In 2016, Copenhagen was blessed with the opening of the city’s first high-quality burger joint. The original Gasoline Grill is located inside a (still-operating) gas station at Landgreven in the city center. In the past five years, owner Klaus Wittrup has expanded with a few more spots including a stall at the street food market Broens Gadekøkken, a take-away stand inside the Vesterport train station, and their first location with tables for dine-in service in Carlsberg Byen. The recipe for success? Each shop grinds their own meat every day, semi-smashes it on a griddle to get a perfect caramelization, and sandwiches it inside a freshly baked potato bun. Not only does Gasoline Grill make our favorite burger in Copenhagen (and in the entirety of Scandinavia), but they also have perfected the art of the high-quality fast food burger. We’re officially putting our love in writing: we think the Gasoline Grill cheeseburger is the best fast food burger in the world.
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GASOLINE GRILL Address & Contact Information Landgreven 10, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
The World’s Best Fast Food Burger
Owner Klaus Wittrup was living in the United States as a student when he first fell in love with the American cheeseburger. Years later, with his burger cravings unsatisfied, he decided to open his own burger stand and bring a piece of America to Denmark. The rest is history. A pop-up with Noma, a Bloomberg article listing Gasoline Grill as one of the 27 best burgers in the world, and a feature on the Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil catapulted their humble burger stand to international acclaim. Now, they have six locations around the city of Copenhagen and long lines of hungry carnivores.
It almost feels wrong to define Gasoline Grill as a fast food burger, because the quality here is so much higher than your typical burger chains. Gasoline Grill uses better quality meat and ingredients than any other fast food burger spot we’ve seen (everything is organic!) – but the fact that you can take it to-go, eat it with one hand, and the affordable price point puts it strongly in the fast food category. While 80 Danish kroner ($13 USD) might seem steep if you don’t live in Scandinavia, it’s actually a great price in the expensive food city that is Copenhagen. So, just trust us when we say this is more than a fair price for the quality of food being served at Gasoline Grill. For reference, even a Big Mac in Denmark will cost you 30 DKK ($5 USD) – and McDonald’s “gourmet” Homestyle burgers will put you out 60 DKK ($10 USD) – and we all know those ingredients are not fresh, high-quality, or tasty.
Gasoline Grill’s burger is the perfect size – it will fill you up completely, but won’t leave you feeling overly stuffed or heavy. But, if you’re really feeling famished, you can always go “double meat” and add an extra beef patty for 35 kroner. Their own blend of beef is 100% organic, freshly ground at every location every day, and cooked to order. To avoid food waste, Gasoline Grill only makes as many patties as they know they will sell each day – so go early, or pre-order on their app to make sure you get your burger fix. They usually sell out by 7:00 p.m!
What To Order at Gasoline Grill
The menu at Gasoline Grill is pretty simple. Guests can choose from four different burgers: the Cheeseburger (onions, pickles, cheese, and Gasoline sauce), the Original (tomato, lettuce, onions, pickles, and Gasoline sauce), the Butter Burger (organic butter, pickles, and onion), and the Green Burger (Gasoline’s vegetarian option, made with seasonal vegetables and herb oil). All burgers are served on their signature potato bun – the recipe was developed by Gasoline Grill and the buns are baked fresh at Andersen Bakery. Add on some crinkle-cut fries on the side and grab a chocolate mousse or a milkshake if you’re craving something sweet.
We’ve tried all of the burgers on the menu, and we can say, without a doubt, that our favorite is the classic cheeseburger. (Personally, we find cheese essential on a burger and think of lettuce and tomato purely as garnish.) The flavors on the cheeseburger are simple – melt-in-your-mouth meat and cheese, onions and pickles for acidity, and Gasoline’s signature sauce, a tart and tangy chili mayo. The sauce actually reminds us a lot of the Emmy sauce on our favorite (restaurant) burger in the world, The Emmy Burger. It’s got this wonderful sweet and salty tang, that balances out the beefy notes and adds a deeper level of flavor that we often find missing from your basic, umami-heavy burgers. The Gasoline sauce satisfies every craving.
One bite of Gasoline’s cheeseburger and you can feel how perfectly the meat is seasoned – the salt and pepper really shine, enhancing the savory flavors of the organic beef. If you don’t specify how you want your burger cooked, it will come perfectly medium rare with a bright pink center. The soft fluff of the toasted potato bun is the vehicle for this perfect patty – unlike it’s brioche cousin, it’s not cloyingly sweet, and it can hold its own in a battle against the sauce. (No soggy burger buns here!) Also, this cheeseburger doesn’t have that greasy quality that can be synonymous with a roadside burger; you won’t feel dirty after eating it. You simply can’t find a better fast food burger. We also enjoy the signature Butter Burger (yes, the burger is topped with melted butter!), but we find ourselves missing the cheese and the Gasoline sauce when we order that one.
Gasoline Grill was the first great burger in town, but certainly not the last. This quality chain has been an obvious inspiration for the rest of the burger joints in the city. Most just follow in Gasoline’s footsteps and attempt to replicate their signature burger style and potato bun. But imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? Just in the last year, three promising new burger joints have opened (POPL Burger, Fatty’s, and Dandelion Burger), and surely more are on the way. We look forward to seeing how Copenhagen’s burger scene continues to develop.
What’s your favorite burger in Copenhagen, and why? Please share in a comment below.
Have you tried Jagger in Istegade?
I have not. Noted down! Thanks.
To add why you should visit this: It’s founded by former Michelin-star cook, Rasmus Oubæk, which also founded Retour, Pluto and Gorilla, all wonderful restaurants in Copenhagen. It’s a no nonsense burger like Gasoline, and it’s GREAT. They just opened on Amagerbrogade in Copenhagen South as well. I live just next to it and I love it, that’s why I endorse them, haha. I don’t work there or anything.
Sounds very good indeed, thanks! 🙂
Hi Anders
Thank you so much for the nice review! Although I havn’t lived in Berlin, I like Burgermeister and it has been an inspiration, but mostly because of the location. I would hate for you to go, on my recommendation, and be dissapointed. The burger is pretty good though. 🙂
Thanks again.
Thanks, Klaus! I will update my article. Burgermeister was on my watch-list already. I’ve tried the Bird and Shiso burger in Berlin before, so I’ll probably give Burgermeister a go if I am in the city again 🙂
From the picture, that looks like a Medium-well, not medium-rare. Too overcooked for me
The picture lies in this case. That said, Gasoline Grill is a big chain now and sometimes overcooks their burgers, but most of the time they are super juicy, luckily.