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ITT: People who don't know what fast food is. If you are seated, wait staff takes your order, and you wait 15+ minutes for your food to be prepared, it's not fast food, even if you're ordering a hamburger and fries.
Probably A&W. I'm shocked to see so many people saying Wendy's. Their meat is tasteless, imo.
What does it for me is that they use such fresh vegetables to balance out the Burger
Five Guys
So expensive though. But the last time I was there, they just filled the bag with fries instead of using one of those little cardboard boxes. I ended up throwing half a pound of fries away.
Yeah, it's great. Order a small fries, they fill a small cup with fries, put it in the bag, then top the bag up with fries. Order large fries, they perform the process with a larger cup.
I love it, but can't plan to do anything other than nap after eating there
In Canada, it's easily A&W.
A&W burgers are so basic, they're almost bland.
Dairy Queen, Fatburger, Five Guys, Burger's Priest - they all easily clear A&W burgers.
Chubby chicken is gas tho.
I'm a big burger's priest fan, holy smokes rules.
Most of those other places aren’t available in Canada. Also, Canadian A&W is independent from American A&W so maybe their food is a bit different too. Canadian A&W is great
For actual fast food - - that you can order in a drive-thru and not have to wait around for - - the best around here is honestly Wendy's. They're not anything id pay $20 each for, but their average burger is better than their just-as-fast competition.
If by "fast" you really mean "without waitstaff", they're all great. 5 guys, smashburger, fuddruckers", and a dozen tiny chains all make burgers worth paying a premium for.
About the only place NOT worth getting a burger at is anyplace with waitstaff. They just dont take them seriously enough to do a good job, and wind uo about as good as a slightly well-run McDonald's.
(*: i think this one went out of business.)
I agree with the first part but vehemently disagree with the third paragraph.
I suspect it varies wildly based on where you live, but in Chicago there absolutely ARE places with waitstaff worth getting a burger from.
Agreed, and some of them are cheaper than the fast food at this point
wendy's single with cheese and bacon. fries. frosty. classic lunch.
but, if there was a white castle nearby--that's where i'm going. the original 'fast food' burger is still the best.
I only disagree with paying a premium for a burger at the other places.
It's a freakin burger, not a steak. $15+ for a burger is nuts (and I worked in restaurants at one time, so I understand the challenges for them, it's a tough business).
I like Whataburger and in n out equally, sometimes i feel like one, sometimes the other.
I have a hard time recommending Whataburger to others – you’re not missing anything special if you’ve never had it.
But – it’s my go-to. Give me some meatycheesyblobness and spicey ketchup please.
My experience with Whataburger is that the food is mediocre, and if it weren't for bad service, they'd have no service at all. In fact, there's one Whataburger that I have failed to eat at twice because no one came to the counter both times I tried.
Killer Burger. That peanut butter bacon burger is insane.
Five Guys is overrated. They're a fine homemade style burger, not nothing I would call the best.
Freddy’s or Culver’s. Shake shack gets a distant third place if nothing else is nearby.
Outside of my area, it’s white castle. Miss u baby 😿
Freddy’s > Culver’s
But I won’t eat either now that I’m vegan 🤐
Dick's in Washington state
+1 to this. And yes I'm extremely biased as a kid from Seattle.
in-n-out
In N Out
There's a local burger place where I live that's basically an In-N-Out without the branding. Excellent cheeseburgers. The owner even uses locally sourced beef so the burgers are pretty fresh.
Freddy's
Shake Shack's Shroom Burger is by far the best non-meat burger I've had. I'm not even a big fan of mushrooms but Shake Shack manages to turn that portobello mushroom into deliciousness.
Burger Fuel. Only in NZ though :(
American fast food chains are getting worse each day here, so not that.
Instead, there is a local chain named Burger Bangor in my country and holy fuuuck--it's so fucking good. The meat and buns actually tastes good, to the point where I ask myself: if they can do it, why can't the more mainstream chain like Burger King, McD, etc do it?
The king burger, from the Burger bar in Roosendaal, the Netherlands
A&W
Wetherspoons 'Beyond' veggie burger used to be the absolute shiznit. They stopped being cheap though, so there's no real reason to go there any more.
So I don't remember how it even tasted because I was so creeped out by the staff situation, but I ate at fatburger once. The old asian lady manager was ordering around the probably high school age girls that were running the registers, directing everything very specifically like the tone of their voice for each canned prase, the angles of their joints, etc. It kept getting more and more weird and gross with stuff like wrist slaps when they didn't get it perfectly. I never ate at any of their locations ever again.
Arby’s, ironically enough. Not having burgers used to be their whole identity.
It kinda depends, and my opinion has to be tempered with the knowledge that not all chains are everywhere. That means the only white castle I've had was frozen, I've never had in n out, etc.
What chains are present within reasonable driving distance, or that I've had elsewhere are: sonic, Jack in the box, McDonald's, burger king, Wendy's, Hardee's/Carl Jr's. You can add steak n shake, cookout, and five guys, if you consider those as fast food (I do, but some don't). I've also had what-a-burger when visiting family, though not often.
There's more than one kind of burger, which makes it difficult.
As an example, Hardee's does these burgers that are huge, and supposedly black angus beef. Amazing burgers for a fast food joint. Arguably as good or better than burgers at sit down restaurants, including steak houses (depending on which one). But they're a specialty burger, and that's not always comparable to standard burgers.
And there's a difference between something like a big mac, that's piled with stuff, and a regular cheeseburger.
So, for my money, my actual favorite fast food burger of any kind is Burger King's regular cheeseburger. It's just the small patty, a slice of cheese, a few pickles, nurses mustard and ketchup. Simple, enough so that your really taste the beef, but the toppings serve to enhance that flavor rather than cover it up (which is what happens with whoppers and big macs). Plus, the size is more reasonable. I don't feel bloated by one, even with a drink.
However, the Frisco burger from hardees is bomb. Sourdough bread rather than a bun. Not the best sourdough tbh, but it's still a decent enough attempt. The bacon and tomato work well with it. Not a fan of mayo, so I would order it without. Haven't had one in ages though, because they're freaking huge. 800+ calories, and it's like you swallowed a handful of those sponges in gelcaps that kids take into the bathtub with them. It's too much food.
Those would be my top picks for a fairly standard burger though. One smaller and kinda generic, the other a belly buster that's sorta specialty, but not a vast departure.
That being said, there's a style of burger I've had when visiting family that's called "Carolina burger". It's the toppings that make it a style, not the burger itself. Chili sauce, onion, slaw, mustard, with pickles optional. The chilli sauce is not standard hamburger/hotdog chili. It's its own thing, with hundreds of recipes, at least. Every family does their chili sauce different. Definitely the best regional burger I've had.
The best Carolina burgers are not fast food available anywhere except at a whataburger, and they don't call it that. I looked it up, and they call it a hamburger and the bigger version is a what-a-hamburger. Which, it's important to note that this is not the same chain as is in Texas. This is just a couple of joints in one town in North Carolina. I've only ever been to them with my cousin a few times, but holy shit is it good. They also make this strangely good drink concoction called a witch doctor, which is basically every drink they have, plus pickles and pickle juice. But they're technically a drive-in and sit down joint, not a proper fast food joint, but they are just as fast as any of that big chains. It's worth the trip just for the burger though.
Not that fast food burgers would be my pick for a burger 90% of the time, though.
We have a local fast food chain called Good Times.
I'd put their burger up against all other national fast food chains. I'm willing to bet, though there's a litany of other local fast food chains all over the place that could compete. Part of the joy of traveling in the US, as far as I'm concerned.
We just started getting In-N-Out locations here a few years ago, and it's lovely for a cheap burger. But let's not pretend it's anywhere close to the best around. Plus their fries are so bad it's shameful.
Good Times' Wild Fries are divine. And strangely for a fast food chain they have decent green chile for said fries.
I used to live in Colorado but not anymore and Goddamn do I miss Good Times. The wild fries and that SAUCE, man. It's amazing.
Whataburger forever and always
Farmer Boys in SoCal. The avocado burger gave me a solid 20 pounds back when I was very overweight and gaining. Working 7/12 nights with Farmer Boys nearby the asphalt plant, I ate that one way too much.
Chargrill in North Carolina
the problem is there are levels to fast food. I see some suggestions that would be casual dining restaurants and then there are sorta shiek places like 5 guys or buffalo wild wings. What I consider fast food that has burgers around me is wendys, mcdonalds, burger king, arbys, culvers, and a&w. Of those I would consider wendys the clear winner. Culvers is a close second and three decades or more ago burger king would be in the running. I often forget how decent a wendys single is till they have a deal and I get one. One thing though is since the big inflation hit I have only picked up fast food single digit amount of times and usually because I just have to (last time was related to my wife being sent to the er from the doctors office during a procedure.)
Nexx Burger and Burgerlords but I’m vegan so they’re only the best available to me in Los Angeles.
There's a gas station north of Austin TX in Round Rock that has Buddha Burgers. Absolutely, hands down the best burgers I've ever had, fast food or otherwise.