Nantucket Burger Guide: Every Burger on the Island, From $11 to $36

I came to Nantucket for the saltbox cottages and the cobblestones. I stayed for the burgers.

Yes, burgers. On an island famous for chowder, white-linen oyster bars and Champagne at sunset over the harbor, the grey-shingled jewel of the Atlantic turns out to have one of the most varied burger scenes on the Eastern Seaboard. From an $11 single patty at a mid-island takeout window to a $36 burger crowned with hot buttered lobster, Nantucket does burgers the way it does everything else: with personality and without apology.

I went through every published menu on the island. Here is what the data says.

The Island at a Glance

Nantucket menus list 155 burgers, and 136 of them carry a price. Those 136 come from 41 restaurants. The average is $20.95 and the median is $20, so exactly half of the island's burgers (68 of 136) cost less than twenty dollars. The middle half of the pack sits between $15.99 and $25. The full spread runs from $11 to $36, a $25 range of burger ambition.

Put it another way: you can eat a burger here on a Tuesday afternoon for the price of a fancy gas-station sandwich in Manhattan. You can also spend $36 on a single patty and feel completely justified about it. Both things are true.

The Heroes of the People: Burgers Under $13

Yezzi's, Old South Road

The cheapest burger on the island lives at Yezzi's (57 Old South Road, mid-island). The DF Single Patty Cheeseburger is $11: a 3 oz beef patty with cheddar, and you add toppings of your choice. The Double Patty version is $14. It is the closest thing Nantucket has to a diner-counter burger, and it is glorious.

Henry Jr. Sandwich Shop, Orange Street

Henry, Jr. Sandwich Shop at 129 Orange Street is where a lot of locals start. The Hamburger, a grilled quarter-pound beef patty, is $11.75. The Cheeseburger with your choice of cheese is $12.50, and a grilled Veggie Burger is $11.50. The shop runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and closes Sundays, so this is a lunch play. In a town where a cocktail can run $22, it is practically an act of public service.

Stubby's, Broad Street

Right in the Historic District, Stubby's (8 Broad Street) punches above its weight with a 1/4 lb. Cheeseburger for $11.95: American cheese, sautéed onions, ketchup. The Double Double Cheeseburger with fries and the Impossible Burger with fries start at $16.95 and $17.95. Stubby's is open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., which tells you exactly who it is for.

Sandbar, Jetties Beach

Sandbar at 4 Bathing Beach Road lists a hamburger for $12 and a cheeseburger for $13, plus a $17 Beyond Burger with red pepper aioli on a potato bun. A $12 burger with sand between your toes is a Nantucket bargain.

Sophie T's, Dave's Street

Sophie T's Pizza is a mid-island pizza shop at 7 Dave's Street, open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is primarily about pizza, but tucked into the Subs and Wraps section is the Cheeseburger Sub: burger with American cheese, mayo, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and hot peppers, "the works," for $12.95. So yes, Sophie T's has a burger. It is just in sub form, and it is one of the better deals on the island.

The Smash Burger Revolution

If one trend unifies Nantucket's 2026 burger scene, it is the smash burger. Thin patties, lacy edges, American cheese pooling into every crevice. The smash has arrived on-island and it is not leaving.

Roastd, the coffee-and-general-store spot at the airport gas station on Airport Road, serves a Smash Burger for $19: smash patty, onions, bacon jam, pepperjack, housemade pickles, brioche bun. Grab it on the way to a flight or on the way home from Nobadeer Beach.

Miacomet Golf Course Restaurant has committed fully. The lunch Smash Burger ($19) is the gateway: two smash patties, American cheese, shredded iceberg, tomato, pickles, red onion and a "hole in one sauce" on a Martin's potato bun. Level up to the Miacomet Burger ($24) for gruyere, bacon jam, truffle aioli and onion strings. Here is the insider detail: on the Thursday-to-Saturday dinner menu those same two burgers are $16 and $18. Eating one while someone misses a putt is part of the appeal.

Gaslight Nantucket on North Union Street does a Gaslight Smash Burger ($25) with prime beef, black garlic truffle cheese, pickles and special sauce. "Black garlic truffle cheese" is doing a lot of heavy lifting, and I mean that as a compliment.

Straight Wharf Fish, a restaurant primarily known for being excellent at fish, has named its burger "I'd Definitely Smash" and charges $26 for prime chuck roll, American cheese, pickles, special sauce and spicy sweet-and-sour peppers. There is a $21 Impossibly Smash Burger for vegetarians. The names alone earn a visit.

Two more for the smash file: The Fairgrounds mid-island does Big Pete's Double Smash Burger ($23) with sautéed onions, "BIG Sauce," shredded lettuce and pickle, and The Tap Room in the Jared Coffin House serves its signature BIG M-ACK, two 4 oz smash patties with special sauce, at $28 on the dinner menu and $31 at lunch.

The Specialty Contenders

Brotherhood of Thieves

Brotherhood of Thieves at 23 Broad Street has quietly built one of the most complete burger programs on the island, every one on a griddled sesame brioche bun:

• Brotherhood Burger, the classic with lettuce, tomato, onion and choice of cheese: $22
• Reverend Foster Burger with American cheese, caramelized onions and special sauce: $22
• Cisco Burger with blue cheese, caramelized onions, bacon and balsamic: $24
• BBQ Burger with cheddar, bacon, BBQ sauce and onion strings: $24
• House-made Veggie Burger with quinoa, sweet potato, black beans, pickled onion and avocado: $20

Named burgers, in a whaling-era tavern, on a cobblestone street. Nantucket, you absolute wonder.

The Rose & Crown

The Rose & Crown on South Water Street plays the specialty game with gusto: The Hangover (Swiss, cheddar, American, onion rings, sautéed onions, bacon, $24), The Smokehouse (smoked gouda, bacon, onion straws, BBQ sauce, $24), The Sriracha Burger (sriracha powder, bacon, pepper jack, fresh jalapeño relish, $24) and the show-stopper Truffle Burger (gruyere, pickled onions, zucchini and yellow squash pickles, arugula, truffle mayo, $28). A $22 build-your-own with a half-pound Angus patty rounds it out.

bACKyard BBQ

bACKyard Barbecue at 20 Straight Wharf does two things that should be illegal in a good way. The Alabama Burger ($24) puts chopped brisket, Swiss, onion straws and white BBQ sauce on an all-beef burger. The Surf & Turf Burger ($36) adds Swiss cheese, hot buttered lobster and crispy onions. It is the most expensive burger on the island and also the most Nantucket burger on the island. Of course someone put lobster on a burger here. There is also a $21 Pimento Burger if you want the bacon-and-pimento-cheese route.

The Seafood Contingent

Because this is Nantucket, several kitchens have decided burgers should also be made of seafood.

Gyp-Sea Cafe at Brant Point makes a Crabby Patty ($18.95): a crab, shrimp and scallop patty with lettuce, tomato and red pepper aioli on toasted brioche. Its grass-fed "Surf Burger" is the same price if you want to stay terrestrial. The Surf in Surfside has its own Crabby Patty Burger ($19.95), which tells you "crabby patty" is a whole genre here, not just a cartoon reference.

Straight Wharf Fish offers a Rare Tuna Burger ($31) with avocado, tomato, red onion and spicy mayo. 167 Raw sells a $28 Tuna Burger from its food truck out in Cisco. And Lola 41 tops the category with the $35 Tokyo Tuna Burger: wasabi mayo, sunomono relish and soy ginger sauce on an English muffin.

The Fancy End of the Spectrum

Lola 41, an Asian fusion and sushi restaurant on South Beach Street, also makes one of the most unhinged and wonderful burgers on the island. The LoLa Burger is an 8 oz house-blend patty with white cheddar, red onion compote and foie gras demi-glace on a grilled English muffin, $29 on the dinner menu and $30 at lunch. Foie gras. On a burger. At a sushi restaurant. This is either a masterpiece or a beautiful mistake, and I am not sure there is a difference.

Brant Point Grille, the White Elephant's restaurant on Easton Street, lists the BPG Wagyu Burger at $34: smoked North Country bacon, melted brie, caramelized onions, truffle mayo and beef tallow fries. An Impossible Burger with Vermont cheddar, black garlic mayo and sautéed mushrooms is $32.

Cru on Straight Wharf keeps it deceptively simple: aged cheddar and smoked onion mayonnaise, $34. Billie's on Broad does an 8 oz patty with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and special sauce on a potato bun with fries, also $34. That is the platonic ideal of a cheeseburger at premium island pricing.

Wildcards and Hidden Gems

Lemon Press on Main Street makes a Kofta Burger ($19) with cucumber yogurt feta and pickled onion on grilled brioche, and you choose a lamb or kelp patty. A kelp patty. The Burger ($22) offers beef or kelp with cheddar and special sauce. This is a cafe that refuses to be boring.

Easy Street Restaurant in the Historic District serves the Easy St. Burger ($24): pimento cheese, bacon and Texas Pete aioli on a potato bun with house fries. A Southern-inflected burger in a New England town, and it works.

Crosswinds at the Airport offers a "Full Flight" Breakfast Burger ($18.95) with 6 oz of Angus beef, two eggs and cheddar on brioche, plus an 8 oz Black Angus Burger ($20.95) for later in the day. Eating a breakfast burger while a six-seater taxis past is a profoundly specific Nantucket experience.

Languedoc on Broad Street lists the Languedoc Cheeseburger ($28) with Monterey Jack on an English muffin among its Bistro Classics. It is the quietly elegant burger of a French bistro that happens to sit on a Nantucket cobblestone.

Out of Town

Kitty Murtaugh's, the Irish-American pub on West Creek Road, fields three proper burgers: the Half Pounder on an English muffin ($20), Kitty's Porterhouse Burger with cheddar, bacon and house pickles ($22), and an Impossible Burger with sriracha aioli, parmesan, Swiss and avocado ($21).

Island Kitchen on Chin's Way serves the IK Cheeseburger ($21): Angus beef on a Portuguese muffin with peri-peri mayo, a culturally curious touch that makes the place feel genuinely fun.

Out in 'Sconset, Summer House and its beachside sibling SH Beachside Bistro offer the Summer House Burger ($30): 8 oz American wagyu, crispy bacon, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. Galley Beach in Cliffside lists the galley beach burger at $33 with a sesame bun, bacon-braised onions, Vermont cheddar and fries. Eaten at sunset over the water, it is an experience with a burger at its center.

The Verdict

Here is what 136 priced burgers on a small Atlantic island tell you: the burger is not a luxury item here. It is a democratic staple, available to the family just off the ferry ($11.75 at Henry Jr.) and to the couple celebrating an anniversary at Lola 41 ($29 with foie gras). There are burgers made of crab, burgers made of tuna, burgers made of kelp, and one made of lobster. There are burgers named after a village (Cisco), a reverend (Foster) and a state (Alabama).

Nantucket, as it turns out, is a burger island. It just has not been advertising it. Go find out for yourself.