Top Dubai bun slingers, Good Burger to open first standalone diner

A new home for some very good burgers…

Ok, maybe this sounds a little dramatic but, discovering JLT’s prodigious pattie pop-up Good Burger, was genuinely one of the best things to happen to us last year.

Of course the ‘best things of 2020’ category was somewhat limited by a pandemic, but one member of the What’s On team did have a child last year, and we still stick by our claim.

The secret ingredient is peril

Good Burger currently exists as an alternate menu inside the much-adored Mexican cantina, Maiz Tacos (JLT Cluster Y). But it almost didn’t make it.

The concept was born just before the first real wave of Covid rolled in. It was raised in the shadow of lockdown ennui, a food delivery experiment that, fortunately, struck an orchestral chord with Dubai’s discerning burger connoisseurs. Word spread, devotees ordered, and the legacy was born.

And now, just a year later, Good Burger is getting its own spin off story, a standalone store based in JVC, due to open *tightly crosses fingers* in December.

What’s the big deal?

There will always be warring preferences when it comes to the question of ‘what makes a good burger’?

At the time of writing, there are no expert-backed scales of objective burger awesomeness. And so what if there was? Some people are always going to make goo-goo eyes at the thiccer sort of beef patty, others will only settle for a spicy chicken fillet. Some people are inexplicably drawn to drown what’s between their buns in sauce and soggy garnish, and then there are those curious cases that will swear blind they’d choose a brioche, over a potato, bun.

The magic of Good Burger is in the detail. In building what is their own vision of the perfect burger, every element, every layer has earned its place. Elected through a rigorous testing process, spearheaded by two individuals blessed with an uncommon artistry for burgers.

We love the unpretentiousness of their work, the mastery of those golden fundamentals – the quality, composition and grill skills put into the serving of their smashed patties; we gusto mucho the distinct absence of grease that comes with their sandwiches, especially given their well balanced fat content. Somehow they just keep that juice locked in.

Their buttermilk chicken burgers can go crispy-fillet-to-crispy-fillet with any other sando joint in the emirate, and the loaded fries are potential Dubai GOATs. Good Burger, has got buns hun.

Our order? Classic double patty, cheese, pickles, tomato, lettuce, onion, Good Burger sauce.

The future’s looking Good

Talking to What’s On about the exciting news, Good Burger co-owner Luma Makhlouf said: “It feels very surreal to be saying we are opening our first ever Good Burger. Haider has been making these exact burgers in our backyard for years, and everyone who’s tried them said he had to open a burger joint – finally he launched it as a pop up and now its thriving! We are so excited and very grateful we can announce our first ever standalone Good burger is coming soon – just a year after it came to life!”

If you can’t wait until December, you can get Good Burger in store at Maiz Tacos, Lower Level Cluster Y JLT (available for delivery via Deliveroo). Tel: (04) 514 4712, @goodburgerdxb

Images: Instagram