NATIONAL DAYFOOD & DRINK

National Hamburger Day

Meat, bun, cheese, toppings. 50 billion served per year in America. National Hamburger Day on May 28 honors the sandwich that might be the most American food of all — disputed origin story, universal appeal, and the go-to order in every city on earth.

MAY28

Friday, May 28Every year on May 28

days to go

Roots: Disputed (4 cities)
Vibe: Smoky & Sizzling
Also on May 28: Beef Burger Day · Brisket Day
Hashtag: #NationalHamburgerDay

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Ways to celebrate

The classic American celebration — grill one, eat one, share one:

🔥 Grill or smash one. 80/20 ground beef, high heat, salt and pepper only (great beef needs nothing else).
🍞 Upgrade the bun. Brioche, potato roll, or pretzel bun. The bun matters more than you think.
🧀 Try a regional style. Oklahoma onion burger, smash burger, Juicy Lucy, butter burger, green chile burger. Each is a whole regional identity.
🍟 Fries matter. Twice-fried, if you have time. Or: cheap frozen fries, deeply crispy.
🥤 Classic sides. Milkshake (real ice cream, real milk). Pickles. Maybe a cola.

Make it your kind of celebration

Family
Burger bar night — everyone builds their own. Set out 10 toppings, watch it become a whole activity.
Kids
Sliders. Kid-sized. With cheese. With pickles. Kids love having "their" version of what adults are eating.
Couples
Backyard burger night beats most restaurants. Good beef, a cold drink, a movie after. Low effort, high payoff.
Office
Office burger bar for lunch — hire a local burger truck or cater from a good spot. Sunday afternoon favorite for a team-building event.
School
Not school food, but a class discussion on how a humble sandwich became a global cultural export. Lots to teach here.
Community
Community burger cookout — grill, condiments, the whole block. Cheap to scale; universally enjoyed.
Just me
One great burger at a great spot. Or one great burger at home. Either way: savor it. Don't scroll while you eat.

Plan ahead

National Hamburger Day is observed on May 28 every year. Here is where it lands for the next ten years, handy for planners, marketers and party people.

2026Thu, May 28this year

2027Fri, May 28

2028Sun, May 28

2029Mon, May 28

2030Tue, May 28

2031Wed, May 28

2032Fri, May 28

2033Sat, May 28

2034Sun, May 28

2035Mon, May 28

2036Wed, May 28

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Fast facts

1885(contested)

May 28, 2027

The story

No single American food has a more contested origin than the hamburger. Four cities claim to have invented it. None of them can definitively prove it. All of them serve a great burger.

Read the full story

The ground-beef-patty-on-bread concept has ancestors, German "Hamburg steak" was a 19th-century immigrant dish (literally: a steak, Hamburg-style). But the hamburger as we know it, served in a bun, emerges in the United States in the 1880s-1900s. And at least four cities claim to have invented it.

Seymour, Wisconsin, claims "Hamburger" Charlie Nagreen invented it in 1885 at the Seymour Fair when he flattened a meatball between two slices of bread. New Haven, Connecticut, claims Louis Lassen of Louis' Lunch invented it in 1900 when a rushed customer asked for something to eat on the run. Athens, Texas, claims Fletcher Davis of "Old Dave's Café" invented it in the 1880s and introduced it to the world at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Hamburg, New York, claims the Menches Brothers invented it at the 1885 Erie County Fair. All four have plaques. All four have festivals. All four have records that are plausible but none conclusive.

What is certain: by the 1920s, the hamburger was an American food. White Castle opened in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921 and made it the first nationally-chained fast-food item. McDonald's refined the model in 1948. Burger King in 1954. Wendy's in 1969. In-N-Out had been quietly perfecting the California burger since 1948. By 1980, the hamburger was one of the most-ordered foods in America and it has stayed near the top ever since.

National Hamburger Day is an informal observance on May 28, kicking off Memorial Day weekend, the start of American grilling season. It has no federal or corporate founder; it's simply a day that accumulated importance by consensus. Americans eat billions of burgers a year. National Hamburger Day is an excuse to cook one with intention.

Four things that separate a perfect burger from a sad one:

Same sandwich, wildly different cities. Six regional styles worth a road trip:

Did you know?

Americans eat billions of burgers per year.

The hamburger remains one of the country's most popular foods.

The world's most expensive burger: $5,964.

Sold at a De Daltons restaurant in the Netherlands. Features Kobe beef, black truffles, edible gold leaf, and lobster. One customer ordered it in 2021.

The word 'cheeseburger' was trademarked in 1935.

A California cook named Lionel Sternberger claimed to have invented it in 1926 at his father's restaurant, The Rite Spot. The trademark for the name "cheeseburger" was filed by Louis Ballast of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver in 1935.