National Hamburger Day Date in the current year: May 28, 2024

A hamburger, often referred to simply as burger, is a food consisting of a ground meat patty, which is sometimes also called a burger, placed inside a sliced bun. Hamburgers typically contain other fillings alongside the meat patty, such as cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, pickles, as well as condiments such as ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, relish, barbecue sauce, aioli, etc.

The term “hamburger” usually implies a beef patty, so the names of burgers that use other types of meat or meat substitutes can be prefaced with a clarification, such as turkey burger, chicken burger, bison/buffalo burger, venison burger, salmon burger, veggie burger, portobello burger, or Beyond Meat burger. Hamburgers topped with cheese in addition to the patty are called cheeseburgers.

Although the term “hamburger” derives from the German city of Hamburg, the food has no connection to the city. The origin of the dish is unclear and there are multiple claims for invention of the hamburger, but it most likely originated some time in the late 19th century thanks to German immigrants who had brought the so-called Hamburg steaks (ground beef patties) to the United States.

Hamburgers have become extremely popular in the United States thanks to the development of fast food restaurant chains. The first American hamburger chain was White Castle, founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. Today, the top 10 most popular hamburger chains in America are McDonald’s, Five Guys, Wendy’s, Burger King, Steak ‘N Shake, In-N-Out Burger, Culver’s, Sonic, Whataburger, and White Castle.

There are a lot of regional hamburger varieties in the United States. For example, a 50/50 burger is a Southern California specialty made with a 50% ground beef and 50% ground bacon patty; a Carolina burger is a chili burger served with coleslaw, chopped onions and mustard; a Hawaii burger is topped with pineapple and often contains teriyaki sauce; a Luther burger substitutes glazed doughnuts for the bun; a slugburger is a traditional Southern food made with a deep-fried patty consisting of pork or beef mixed with an inexpensive meat extender etc.

The origin of National Hamburger Day is unclear, but the choice of the date makes sense because May is both National Hamburger Month and National Beef Month. The best way to celebrate the holiday is, of course, to treat yourself to a delicious hamburger at your favorite burger place and spread awareness about National Hamburger Day on social media.

If you want to get more creative, you can splurge for a gourmet burger at a fine-dining restaurant, vow to eat only burgers all day long, get your friends together and do a “burger crawl” to find out which burger joint serves the best hamburgers in town, or invite your family and friends over for a burger cook-off.

America’s National Hamburger Day should not be confused with Britain’s National Burger Day. The latter is observed on the Thursday before the August bank holiday weekend.