Best Burgers in Shorewood, Ranked

Along Oakland Avenue and Capitol Drive, you can find everything from a reliable Wisconsin butter burger to a deli-style monster stacked with corned beef to a neighborhood bar burger that might be one of the best on the North Shore.

If you’re building a full food crawl, you can also check out our guide to the best restaurants in Shorewood, our list of outdoor dining patios in Shorewood, and our broader guide to Milwaukee’s best smash burgers.

Here’s our ranking of the best burgers in Shorewood, starting with the good and ending with the one worth planning your night around.

6. Culver’s

Let’s be honest: Culver’s is not the hidden gem on this list. It’s Culver’s. You already know what you’re getting.

But the Shorewood Culver’s earns a spot because sometimes the best burger is the one that is fast, easy, kid-approved and comes with cheese curds and custard. The ButterBurger is a Wisconsin comfort food staple for a reason. It’s not the most adventurous burger in town, but it is dependable, affordable and almost impossible to argue with when everyone in the car is hungry.

Best order: ButterBurger with cheese, fries or curds, and whatever the Flavor of the Day tells you to do.

If the custard is the real reason you’re going, we also ranked the best frozen custard in the Milwaukee area.

5. Three Lions Pub

Three Lions brings the pub energy, and the burger fits right in. Their build-your-own burger comes on a brioche bun with lettuce and tomato and is served with thick-cut English chips, which already gives it a little more personality than your standard bar basket.

The real move here is to lean into the setting: order a burger, get the chips, grab a pint and settle in.

Best for: Pub night, casual dinners and anyone who wants a burger with proper fries.

Want more on the spot itself? Read our full feature on Three Lions Pub in Shorewood. And if you’re more of a fish-and-chips person, we have a separate guide to where to find fish and chips in Shorewood.

4. Foxhole Craft Beer & Kitchen

Foxhole Craft Beer & Kitchen is the kind of Shorewood spot that makes a burger ranking more interesting. It is not just doing a basic bar burger and calling it a day.

Its Chimichurri Burger special brings together a 1/3-pound beef smash patty, chimichurri mayo, an egg white puck, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, served with fries. That is a lot going on, but in a good way. The chimichurri mayo gives it brightness, the Swiss keeps it rich, and the smash patty gives it the crispy-edged burger texture people are chasing right now.

This one also has a strong “grab a burger and stay for a drink” case. Foxhole’s happy hour runs Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m., with specials like High Life bottles, PBR tall boys, double tall rails and chicken tenders with fries.

Best for: A burger-and-beer night, especially if the weekend special is on the menu.

3. Benji’s Deli & Restaurant

Benji’s is famous for corned beef, so naturally its best burger is the one that remembers exactly where it came from.

The Benji Burger takes the traditional deli DNA of the place and stacks it onto a burger with hand-carved corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing. Is it a burger? Is it a Reuben-adjacent deli sandwich? Does it matter? Not really.

This is the most Shorewood-specific burger on the list because it feels like something only Benji’s would do. It’s big, nostalgic, messy in the right way and absolutely not pretending to be trendy.

Best for: Anyone who usually orders the Reuben but wants to go off-script.

For more on why this place matters locally, read our full guide to Benji’s Deli, a 60-year Shorewood treasure. Benji’s also fits nicely into a bigger comfort-food tour, especially if you’re browsing our guide to the 50 best sandwiches in Greater Milwaukee.

2. Crave Cafe

Crave Cafe deserves serious respect because burgers are not an afterthought here. They are the main event.

The menu goes well beyond the basics, with options like the Crave Burger, Korean BBQ Burger, Japanese Katsu Burger, Mushroom and Swiss, Hamburguesa and more. It’s small, casual and easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, but Crave is one of Shorewood’s strongest burger stops because it has range.

This is the place to go when one person wants a classic cheeseburger and someone else wants kimchi, spicy mayo or white truffle aioli involved. It’s creative without being fussy, and it still feels like a true neighborhood spot.

Best for: Burger variety, takeout nights and anyone who wants something more interesting than the usual.

We have a full feature on Crave Cafe, Shorewood’s burger gem, and it also belongs on any list of unique burgers in Greater Milwaukee.

1. Cloud Red

The best burger in Shorewood is at Cloud Red.

Cloud Red’s burger hits the sweet spot: serious ingredients, bar-food comfort and just enough personality. The burger is the kind of order that feels right at a neighborhood social house: big enough to anchor dinner, casual enough to pair with a drink, and built with enough crunch, sauce and richness to make it memorable.

That is what makes it work. It does not try too hard. It feels like an elevated neighborhood bar burger without losing the part that makes a burger fun in the first place.

Cloud Red also has the setting to match: casual, lively, a little tucked away and very Shorewood. It’s the kind of place where you go in for a drink and end up telling someone, “Actually, you need to try this burger.”

Best for: The best overall burger experience in Shorewood.

Cloud Red is also a good stop if you’re using our Shorewood outdoor dining guide to plan a warmer-weather meal, and it appears in our Milwaukee dining deals guide for families looking to stretch a night out.

Final Verdict

If you want the most creative burger menu, go to Crave Cafe.

If you want the most uniquely Shorewood burger, go to Benji’s.

If you want the best reliable family burger, Culver’s always does the job.

But if you’re ranking Shorewood burgers from good to great, Cloud Red belongs at the top.

Still hungry? Keep the burger hunt going with our ranking of the best burgers in Ozaukee County, or browse more local ideas in our Food and Drinks Guide.

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