Lawrence.com

The Burger Stand at the Casbah

803 Massachusetts St. • 785-856-0543

If the best burger contest were a Chinese empire, the Burger Stand would be approaching dynasty-dom. Readers have voted it Lawrence’s best burger for the third straight year, and Zagat recently put it on its nationwide “Best Burgers in 25 Cities” list.

“We feel even more love now than ever before,” general manager Chris Hoffman said. “The town isn’t bored of us yet, and hopefully they never will be.”

Is it really just the burgers? Or is it all the fun stuff on the side?

There are burgers topped with habañero-cactus jam, truffle butter, local micro-greens, Granny Smith apple chutney and all kinds of cheese. (What’s on the daily special is anyone’s guess.)

There’s a self-serve firing line of house-made sauces. Guajillo chili dip? Roasted garlic parmesan aioli? Chipotle cocoa ketchup? Marshmallow dip? Have as much as you want.

And you don’t just order fries, you pick from more than a half-dozen kinds. Among them are sweet potato (hence the marshmallow dip), smoked tofu, duck fat and poutine — doused in salt, pepper and gooey brown gravy.

“There are some other awesome places to get a burger here in town, but every day we are trying to separate ourselves from the rest of the herd,” Hoffman said, citing points of pride including good service, the vintage building’s hip atmosphere, activities like video game and karaoke nights, and offerings good for everyone from families to late-night snackers. “We try to be all of that without losing who we truly are at the core. In burgers we trust!”

—Sara Shepherd sshepherd@ljworld.com

Runners Up

• Dempsey's Burger Pub
• Johnny's Tavern