Stock Burger Co.

Updated March 2026: Stock Burger Co. is now closed. It has been replaced by sports bar, Bench.

Stock Burger Co. is a place I’ve wanted to check out since the weekend it opened back towards the beginning of the year. For a while, I went through a burger obsession phase, and whilst I’ve moved on from that, I’m always still on the hunt for the best one in Brighton. A restaurant based on pairing burgers with its ideal craft beer, Stock Burger also boasts a large cocktail, milkshake and dessert offering. With all of this and an award winning burger under their belt, I knew I needed to try Stock Burger Co.

First thing’s first, when you get into Stock Burger, it’s absolutely massive! Tables run all around each side of the room, with additional bar seating in the middle of the restaurant and a large terrace directly outside. The setting is pretty understated and feels quite cool, no over the top diner theme but a slick, steely grey interior that feels clean but also comfortable.

I feel I probably should have gone for a beer for the sake of the beer/burger pairing, but I was really craving a good milkshake so went for a peanut butter and salted caramel shake. When it came, I had an issue before I even got to try it: I hate paper straws. Eventually, two separate straws went on to collapse meaning, probably for the first time in my life, I did not finish my milkshake. 😐 Another thing to add here is that whilst mine was delicious, it definitely tasted more like just peanut butter.

I ordered the Craft Beer Classic, which comes with roast garlic mayo, beer battered onion rings, smoked streaky bacon and lettuce, dressed with Stock Burger Co. I shared skinny skin-on fries and mac and cheese. Now, I should have known better with the mac and cheese, because I don’t like the traditional yellow type that many find so satisfying. I’m more of a ‘posh’ mac and cheese type, béchamel sauce and parmesan, that sort of thing. The melted cheese smothered on top looked promising, but unfortunately for me, it tasted a little cheap and synthetic so mostly remained untouched.

When the burger came I thought “Yes, this is going to be it!”. And for the first few minutes I thought it was. The streaky bacon is exactly how bacon should be in a burger, and there wasn’t too much sauce inside that it spilled out everywhere. But on that note, for mayonnaise claiming to be made with roasted garlic, I wasn’t really getting anything from it. The burger itself is really flavoursome and cooked medium, but after a while I decided that maybe there was a bit too much of it. Slowly, the dream of Brighton’s best burger was edging away from me and I faced the realisation that the search was not yet over.

As a third place, it’s a pretty cool environment for spending time with friends for evening drinks right by the seafront, and in fairness the burgers do taste good. The guy who served us was genuinely friendly and things ran very smoothly, but I didn’t feel like we got the best value here. The bill for two burgers, two sides and two milkshakes was £37, which for two not-so-great sides and some underwhelming milkshakes was a little steep.

I’d recommend Stock Burger Co. if you’re looking to grab a burger and shake in a relaxed environment with friends around lunch time, or maybe some evening cocktails and beers. The place was pretty quiet but it made you feel you didn’t need to rush, so it definitely has potential to be a third place.

I so wanted to like Stock Burger more than I did, but I am not sad because I know now what I need to do.