The Real Debate - Food Wars Entry #2 Burgers

[bdoughty]

I think we can all agree that Homemade or local establishment burgers are generally the best but that would make this entry moot, so we will stick to Fast Food Establishments that at the very least have 250 different stores and typically have dining and drive-in. I will probably miss a few so feel free and select OTHER. Note: Fatburger and Smashburger do not have enough locations and Fudruckers is primarily dine in only.


McDonalds



Burger King



Wendy's



Culver's



Five Guys Burgers And Fries



Jack in the Box



SONIC Drive-In



Checkers / Rally's



Dairy Queen



Whataburger



White Castle



Hardees/Carl's Jr.

[bdoughty]

This was a tough choice but I ended up sticking with an old favorite in Whataburger. Culver's would be second on the list but I only ate them when I was on business. Have not tried 5 Guys, Checkers or In-N-Out on that list.

Not going to make a list for fries but thought it would add to the discussion. Once again Whataburger is tough to beat when they are not too soggy and the ketchup packs are the best in the biz. I love my Heinz Ketchup but Whataburger packets are simply bliss to dunk fries or a burger in. McDonalds would be 2nd and there really is not a third, Wendy's used to have good fries, pretty thick cut but turned to crap a few years back.

[morsdraconis]

You need to try Five Guys, because it's THE BEST, and my vote. Their burgers are muy excelente. The only downside is they are the most expensive of the choices (though I haven't been to Whataburger, Culvers, Jack in the box, or White Castle).

Second would be Hardees. Ever since they went to the thickburger, they've blown away all competition besides Five Guys (who we just recently got in WV). Five Guys is still more expensive, but Hardees is definitely more expensive for the true drive-thru burger restaurants.

Third would be Wendy's. Their burgers have jumped in quality 10 fold in the past few years as they started using thicker patties and switched to natural cut fries with sea salt instead of what they used to have. It does need to be noted that every time I go there though, I don't get their burger, I end up getting a spicy chicken sandwich (plain that I add my own or a package of their bbq sauce to) instead.

[SCClassof93]

Five Guys, not even close. The mountain of fries is nice as well

[souljahbill]

I've never heard of Culver's and I've never been to 5 Guys. There's one by my wife's job and she wasn't impressed when she went. For me:

Burgers: Burger King
Fries: McDonald's
Drinks: Sonic

[morsdraconis]

I've never heard of Culver's and I've never been to 5 Guys. There's one by my wife's job and she wasn't impressed when she went. For me:

Burgers: Burger King
Fries: McDonald's
Drinks: Sonic

Well, you're wife is just flatout wrong. Go there, get a double bacon cheese burger with a regular fry and you'll have the best experience EVER. Even more so if they have one of the awesome soda dispensers that lets you mix stuff (like Lemon flavored Coke, or Orange flavored Sprite). They're AWESOME, but you might just have shitty employees at that one.

[gschwendt]

Yeah... By including 5 guys, it will be a landslide. Never had Culvers nor In & Out.

[souljahbill]

Well, you're wife is just flatout wrong. Go there, get a double bacon cheese burger with a regular fry and you'll have the best experience EVER. Even more so if they have one of the awesome soda dispensers that lets you mix stuff (like Lemon flavored Coke, or Orange flavored Sprite). They're AWESOME, but you might just have shitty employees at that one.

It's right off LSU's campus so I'm sure it's full of LSU students.

Also, I hate to sound arrogant but my burgers off the grill taste better than all these places.

[SmoothPancakes]

Never had 2/3rds of this stuff. NW Ohio sucks. Defiance only has McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and Dairy Queen. Bryan has a Sonic, but I've never been there, because whenever I'm in Bryan (usually only in November and December for Neighbors in Need campaign stops), Sonic is busy and we only have time to hit the drive-thru of a place on our way of hauling ass out of town to get to our next stop two counties away in 45 minutes, so we end up usually either stopping at McDonald's or hitting up Dairy Queen when we get to Paulding.

[NatureBoy]

Five Guys Burgers And Fries.

[SmoothPancakes]

Let's see, going through the list:

Culver's - Closest is Fort Wayne or Adrian, Michigan.
Five Guy's - Fort Wayne and Rossford, Ohio
Jack in the Box - West Chester, Ohio and Avon, Indiana. Don't think I'm ever going to visit JitB anytime soon.
Sonic - There's one in Bryan, maybe I'll actually try it out these next two months during my dozen+ trips to Bryan for Neighbors in Need and Christmas for Kids.
Rally's - Fort Wayne and Bowling Green.
Whataburger - Closest is Arkansas. Not a chance in hell.
White Castle - Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, SW Ohio. Cincinnati alone seems to have 30+, good lord. Not sure how, but Fort Wayne doesn't have one. And Monroe, Taylor and Detroit are the closest in Michigan.
Hardee's - Closest is Genoa, Ohio and Bluffton, Indiana

So next time I'm in Fort Wayne, I can possibly give Culver's, Five Guys and Rally's a try, if I'm near them and have the time. Sonic, I can try if I have a chance during one of my times in Bryan. Jack in the Box, Whataburger, White Castle and Hardee's, not a chance in hell of trying anytime in the close future as I have no reason to travel to West Chester, Ohio, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Avon, Indiana, Genoa, Ohio, Bluffton, Indiana, or Arkansas.

[steelerfan]

Carl's Jr ftw.

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[JeffHCross]

Five Guys, easily. It usually wins national surveys that include In N Out. So if In N Out isn't on the list ... well, even more wins for Five Guys.

Pretty sure the only thing I haven't had on this list is Culver's. And any list of "best burgers" that includes White Castle is laughable.

[psuexv]

Just keep piling it on..... Five guys!!!!

[JeffHCross]

Also, I hate to sound arrogant but my burgers off the grill taste better than all these places.

That'd be true for practically anyone that can actually grill (i.e. not me), but, among burgers that don't require a 20 minute wait or reservations, Five Guys wins easily.

[SmoothPancakes]

Also, I hate to sound arrogant but my burgers off the grill taste better than all these places.

Agreed! I have a special homemade spice rub that I made years ago as a teenager just by throwing random shit in the cupboard together since I was tired and bored of plain old burgers. Turned out I'm damn good at randomly mixing spices, because I have yet to taste a spice rub for a burger that I consider better than what I created. When we'd makes burgers on the grill out in the quad at college, I'd end up doing all the grilling because my friends wanted that spice rub on their burgers. Come to think of it, I think I did just about all the damn grilling back then. Burgers, steaks (I had a damn good steak rub I created), brats, etc, I seemed to always be the one grilling.

I also came up with my own personal homemade version of the stuffed burger, two versions actually, one with the cheese stuffed in, and another with stuff like jalapenos and others stuff in the middle of it. Damn good burgers. No assembly line burger restaurant will ever touch what I can create on my counter top and grill.

[JeffHCross]

Pulled pork on top of a nicely grilled burger. Still haven't been able to find a restaurant that topped that combination.

[souljahbill]

Just talked to my wife about this thread and supposed "greatness" of 5 Guys burgers. She says she prefers In-N-Out because to her, 5 Guys is just an expensive greasy burger. She also said she'll bring home a 5 Guys burger for me this week to see for myself.

#ThatsWhyIMarriedHer

[JeffHCross]

I can believe that.

Did you tell her that In-N-Out wasn't an option in this poll?

[souljahbill]

I can believe that.

Did you tell her that In-N-Out wasn't an option in this poll?

No, I didn't but I brought it up because I mentioned that some people prefer 5 Guys to In-N-Out. She had a look of, "Really?" on her face.