The cheapest beef burger in South Africa – Steers vs Spur vs McDonald’s vs Wimpy vs RocoMamas

A Daily Investor analysis of some of the most popular burgers in South Africa showed that McDonald’s had the cheapest simple beef burger by far.

This rings true even when accounting for the additional cost of small fries at the American fast-food giant, with McDonald’s burgers proving far cheaper than local alternatives.

For this analysis, Daily Investor compared the burger offerings at five eateries: Steers, SPUR, McDonald’s, Wimpy, and RocoMamas.

We quickly found that a like-for-like comparison between these five places is impossible.

This is not only because of the distinction between fast-food and casual dining, but also because not all eateries specify the weight, size, and other dimensions of their burgers.

For example, while Wimpy and RocoMamas specify the weight of their beef patties (50 grams and 150 grams, respectively), the rest do not.

In addition, two of the three sit-down restaurants included in this comparison – SPUR and Wimpy – automatically include chips (and onion rings, in SPUR’s case) when ordering a burger.

At the fast-food restaurants and RocoMamas, chips can be ordered separately. At McDonald’s, customers can order a burger meal, which includes both chips and a drink.

Another complication arose from each eatery putting its own unique twist on a simple beef burger, making an exact comparison impossible.

Steers, for example, puts both 1000 Island and barbecue sauce on its simplest beef burger, while RocoMamas adds its signature ‘RocoMayo’ sauce.

The same problem came up with the burgers’ toppings – McDonald’s simplest burger includes pickles, chopped onions, tomato sauce, and mustard, while Wimpy’s has grilled onions, gherkins, lettuce, and relish.

Overall, it became clear that an exact, like-for-like comparison would not be possible if all of these factors are taken into account.

Therefore, to make the comparison as fair as possible, Daily Investor chose the simplest and most inexpensive beef burger offered at each eatery, excluding offerings aimed at children.

In addition, we looked at the prices of their double-patty burgers and how much all the burgers would cost when including chips.

The beef burger battle

Regardless of which way you sliced it, McDonald’s emerged as the cheapest option out of the five eateries.

Its simplest burger, which is just called “Hamburger” on the menu, is only R19.90. This includes a beef patty, pickles, chopped onions, ketchup, and mustard

Even with the price of a small order of fries (R22.00) included, the McDonald’s Hamburger still beat the rest at only R41.90.

Second place is awarded to Wimpy’s ‘Quick Bite’ burger, which features a 50-gram beef patty, bun, grilled onions, gherkins, lettuce, and the Famous Wimpy Relish.

Wimpy’s burger prices automatically include chips, and at only R52.90, the Quick Bite burger is a steal compared to some of the other prices on the list, even beating out the price of a McDonald’s Big Mac at R56.60.

The top five cheapest burgers in Daily Investor’s comparison, when looking at both the simplest and double patty burgers, all come from McDonald’s and Wimpy.

Steers’ simplest beef burger, which is just called the Steers Burger on its menu, takes the next spot on the list, at only R67.90 for the burger, and at R74.90 with a small order of chips included.

RocoMamas was an interesting competitor on this list, as the fast-casual dining restaurant is more known for its customisable burgers than the pre-made options on its menu.

However, RocoMamas does offer a simple beef burger option, which it calls its ‘Old Skool Burger’, that features a sizeable 150g smash patty, tomato, red onion, and the restaurant’s signature RocoMayo.

At R79.00, RocoMamas’ Old Skool Burger beat the more expensive burgers on the list, though it fell behind Steers’ double-patty burger when including a regular order of shoestring chips, the smallest size offered.

Last on the list is SPUR, one of South Africa’s most popular and well-known burger joints.

As a sit-down restaurant, it makes sense that SPUR’s burgers will be more expensive than the fast-food options on the list.

Sit-down restaurants often charge a premium for their food because the price reflects both the food and the dine-in experience.

Both SPUR’s simplest burger, the Original SPUR Burger, and its double-patty burger were the most expensive overall, coming in at R119.90 and R139.90, respectively.

However, it should be noted that, unlike the other eateries on the list, a burger order at SPUR includes both chips and the restaurant’s iconic crispy onion rings.

The image below shows Daily Investor’s comparison of the burgers offered at Steers, SPUR, McDonald’s, Wimpy, and RocoMamas. The prices were captured on Wednesday, 24 June.