What makes a great burger in Wagga on international burger day?

Tuesday marked the annual occasion, providing an excuse to enjoy the popular dish without feeling guilty, but what makes a good burger in Wagga?

For Kooringal Hotel's head chef Ryan Dedini, it's all about the condiments.

"I think here at the Kooringal Hotel, we make a cracking relish," Mr Dedini said.

"There's probably about 20-plus ingredients in it, from our spices, fresh tomatoes, it's going to make the burger."

John Spannos from New Oceanic Takeaway says that simplicity and freshness is the key when it comes to his shop's burgers.

"Our burgers are like a traditional burger," Mr Spannos said.

"It's our own recipe, it's all fresh and it's pretty much just the simplicity of it, there's nothing frozen, it's made with love.

"There's got to be a good balance of what's between the buns ... you don't want too many onions, you don't want too much salad, there's got to be a good balance."

Is the best part of a burger inside or on the side?

Debbie Went is all about the size at Crackerjack Cafe and Takeaway in Lake Albert, careful not to skimp out on any ingredients she uses in her burgers.

She believes a good bun is just as important as the meat that's inside, it just has to be big enough.

"I've got my buns specifically made to me, I worked with the baker to get the bun that I wanted," Ms Went said.

"They're big... they're sort of soft on the inside.

"People eat with their eyes, I ran out of buns once and I had to use little ones and people were complaining."

Sporties manager Joseph Kirk says not to take off any of the burger's ingredients - like pickles - and don't forget to serve it with chips.

"Chips are the pinnacle, you can have your burger there, sitting in juices on your plate, dipping your chips in the juices of the burger, it's just one of the best culinary excitements that you could probably have," he said.

"If I went to a venue and I was served a burger and I had to pay extra for chips, I would probably walk out the door.

"Let's be honest, I reckon 99 per cent of Australians would do the same thing, without a doubt."

Mr Dedini at Kooringal Hotel said that the playing field is still even between chicken and beef, but the numbers don't lie.

"What we've got here at the pub, we can go back through and calculate the number of meals we sell in any given period," he said.

"I've been here for four-and-a-half years, the southern fried chicken burger has by far been the biggest seller."

While at New Oceanic Takeaway, Mr Spannos says that his most popular burgers at the moment are either the hamburger with the lot, or the schnitzel with the lot.

"So it's got lettuce, tomato, beetroot, fried onions, cheese, meat patty, egg, bacon," he said.

"Occasionally we'll do a monster and put a couple of patties and double cheese, double egg, double bacon.

"We do a triple stack sometimes, we call it the triple stack heart attack."

To celebrate international burger day, Sporties put on a one day special: a tex-mex burger made with beef, bacon, jalapenos, guacamole, cheese, aioli and lettuce.

According to Mr Kirk, the pub's best seller is their plain jane cheeseburger, and while it's his personal favourite, he understands it isn't for everyone.

"It has got beef, it has got bacon, it has got cheese, tomato, it has got relish, onion, aioli, " Mr Kirk said.

"But if you don't like to have a medium to rare burger then definitely go and order the chicken."