This Upper East Side mainstay dating to 1972 is a paragon of bar food. Sure the turkey club and chef’s salad are up to par, but the burgers command the most attention, especially when they pop up enticingly at the pass of the semi-open kitchen. The ground beef is fresh and the patty arrives deeply seared from the flat top, but still pink and juicy. Rippled cottage fries are the classic accompaniment.

Founded 15 years ago in Astoria, with a newer branch in Dutch Kills, Petey’s was in the vanguard of the local burger revival. Its burgers explode with flavor, though they are neither too thin nor too thick, topped with lettuce and tomato of studied freshness, plain American cheese, and raw onions a bit stronger than most. This is a paradigm of the American hamburger with no frills. The price is below average, too.

A great barbecue joint proves to be a pretty good place to look for a tasty burger. At the sprawling Astoria location of Pig Beach (the Gowanus original is closed), the modest-sized patty benefits from the wood smoke, and the cheese is applied with an unstinting hand, making for a gooey mess. Yes, the burger doesn’t look like much, but it’s delicious nevertheless.

The diner burger is making a comeback, and we’re beginning to realize it is a burger unique enough to have a category all its own. Similar to the smash burger, it’s seared, but on both sides, and the thicker patty is also cooked all the way through. While this makes it drier, it’s still great because double American cheese is annealed to both sides of the bun before the burger is assembled. Hollywood provides one of our best examples.

The burger at Fairfax could be mistaken for a stunt burger, one that puts more emphasis on appearance than taste. It’s anything but. Topped with smoked cheddar and barbecue mayo, the flavor is sweet and smoky, with potato sticks adding some crunch and salt. It comes on a toasted, upside-down bun.

The “legendary” burger at Nowon lives up to its name: two patties (made from a blend of chuck and short rib), pickles, onion, and a toasted sesame bun are held together with a single skewer. A decadent kimchi butter sauce is distributed throughout. It’s an actually interesting riff on the smash burger that’s managed to hold up since this restaurant opened in the East Village in 2019, and it’s just as good at the restaurant’s new location in Bushwick.

One of the few restaurants serving smash burgers in Chinatown, Burger By Day occupies a storefront that’s also home to bubble tea shop I’Milky. The smash burger comes with a pair of patties smashed to a crisp, the sear so profound that it crackles on the first bite. American cheese and the counter’s special sauce, which is pink and slightly sweet, complete the sandwich. The burger is available in a dozen sizes and preparations.

You wouldn’t expect one of the city’s great burgers to be served at a restaurant attached to a hotel — where burgers are often ho-hum due to the captive nature of their audience — but there it is, Corner Bar’s compact cheeseburger. The cheese is New York State cheddar, and the onions are caramelized to within an inch of their short lives. Not a sprawling burger, but a compact variety you can hold with one hand. From 2:30 to 6 p.m., Monday to Thursday, it’s available at the bar for $15.

This lush burger is a fit successor to the famous DB burger of two decades ago. Comprised of beef, it’s also mantled with a sheet of crisp pork belly to give an unexpected semi-crunch and extra richness. The mayo is laced with peppercorns and cornichons, and the cheese, quite naturally, is Gruyere in a hamburger recipe that acts like the burger was invented in Lyon.

When a burger approaches $20, without fries, it’s held to a different standard: We expect better beef, a cheese that holds its own, and maybe a spoonful of jammy, caramelized onions to tie things together. Rolo’s in Ridgewood hits all the marks with its double cheeseburger, throwing a pickled hot pepper on the side like it’s an old-school Italian sandwich shop. It’s rich and meaty, the kind of sandwich you won’t want to share but will be glad you did.

Like other entries on this list, the burger at Gus’s is best when shared. The rich patty is made from a blend of pork, chuck, and dry-aged beef, then topped with raw and caramelized onions, aged cheddar, and cornichons for a burger that feels like a full meal. The burger is off-menu, and a limited number are available each night.