Why Seattle Magazine Loves Great State Burger!
By Brandon Ferguson August 10, 2026
In the outside world, Seattle is known for its coffee, seafood and recently its thriving food scene. For those of us who have lived here for years, we grew up with Dicks, Red Mill, Red Robin and more, we have an innate love for the seemingly humble hamburger.
The new entrant to the Seattle burger universe is Great State Burger. Owned and operated by Seattle resident Nathan Yaeger, this local chain has expanded quickly with locations in South Lake Union, Laurelhurst, the waterfront, Bellevue and its brand-new location in the newly renovated C Concourse of SeaTac Airport.
As someone who has spent years chasing great burgers, from roadside diners to trendy smash burger spots, I’ve learned that the best burger joints aren’t the ones that hide the burger with gimmicks and wild toppings, it’s the ones that get the ingredients right. This is where Great State Burger commands attention. They source pretty much everything locally; their beef comes directly from Pure Country Farms, a farm in Ephrata that prides itself on grass fed, no antibiotics, no hormones and no stimulants. The ground beef arrives fresh and is pattied in-house, never frozen; for what Great State Burger calls the highest quality meat in the state. The bacon comes from Jack Mountain Meats, dry-cured and hand-trimmed the old-school way, smoked all day over hazelnut shells and sliced fresh the next morning.
Another example of simple, but great ingredients that make everything better, is the milkshake. They only have three flavors, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry so they can’t hide behind outrageous fillings and syrups. They use real milk and actual ice cream to make their milkshakes. You forget how good a milkshake actually is until you are reminded what they are like when someone uses ice cream to make them instead of a premix.
Why does Seattle Magazine love Great State Burger? It’s because it proves that when a burger is made with the right stuff, you are reminded why a hamburger is an iconic staple of American cuisine.
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