For 40 years or more, these restaurants have been fulfilling our burger cravings with smashburgers and thick burgers alike. Take a tasty trip through time with us, won’t you?
RESTAURANT
The Legacy of Greensburger Lives On
These grills and griddles have made Greensboro a burger town.
5 on the Flat-Top: Melvins’
This Elizabethtown landmark serves hamburgers and hot dogs. That’s it. For 74 years and counting.
5 on the Flat-Top: Nick’s Old Fashion Hamburgers
This Davidson County restaurant’s recipe for success: hand-pattied smashburgers, house-made chili, and locally sourced ingredients like pimento cheese.
Made by Hand & Heart at Mothers & Sons Trattoria
Growing up, an Italian American chef learned the importance of cooking with patience, laughter, and love. His trattoria in Durham, built on those same principles, is a tribute to the mothers — and mother figures — who taught him.
5 on the Flat-Top: Country Retreat Family Billiards
Locals gather at this unlikely Watauga County establishment to shoot pool — and to eat first-class chargrilled burgers known far and wide.
5 on the Flat-Top: Little Bit’s Grill
In Oak Island in 1987, an ocean or two away from Vietnam, an immigrant found a second home for herself and her family by mastering a new, all-American cuisine.
5 on the Flat-Top: Concord Grill
This Person County restaurant may not look like much — that is, until a big, juicy thick burger dripping with freshly melted cheese comes through the takeout window.
Feeder of the Pack: Players Retreat in Raleigh
Over its 70 years, the Players Retreat has played many roles in Raleigh: hangout for NC State actors after performances, shrine to Wolfpack athletics, sports bar with a fine-dining pedigree. Plus, it serves a heck of a burger.
