Best road-trip restaurants in Arizona

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Burger stand in a converted filling station, open 364 days a year with an old-time candy shop attached and drive-in movies on Saturday nights. Pure roadside Americana.

$$ · Route 66

A tiny downtown burger bar built on 100% local, open-range beef on a branded English muffin — named Arizona's best burger by USA Today.

$ · Route 66

The cult burger shack formerly known as Mama Burger, reborn in 2024 after a remodel on the road to Snowbowl. Cash-friendly, no-frills griddle burgers locals line up for — a perfect cheap-eats stop heading toward the peaks.

$$ · Grand Canyon & Sedona

Perched high in the historic mining ghost town, this longtime local favorite pairs killer burgers with sweeping Verde Valley views.

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Beach-shack burger joint in Old Town with a cult following for over-the-top builds and a laid-back patio. The antidote to a resort-dining week.

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Chef Lisa Dahl's playful 'couture burger lounge' in the Village of Oak Creek, with a marble bar, 40-plus bourbons and boozy milkshakes — the most fun, low-key stop in her Sedona family.

$ · Route 66

The classic Seligman Route 66 joke-and-burger stop: playful, deeply tied to the Mother Road, and exactly the kind of oddball lunch that makes the drive memorable.

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A cash-only counter shack near Mill Avenue grilling award-winning burgers over open mesquite fire since 1972 — old-school ASU Tempe.

$$ · Route 66

A retro diner and grill on Williams' Route 66 main drag since 1988, known for mesquite wood-fired barbecue and house-made rubs and sauce.