Three Burgers Worth the Walk (and One Worth the Bus)

Malta has quietly become a serious burger island over the last few years — beef tallow in the fryers, buns that hold, proper patties rather than the frozen discs of the previous decade. These are the four places we actually eat at, three of them walkable from Gzira and one worth the trip inland.

In short: NOVI Burger on the Gzira seafront is the everyday answer and the closest to us. NOVI’s second site in a Sliema band club is the same burgers with a far better bar. Bulubeef in Ta’ Xbiex is a takeaway with pavement tables, and divides opinion. Bodega in Mosta is the newest and the most atmospheric, and the only one needing a bus.

NOVI Burger, Gzira — the default

On Triq ix-Xatt, the Gzira seafront, about four minutes from our front door. It holds roughly 4.5 stars across more than a thousand Google reviews, which on an island this small is a genuine mandate.

The thing regulars mention first is the fat: the fries are cooked in 100% beef tallow rather than seed oil, which gives them a deeper brown, a longer-lasting crunch and a flavour that makes ordinary fries taste like a compromise afterwards. The burgers are generous without being architectural, and the menu runs wider than burgers alone — tacos and burritos too, with more vegetarian options than the genre usually allows.

Open 11am to 11pm, seven days. The honest caveat: the Gzira room is small and fills quickly at peak times, so an early or late sitting is the move.

NOVI at the band club, Sliema — the one to take someone to

The second site sits on Annunciation Square in Sliema, inside a band club, which gives it something the Gzira original can’t: space, a garden, and a genuinely serious bar. That last part is the collaboration — the bar side runs as POPP Social Club, which means the beer list is being chosen by the people who have spent the last six years making craft beer accessible on this island. Same kitchen, same tallow fries, with a far better answer to what you’re drinking.

It is also, as several reviewers note, easy to walk straight past — it does not announce itself from the street. Trust the map. Open later than Gzira on Fridays and Saturdays, to midnight.

Of the four, this is the one for a long evening rather than a quick dinner: about eleven minutes’ walk from the middle of Gzira, and a very good first stop if you are heading on into Sliema afterwards.

Bulubeef, Ta’ Xbiex — the pavement option

On ix-Xatt in Ta’ Xbiex, about fifteen minutes’ walk around the creek. It is built as a takeaway, though there are tables outside, so you can eat there if the evening is behaving.

Tallow fries again, and the buttermilk chicken bits have their defenders. It has had a moment — it was named Malta’s best burger by a local publication — and we should be straight with you about what followed: its Google rating now sits around 3.5, and the reviews are genuinely split between people who love it and people who think the hype outran the burger. Portions are the recurring complaint.

We still go, because late opening matters: midnight most nights and 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it the answer to a specific and familiar problem.

Bodega, Mosta — worth the bus

The newest of the four and the only one you cannot walk to, in the centre of Mosta on Pjazza s-16 ta’ Settembru, about twenty-five minutes by bus from Gzira.

What it has is atmosphere. Guests and locals alike single out the interior — American-style, confidently done, unlike anything else on the island — and the burgers are properly made. Seating inside is limited and the kitchen is not fast at peak times; waits of half an hour or more come up repeatedly in reviews, and so do complaints that portions are smaller than the photographs suggest. Go early, or go expecting to wait with a drink.

Evenings only from 6pm, with lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. If you are already making a day of Mosta and the interior — the dome is three minutes away — it rounds the trip off well.

A word about POPP, since they keep coming up

Worth knowing on its own account, because the shop is in Gzira and a few minutes from us.

POPP began in late 2019 as a conversation between Robert, a craft beer and wine importer, and Miguel, a brand designer: craft beer existed in Malta but wasn’t especially easy to get hold of, and they thought that was worth fixing. The webshop launched in June 2020 and did better than expected; the physical shop at 47 Triq Nazju Ellul in Gzira followed in July 2021.

It is a hybrid rather than a bottle shop: upwards of 250 beers on the shelves alongside small-batch wines, spirits, ciders, soft drinks, snacks and an improbable quantity of hot sauce — plus rotating taps and a porch, so you can drink one there rather than carrying it home. Open every day, 11am to 11pm.

They also make their own. POPP Lager is brewed for them by Lord Chambray in Xewkija, Gozo — the first craft brewery in the Maltese islands, founded in 2014 — and it is crisp, clean and gluten-free. On draft since 2023, in cans since early 2024.

For a guest staying a few weeks, the shop is genuinely useful: it is the easiest place on this side of the island to work out what Maltese brewing is actually doing, and the staff will tell you rather than sell you.

How we’d order it

Weeknight, no plans: NOVI Gzira, early, tallow fries, home in an hour. Friday, someone visiting: NOVI at the band club, and stay for the beer. After eleven and hungry: Bulubeef, and manage expectations. A day out inland: Bodega, booked early.

And if you want the non-burger version of this list, our Gzira eating guide covers the restaurants two streets back from the seafront — the ones that have nothing to do with the tourist strip.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the best burger in Gzira?

NOVI Burger on Triq ix-Xatt, the Gzira seafront, is the local favourite — roughly 4.5 stars across more than a thousand Google reviews, open 11am to 11pm daily, and a four-minute walk from the middle of town. It cooks its fries in beef tallow, which is the detail regulars mention first.

What is a tallow fry?

A chip cooked in rendered beef fat rather than vegetable or seed oil. It browns differently, holds its crunch longer and tastes distinctly of beef. Several of Malta's better burger places have switched to tallow, and it is usually advertised, because it costs more.

Is there a good burger place in Mosta?

Bodega, on Pjazza s-16 ta' Settembru in the centre of Mosta, is the newest arrival — American-style, strong on interiors, open evenings from 6pm with lunch service on weekends. Seating inside is limited and waits can be long, so go early or be patient.

Morrison Court is five self-contained apartments in Gzira — four minutes from the first burger on this list, and with a kitchen for the nights you’d rather cook. morrisoncourt.com.