UK cities that offer the best-value burgers

Survey uncovers where Brits can buy the best-value burgers in the UK. Photo: Ilya Mashkov/Unsplash
No menu card is complete without a burger offering. Photo: Ilya Mashkov/Unsplash

Brits love burgers. Since the mid-2010s, countless eateries, bars and gastro-pubs have beefed up their menu to cash in on the nation’s obsession with quality patties.

So, where is the best place to get yourself an affordable, tasty burger in the UK?

Ocean Finance surveyed the most popular places to grab one across Britain’s biggest cities, based on TripAdvisor’s user scores – getting the prices of 1,380 menu items from 345 of Britain’s burger joints, pubs and restaurants.

The data shows that there’s a significant disparity in how much you’ll have to fork out for a burger, depending on where in the country you live.

Exeter is the priciest place to grab a burger in the UK, at a whopping cost of about £17.40.

Wolverhampton is a frugal burger lover’s paradise. The west-midlands city has the lowest average cost in the UK, at about £9.20. That’s an 87% difference in price.

However, Derry is home to the most reasonably-priced meat-free burger, at just £6.50, the data shows.

But in Southampton you’ll have to shell out £13.10 – twice more than in Derry.

The average overall cost of a gourmet burger in the UK is now four times that of a Big Mac, at £12.30, the survey found.

But you could save about 14% on your bill by switching to a veggie burger alternative, with the average UK price just £10.70.

READ MORE: Hemp and Cricket Burgers Are Coming for Beyond Meat

However, despite the growing plant-based meat market, almost half (48%) of the restaurants do not offer an on-menu vegan burger alternative, the study found.

While vegetarian options are much more common, with meat-free burgers like spicy bean patties a common feature on menus, almost half of places would require a diner to request changes to the menu in order to enjoy a vegan alternative.

The north-east leads the way in vegan burgers, with the most available in its top-rated restaurants.

Source: OceanFinance
Source: OceanFinance

READ MORE: McDonald's follows rival Burger King's lead on plant-based burgers

When it comes to specific cities, Newcastle and Southampton come out on top. All the most popular restaurants in these cities have at least one vegan burger alternative on their menus.

With about 600,000 vegans in the UK as of 2018, according to The Vegan Society, and one in three Brits attempting to reduce their meat intake, restaurants will “need to seriously consider what burger options they’re offering to keep up with the UK’s evolving dietary and lifestyle choices,” OceanFinance said.