I compared barbecue burgers from Burger King, Shake Shack, and Smashburger. The winner tasted surprisingly premium.

Smashburger, a Colorado-based chain now found across 27 states and Washington, DC, sells a barbecue bacon smash burger for $10.86, excluding tax and fees, at my nearest location in Brooklyn, New York. It was the cheapest of the three burgers I tried.

The burger came topped with cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon, crispy fried onions, and barbecue sauce.

Beneath a pile of crispy onion bits, I could clearly see the barbecue sauce, although overall, the burger looked and felt a little dry when I picked it up.

The crispy onions seemed to soak up a lot of the moisture from the beef patty and the sauce in my mouth, leaving a dry bite.

I understand that how a burger is cooked is a matter of personal preference. However, I’m not a fan of any burger cooked past medium, so this well-done patty simply wasn’t doing it for me.

The cheese on the burger I was served also wasn’t melted enough to provide enough moisture to counteract the dryness of the burger.

However, the bacon on this burger blew me away. It was smoky and perfectly cooked.

I ordered the BBQ bacon Whopper Jr. and added cheese. It cost $5.92, excluding tax and fees.

The burger was served on a sesame seed bun and topped with barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, pickles, and strips of crispy bacon.

A generous amount of every topping created a balanced bite.

The bacon was crispy, though not as flavorful as the bacon from the other two burgers I tried. However, I thought this was a great classic cheeseburger. The onions, lettuce, and tomato were fresh, and the beef was juicy while still retaining a smoky, chargrilled flavor.

However, it tasted similar to a classic Whopper, and I didn’t get a strong barbecue flavor, which is what I was looking for.

Still, for just under $6, it was a good value.

Shake Shack, which has US locations in 36 states and territories, offers the Smoky Classic barbecue burger.

I ordered the classic version, which is topped with fried onions and bacon. It cost $13.29, excluding tax and fees, making it the most expensive burger of the bunch.

The barbecue sauce was generously spread across the soft bun and layered throughout the burger. I was especially impressed by the thick pickle slices and the generous helping of crispy onions and bacon.

The cheese was evenly coated over every inch of the thin, crispy patty, and the bun held everything together while still remaining soft.

Though thin and crispy, the burger was still perfectly cooked at medium, and the onions, though crispy, weren’t hard, crunchy, or dry like the ones on the Smashburger cheeseburger I tried.

Rather than bits of cut-up onions that didn’t have much flavor, these onions were more like onion rings, instantly transporting me back to summer carnivals and roadside stands.

The pickles added a tart, crunchy flavor, and this was the only burger where I really tasted the barbecue sauce. It was smoky yet light, with a slight vinegar note that balanced the richer flavors of the cheese, beef, and bacon.

Though it was the most expensive burger, I thought it was well worth the slightly higher price.