At this sporty spot in Roosevelt, team spirit comes second only to a serious dedication to quality burgers, including the Huskies, 12th Man, Mariners, and Sonics burgers. A surprise star is the Sounders burger with cream cheese and jalapenos with garlic, bacon, and pepper jack cheese. Add tater tots or sweet potato fries to the roster, and it’s game on.

This burger shop, with locations in both Capitol Hill and Ballard, owes its popularity to its half-pound patties, a fantastic whiskey selection, and one of the best late-night happy hours around. When it comes to choosing a burger, diners can trust the name and get the signature 8oz with arugula, balsamic onions, bacon, cheddar, and truffle aioli. If you’re feeling more adventurous, the Pike has habanero jam while the Union is made with an espresso-rubbed patty.

A burger’s a sandwich, right? The meat on Mean Sandwich’s version is grass-fed and grass-finished. Choose one or two quarter-pound patties and this Ballard-based shop fills in the rest: American cheese (good old Kraft Singles), onions, mayonnaise, house-made pickles and house-made mustard on a Tribeca Oven bun. “Skins & Ins” (fried baked potatoes, of sorts) fill out an unforgettable feast.

This family-friendly spot in Capitol Hill crafts burgers with inventive additions such as green chile cream cheese, house-made pickles, hop-garlic mayo, and fried avocado. The restaurant also touts a 20-tap rotating draft list for the grownups, and for the kids, junior burgers and draft root beer floats. The best seats might be at the bright blue counter where you can watch all the burger-making action.

This mini burger chain has locations in Pioneer Square, Ballard, and Georgetown (plus a couple more outlying areas in the works), though it’s hard to beat the Montlake spot with its picnic tables and artificial grass serving as an urban oasis. The Classic is a deal at $4.50: a wonderfully charred smashburger with ketchup, mustard, and American cheese on a butter-toasted sesame seed bun. You can make it a double or go “Special” for fifty cents more to add shredded lettuce, grilled onions, and a tangy special sauce, with nice shoestring fries to boot.

This roadside favorite, founded in Fife in 1949, expanded to Auburn before opening a branch in SoDo in recent years. It’s a slice of Americana, once chosen as best burger joint in Washington state by “USA Today” for its crisply charred burgers and hand-cut French fries. As a bonus, Pick-Quick has a wide selection of shakes blended to order, including fresh, in-season berries. As the name indicates, you can place and receive your order from the comfort of your car.

It’s easy to feel good about ordering a burger here, since this West Seattle wonder sources all of its meat from within 300 miles of the shop. Burgers come with one-third pound of Painted Hills beef, though hungry meat-lovers can add an extra patty, bacon, pulled pork, and even crispy pork belly to their patties. The hand-cut fries are fried in rendered pork fat, and the business also doubles as a butcher shop.

While there’s a “deluxe” cheeseburger that the menu says is “restaurant-style,” Loretta’s Northwesterner is a bar, and you want the Tavern. This classic burger, possibly the city’s best, shows off simplicity done well: beef with a nice char, pickles, onions chopped small, American cheese, and special sauce that’s heavy on the mayo — all on an unobtrusive, squishy bun. (You can find the same burger at sibling restaurant Star Brass Works, but the fries are considerably better at Loretta’s.)

The “Big Max” cheeseburger at this family-friendly restaurant in Queen Anne is a two-handed, happily messy mass of deliciousness. Big Mac lovers will love the nostalgia factor, with two beef and bacon patties, “Max” sauce (tangy from sherry vinegar and mustard), aged white cheddar, pickles, plus a combination of caramelized white and raw red onions makes this a super-elevated McDonald’s experience.

You won’t need the fancy fork and steak knife placed on your table, but keep the white linen napkin close for this steakhouse-style burger. The half-pound patty is pink in the center when cooked medium-rare and is adorned with tangy pickled red onions. Melted aged white cheddar and Louie sauce add to the affair. And there’s no shortage of shoestring fries on the plate.

Value and quality are hallmarks of this family-friendly, Western-themed restaurant in Frelard. The basic Buckaroo, served on a sesame seed bun, is big and beefy, suitable for kids and adults. Other burgers, like the popular OMG (onion, mushroom and gruyere) and the Kit N Kaboodle (with bacon, cheddar, ranch, BBQ sauce, and oh-so-delicate haystack onion rings) have even bigger patties and come on a griddled potato bun. Beer and Seattle Soda beverages are available.