LELAND — After having launched its third location in a Brunswick County town last fall, a North Carolina burger shack is being heralded for its handheld by a top foodie news source.
READ MORE: Fave Chapel Hill burger shack to open in Leland, Wilmington next
Chowhound — an American-based food site that launched in 1997 — ranked the best burgers nationwide in May. For the Tar Heel State, it found Al’s Burger Shack, with multiple locations including Leland, topped the list for best all-American handheld.
Located near HotWorx, Eggs Up Grill and The Greeks, Al’s Leland location is only the third in the state, the first having opened on Franklin Street near UNC’s campus and another in Chapel Hill’s Southern Village area. The restaurants are owned by UNC graduates Charlie Farris and Jason Kesler, both of whom also oversee roughly 30 Jersey Mike’s franchises in North Carolina.
Chowhound noted Al’s burgers come a medium “pink” temperature and are punctuated by fun toppings, such as Al’s Sauce and bacon-onion jam, or as garlic aioli, Cheerwine BBQ sauce, bacon, and the like. The restaurant also has a bevy of sides, including crinkle-cut fries, tater tots and sweet potato fries.
The burgers are hand-pattied, made from ground chuck, with just enough fat and lean meat combination to create a juicy bite, and cooked to the customer’s chosen temperature.
It’s not the first time Al’s has reached the top pick among burger eateries. In 2018, TripAdvisor considered its Bobo Chili Cheeseburger — basically a Carolina-style burger, topped with American cheese, mustard, chili, onions, and slaw — as the “Best Burger in America” among a list of 10 nationwide.
The restaurant has also landed on IndyWeek’s annual Best Of awards in the Triangle for Best Burger, with its sea-salt and rosemary fries stacking in the top three in News & Observer’s 2023 annual poll.
Farris and Kesler, familiar with the burger concept which started in the mid-aughts, purchased the restaurant from Al Bowers in 2022. They opened the Leland location, around 2,000 square feet with patio seating, last year and told PCD in 2023 they were eyeing a spot in Wilmington as well.
To read all of Chowhound’s burger picks across the U.S., click here.
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