Steers or Wimpy: Which One Actually Makes the Better Burger?
What the patty itself tells you
One of the more interesting comparisons floating around didn’t even happen at a restaurant. A home cook, the kind of dad who makes his own mayo and hand-forms his own patties, decided to test the frozen supermarket versions both chains now sell. His verdict was blunt. The Wimpy patty held its own, cooked up close to the real thing, and had some flavour quality he couldn’t quite name but noticed immediately. The Steers patty, by comparison, came across as plain, almost featureless on its own, doing very little without a generous helping of sauce to carry it. He even checked the ingredient list. Steers listed beef and little else. Wimpy’s had a longer list behind it, which tracked with what he tasted.
That’s a supermarket patty, not a restaurant burger, so it’s not the final word. But it’s a useful data point, because it suggests the two chains are working from genuinely different recipes rather than the same beef dressed up differently.
What changes once it’s actually flame-grilled
The picture flips once you’re eating the real restaurant version. A group of South African food reviewers ran both chains through a proper tier-list taste test alongside McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King, tasting each on the spot and ranking them from best to worst. Steers came out on top of the entire lineup, landing in the highest tier available. The tasters kept coming back to the same thing: a genuinely smoky, flame-grilled character to the meat that the other chains couldn’t match, plus a mustard-forward sauce that pulled the whole thing together better than expected.
Wimpy did not fare the same way. In that same session, it landed at the bottom of the ranking, well behind every other chain tested. The complaints were consistent: dry, short on sauce, and lacking any flavour distinct enough to call recognisably Wimpy. One reviewer put it plainly, that the burger simply didn’t taste like much of anything in particular.
A third opinion, with actual scores attached
It’s worth checking this against something more structured than one group’s tier list. A South African tech and consumer forum ran a proper blind-style tasting a few years back, scoring Steers, Wimpy, Burger King and McDonald’s burgers out of ten across a panel of tasters, with patties weighed and presentation compared. Steers scored strongly, close to eight out of ten. Wimpy scored under four, the clear last place finish of the group, with testers marking it down heavily on flavour. Two separate tests, run by different people, years apart, reaching the same conclusion about Wimpy’s burger specifically. That’s not a coincidence you can wave away.
What you’re actually paying for each
Taste aside, the price gap between the two is real and worth knowing before you decide. A standard Steers Burger costs R54.90, with the cheese version at R64.90. Step up to the chain’s flagship Original King Steer Burger and you’re at R84.90, its most-ordered item and arguably the fairest comparison point against Wimpy’s own signature. Wimpy’s basic Wimpy Burger runs R79.90, and the Cheese Burger is R89.90, both a fair bit more than the equivalent Steers option, before you’ve even added chips.
Put that together with the taste test results and the value case gets harder to argue for Wimpy. You’re generally paying more for a burger that, in two separate independent tests, scored lower than the cheaper option sitting next to it on the menu.
So, which one actually makes the better burger
Based on everything above, Steers is the stronger pick, and it isn’t especially close once you’re talking about the restaurant version rather than the frozen supermarket one. The flame-grilling genuinely comes through in the finished product, the sauce does real work instead of covering for a weak patty, and it costs less to get there. Wimpy’s strongest ground is arguably breakfast and its all-day grill menu rather than the burger itself, and that’s a fair trade for some people. But if the specific question is which chain makes the better burger, the evidence, from a home cook’s kitchen test, a filmed tier list, and a scored community taste test, all points the same direction.
That said, taste is personal, and plenty of people will read all of this and order a Wimpy Burger tonight anyway out of pure habit. That’s fine. This is one comparison, not a court ruling.
See the full menu and decide for yourself
Steers or Wimpy: Quick Answers
Is Steers or Wimpy burger better?
Based on independent taste tests, Steers generally comes out ahead. Its flame-grilled patty and sauce have scored well in multiple South African comparisons, while Wimpy’s burger has consistently scored lower on flavour in the same tests.
Is Steers more expensive than Wimpy?
No, generally the opposite. A standard Steers Burger is R54.90 against R79.90 for the equivalent Wimpy Burger, meaning Steers is both the better-reviewed option and the cheaper one at the entry level.
What is Wimpy actually known for, if not burgers?
Wimpy’s strongest category is its all-day breakfast and grill menu, including items like the Mixed Grill and Pap & Wors, rather than its standard burger range.
Why does Steers taste different from other fast food burgers?
Steers cooks its patties over an open flame rather than frying them, which gives the meat a smoked character that fried competitors don’t have. This is consistently the reason tasters give for rating it above other chains.
Opinions and taste-test scores referenced above come from independent South African reviewers and community taste tests, not from Steers or Wimpy themselves. Prices are current national list prices and may vary slightly by branch.
