Best Fast Food Burger

[ChocoMom]

When I grew around Detroit, A & W had great burgers, followed by Jack-in-the-Box, and there were lots of other places to try.  Now that I live on the other side of Mackinac Bridge, not much of a selection as far as chain restaurants go.   BK, McD's, Culvers and Hardees.  No Five Guys, No Shake Shack. No A &W   BK and McD's, I just eliminate automatically for anything except maybe coffee, and a breakfast biscuit for the kids.  Culver's and Hardees both have pretty good burgers. I find the Culver's Butterburgers are pretty true to texture for a real hamburger, but EXTREMELY salty.  Hardees Lo-Carb Thickburger (minus the cheese, mayo and ketchup) works perfectly into this torture diet my doc put me on. So, I can cope slightly better now, when I am out and about and need to hit the drive through.  Its not grass fed, so no matter what, none of these get ranked as GREAT---just good or acceptable.   We do have an Applebees now, but I have not tried the burger there. I shall put that on the to-do list. 

 

As for a really GREAT burger, one must drive further north to The Hut in Calumet.   Its not "fast food "unless you order ahead- so be ready to sit down, and then behold greatness.  

[rotuts]

I had occasion to have a burger at R Guys a few towns over.

 

I had the single patty w lettuce , tomato , mayo , pickles and mushrooms.

 

I asked for as rare as possible , but they seem to cook it one way , and that information is posted.

 

and fries w not too much salt.     a previous visit I didn't ask for less salt and the fries were quite salty  ( for me )

 

I had a vanilla  malted shake.

 

they assemble your topping on your bun on the counter opposite the grill.  when the burger is ready , it goes on the buns and gets wrapped up.

 

the bacon was room temp pre-cooked.  but still a little crispy , perhaps they cook the bacon from time to time etc

 

therefore the bun as room temp , i.e. a little cold m as were the toppings.   the meat was hot enough to partially melt the cheese and bring perhaps the

 

tomato to a warmer temp.   they do not warm nor toast the buns nor put the cheese on the patty on the drill.

 

it was a good burger none the less , but the non-tosted cool bun was  bit of a distraction on what might have been a very very good butter :

 

so the burger as an experience got a " good " rating as you could taste the beef as beef and it still have crunch from the grill.

 

the Malted was outstanding ,l I haven't had something like that in a long long while.   they give it to you w a straw , but toss that right away as you

 

can't get it up that straw.

 

the fries had less salt than I remember the first time i was there and were outstanding.

 

clearly their ' signature ' is to give you your fries in a cut that's the side thou ordered and then they add a significant amount of fries on top of those

 

in the bag that has your burger and fries.  they and malt vinegar for the fries and I asked for some extra maya.

 

the burger at ShakeShake   ( SmokeShake ) was much much better as the bun was hot and might have been lightly coated in butter ? meat jus ?

 

you know the buns that come tiny bit oily ?  SS has those , 5G does not

 

that being said , the fries Ive had ( once ) at SS were awful

 

so  really really keen on outstanding fries w that burger , like lots and lots of toping ?   =- 5 guys

 

a much better buyer ( over all ) and pass on the fries  ?  SS.

[aaronjoney]

i love fast food always and i ever eat the best burger at "Shake Shack" in USA.

[ChocoMom]

We just got a new BK in town about two weeks ago.  They have a very fast, efficient crew. The burgers are so-so, but the fries are much better at this location versus other BK's and McDonalds.    

We just don't seem to attract The cool places like 5 Guys or Shake Shack...which is a drag. I'd like another option to choose from.  But, it is what it is. 

[gfweb]

I'm not in love with 5G. Variable from store to store...no drive thru...long waits

[rotuts]

ShakeShake is far superior to 5G's     in all respects 

 

it would be an abomination to get a SS : SmokeShake via a drive through window. 

 

no BurgerZen at all that way.  just ignore the SS fries.

 

Ive had InN'Out many time in CA    I do love their sauce

 

but I can't remember enough about them to compare w SS.

 

Fries at one 5g's ive been to are a Gift from God.

[kayb]

We've got a 5 Guys; it's...OK. For a burger, there's an old diner/dairy bar I freqent; makes hellaciously good fries and onion rings, and the burgers are the good-quality thin patties with plenty of crust from the flattop. They toast buns on the flattop, as well. They have a drive-through, but the burgers and rings don't transport well; much better fresh, hot, eaten there.

 

I find consistently when I travel, the local diner/dairy bar/cafe does a better burger than any fast food chain common to the South. In bigger cities, you may hit some regional chains with better burgers, but no In-n-Out and no Shake Shack here (well, there's a Shake Shack about 45 minutes away, but it's no kin to the chain, being one of the local diner/dairy bar combos, and it does, in fact, have a fine burger. I tried In-n-Out when I was in Arizona, and yes, it's pretty good.

[ElsieD]

I went to a 5 Guys here once and swore I would never go back. Between getting our two orders totally wrong, they blasted us out of the place with music  going full tilt.  It was so loud we could not have a conversation, not even with our voices raised.

Edited August 10, 2017 by ElsieD
Fixed a typo (log)

[rotuts]

@kayb  

 

I completely agree with you on the Local Burger Joint

 

back before the Internet and personal Computers

 

'50's and '60's 

 

there was Kirks

 

in the PaloAlto area  CA

 

stunning

 

Im pleased you still have a Local Delicious Burger Joiint  !

 

cheers

[kayb]

Y'all made me do it. Details on the Lunch thread.

 

[lindag]

We have a locally owned place a couple towns over in Hamilton that serves award-winning burgers made from Montana beef they'll cook any way you like.  their onion rings are the best I've ever had and the place is busy every day, sometimes with a wait.  Out of town guests always want to return.

[Hasmek]

Have you all of Slater's 50/50? I'm not much of a burger fan, but this place take's the cake for hand crafted trendy burger's and beers. The so-called "Burger by Design," ranging from the size of the burger, type of meat, bread, cheese, toppings, sauces, etc. You would love this place if you are a burger fanatic.

 

[Chris Hennes]

I'm not sure it's reasonable to call a chain that takes reservations "fast food." 

[ElsieD]

35 minutes ago, Hasmek said:

Have you all of Slater's 50/50? I'm not much of a burger fan, but this place take's the cake for hand crafted trendy burger's and beers. The so-called "Burger by Design," ranging from the size of the burger, type of meat, bread, cheese, toppings, sauces, etc. You would love this place if you are a burger fanatic.

 

 

Where is Slater's 50/50?

[Hasmek]

Location's are mainly based in California: Anaheim Hills, Huntigton Beach, Pasadena, Rancho Cucamunga, San Diego, San Marcos; and Dallas, Texas.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, Chris Hennes said:

I'm not sure it's reasonable to call a chain that takes reservations "fast food." 

Indeed. 

Id say to be classified as fast food there ought to be a drive-thru

[raamiri]

I got an opportunity to go to Simmzy's in Huntington Beach, CA. not to long ago. They have great Gourmet Burgers and unbelievable  selection of Craft Beers. Check it out if you are a Burger Fan.  Their location is phenomenal as well overlooking the ocean.

[Chris Hennes]

A place with a view and good food would be novel indeed. From their menu it looks like they've got two different burgers. Which one did you order? Is this a place that cooks them to order, or are they just well-done?

[Toliver]

18 hours ago, Hasmek said:

Location's are mainly based in California: Anaheim Hills, Huntigton Beach, Pasadena, Rancho Cucamunga, San Diego, San Marcos; and Dallas, Texas.

 Slater's 50/50 can't really be classified as fast food. I've been there and had to wait a hellava long time to get the customized burger I ordered (lesson learned...never order a customized burger...which is supposed to be one the features at Slater's. Next time I will order whatever is already on the menu). Plus, they serve a kabillion beers on tap, ranging from Big Beers (Michelob, et al) to craft/IPA beers.

That ain't a fast food joint. I'm just sayin'...

 

edited for spelking 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Toliver (log)

[Chris Hennes]

As we've discussed (as I re-read this topic I see we've even talked about it here in the past), "fast food" is a pretty nebulous concept these days. My internal thought process is that you've really got two fundamentally different styles of burger place: those where you can specify how you'd like it cooked and those where you can't. I'm not trying to compare Freddy's to Owen and Engine -- both terrific burgers, but so fundamentally different that I don't really consider them the same food.

[Jon Savage]

On 9/25/2017 at 7:59 AM, Chris Hennes said:

A place with a view and good food would be novel indeed. From their menu it looks like they've got two different burgers. Which one did you order? Is this a place that cooks them to order, or are they just well-done?

I live a couple blocks away from  Simmzy's Long Beach location - their burgers (and other food)  are uniformly good with a usually well-curated craft beer tap list as well. It has become a micro chain with I think 6 locations with Long Beach being the second one. I'm honestly not sure it really falls into the fast food category - it is very much an upscale casual sit-down kind of place. 

 

I do very much like In'n'Out; abhor 5 guys in that it is cold molasses slow & the 2 times I did try to eat there the burger was basically cold by the time they assembled it and got it to me.

 

Burger King also does a pretty fair job too. I've found Sonic to be unobjectionable but also in no way memorable.

 

[raamiri]

On 9/25/2017 at 7:59 AM, Chris Hennes said:

A place with a view and good food would be novel indeed. From their menu it looks like they've got two different burgers. Which one did you order? Is this a place that cooks them to order, or are they just well-done?

The burgers are cooked to order with options for different dressings. They also have three different selection for Fries

 

[raamiri]

22 hours ago, Jon Savage said:

I live a couple blocks away from  Simmzy's Long Beach location - their burgers (and other food)  are uniformly good with a usually well-curated craft beer tap list as well. It has become a micro chain with I think 6 locations with Long Beach being the second one. I'm honestly not sure it really falls into the fast food category - it is very much an upscale casual sit-down kind of place. 

 

I do very much like In'n'Out; abhor 5 guys in that it is cold molasses slow & the 2 times I did try to eat there the burger was basically cold by the time they assembled it and got it to me.

 

Burger King also does a pretty fair job too. I've found Sonic to be unobjectionable but also in no way memorable.

 

I agree, Simmzy's is a bit upscale and may fall under casual dinning.  There are many micro chains popping up now. I ate at Burger Boss not too long ago. It was pretty good.

[robirdstx]

We have a Freddy’s Opening Soon, just down the highway. Their food sounds very much like the Steak ‘n Shake my husband and I loved and grew up with in St. Louis. 

Edited February 13, 2018 by robirdstx (log)

[Chimayo Joe]

I broke my vegetarianism(actually, I eat like a vegan almost all the time, but I'm not a fanatic about it) to try Freddy's when it opened here several months ago.  Too dry for me, but I can understand the appeal. I like Smashburger best(if it counts as fast food.)

 

I think Freddy's was patterned on Steak 'n' Shake, but I've never had S 'n' S.