No Sonic for 134 miles, never heard of Casey’s.
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Among US fast-food chains, Wendys > Burger King >> Mickey D’s for burger quality. However, Mickey D’s is superior for some travel purposes (e.g. eating while driving) due to being less messy, more consistent, widely available, and having order kiosks. That being said, since their fry formulation changed…I consider Mickey D’s a last resort option.
When I really want a burger, my go-to is Five Guys. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s “the best”, but the combination of their burger, their fries, and (in the US at least) the Freestyle soda options usually satisfies.
Here in Connecticut, there are a few places that specialize in seamed cheeseburgers. Pre-pandemic, my wife and I might go to one of those places once or twice a year, when other errands took us near one. We wouldn’t make a trip specifically to eat at one of those establishments, unless we were taking an out-of-town visitor.
There are (or were pre-pandemic, since I haven’t looked to see if they survived) a couple of local sit-down burger places, including one run by a high end restaurant group. Tried them, enjoyed them, but not enough to justify going out of our way or paying the extra expense.
I think In-and-Out is probably better than Wendys/BK/McD, but overhyped.
I’ve been to Shake Shack once, when an outpost opened in my area. I didn’t care for their sauce. I’d try them again given an opportunity, but I’d want to do some research beforehand.
Before I got put on a restricted diet, my wife and I did try a few of the other premium burger chains (BurgerFi, Wayback, …). They were OK, superior to basic fast food, but not particularly memorable.
Haven’t been to a Hardees in a long time (they aren’t active in my part of the world). Before they were acquired by Carl Jr.'s, I thought their quality suffered from trying to do too much.
Haven’t been to Jack in the Box or Carl Jr’s, and haven’t felt a particular desire to make an effort if/when I visit an area when the were active. Had a coworker who raved about Whattaburger, so it’s on my “to try” list someday.
In one trip to Canada, I tried the Canadian version of A&W, because I was at an office late, and there was one open between the office and the hotel, on a night where I didn’t really feel like doing “real food” by myself. I remember the experience to be extremely disappointing, although the mediocre-to-poor service sticks in my memory more than the food quality.
(Late edit: Had Jack in the Box and Carl Jr’s conflated when I originally wrote this.)
I enjoy a good burger, but I don’t remember the last time I had one at a fast food place. I’d probably say the Whopper is the best of the fast food ones I’ve had.
I also really enjoy burger salads these days. Ted’s Montana Grill does a nice job with those.
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McD’s can do pretty much whatever they want with their fries, they’ll always be better than Burger King. And Wendy’s. I don’t know why Wendy’s can’t do fries well…they do a lot of other things very well.
(But also I have no idea what you’re talking about because their fries have always tasted excellent to me!)
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Mickey D’s has been playing with the formulation of their batter over the past couple of years. Through the process, the fries (to my taste, at least) went from being ambrosia (more than offsetting the mediocrity of their sandwiches/nuggets), to being “just OK”, to being downright bad. However, my perception of that shift may be biased by a decline in quality at McD’s in my area, and my annoyance that they removed entree salads from the menu.
Put another way – I’ve gone from being unable to leave a McD fry uneaten, to declining McD fries (even ignoring the complication of my doctor having forbidden me such treats).
I’m not a fan of BK fries, although they are superior to the McD fries I’ve most recently encountered.
Wendy’s fries were recently reformulated. To my taste, they’ve gone from “meh” to being “OK” (but not as good as the McD fries of old). They’ve always been better than BK fries, IMO. And they get extra credit in recent times for being available topped with bacon and cheese-like sauce.
(I suppose on some future trip to Canada, I should try a McPoutine…)
I am happily oblivious to any McD’s fry changes, then!
OK, yes, this is very true. They had a beer cheese sauce for a while that was very tasty. Maybe still do?
Holllllld up. Is this a thing? Would eat.
EDIT: Really, if I wanted poutine, there are almost certainly better options (especially since most of my trips to Canada are to Montréal). But something about the concept of “McPoutine” amuses/disturbs me.
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Wendy’s, and other chains, are changing the formulation so the fries stay good for longer - just so many people getting Uber Eats et al, and the old formulations weren’t holding up well.
That was always the issue with McD fries. They were glorious. For about four minutes.
I can’t stand McD fries honestly. My partner will get a large and if they’re nice and hot, I’ll steal like 6 then I’m good. Might be a byproduct of working at McD for years… We absolutely took the old fries and put them in the bottom of a Large, then took the hot fries and put them on top. People assumed they took too long to eat them.
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I know that delivery drove Wendy’s reformulation, but I thought McDonald’s changes started before that was a concern, for a number of reasons (expense, lip service to health concerns, legal strategy…).
They used to fry in… beef fat? And switched like 5-10 years ago. Probably other changes I’m not aware of.
McDonald’s ketchup is also lit.
For fast food burgers I like Wendy’s. I did like Hardees but we have Carls Jr & I haven’t actually tried them. I have always hated Burger King’s charcoal burnt burgers.
McD’s >Sonic. I really don’t like the food at Sonic except the Mozzarella sticks. I have been known to get drinks from Sonic and food someplace else.
There used to be a place with an island theme—Paradise Burgers or something like that. Amazing burgers and shakes. They were my favorite burgers although I don’t remember why now. If I had to pick a favorite of a place here in town maybe Red Robin? I just wish the sit down places didn’t make their burgers so huge. 1/3 lb is usually more than enough.
Chili’s used to be a fave but I feel like they’ve gone downhill.
He probably has DQ, though.
DQ is for ice cream
Hot eats, cool treats.
I can walk to DQ from my house, some days I will go for lunch. Cheeseburger, cheese curds, drink, and a small sundae is like $8.
Yeah, it’s not as good as a Whopper but the cheese curds redeem the meal.
In my experience, the best burgers are not found at fast-food places. But going through all the different places that have fantastic burgers would take a shitload of time.
Ranking places based on what’s been listed that I’ve been to, plus adding a couple others:
- Freddy’s Steakburgers - it’s a Midwest thing, but expanding out. We might drive 45 minutes to the nearest one.
- Dairy Queen - burgers are pretty good. Fries are meh. Onion rings can be outstanding, or OK.
- Burger King - Whoppers are great. Original chicken sandwich is even better. Consistency can be an issue.
- Hardee’s - really good, through I still want to urp at the price.
- Steak and Shake - same burger concept as Freddy’s, but it’s closing stores and has been since pre-pandemic. Also can run into quality issues depending on the place.
- Wendy’s - I like it, but not “I’d go drive a distance to get food there.”
- Five Guys - it’s OK, definitely overrated.
- McDonald’s - it’s … you know. At least it’s consistent from place to place.
- Culver’s - … it’s a burger. And it’s consistent from place to place. Just not “damn, that’s a pretty decent burger” for what it’s hyped to be.
- Sonic - burgers aren’t fantastic. Breakfast is much better, though. Ice cream and slushes are really good, that’s what you’ll probably go there for.
- Shake Shack - it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Shake was OK, but overpriced for the size. Everything else, … ick.
- In-n-Out Burger - it was Shake Shack without the shake. Actually, I think we did get a shake and it was blech.
Incomplete: Jack in the Box (from what I recall, it was better than OK but not “I’d drive across town for it” but it’s easily been 15 years since I’ve eaten at one), White Castle (very love-or-hate relationship, depending on whether you like slider-variety burgers; do not do the store freezer variety), any sit-down restaurant known for other food (if you’re ordering hamburgers there, save money and go somewhere else), gas station burgers (way too many to identify, generally cheap for a reason).
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Freddy’s is solid. Bonus points for the shoestring fries, with or without cheese.
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Gotta go with the King (Burger King that is)
I am a huge fan of the Whopper. I used to eat two Whoppers a day when I worked next door to a mall, I did this for nearly two years before I got a new job in another city. I am glad I never got tired of those tasty burgers.