Is this the next viral burger trend?
Burgers, Sealed with a Twist
POV - from our point of view: a snapshot of the emerging trends we have our eyes on.
So long soggy buns and sauce-stained shirts. These burgers are sealed, crisped, and ready to travel. Known by a variety of names from pocket burgers, to UFO burgers, closed burgers, and sealed burgers, they’re pressed in a specially-designed griddle until the buns form a self-contained, golden crust that “seals” the outside of the burger—while keeping the inside juicy and intact.
The concept applies to more than just burgers. Each of the places highlighted offers multiple takes— from classic burger iterations, to crispy fried chicken, and other creative and craveable creations.
We’ll toast to that!
Less Mess Burger (Los Angeles, CA) This food truck offers four flavors of their “UFO Burgers” from the classic, to the Grilled Chicken Slider, and the Inferno Blaze with caramelized onion, jalapeno, bacon, American cheese, and signature sauce.
The Mouth (Burbank, CA) offers a now-traditional smashburger as well as their Pocket Burger made with a beef patty smashed thin on a flat top, topped with chopped raw onions, American cheese, pickles and a secret thousand-island-style sauce. The entire thing is stuffed in a round Dutch crunch roll and taken for a spin through a convex pancake griddle—resulting in a crispy outer crust and a juicy burger within, described by LA Taco as “emerging from the liminal shadowlands between a savory meat pie and a Hot Pocket.”
Spinning Buns (Austin, TX) uses a custom press for their crispy crusted sandwiches with both sweet and savory filings—from three spins on the burger: classic, spicy, and “shroomy”, to sweet, as in nutella with strawberries and bananas, s’mores, or a pb&j.
Disco Burgers (Paris, France) cleverly advertises their “burgers fermés” with the phrase, “Come in, we’re closed!” claiming to be the first “closed burger” concept in Paris. Their menu takes international inspiration, including a kefta-inspired burger with spiced ground beef, roasted eggplant, roasted cherry tomatoes, Lebanese pickles, yogurt sauce and mint.
Zookz (2 locations, Phoenix, AZ) expands on the concept, with 15 toasted and sealed sandwiches forming the core of their menu. Zookz uses custom-baked proprietary bread and a common press to create their signature sandwiches, including the Bang Bang Burger with cheddar, tomatoes, sliced dill pickles, shaved red onions, shredded lettuce and special sauce; or the Amarillo By Morning, a breakfast sandwich with two poached eggs, crisp bacon, ham, cheddar cheese, black beans, avocado, and Zookz chipotle sauce. Check out their process in the video above.