Three To Try: New Burger Shops for Smash Burgers and Beyond

Last year, the opening of two dedicated burger shops – Charrd and Elmo’s – set off a new craze. And while Melbourne has no shortage of great burgers, we’re always open to more. Less than three months into 2026, a new trio of heavy-hitting burger joints has already emerged.

Seoul Tiger 1988, CBD

At Baguette Studios’ new burger shop, the team has gone from mapping Korean flavours onto French pastry classics to doing the same for American staples: burgers, shakes, sundaes and corndogs.

Four burgers make up the core offering, with almost everything made from scratch in-house “to maximise flavours and depth,” according to co-owner and director Aileen Seo, who runs the business with head baker Paul Kwon and chef Jiho Sur. 

There’s a $13 beef bulgogi-inspired cheeseburger; a prawn number with a patty made from house-ground prawn meat; a KFC (Korean fried chicken) burger featuring in a special sauce based on classic Korean sweet-spicy fried chicken; and a veggie burger inspired by yachae twigim (thinly sliced, battered and fried vegetables) served with house-made Korean pickled onions. Each burger is served on a house-made soft yet chewy potato bun.

Beyond burgers, there are the sundaes – featuring house-made buttermilk soft-serve layered with the venue’s own toppings and sauces. Mainstays include the strawberry pavlova with strawberry compote, strawberry sauce, vanilla meringue, and the Tiger Sundae with peanut brittle, crispy feuilletine, dark chocolate chips and dulce de leche. 

547 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
No phone

Hours:
Sun to Thu midday–3pm, 4pm–8pm
Fri & Sat midday–3pm, 4pm–9pm

@seoultiger1988

Nouns Hamburgers, South Yarra

Prahran Market’s new Market Square tenant Nouns Hamburgers is a burger-focused spin-off of Malvern’s Nouns Deli, an NFT-funded sandwich shop known for American-style sangas, breakfast rolls and fried chicken that closed in late 2024. It comes from a trio of industry heavyweights: Guy Bentley (Leonard’s House of Love and Leonardo’s Pizza Palace), Todd Vanneste (Weekdays Design, Frankie’s Tortas and Tacos) and Aaron Trotman (Non). 

Find cheeseburgers layered with onion, pickles, ketchup and mustard; double cheeseburgers; fried chicken burgers with ranch; battered fish with tartare; and a meatball sub with vodka sauce, salsa verde and pecorino. For breakfast, there’s the Muffin Top, a sausage-and-egg McMuffin-style sandwich that was one of the deli’s biggest sellers. It’s joined by the Mighty Market, stacked with sausage, bacon, egg, cheese and beer-soaked onions.

Nouns even serves ice-cream burgers – ice-cream sealed inside a bun using a jaffle-maker-like hot press, which crisps and locks the edges while keeping the centre frozen. The team is currently buying the ice-cream, but has plans to make it in-house in future.

Shop 809-2, Prahran Market, 163 Commercial Road, South Yarra
No phone

Hours:
Tue 8am–3pm
Thu to Sun 8am–3pm

@nounshamburgers

Macgregor’s Original, Abbotsford

Founded by powerlifting coach Macgregor McNair, entrepreneur Aaron Savrone and Heide Kitchen head chef Laura Boulton, Macgregor’s Original is a burger spot with a simple brief to make great American-style burgers.

The menu is deliberately kept small, with only three burgers – the signature cheese smash burger, an Oklahoma fried onion burger and the Macgregor junior cheeseburger – and chips cooked in beef tallow. The beef mince comes from North Carlton Quality Meats. It’s then griddled and layered with a pairing of American and Swiss cheese, and set on a lightly toasted, buttered Martin’s potato roll. (As the kitchen hits its stride, the occasional off-menu burger will also make an appearance, including a recent jalapeno-heavy reworking of the Oklahoma).

212 Nicholson Street, Abbotsford
0485 002 000

Hours:
Thu 4pm–9pm
Fri & Sat 4pm–10pm
Sun 4pm–9pm

macgregorsoriginal.com
@macgregorsoriginal

Additional reporting by Lily Beamish, Pauline De Leon and Sebastian Pasinetti.