Order up! Good Boy is changing the Leeds burger game one stack at a time from its new home at Kirkgate Market.
The Market Kitchen at Leeds Kirkgate Market promises a culinary race across the world in your lunch break, but one thing it hasn’t got is a proper burger joint – well, until now. Step forward Good Boy Burger! From the folks behind street food favourites MorMor, this is its first ever permanent spot after a couple of years slinging oh-so-tasty smash burgers on the Yorkshire street food circuit.
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Like many recent success stories, Good Boy was an idea born in lockdown as something of a side hustle, out of drunken conversations about trying to “make a better burger than Five Guys” as one of the founders Hugo Monypenny explained. Together with brother Josh and chef James, they ran with it – they popped up at Sheffield’s Kommune food hall and other events around the city.
They were doing something right – popularity snowballed and then came the current opportunity, to open their first permanent home. They’ve taken over part of the unit that was formerly home to market legends, Malcolm Michaels butchers – it’s in a great spot, overlooking the rest of the Market Kitchen from the top of the hall, but the chances are you’ll smell it before you see it.
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But why Leeds? “I think Kirkgate Market is having a resurgence. I just think there’s a real nice community, no airs and graces element to Kirkgate. It’s everything that’s good about Leeds, with a lot of DIY independent operators. And it sums up Leeds where you have all walks of life, all demographics going in there. There’s just something really nice and communal about it.”
Visually it’s impressive. They’ve been working on it since the start of 2024, enlisting family help to build what is now an American-style burger bar diner, like someone’s picked up Kirkgate Market and planted it somewhere along Route 66 sometime in the 1970s. Red and white tiles surround an open kitchen with a row of high stools and a ledge where you can tuck in.
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And there’s plenty to chow down on. The classic is The Good Boy, whether you get it with cheese or not (we’d recommend with after our visit). A toasted brioche holds a single short beef rib smash patty, topped with their own Good Boy burger sauce and shredded lettuce. Grab a napkin because it’s a gloriously messy affair as you unravel the foil wrapping that helps to sweat the burger out.
That’s their (not so) secret to harnessing the juicy flavours, but that’s not all they do, even if the menu is a masterpiece of simplicity. They do a vegan version of the Good Boy, as well as The Hallouminati which brings together a deep fried halloumi patty with sweet chilli buffalo, garlic & herb mayo, rocket, gherkins and crispy shallots. Throw in salted, garlic or loaded fries and frickles, it’s a winner.
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One standout dish though, has to be the Mac & Cheese Slab – they dip-fry a chunk of Mac and cheese, then topped it with parmesan, bechamel and marinara sauce – it’s worth the cholesterol, trust us. And then there’s a selection of ever-changing specials that could well become menu mainstays as they test the waters of some new creations on the hungry folk of Leeds.
If you still need persuading, here’s why Hugo thinks you should pop by, “it’s gonna be your future favourite burger joint. And everybody loves a good boy! These are burgers so good you’ll want to take them home to your mum. We’ve got the best beef burger, hands down. Yorkshire reared happy cow beef short ribs, so it’s super fatty, super flavoursome – I think you it’s gonna put smile on your face.” We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
Good Boy Burger, Leeds Kirkgate Market, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7HL. It’s open from 11am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday.
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