This is the best burger restaurant in Finland!

The Van specializes in the pressed Smash burger. – We keep the toppings simple without sauce recipes stored in the bank vault. Our double cheeseburger has dijonnaise sauce and pickled red onion. Nothing unnecessary, nothing too much, but all the parts fit together perfectly, says Juuso Olli, chef-entrepreneur of Street Food Factory and The Van. Ella Mikkonen

A burger cart located at Kotka market The Van was chosen as the winner in the Finland’s best burger public vote, where 22,300 votes were cast. The vote was organized by burger friends Burger Lovers Finland and Foodora. Came second in the race Grill Room From Hankasalmi and third place went to the winner of last year’s vote JJ’S BBQ.

The Van was founded in the corona year 2020, when its founders Juuso Olli, Vili Mäenpää, Vesa Sjöblom and Tuomo Koskinen became unemployed due to the restaurant closing. Since then, as their popularity grew, they also founded Street Food Factory -restaurant next to it.

– The same rules apply to a burger as to any good dish, i.e. acids, salt and sugar must be in balance and the components of the dishes must support each other. The burger must also always be edible with your hands. Since half of the burger is a bun, it also has to be of high quality. When you remember these rules, you can easily make a good burger even in your home kitchen, Juuso Olli, The Van’s chef, describes the building blocks of a good burger in a press release.

Last year, The Van finished in seventh place in Finland’s best burger restaurant poll.

The top ten of the vote and the percentage of votes

The Van, Kotka (7.1%)

Grill Room, Hankasalmi (6.8%)

JJ’S BBQ, Salo (5.3%)

Boneless, several restaurants, Helsinki (4.7%)

Friends & Brgrs, multiple locations (4.1%)

Naughty BRGR, multiple locations (3.2%)

Kauppuri 5, Oulu (3.0%)

Burger5, Kuopio (2.7%)

Bursalad, Hyvinkää (2.6%)

Box Cafe & Grill, Sipoo (2.4%)

The Burger Lovers festival will take place at Helsinki’s Rautatietorri on the 14th-17th. June 2023.