a toasted bun with a thick slice of tomato and optional aged cheddar. Say yes to the cheddar. It goes perfectly with the nutty flavors in the meat.

The big, juicy hamburgers at Donovan’s Pub in Woodside have been part of neighborhood lore for decades. There are currently 18 burger options, but their most famous one is still the simplest: a half-pounder that comes perfectly cooked and seasoned with a bit of a crust, and holds together beautifully in between two charred sesame buns and melted cheese on either side. If you’re feeling frisky, go for The Jack, and you’ll get some heat with jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, and chipotle mayo.

With so many smashburger places in the city, you think we’d be tired of them by now. We’re not—especially if they’re this good. If you like the (also great) burger at Smashed, try the one at this counter-service spot in Chinatown. It comes with two thin, pressed patties with gooey American cheese and grilled onions in a soft and squishy bun. It’s bigger and less expensive than what you find at similar burger joints. On the side, get some extra crispy fries, which we prefer over their tots.

What’s better than eating one of the best burgers in the city? Eating it in a spot with a spectacular view. At Manhatta, on the 60th floor of a FiDi skyscraper, you can get both at the walk-in-only bar area. The burger comes with just the right amounts of sharp American cheese, caramelized sweet koji onions, and some mayo with bits of shiitake. That sounds like a lot of distractions, but none of the accessories take away from the prominent flavor of the dry-aged beef.

Saigon Social’s portly burger will likely convince you to abandon your allegiance to smash patties. This Vietnamese restaurant on the LES tops its burger with accessories typically found on bánh mì, like pickled carrots and daikon, pate, a handful of cilantro, and a couple of jalapeño slices. Our favorite thing about their burger is that you can actually taste the quality of the meat, which is made with a combination of short rib and dry-aged rib eye.

With its raw bar and sushi, Lure Fishbar in Soho is, ostensibly, a seafood spot. But you’ll see the Bash Burger on almost every table, because it’s the best thing on the menu. The sesame bun is soft and a little crispy around the edges, and the beef patty is thick and juicy. A few razor thin pickle slices help balance each bite, but what really sets this burger apart is the salty-sweet jam with bacon bits and onions.

When you try the signature burger at this tiny Pakistani place in Bushwick, you’ll think back to a time in your life when you were constantly discovering great new things, like sunsets and scented markers. It might not look all that unique, but instead of mayo or mustard, it has spicy mint chutney, and the big patty is somehow lighter than it appears. We could eat several of these in one sitting, and now that we’ve come up with that idea, we probably will.