Q Burger

In Taiwan a hamburger is, first of all, breakfast. Since the 1980s the island has been covered with Western-style breakfast shops that open at dawn and sell toast sandwiches, egg crêpes, black tea and small sesame-bun burgers, made to order behind a counter. Q Burger is the newest big name in that tradition. It opened its first shop in 2013 in Sanchong, New Taipei, and grew faster than its older rivals, to more than 370 shops by January 2025, with a target of a thousand by 2030.

What set it apart was polish rather than a new idea: bright yellow branded shops, a menu with photos, online ordering and an app, which won it a government award for small businesses in 2021, the first restaurant brand to receive it in thirty years. In January 2025 the company listed on Taiwan’s emerging stock board, and it has registered its trademark across East and Southeast Asia with a view to going abroad.

The menu is long and very Taiwanese: Western-style breakfast plates with fried noodles or pasta, thick toast, egg pancakes called dan bing, and a full page of sesame-bun burgers, each of which can be upgraded with an egg, a slice of cheese or extra salad.

Several hundred breakfast shops across Taiwan, about half run by the company and half franchised.

• Wat-a-Burger (India, since 2016). “India ka Burger”: aloo tikki, paneer and tandoori makhani burgers from Noida. Also built on chicken and beef.
• Tastien (China, since 2012). China’s fast-growing “Chinese burger” chain, with hand-rolled buns baked to order and fillings from Chinese cooking. Also built on chicken and beef.
• Lucky Pierrot (Japan, since 1987). Hakodate’s beloved local burger chain, with circus-themed shops and a sweet-and-spicy Chinese Chicken Burger. Also built on chicken and beef.
• Laya Burger (Taiwan, since 2002). One of Taiwan’s big three breakfast chains, now baking its burger buns from an 18-hour sourdough. Also built on chicken and beef.