About

A Millennial Burger Place, also known as a Millennial Burger Joint or a Millennial Burger Restaurant, refers to a cliche about burger restaurants that are supposedly created by and consumed by Millennials, known for being overpriced with vapid or stereotypical decor –
like exposed brick walls, string lights and metal chairs –
and offering food items like truffle fries and avocado or egg as a burger topping, among other signifiers, like the terms "shareables" and "handhelds" being used on the menu. The cliche appeared in memes that were critical of the trend, starting as Starter Packs on Reddit in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Memes about Millennial Burger Places later spread to TikTok, appearing en masse in early 2025. A majority of the TikTok memes used the parody song "We Are Young" by comedian Kyle Gordon (also known as the "2011 Millennial anthem"). The catchphrase "Just Two Guys With a Crazy Idea" was often included in the memes, representing a parody slogan or the start of a mission statement for a stereotypical Millennial Burger Place.

Origin

Early memes joked about "expensive burger" places, which would later become recognized as "Millennial burger" places in 2019 and 2020. Currently, the first known meme to parody an "expensive burger" place was shared by Redditor jorsiem on September 30th, 2019, to the /r/starterpacks^[9] subreddit. The post, which used the term "Modern American Gastropub," received over 4,500 upvotes and 260 comments in five years (seen below).

Redditor^[1] LlamaCowMeow posted a similar early example to /r/starterpacks on March 7th, 2020, gaining over 52,000 upvotes in five years (shown below).

Spread

On August 25th, 2022, Redditor^[2] CumForChristmas shared a different "expensive burger place" Starter Pack meme to /r/starterpacks that more accurately resembled the common signifiers for Millennial Burger Places identified in later memes. The post received over 79,000 upvotes in three years (shown below).

Memes about Millennial Burger Places spread en masse in early 2025, following a series of TikTok videos making fun of the restaurant trend.

The memes were jumpstarted by TikToker^[3] @fairylights2007, who shared a video on February 11th, 2025, using the "2011 Millennial" parody song "We Are Young" by Kyle Gordon. The TikToker wrote, "This song is so truffle fries overpriced burger brick walls metal tin of ketchup," receiving over 350,200 likes in two weeks (shown below).

On February 18th, TikToker^[4] @stop_ai_now shared a video from inside a burger restaurant, using the "We Are Young" sound, with text overlay reading, "Guess how much the burgers are 💔," gaining over 564,000 likes in a week (shown below).

On February 18th, 2025, a TikToker named jethro commented, "Just two guys with a crazy idea," on the abovementioned video, receiving over 217,900 likes in a week (shown below). The comment was meant to be a parody slogan for the restaurant.

In the following weeks, more videos surfaced about the restaurant cliche, specifically calling them "Millennial burger" places. TikToker^[5] @joebro909 shared an early example on February 21st, in a video skit titled, "When you go to a Millennial burger restaurant," gaining over 92,300 likes in three days (shown below).

On February 24th, 2025, TikToker^[6] @mangos4life06 shared a Druski Dancing meme that said, "Yes, I'm an overpriced Millennial burger restaurant," and listed stereotypical characteristics of the establishment. In a day, it received over 338,900 likes (shown below).

Also on February 24th, Redditor^[7] PatrioticSerbian shared a GIF caption with Forrest Gump running to the subreddit /r/whenthe with a top caption joking about Millennial Burger Joints, gaining over 3,700 upvotes in a day (shown below).

Later on February 24th, 2025, TikToker^[8] @citiesbydiana shared a video using AI voice and AI video to show late American urban planner Robert Moses discussing plans to open a Millennial Burger Place, using the catchphrase, "Just two guys and a crazy idea!" The video received over 9,200 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References