The Burger as Social Equaliser
There is something beautifully democratic about a burger. No dress code required. No complicated wine pairing to navigate. No anxiety about which fork to use or whether you should have ordered the tasting menu. A burger is just food, done well, eaten with your hands, ideally with sauce running down your chin and a pile of chips within reaching distance.
This makes burgers the ultimate group food. When you suggest a burger restaurant for a catch-up with friends, nobody has to check the menu first. Nobody worries about the price. Nobody feels underdressed. The playing field is level, and that matters more than most people realise. As we have explored in our piece on how sharing a meal can change your social life, the best social experiences are the ones where everyone feels comfortable — and a table full of burgers is about as comfortable as it gets.
Exeter's burger scene has come a long way from the days when your choices were a chain restaurant or a sad frozen patty in a pub. The city now has award-winning independents using rare-breed Devon beef, creative chicken burger specialists, smokehouse operations with on-site smokers, and enough variety to keep you eating burgers every week for a month without repeating a venue. Here is where to find the best of them.
The Independents
Meat59
If you ask a local where to get the best burger in Exeter, there is a very good chance they will say Meat59. Located on Magdalen Road — the independent-shop-lined street that functions as a tiny village within the city — this award-winning burger restaurant has built a devoted following since opening, and for good reason.
Everything that can be made in-house, is. The chilli, caramelised red onion, burger sauce, BBQ sauce, slaw, chilli jam, bacon ketchup, hot sauce, and hot wings are all prepared fresh on site. Local produce is sourced from across Devon, and the attention to quality shows in every bite. These are not burgers assembled from a list of bought-in components — they are crafted, layered, and genuinely thought about.
The signature burgers are worth knowing by name. The Smoking Cow — with bourbon glaze and smoked cheese — is rich, indulgent, and unapologetically messy. The Alabama Slammer features Southern-spiced crispy chicken with red jalapeños for those who like heat with their crunch. And for plant-based eaters, the Veg Alabama Slam burger proves that meat-free does not have to mean flavour-free.
Prices are fair for the quality. A lunch deal runs from 12pm to 4pm with a burger, chips, and slaw for around £9, which is genuinely excellent value. Evening prices are a bit higher but still reasonable. The restaurant itself is small, buzzy, and unpretentious — exactly what you want from a neighbourhood burger joint.
Meat59 is at 29 Magdalen Road, EX2 4TA. It gets busy, especially at weekends, so arriving early or booking ahead is wise.
Meat59's lunch deal — burger, chips, and slaw from just £9, available 12pm to 4pm — is one of the best value meals in Exeter. If you are exploring the Magdalen Road area, combine it with a browse of the independent shops and a coffee at one of the neighbourhood cafés for a perfect afternoon out.
Hub Box
Hub Box started life in St Ives, Cornwall, and has since expanded across the South West with a fiercely loyal following. The Exeter venue — which relocated to a much bigger space at 14 Catherine Street — is now a proper destination: a two-floor, all-day eating and drinking venue with an outdoor terrace and enough room to bring a crowd.
The burgers are the headline. Made with 21-day dry-aged Cornish rare-breed beef, cooked over charcoal, and served with hand-cut double-fried fries, they are a clear step above the average chain offering. The Big Kahuna and the Oklahoma smash burger are fan favourites, but the whole menu rewards exploration. Barbecue dishes cooked over charcoal add variety, and the drinks list — featuring a strong selection of craft beers and cocktails — means you can settle in for a proper evening.
Hub Box takes dietary requirements seriously. The menu is clearly marked with gluten-free and vegan options, and the plant-based burger is good enough that it does not feel like a compromise. If you are organising a group meal and need a venue where everyone — including the vegan, the coeliac, and the person who just wants a massive burger — can find something they actually want to eat, Hub Box is a safe and excellent bet.
The atmosphere is casual, lively, and family-friendly during the day, shifting to more of a social buzz in the evenings. The two-floor layout and terrace mean it absorbs groups well without feeling cramped.
Hub Box is at 14 Catherine Street, EX1 1EU.
Eat on the Green
For a burger in arguably the most beautiful setting in Exeter, Eat on the Green sits in a sixteenth-century building overlooking Cathedral Green. It is an independent restaurant, owned and managed by a team passionate about local, free-range produce — their meat and eggs come from farms near Crediton, bought directly from the farmers.
The homemade beef burgers are simple, well-made, and properly sourced. This is not a place trying to build a twelve-ingredient tower of a burger — it is a place that does a good burger with good ingredients and lets you eat it while looking at the cathedral. There is something to be said for that.
The broader menu covers all-day breakfasts, gluten-free battered haddock and chips, club sandwiches, and salads, making it versatile enough for a group with mixed appetites. Eat on the Green is open 9am to 5pm daily, so this is a lunch option rather than an evening destination. It is worth knowing about if you want a quality burger without the evening-out commitment.
Eat on the Green is on Cathedral Green. They give 1% of profits to Médecins Sans Frontières, which is a nice touch.
The Smokehouse
Beer Factory and Kitchen (BFK)
Technically just outside Exeter — at Hanlons Brewery in Newton St Cyres, about ten minutes' drive from the city centre — BFK is worth the trip for anyone who takes their burgers and barbecue seriously. This is a smokehouse restaurant housed inside a working brewery, and the combination is exactly as good as it sounds.
The kitchen runs a BBQ and burger menu built around their on-site smoker, affectionately named Peggy Sue. Devon oak and silver birch burn low and slow to create American-style barbecue, and the results are properly smoky, properly tender, and properly indulgent. The burgers sit alongside smoked brisket, ribs, and pulled pork, and everything champions local Devon produce.
Being inside a working brewery means the beer selection is outstanding. You can view the brewery through the shop area, and the craft ales produced on site are the perfect pairing for the food. It feels like a destination rather than just a restaurant — the kind of place you build an afternoon or evening around.
BFK is open Thursday 4pm to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 12pm to 10pm (food until 9pm). Booking is essential as it gets busy, particularly at weekends. The outdoor area is heated and undercover, with a sun-trap garden for warmer days.
BFK is at Hanlons Brewery, Half Moon Village, Newton St Cyres, EX5 5AE.
BFK is a brilliant option for a group outing that goes beyond a standard meal. Combine the smokehouse food with a brewery tour, taste the ales straight from the source, and make an afternoon of it. It is the kind of experience that gives people something to talk about — which is half the point of a good social gathering.
The Gastropub Burger
The Fat Pig
The Fat Pig on John Street is one of Exeter's most characterful pubs, and their burgers are a big part of the reason people keep coming back. This independent free house operates a distillery (producing gin, moonshine, rum, and vodka), an on-site brewery, and a smokehouse — and all of that feeds into a menu that is considerably more interesting than the average pub offering.
The burgers feature hand-reared pork and beef alongside hearty steaks and pulled pork from the smokehouse. It is proper, home-cooked pub food prepared to order, with the kind of depth and care that comes from making everything in-house. Live music nights add atmosphere, and the old Victorian pub setting — tucked away in Exeter's west quarter — gives it a character that no chain restaurant can replicate.
The Fat Pig is at 2 John Street, EX1 1BL. If you enjoy it, check out our wider guide to the best gastropubs in Exeter and Devon for more characterful pubs with food worth travelling for.
Burger Shack at City Gate
The City Gate Hotel at Iron Bridge has earned a strong reputation for its food — fresh, seasonal, locally sourced — and the Burger Shack menu is a focused extension of that philosophy. This is not a separate restaurant; it is a dedicated burger offering within the pub, and it does not try to do too much. What it does, it does well.
The burgers are built with the best British beef, expertly matched cheese, and bacon from some of the best farms in the country. Options include a double beef patty with melted cheese, pink onions, and burger sauce; a Louisiana hot sauce version with pickled chillies; and a breaded chicken burger with harissa mayo and buffalo hot and blue cheese sauce. There is also a plant patty with vegan cheese for non-meat eaters.
Extras are sensible — add bacon for £2 or an additional patty for £3.50. Tater tots (£5.50) or loaded tater tots with cheddar and plum ketchup (£6.50) are the side of choice. It is a tight, well-executed menu that does not pretend to be anything other than what it is: really good burgers in a really good pub.
City Gate is at 1 Iron Bridge, EX4 3RB.
The Late-Night and Budget Options
The Old Firehouse — New North Road
The Old Firehouse is one of those Exeter institutions that everyone seems to know about but somehow never makes the official guides. This rustic pub near Exeter Central Station serves enormous 14-inch square pizzas that are big enough to share between two or three people, and they also do a solid burger that has kept students and locals coming back for years. On Mondays, a Margherita pizza is just £10, which makes it one of the cheapest proper meals in the city.
But the real reason to mention the Old Firehouse here is the atmosphere. Live music most nights, a famous Monday quiz, open mic sessions, and a West Country cider selection that rivals most dedicated cider bars. If you want a burger in a venue with genuine character — the kind of place where you end up staying three hours longer than planned — this is it. It is also one of our picks in the best pubs in Exeter guide.
On The Waterfront — Exeter Quay
On The Waterfront does a reliable burger alongside its broader menu of pizzas, tapas, and seafood. The real draw is the waterside setting — on a warm evening, the terrace overlooking the canal basin is one of the best places to eat in the city. The burgers are not going to win any awards for complexity, but they are well-made, reasonably priced, and come with the kind of view that makes everything taste better. It is a particularly good option if your group has mixed preferences — someone can have a burger while someone else orders fish or pizza. Check Visit Exeter's restaurant listings for the latest opening times.
If you are visiting Exeter on a budget, combine a burger at the Old Firehouse with their live music or quiz night for a proper evening out that costs less than a single main course at most restaurants. For more affordable options, check our cheap eats under a tenner guide.
The Chains Worth Mentioning
Five Guys
We are not going to pretend that a chain burger guide entry is the same as an independent recommendation, but Five Guys has earned its place in Exeter's burger landscape honestly. Located at 74 Queen Street, it delivers exactly what it promises: generous, customisable burgers with unlimited free toppings, hand-cut fries in portions that could feed a small family, and milkshakes blended to order.
The appeal of Five Guys for a group outing is its predictability — in the best sense. Everyone knows what they are getting, there is no booking required, dietary preferences are easily accommodated (the customisation is genuinely flexible), and it is open late enough for a post-cinema or post-pub meal. It will never be the most exciting burger in Exeter, but it will always be a solid one.
Five Guys is at 74 Queen Street, EX4 3RX.
The Botanist
The Botanist in the Guildhall Shopping Centre straddles the line between chain and independent in an interesting way. The menus are packed with seasonal ingredients, the décor is distinctive (botanical illustrations, apothecary-style shelving, hanging plants everywhere), and the famous Hanging Kebabs have become a social media favourite.
But they also do burgers, and they do them well. The menu features robust options alongside their broader offering of international and British dishes. The real draw for a group is the terrace — if the sun is shining, it is one of the best outdoor dining spots in central Exeter. The lunch menu at £8.50 (Monday to Friday, until 4pm) is a good-value entry point.
The Botanist is at Queen Street Dining, Guildhall Shopping Centre, EX4 3HG.
Why Burgers Are Perfect for Group Socialising
We spend a lot of time at Dinners With Friends thinking about what makes a social dining experience work. And while we love a multi-course tasting menu or a carefully curated wine evening, there is a particular magic to the burger table that is worth acknowledging.
Burgers remove hierarchy. There is no anxiety about ordering the most expensive thing on the menu or the cheapest. Everyone is eating the same kind of food, in the same way, at the same pace. The mess is part of the experience — sauce on your chin is a shared vulnerability, not an embarrassment. And the sides (chips, onion rings, tater tots) create natural sharing opportunities that open up conversation.
There is also something about the informality that lowers social barriers. You are more likely to say something honest with a burger in your hand than with a linen napkin in your lap. The best conversations happen when people are relaxed, and nothing says relaxed like a table covered in burger wrappers and chip baskets.
Exeter's burger scene gives you plenty of options to test this theory. For a proper foodie experience with house-made everything, head to Meat59. For a group where everyone has different dietary needs, Hub Box handles the logistics brilliantly. For a destination outing with barbecue and brewery tours, BFK is unbeatable. And for a characterful pub burger with a story behind every ingredient, The Fat Pig delivers.
Whatever your preference, the invitation is the same: pick a place, gather some people, and share something good. If you are exploring more of Exeter's food scene, our guides to the best restaurants in Exeter and the best street food and food markets are good next reads. For a more refined evening, pair your burger with a drink at one of the city's craft beer taprooms — several of them sit within walking distance of the burger spots listed above. And if you are new to Exeter, a burger crawl through the city's independents is one of the most enjoyable ways to get your bearings.
Local Tips for Burger Lovers
Best day for a burger deal: Mondays at the Old Firehouse for cheap pizzas, or Meat59's lunch deal any weekday for burger, chips, and slaw from £9.
Best for a group outing: Hub Box on Catherine Street handles large parties well with its two-floor layout and terrace. Book ahead for Friday and Saturday evenings.
Best burger-and-beer pairing: BFK at Hanlons Brewery is unbeatable — burgers from the smokehouse with ales brewed metres away. Make an afternoon of it with a brewery tour.
Best plant-based burger: Hub Box's vegan option is excellent, but also check out the vegan burgers at venues in our vegan and vegetarian restaurant guide.
Best for a date: Eat on the Green overlooking the Cathedral — simple, well-sourced burgers in one of the most beautiful settings in the city. Follow it with a walk around the Cathedral Quarter.
Planning a burger night with friends? Meat59 and Hub Box both handle groups well, but booking ahead is worth doing at both — especially on Friday and Saturday evenings. For a more adventurous outing, rally the group for a trip to BFK at Hanlons Brewery and make an afternoon of burgers, barbecue, and brewery tours.