Ever since the start, I’ve followed Burger Dudes, and I’ve also had the privilege of meeting the creators of the account (one of them even having a past as a moderator here at Gamereactor). Their idea made sense during the era when Sweden – with Flippin’ Burgers as some kind of starting point – went from Donken and Sibylla as the only real burger alternatives.
For a while, it felt like new places were popping up all the time, and artisanal burgers were losing appeal, but Burger Dudes has gone ahead regardless of trends and delivered countless interesting analyses about this wonderful dish. Now, of course, I haven’t eaten nearly as many burgers as this gang, but when I’ve had the chance to try one of their recommendations – I’ve generally agreed with them.
This week, they have crowned 2025’s best burgers in a number of categories, where several of them are places that can be found in a single place, of which few of us have probably eaten at more than a couple at most. But… They also have an award for Chain of the Year, which I think is just as exciting in many ways because it’s something we can all probably relate to, and I imagine that it’s probably still really difficult to create a product that is supposed to be of high class, look the same and taste the same whether you buy them in Kiruna, Östersund, Jönköping or Gothenburg.
And… This year, the award for best chain went to Bastard Burgers, a Luleå chain that today operates from north to south with the motivation:
“Bastard Burgers is the burger chain of the year! Despite great turbulence on the burger scene, they have gathered strength and focused on their product, increased the quality and delivered awesome burgers in all their restaurants around Sweden.”
I can only agree, and will probably celebrate with a Bastard this weekend just for that – probably a Luleå, I think.
Which burger chain in Sweden is your personal favorite (picture from the Bastard Burgers menu)?