In the quiet, tree-lined Linden Hills neighborhood of south Minneapolis, there is a burger joint that somehow feels like what would happen if a classic American diner took a long, romantic trip to Paris and never fully came back. 🇫🇷
Le Burger 4304 is a chef-owned French-inspired burger Minneapolis gem where wagyu beef smashed with griddled onions and a mustard-tamari wash, triple-cooked hand-cut fries, and burgers topped with foie gras and black truffle aioli come together in a colorful, wholly original space that has quickly become one of the most talked-about hidden gem burger joints in Minnesota.
How Le Burger 4304 Won Minneapolis’ Hearts
Chef Jonathan Gans and co-owner Josh Hoyt were the executive chef and director of operations, respectively, at The Bachelor Farmer — the celebrated, award-winning Scandinavia-meets-Midwest restaurant in Minneapolis’s North Loop that closed during the earliest days of COVID-19.
Free from the constraints of fine dining, the two began imagining something looser, more joyful, and more democratic — the kind of burger joint two Americans might open if they moved to Paris and fell in love with French culinary rigor but couldn’t stop craving a great cheeseburger.
The concept was deceptively simple on the surface: wagyu beef smashed to order with griddled onions and a mustard-tamari wash, house-made le sauce, sesame-topped buns, and a kitchen that applied the discipline of French brigade cooking to every single element — including the fries.
Le Burger 4304 opened in November 2024 at 4304 Upton Ave. South in Linden Hills — named simply for its address — and the Minneapolis burger scene immediately took notice.
Racket MN called L’Américain “classically delicious” and described Le Boeuf as “powerfully savory, with a playful amount of spice tingling around your senses.”
Heavy Table praised the restaurant for taking “inspiration from French culinary rigor to elevate its American favorites into food that bridges the world of fast food and the world of professional brigade cooking” — and locals across south Minneapolis agreed with every word.
The wagyu burgers are rich but precise. The fries are obsession-worthy. And La Royale — a burger topped with seared foie gras and black truffle aioli — is the kind of thing that makes you forget every other burger you’ve ever eaten and quietly recalibrate your entire understanding of what a locally-owned Minneapolis restaurant can be. 🌟🍔
Food Highlights
- L’Américain: Wagyu beef with Cooper’s American, mustard, mayo, ketchup, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and onion. 🇺🇸
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Le Burger: Premiere cru wagyu, Cooper’s American cheese, pickles, and house-made le sauce on a sesame-topped bun — the stripped-back original that started it all. 🍔
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L’Oignon: Premiere cru wagyu with deeply caramelized onions, melted gruyère, rich demi reduction, pickled shallots, and chives — a French onion soup in burger form. 🧅🧀
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Le Boeuf: Wagyu beef with smoked bacon, smoked cheddar, crispy fried onion, pickled jalapeño, and BBQ mayo. 🔥🥓
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Le Champignon: Crispy fried maitake mushroom on a miso butter-toasted sesame bun with whipped brie, mushroom duxelles, watercress, and chives. 🍄🧀
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Le Poisson: A crispy fried cod fillet with Cooper’s American cheese, house-made tartar, dill, and pickles on a sesame bun. 🐟
- Le Vegan: A crispy chickpea patty on a miso butter-toasted bun with harissa mayo, cool cucumber, and fresh mint. 🌿
- La Royale: Premiere cru wagyu topped with seared foie gras, Cooper’s American cheese, black truffle aioli, and pickles — the crown jewel of the menu.
Atmosphere
Le Burger 4304 is one of the most visually joyful dining rooms in all of South Minneapolis — a colorful, casual fast-casual space that Racket MN described as “like if a classic diner was also a kindergarten classroom” — circular tables surrounded by primary-colored plastic chairs, baby-blue banquettes in the back, and abstract art in frames on cinderblock walls. 🎨
You pick up a menu, find a seat, and order at the bar — a format that keeps things relaxed and unpretentious without sacrificing a single ounce of the culinary seriousness happening in the kitchen.
The bar itself is a centerpiece, offering everything from hoppy and lager beers on tap to zero-proof wines and a Phony Negroni — a drinks list as thoughtful and trim as the food menu. 🍺
The whole experience — cheerful room, counter service, wagyu burgers wrapped in branded paper on bright-yellow trays — is what you’d get if fine-dining chefs decided to strip away every barrier between themselves and their community and make something that genuinely makes people happy. 🌟
Bottom Line
Le Burger 4304 is Minneapolis’s most exciting new dining discovery — a French-inspired burger Minneapolis gem where wagyu beef, foie gras, triple-cooked fries, and genuine culinary passion come together in a joyful Linden Hills setting.
From La Royale to the legendary pommes frites, Gans and Hoyt built something that Minneapolis will be talking about for years. 🍔🇫🇷
Address:
4304 Upton Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55410
📞 (612) 328-9267
🕔 Open Sun–Thu, 11 AM–9 PM | Fri–Sat, 11 AM–10 PM