Why Brazilian Burgers Start With X
It is not a typography, it is not a trend, it is a decades of Brazilian street food culture that turned a pronunciation problem into a national icon.
A letter that became an Icon
“The X isn`t just a letter, it is how a whole country made something foreign completely its own.”
When it all started
To understand why so many Brazilian burgers start with the letter X, you will have to go back a few decades in history. In the 1950s and 60s, the American hamburger began arriving in Brazil, carried along by the broader wave of US pop culture like films, music, magazines, and fast food concepts such as the famous “Cheeseburgers” that were landing in the big cities across the country.
Although, there was a problem: Portuguese isn`t English, and for a lot of Brazilians at the time, pronouncing “cheeseburger” was a genuine challenge. So they adapted it, “chesseburger” became simply “chesse”, and that is where Brazilian creativity did its thing, in everyday pronunciation, “cheese” ends up sounding very close to the letter X. So from that small shift, the X-Burger was born, easy to say, quick to order, and with that authentically Brazilian touch that makes everything feel a little more fun.
Shortcut? No, is more than that
What began as a simple workaround didn`t stay small for long. Over time, the X became a symbol of Brazilian street food, especially is smaller cities and neighbourhood spots where joints culture is part of everyday life. It stopped being just a letter and turned into a signal, when you see an X on the menu, you already know what kind of place you`ve walked into.
That is the thing about Brazilian culture, it doesn`t just copy what comes from outside, it takes it in, reshapes it, and sends back out with a new identity. The X-Burger is one of the clearest examples of that, what started as an American idea was reworked with local personality until it became something entirely its own.
At Jhoonys, every time we put that X on the menu, we are bringing that story to Vancouver, it might look like a small detail, but there is a lot behind it.
Every X explained
The X naming system expanded far beyond the original cheeseburger, each combination carries its own identity, and every Brazilian grew up with a favourite. Here is the line up that built a culture.
X-Burger – The original, made with cheese and beef, nothing more. A direct translation of the cheeseburger, but the Brazilian way of making it changed everything about how it tastes.
X-Salad – Made with cheese, beef plus salad. proof that simplicity and flavour aren`t opposites. A classic that shows up on every handwritten board in every small city burger joint across Brazil.
X-Bacon – This one dont need any explanation, cheese and bacon together, an unbeatable combination that became a staple for a reason. For a lot of Brazilians, this is the default order.
X-Egg – Made with cheese and egg on the same burger, an extra energy version. A flavour combination that sounds simple and delivers every single time a comfort feeling.
X-Everything – The name says itself, literally everything, beef, cheese, egg, bacon, ham, salad, etc, all at once. A true explosion of flavour that doesn`t apologize for being exactly what it is. This one is for the people who don’t know what to order and the hungry.
X-Calabresa – Made with cheese and sliced calabresa sausage, this one if for those who want something a little different. It is a combination that brings a stronger, and smokier dimension to the classic formula.
X-Chicken – Made with chicken patty with cheese, it is a lighter option. Different protein, same philosophy, a solid choice that earns its place on any Brazilian menu.
X-Atum – Made with tuna and cheese, it is a less common option, but loved in certain regions. A literally surprising combination that works better than it sounds, and represents the creative spirit behind the whole X tradition.
The X is about more than cheese
Not just a meal, a social ritual
This street burger culture goes far beyond flavour, it lives in kiosks, street carts, and small burger joints in cities of every size across Brazil. For most Brazilians, ordering an X is much a social ritual as it is a meal, meeting friends, testing different combinations, filling the spaces between the moments that matter. It carries nostalgia, identity, and a kind of quiet joy thats hard to explain if you didn’t grow up with it.
When you sit at a burger joint and say, “me ve um X-Tudo (give me an X-Everything)”, you are not just placing an order, you are stepping into something shared. Its something millions of people have said in the same way with the same rhythm for decades. That’s what comfort food looks like.
Why we brought this to Vancouver
We brought this to Vancouver, because that is the exactly spirit Jhonny’s Burgers is carrying into Vancouver. Every X on our menu isn`t just a burger with cheese, it is a living piece of Brazilian street food history. We want each bite to do what the best food always does – take you somewhere. For our Brazilian customers, that somewhere is home, for everyone else, it is a place they didn`t know they were missing.
Now that you know the story, there is only one thing left for you and is the burger itself, pick your X and find out why a single letter became a national obsession.
