Paso Obligado | Hamburguesas en Alcudia

Paso Obligado is a burger kitchen on the Carretera d'Artà in Port d'Alcúdia, and the name is chosen on purpose: an obligatory stop. The house does one thing and keeps it narrow — smash burgers, plus starters to share, a children's menu and dessert. There is not much else on the card, and that is exactly where the strength lies. Commit to one format and you can get precise within it. Precise means the beef first: Galician beef is pressed onto the hot plate as a double smash patty until a dark crust stands on the outside and the juice stays in. The other half of the burger is the bread — a potato brioche bun, soft and golden, sturdy enough for two patties and a generous load of sauce. What Paso Obligado builds its burgers from The third decision is the sauces, and it is the most interesting one. The burgers here are not told apart by the meat but by what joins it: a creamy house mayonnaise, a hot version with jalapeños, a chimichurri mayonnaise, a smoked deluxe mayonnaise paired with barbecue sauce. Almost all of it is made in the kitchen itself. Then come the cheeses — cheddar, provolone, smoked scamorza, goat's cheese — and components you do not take for granted in this league: caramelised onions, bacon jam, sweet-sour pickles. Two accents stand out. One is Argentinian: provolone, salsa criolla and chimichurri mayonnaise make a burger that tastes more of the Río de la Plata than of an American diner. The other is Mallorcan: sobrasada meets goat's cheese and caramelised onion, so the island sausage moves into a format you rarely find it in. The burgers on the card The house burger, the one carrying the restaurant's name, is the classic: cheddar, smoked bacon, lettuce, an egg and the kitchen's own mayonnaise. Anyone who wants it more direct takes the double cheddar with fried onions; anyone after heat takes the Picante with jalapeños. La Jefa works bacon jam and sweet-sour pickles against the richness, and the Smoked Surprise leans on smoked scamorza, crisp bacon and the pair of smoky sauces. Beside the beef burgers stand two alternatives: a crispy chicken burger with a chicken medallion, cheddar, onion rings and a crispy sauce of its own — and a vegetarian burger built on a vegan patty, with lettuce, tomato and the house mayonnaise. The starters include vegetarian options too. Fries are a given. An evening on the Carretera d'Artà You eat inside or on the terrace; street art hangs on the walls, and the place keeps its distance from anything refined. Dogs are welcome, families likewise — there is a separate menu for children. Booking runs through the restaurant's own reservation system, by phone or by message; for larger groups that is the safer route. Dessert is worth staying for: the house serves ice cream from Antiu Xixona, a fitting close after a double smash. And the setting does its part. The Carretera d'Artà runs behind the Bay of Alcúdia, the beach is within walking distance, and the walled old town of Alcúdia sits a few kilometres inland. If you are holidaying in the north, you pass this way anyway.