VICIO

VICIO was born in Barcelona during the pandemic as a “digital restaurant”, a burger brand that existed only on delivery apps. Its founders were the entrepreneur Oriol de Pablo, who saw how fast home delivery was growing, and the chef Aleix Puig, winner of the Spanish MasterChef in 2019. The company was set up in October 2020, made 200,000 euros in its first four months and around four million in 2021.

The brand is known as much for its marketing as its food: cheeky slogans, stunts and a habit of talking about the competition without naming it. It has since opened small restaurants where you order by QR code and pay with your phone, and spread from Barcelona and Madrid to Seville, Valencia, Málaga, Alicante, Zaragoza and Palma, growing without franchising.

Almost every burger is a double smash patty on a brioche bun, with Cheddar and a pickle “for contrast”, and the menu tries to stay short. The Spanish touches are a Cheeseburger Ibérica with cured Iberian ham and a sun-dried-tomato mayonnaise, and a truffle burger with a fried egg. The fried-chicken burger is called Pollos Hermanos, a nod to Breaking Bad, and there are vegan burgers too, one with a Beyond Burger patty and truffle.

Kitchens and small restaurants in Barcelona, Madrid and other Spanish cities, including Seville, Valencia, Málaga and Palma.

• Goody’s Burger House (Greece, since 1973). Greece’s biggest fast-food chain, from Thessaloniki, with burgers built on a Greek-style biftéki patty. Also built on pork, beef and cheese.
• Rolls (Finland, since 1988). Finland’s roadside burger chain from Seinäjoki, famous for the MaMa and the pineapple-and-ham PaPa. Also built on pork, beef and cheese.
• Gourmet Burger Kitchen (United Kingdom, since 2001). Three New Zealanders brought the gourmet burger to London in 2001. Also built on beef, egg and cheese.
• Bunsen (Ireland, since 2013). The Irish burger bar with a menu that fits on a business card: four burgers, three kinds of fries, done perfectly. Also built on beef, cheese and a double stack.