Carlton, Burgers, Etc Restaurant Guide

This 15-year-old Lace Market venue offers “a bewildering number and variety” of “very satisfying burgers to choose between”, inspired by founder Anmarie Spaziano’s childhood home in Rhode Island, where US diner culture began. She acquired a taste for the craft beer served alongside them here in the Midlands. There’s now a second branch in Derby.

2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.