Nilly's Burgers — Restaurant in Artesia

Nilly’s Burgers knows what it's doing when it comes to burgers—they’re the undeniable stars here. Whether you go with a single or a double, you're getting one of the best burgers in the area. Perfectly grilled, well-seasoned, and loaded with flavor, these burgers hit the spot. Easily among the best I’ve had, and that’s not said lightly.

The customer service is great. Staff are friendly, quick, and seem to genuinely care about your experience. It adds to the charm of the place.

The location is small, but it works. The classic counter setup gives it a nostalgic, small-town diner feel that’s rare these days. It’s got character—even if you’re elbow-to-elbow.

Now for the trade-offs: prices are a bit on the high side for what’s essentially burgers and fries. That said, it feels more like a reflection of the economy than the business itself. Still, you’ll notice it on the bill.

As for the sides, the fries are just okay. I’m a fan of crinkle cut, but these tasted frozen and came off a bit too starchy. I also gave the pastrami cheese fries a shot—the flavor was solid, but the execution missed. With everything piled into a paper container, the heat and grease turned it into a mess. The cheese eventually congealed and stuck to the paper liner, so by the time you got to the bottom, you were peeling paper off each bite—not a great look.

Tried the chocolate shake too. It was fine, but nothing memorable—I wouldn’t order it again.

All that said, the burger alone is enough to bring me back. Nilly’s has something special going on with their main attraction, and I’ll definitely be eating...

I'm somewhat old, stuck in my ways and a hard person to get to change an opinion on a lot of things. But Nilly's is that rare gem of a burger spot that forced me to question everything I held to be true.

I have never been a sweet pickle guy. In fact, I pride myself on being a purist of dill pickles belonging on hamburgers, no discussion. But, the staff at Nilly's challenged me to rethink 53 years of burger prejudice and to just try it their way. Well, challenge presented and challenge accepted!

First, all of Nilly's beef is ground fresh that day. No salt, no pepper, nothing additional added to it. Just good old school, corn feed, top quality beef grilled in front of you.

Then they add cheese, tomatoes, onions, and their own homemade sweet pickles and burger sauce and what you get is an incredible interplay of the perfect sweet/salty goodness that your stomach deserves.

For bonus goodness ask for their homemade sweet peppers and now you get a salty, sweet, and hot experience that left me questioning everything I thought to be true

Finally, add to your order chili cheese fries. The chilli reminds me of my Midwest roots and love of the somewhat sweet chilli Steak and Shake used to make. But the high end beef Nilly's uses for their chilli makes the experience that much better.

I hope you're blown away by this simple hamburger as...

Burgers are super good, I think the whole combo is flavorful but I like that you can make it your own by adding or taking away items like their pickles. I will say personally, after awhile their pickles got a little too sweet for me and I took some out haha

The plain fries were a little lackluster, felt like they can’t carry themselves as a side dish. Usually burger places like Paul’s Place or Windows have fries that really stand alone greatly. These were meh, but when I tried them with the chili cheese fries…WOW! Super robust chili and it was topped with sour cream and more pickles! I would order a burger and fries again but only with the chilli cheese fries tbh.

The chocolate shake was awesome and I actually finished the whole thing (rare) often shakes can get too sweet over time but surprisingly this one was very drinkable- as in it didn’t feel like TOO much of an overload.

The ranch was interesting. I LOVE ranch and I liked this ranch, but it kinda made me feel like it was a cousin to sour cream if that makes sense… anyways definitely try it and see for yourself!

I will most definitely be back and I’m super excited that this small business is open here and making super delicious burgers. The atmosphere is super cute and I loved eating at the bar and watching more...