MENU GUIDES • 5 min read
Build Your Own Burger
Four burgers, four additions, and the one combination worth thinking twice about before you order it.
Four burgers: a 5-ounce Cheeseburger, a 10-ounce Double Cheeseburger that comes fully dressed, a Smokehouse Burger on a potato bun with onion rings on top, and a Fish Burger as catfish or tilapia. Cheese, peppers, bacon and mushrooms can be added to any of them.
Four burgers on the menu, and the differences between them are bigger than the names suggest. One is a straightforward 5-ounce cheeseburger. One is double that. One is a fully built smokehouse burger with onion rings on top. One is fish.
On top of that, any of them takes cheese, peppers, bacon or mushrooms as additions — which is where “build your own” actually comes in.
The four, and what is in them
| Burger | Patty | Comes with | Bun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheeseburger | 5 oz | Cheese | Standard |
| Double Cheeseburger | 10 oz | White American, lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles, ketchup | Standard |
| Smokehouse Burger | Single, chicken or double | Lettuce, honey mustard, BBQ sauce, bacon, grilled onions, American cheese, onion rings on top | Potato bun |
| Fish Burger | Catfish or tilapia | Pickle and tartar | Standard |
Two things worth pulling out of that table. The Smokehouse is the only one on a potato bun, and it is the only one that comes as a chicken option as well as a single or a double. And the Double Cheeseburger is the one that arrives fully dressed by default — if you want a plain 5-ounce cheeseburger and then to build it yourself, that is the Cheeseburger.
Building on top
Four additions are on the menu: cheese, peppers, bacon and mushrooms. That is a shorter list than some places offer, and it is a better one, because each of them does something distinct:
- Extra cheese — the safest addition, and the one that changes the texture most
- Peppers — the only addition that cuts richness rather than adding to it
- Bacon — salt and crunch; already on the Smokehouse, so adding it there is doubling down
- Mushrooms — earthy and wet, and the one addition that works better on a single than a double
The rule that saves most orders: add at most two. A 10-ounce double with cheese, bacon, mushrooms and peppers stacked on top stops being a burger and starts being a structural problem.
There is a pairing logic to it, too. Bacon and mushrooms both push in the same direction — savoury and dense — so putting both on one burger doubles up rather than adding anything. Peppers with either of them is the better combination, because you get the depth and something sharp to cut it. And extra cheese goes with anything, which is precisely why it is worth spending your two additions elsewhere unless cheese is the thing you actually want more of.
Which one to order
Depends less on appetite than people assume, because the Smokehouse being on a potato bun with onion rings on top makes it eat bigger than its patty suggests:
- A normal meal — the Cheeseburger, plus one addition
- Genuinely hungry — the Double, and nothing added
- Want the most going on — the Smokehouse, as a single
- Want the most food — the Smokehouse as a double
- Not eating red meat — the Fish Burger, or the Smokehouse as chicken
Ordering the Smokehouse as a double and then adding to it is the one combination worth thinking twice about. It already has bacon, cheese, two sauces and onion rings on it. Whatever you add is going on top of six things that are already there, and the first casualty is the bun.
What the potato bun changes
The Smokehouse is the only one of the four on a potato bun, and that is not decoration. A potato bun is softer, slightly sweet, and denser than a standard bun, which means it squashes rather than crumbles under a heavy build.
With bacon, two sauces, grilled onions and a stack of onion rings on top, that matters. A standard bun under all of that goes through at the bottom before you are halfway down. The bun is chosen for the load it is carrying, in exactly the same way the roll on a cheesesteak is.
The Fish Burger, and the choice inside it
The Fish Burger comes as catfish or tilapia, and they are not interchangeable. Catfish is firmer and stronger tasting, with a bit of sweetness to it. Tilapia is milder, softer and more neutral — it takes on whatever it is cooked and served with rather than leading.
Both come dressed with pickle and tartar, which is the right treatment for either: acidity against a fried coating. If you are ordering fish for someone who is unsure about fish, tilapia is the safer choice. If you actually want to taste it, catfish.
Burger or cheesesteak?
The two get compared constantly here, for the obvious reason that both are hot beef and melted cheese. The difference is structural. A burger is one formed patty with a defined edge and a crust, and whatever you stack on it sits in layers. A cheesesteak is thin-sliced ribeye chopped and folded through the cheese, so every bite is broadly the same.
If you want the toppings to be the point, order a burger. If you want the meat to be the point, order a cheesesteak. We have gone through that at length in cheesesteak vs burger, and Britannica covers where the hamburger came from in the first place.
Sides, and how much to order
Fries or onion rings, and one of them, not both. The Smokehouse already has onion rings on it, which makes ordering a side of them the most common over-order on this part of the menu.
If you are feeding several people, burgers scale badly compared with sandwiches — there is no equivalent of cutting a 12-inch in half. Count one per person and add a shared side rather than trying to stretch three burgers across four people.
The short version
Cheeseburger for a straightforward 5 ounces, Double for 10 fully dressed, Smokehouse if you want everything happening at once, Fish Burger if you do not want beef. Add at most two of cheese, peppers, bacon or mushrooms. It is all on the burger menu.
Four builds, plus what you add
Cheese, peppers, bacon and mushrooms on any of them.
Frequently asked questions
How big are the burgers?
The Cheeseburger is 5 ounces and the Double Cheeseburger is 10. The Smokehouse comes as a single, a double, or with chicken.
What comes on the Smokehouse Burger?
Lettuce, honey mustard, BBQ sauce, bacon, grilled onions and American cheese, topped with onion rings, on a potato bun.
What can you add to a burger?
Cheese, peppers, bacon or mushrooms. Two additions is about the limit before a burger stops holding together.
Is there a burger without beef?
Yes — the Fish Burger, as catfish or tilapia, and the Smokehouse is also available with chicken.
Which burger comes already dressed?
The Double Cheeseburger, with white American, lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles and ketchup.
More From the Kitchen
