Emily Eats Everywhere

Fantastic new burgers—every month. A delicious house sauce. Elegant fries. Circo Burger has got it all.

How we got here: 

The Champion’s Burger event put Circo burger on my radar. (If you haven’t heard of The Champion’s Burger, it’s a summer-long culinary competition where food trucks from burger joints all over Spain compete for the title of Spain’s best burger. These were our favorite hamburgers we tried.) 

Their Santa Trufa burger competed in the Champions Burger event. But I didn’t try it, since we have three different Circo burger locations here in Alicante and I wanted to try burgers from other cities. 

But I put it on my list of places to try and boy am I glad I did—Circo Burger was delicious. 

The place:

Circo Burger has been around since 2017 and now has different locations in these seven cities in Spain: 

• Albacete
• Alicante
• Benidorm
• Cartagena 
• Elche
• Madrid
• Murcia
• Valencia 

We went to Alicante’s San Juan location, just a few minutes from the beautiful San Juan beach.

We walked along the beach for a bit, and I just couldn’t resist the urge to take my sandals off and dip my feet in the warm Mediterranean ocean (yes, still warm mid-September!). The sun was setting, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and my stomach was growling… Why do dinner places in Spain not open until 8pm? 

I was starving when we got there, but the burgers were worth the wait. 

What we ordered: 

We went half and half so we could try two burgers: Julieta and the burger of the month: Estrella Sin Michelin. All of Circo’s burgers come with half-moon shaped french fries and a delicious house sauce (and you just know I LOVE a good house sauce). 

What we thought: 

The Julieta burger is two patties of “vaca vieja” (literal translation: old cow, likely translation: aged beef), two slices of havarti cheese, crunchy bacon, a sweet homemade smoked bacon jam, and turron sauce with arugula. 

What a combination! The sweet bacon jam combines delightfully with the havarti cheese, and the double meat is absolutely fantastic. The meat was a little well done for my taste and the burger looked a little small (although it was filling). 

⭐ Julieta burger: 8/10 

Every month, Circo burger releases a new burger of the month that’s only available for that month. Great idea, that keeps people coming back to try new ones, but also unfortunate if like me, you fell in love with the burger of the month: The Estrella Sin Michelin burger. (Will they ever put it on the menu again? No one knows.) 

This burger is an elegant (and very Spanish) combination of:

• Aged beef—Also a little well done for my palate, but it was a good amount of meat for the burger. 
• Havarti cheese—A fantastic cheese choice, havarti cheese is creamy, buttery, and delicious on hamburgers. 
• Chopped up chorizo—Another excellent touch to this burger, this gave it a lot of extra flavor and a little bit of spice.  
• A fried egg—Of course, with the runny yolk. Not a trend I’m particularly fond of, but luckily this fried egg was inconspicuous and unobtrusive. 
• Cabrales cheese—Never heard of it? Me either, until yesterday. It’s blue cheese made by rural dairy farmers in Asturias, Spain and it is amazing. From the first bite, this is the most impactful flavor that really sets this burger apart. If you like blue cheese, you’ll love this. 
• Torto asturiano—This is a traditional side dish also from Asturias, Spain that’s a fried corn disk (kind of like an arepa). It gives the burger a fantastic bit of crunch. 
• Brioche bun—Brioche, we love you. And this one was noteworthy. 

This burger was great. Unfortunately, I don’t know if my palate will ever be able to enjoy it again, since this was September’s burger of the month. *sad violin music plays in the background*

⭐ Estrella Sin Michelin burger: 9/10 

Final price tag: 

Our total for two burgers and two Coca-Colas was €34.30, not bad at all for burgers on a friday night. The burgers range from 9 – 15 euros each and all come with fries and the house sauce. 

Circo Burger, I need more fries.

My one complaint: there weren’t enough fries. Burger joints, potatoes are cheap. Give me a pile of fries next to my burger, and I will be happy. Circo’s fries are unique and elegant—they’re delicate little half-moon shaped bites of goodness. But, unfortunately, I was only able to enjoy 15 of them (yes, I counted). I’d like at least double that (ideally triple.) 

The Million-Dollar Question: Would you come back? 

Heck yes. They’ve got a ton of great burgers on the menu; I was eyeing La Marquesa—packed with smoked bacon chunks, parmesan cheese, and truffle mayo. 

Quite honestly, I’ll probably have to check Circo’s instagram and website every month to see what new burgers they release (and cross my fingers the Estrella Sin Michelin and I cross paths again). 

Circo’s Information

Address: Avinguda de la Costa Blanca, 128, Local 10, 03540 Alicante

Website: https://circorestaurante.com/ 

Operating Hours: 1-4pm, 8pm-12am

Average Cost Per Person: € 15-20