Representative photography. Actual appearance may vary.
Arizona's most-awarded smashburger: Phoenix Magazine taste test winner, Phoenix New Times Best Smashburgers 2025, and ARA Foodist Award winner — all for the same $12 Double Burger.
Representative photography. Actual appearance may vary.
Bad Jimmy's started as a pandemic-era pop-up before chef-owner James Piazza landed a brick-and-mortar on Pierce Street in Downtown Phoenix's Roosevelt Row arts district. What began as a hyper-focused concept — smashburgers, soft serve, and a small-but-serious cocktail program — has grown into the Valley's most-awarded burger brand, with four locations across Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Uptown Phoenix. The name fits: there's a rock-and-roll edge to the red neon, the loud soundtrack, and the refusal to take a boring approach to a simple thing.
The Double Burger is the centerpiece: two 80/20 blend patties sourced from K4 Ranch in Prescott, smashed hard against a hot griddle until each one develops a wide halo of caramelized, lacy-edged crust — what judges call the 'wings.' They're layered with Kraft American cheese, griddled onions rendered in beef fat, crisp pickles, and the Not-So-Secret Sauce, a Kewpie mayo-based Thousand Island that brings a Japanese-leaning richness. Everything lands on a Martin's potato bun. It won Phoenix Magazine's smash burger taste test in 2024 and the Arizona Restaurant Association's Most Crave-Worthy Burger award in 2025.
Bad Jimmy's is a burger-forward restaurant with cocktails, natural wines, and soft serve. The Smash Score reflects the Double Burger and burger-specific praise, not the entire bar or dessert program.
Bad Jimmy's won the Best Smashburgers award: 'The more perfectly seasoned, crisp-edged burgers served with crunchy waffle fries, the better.'
The bread-to-patty is perfect. The crispy edges—the 'wings'—are the most important element of an authentic smash burger, and Bad Jimmy's nails them.
This burger opened my eyes to what a burger was meant to be. Less pretension, more Maillard reaction.
It wasn't overly salty or overcooked like a lot of smash burgs can be. Ranked among the best burgers I've had in Chicago. Score: 9.6/10.
Bad Jimmy's is basically the tattooed version of your classic American burger joint — a little rebellious, kind of loud, and always fun after dark.
THE must-hit burger destination in Arizona. Arizona's hottest burger joint.
Biting into one would evoke memories of every sauce-dripping, paper-wrapped burger that you ate as a kid, but better. The delectable halo of caramelized crispness around the patty makes it something special.
Fine burgers with thin, crunchy-edged patties. The waffle fries are exceptional — right up there with the best in the Valley. The no-modification policy can be frustrating.