The Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden

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• Top 6 Cheeseburgers in Nashville

  Currently #2 · score 0

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• Brown's Diner

  Brown's Diner has been open in Nashville's Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood since 1927, when it started life inside a converted mule-drawn trolley car parked on Blair Boulevard. Nearly a century later it's still operating in essentially the same footprint, and it holds Nashville's oldest beer license — a small legal detail that says a lot about how long this place has been a fixture of the neighborhood rather than a recent addition to it. The signature order is the "1927 Cheeseburger": a griddled patty dressed with lettuce, tomato, onion, and Duke's Mayonnaise, with pickle chips speared on top of the bun, served alongside tots or fries. The technique hasn't changed much either — the same griddle method the diner has used for close to a hundred years, no reinvention required, just a burger that's been cooked the same honest way since before most of Nashville's current dining scene existed. Brown's has built a genuinely mixed clientele over the decades — construction workers, neighborhood regulars, and platinum-selling recording artists all end up at the same handful of tables, drawn by a tiny stage that's hosted live music for years alongside the burger and beer. That combination of blue-collar tavern and low-key music-industry hangout is a very Nashville kind of overlap, and it's part of why the diner reads as a genuine dive rather than a themed one. The sheer number of "Best Cheeseburger" nods Brown's has picked up over the years is hard to fully catalog at this point — enough that longtime regulars tend to treat the accolades as background noise rather than news. That steady, decades-long accumulation of local praise, rather than any single viral moment, is what's kept Brown's near the top of nearly every serious Nashville burger conversation. For a Nashville cheeseburger list, Brown's Diner is the essential "century-old dive that never had to change" entry — a trolley-car tavern turned neighborhood institution, still griddling the same thin, no-frills cheeseburger it's served since 1927.

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• Hugh-Baby's BBQ & Burger Shop

  Hugh-Baby's BBQ & Burger Shop opened on August 29, 2017, on Charlotte Avenue in West Nashville, founded by pitmaster Pat Martin as his second major restaurant venture after Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint. The name is a tribute to Martin's uncle, known in the family as "Hugh Baby" Coleman, and the whole concept was built as a loving nod to the small-town eateries Martin remembered from his own childhood rather than a scaled-down version of his whole-hog barbecue restaurants. Where Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint is a sit-down destination built around West Tennessee-style whole-hog barbecue, Hugh-Baby's is deliberately fast-casual — a counter-service burger and barbecue shop meant for quick, affordable meals rather than a planned-out dinner. Reviewers have consistently noted that Hugh-Baby's delivers real quality at a lower price point than many of its Nashville burger competitors, which fits Martin's stated goal of building a nostalgic, unpretentious neighborhood spot rather than another destination restaurant carrying his name. Martin's own reputation matters here: he's widely recognized as one of the country's leading pitmasters and one of the few still carrying the torch for West Tennessee whole-hog barbecue specifically, a labor-intensive regional style that's become rarer as barbecue trends have shifted toward faster methods elsewhere. That pedigree shows up on the Hugh-Baby's menu too, where the burgers share space with genuine barbecue rather than a burger joint's usual afterthought pulled pork sandwich. The shop has expanded to multiple Nashville locations since its 2017 opening, growing off the strength of that original Charlotte Avenue shop without losing the small-town, counter-service feel that was the whole point from the start — a burger built by a barbecue chef who wanted to make something simpler and cheaper than his flagship, not a scaled-up version of it. For a Nashville cheeseburger list, Hugh-Baby's is the essential "barbecue pitmaster's side project done right" entry — a fast, affordable, smash-style burger from one of the South's most respected barbecue chefs, built as a genuine tribute to the small-town diners of his childhood.

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• Kayne Prime

  Kayne Prime sits in the middle of The Gulch, the once-industrial rail district that's become one of Nashville's densest strips of condos, nightlife, and upscale dining over the past two decades. The restaurant markets itself as a "chef-chic" American steakhouse — modern interpretations of classic steakhouse dishes, a market-driven and farm-to-table approach to ingredients, an expansive wine list, and a craft cocktail program that reads more like a cocktail bar's than a traditional chophouse's. Steakhouses aren't usually where a city's best cheeseburger conversation starts, but Kayne Prime has built a real following for its burger specifically, built from the same high-quality beef program the kitchen uses for its steaks rather than a separate, cheaper cut set aside for a bar menu. It's the kind of order regulars specifically know to ask for — a burger that benefits from a steakhouse kitchen's butchery and grilling technique rather than a dedicated burger cook's. That "insider order inside a fine-dining room" quality is part of what makes Kayne Prime worth including on a broader Nashville cheeseburger list: it's a genuinely different context from a diner counter or a backyard smashburger stand, a thick, well-charred patty built by a kitchen whose primary job is dry-aged steaks, served in a room designed for date nights and business dinners rather than a quick lunch. The Gulch itself is worth understanding as context — a neighborhood that's transformed from rail yards into one of Nashville's most upscale corridors, filled with the kind of ambitious, design-forward restaurants that Kayne Prime is built to compete alongside. A burger holding its own on a menu surrounded by dry-aged tomahawks and an extensive wine list is a different kind of achievement than winning over a counter-service crowd. For a Nashville cheeseburger list, Kayne Prime is the essential "steakhouse burger" entry — a thick, well-built cheeseburger benefiting from the same butchery and fire that make the surrounding steaks the main event, served in one of The Gulch's most polished dining rooms.

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• M.L.Rose Craft Beer & Burgers

  M.L.Rose started in 2008 in Nashville's Melrose neighborhood, on 8th Avenue South near what's now the busier 12 South corridor, as a straightforward neighborhood beer bar with a kitchen attached. The original Melrose location quickly became a genuine local gathering spot, the kind of bar regulars default to rather than seek out, and the business has since grown into a small local chain with locations spread across Capitol View, Sylvan Park, and out to Mt. Juliet. Along the way, the company rebranded to lead with "Craft Beer & Burgers" specifically, sharpening its identity around the two things it does best rather than trying to be a general American pub with a long, unfocused menu. M.L.Rose describes itself as pouring more craft beer than any other business in Tennessee, a claim built on a genuinely deep, constantly rotating tap list that's as central to the concept as the burger menu sitting next to it. The burgers themselves are built for a beer-and-a-burger crowd rather than a fine-dining one — thick, well-seasoned patties with straightforward, craveable toppings, designed to pair with whatever's currently pouring rather than to stand alone as the night's main event. That's a different goal than a dedicated burger restaurant chasing a single perfect build, and M.L.Rose has stuck to it consistently across four locations and more than fifteen years. Staying a genuinely local, Nashville-grown chain rather than franchising nationally or getting acquired by a larger restaurant group has let M.L.Rose keep its neighborhood-bar identity even as it's expanded — each location functions as its own hangout rather than a franchise outpost, and the beer list stays the real draw that the burger menu supports. For a Nashville cheeseburger list, M.L.Rose is the essential "beer bar that also makes a great burger" entry — a Melrose original that's grown into a small local chain built as much around its deep craft beer list as its thick, pub-style cheeseburgers.

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• Fat Mo's Burgers

  Fat Mo's Burgers has been serving Nashville since 1985, founded, according to Nashville Scene's reporting, because its founder was disappointed by the burgers he found around the city at the time and decided to build a better one himself. Four decades later, the original approach hasn't changed much — straightforward, no-nonsense burgers built for value rather than spectacle, at a handful of locations that have stayed close to their working-class roots. Every burger at Fat Mo's is made with 85 percent lean beef, a specific enough detail that regulars know to ask about it, and patties are cooked fresh to order rather than pre-formed and held — a choice that takes longer than a typical fast-food burger but has been part of the restaurant's identity since the beginning. The menu's other standout, a well-regarded catfish sandwich, signals a kitchen with real Southern range beyond just burgers. The original Nashville location on 8th Avenue South has stayed the flagship even as Fat Mo's expanded to additional locations in Lebanon and Antioch, a modest regional footprint that's grown slowly rather than through aggressive franchising. That patience has kept the brand feeling like a genuine local burger stand rather than a chain trying to scale too fast. Fat Mo's has occasionally been left out of national "best of" burger roundups simply because some of those lists require decades of continuous operation before they'll consider a spot — an odd technicality for a restaurant that's actually been serving the same fresh, thin, griddled burger since Ronald Reagan's first term, longer than plenty of restaurants that do make those lists. For a Nashville cheeseburger list, Fat Mo's is the essential "no-frills value burger done right" entry — a thin, fresh-cooked patty built on real 85 percent lean beef, serving the same straightforward burger it set out to build four decades ago.

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More in Restaurants

• JB's Smokeshack

  JB's Smokeshack built a devoted local following in the greater Charleston area around a straightforward, no-frills approach to South Carolina barbecue, operating with a smaller, more counter-service-focused format than some of the city's larger, more restaurant-formatted barbecue destinations. Its traditional preparation and mustard-based sauce options reflect a commitment to South Carolina's native barbecue style, serving a genuinely local, unpretentious version of the region's barbecue tradition without the added draw of a celebrity pitmaster backstory or a broader bar-and-music concept. The restaurant's smaller scale and straightforward format have made it a particularly popular choice among Charleston-area residents specifically seeking a quick, reliably good barbecue meal without the wait times that come with the city's more nationally recognized barbecue destinations. For a Charleston BBQ list, JB's Smokeshack is the essential "no-frills local favorite" entry — a straightforward, counter-service barbecue operation serving traditional South Carolina barbecue without the wait times of the city's bigger-name destinations.

• Bessinger's Barbeque

  Bessinger's Barbeque has operated in the greater Charleston area for decades as one of the longest-running names associated with South Carolina's distinctive mustard-based "Carolina Gold" barbecue sauce tradition, a regional sauce style largely unique to South Carolina among the country's major barbecue regions. Its whole-hog, mustard-sauced barbecue reflects a specific German immigrant culinary influence on South Carolina's barbecue tradition, since the mustard-based sauce style is generally traced back to German settlers in the region who brought mustard-forward condiment traditions with them. The Bessinger family name has been associated with South Carolina barbecue for multiple generations, and the restaurant's continued operation reflects one of the more historically significant family barbecue lineages in the entire mustard-sauce barbecue tradition. For a Charleston BBQ list, Bessinger's is the essential "Carolina Gold" entry — a multi-generational family operation carrying forward South Carolina's distinctive German-influenced, mustard-based barbecue sauce tradition.

• Melvin's Legendary BBQ

  Melvin's Legendary BBQ traces its roots to a Charleston barbecue tradition stretching back to the 1930s, with the current operation carrying forward a family barbecue legacy that predates most of the city's other current barbecue restaurants by decades. Its traditional South Carolina mustard-based sauce, along with its barbecue hash served over rice — a distinctly Lowcountry regional specialty less commonly found outside South Carolina — reflects a deep commitment to the state's specific historical barbecue traditions rather than a more generalized regional approach. The restaurant's long operating history has made it a genuine multi-generational Charleston institution, the kind of barbecue spot longtime residents specifically associate with the city's barbecue tradition predating the more recent wave of nationally recognized pitmasters opening restaurants there. For a Charleston BBQ list, Melvin's is the essential "decades-deep local tradition" entry — a barbecue operation tracing back to the 1930s, serving traditional South Carolina mustard sauce and barbecue hash well before Charleston's more recent barbecue boom began.

• Home Team BBQ

  Home Team BBQ built its Charleston-area following around a combination of traditional South Carolina barbecue technique and a more contemporary, music-and-craft-beer-driven bar atmosphere, distinguishing it from more purely traditional, food-first barbecue joints elsewhere in the region. Its menu draws on multiple regional barbecue traditions rather than committing exclusively to South Carolina's native mustard-based style, offering a range of sauce options that let diners compare Carolina, Texas, and other regional approaches within a single visit. The restaurant's expansion to multiple locations across the greater Charleston area, each maintaining the same live-music-and-barbecue combination, reflects its broader identity as much as a social gathering spot and music venue as a straightforward barbecue restaurant. For a Charleston BBQ list, Home Team BBQ is the essential "barbecue as a night out" entry — a multi-location barbecue-and-live-music concept offering a wider range of regional sauce styles within a more social, bar-forward atmosphere than the area's more traditional barbecue joints.

• Lewis Barbecue

  Lewis Barbecue brought Texas-style, post-oak-smoked brisket to Charleston, founded by pitmaster John Lewis, who spent years working at Austin's legendary Franklin Barbecue before relocating to South Carolina to open his own restaurant, giving Charleston a genuinely serious Texas-style barbecue option within a region otherwise dominated by whole-hog tradition. Its smokehouse, built specifically to Lewis's Texas-trained specifications and fired with post oak rather than the hickory or oak more commonly used in South Carolina barbecue, produces a bark and smoke profile closely modeled on the Central Texas tradition rather than the vinegar-and-mustard sauced barbecue native to the Lowcountry. The restaurant's introduction of genuine Texas-style brisket into a South Carolina barbecue scene historically defined by whole-hog and mustard-based sauce traditions gave Charleston diners a meaningful side-by-side comparison between two of the country's most distinct regional barbecue styles. For a Charleston BBQ list, Lewis Barbecue is the essential "Texas transplant" entry — a Franklin Barbecue-trained pitmaster's post-oak-smoked brisket operation, bringing genuine Central Texas technique into South Carolina's traditionally whole-hog barbecue territory.