Red Mill used to make the best burgers in town. They’re still top contenders but with so many burger joints and every Pacific Northwest restaurant doing its own fancy beef slab, determining the best burger is about as easy as determining the best Thai joint.

Favorites are the simple “Red Mill Deluxe” with cheese, the “Verde Burger” with roasted Anaheim peppers and Jack cheese, and the boysenberry or Mandarin chocolate milkshake—how you manage to pair any of these is up to you. There are veggie burgers (definitely not the best in the city) and grilled chicken burgers, too, but the flame-broiled beef is where it’s at. We like the fact that there are only about a dozen burgers—enough diversity for the pepper bacon, blue cheese, or onion jam aficionado, but not a build-your-own morass.

Red Mill is always hopping, and there’s not enough room for the line, so it snakes out the door. Luckily for Seattle, there’s no U.S. president to make the lines even longer in the wake of a visit, à la Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, VA. Red Mill is a great family restaurant, and there are always lots of kids enjoying their burgers. Lines plus kids equals we usually grab our orders to-go. But if you happen to time it right, the place is actually fine for a sit-down, with its cute ‘50s checkered-floor and competing but not vomitous purple, red, and lime colors.