But that is an essential part of the experience. I love White Castle even though, or perhaps because, we don’t have them here either but I can never resist it every time that chance comes every few years when I am travelling to somewhere they exist. I wasn’t classify them as a great anything but they are certainly novel and tickle a spot that nothing else can sometimes.
Just had the McDonalds Jalapeno Double. Pretty good! Carl’s Jr.'s was better, but Mc’s was very creditable. Disappeared quickly enough, I’ll tell ya!
Do zombies eat brainburgers?
A godlike burger would be resurrected three days after you ate it. You don’t want that.
In the years since this thread was resurrected, many other fast-food chains have entered Thailand. Carl’s Jr has two or three locations in Bangkok now, but I’ve still not tried them.
Well, I’ll continue contributing to this zombie to say this: I agree. I’m addicted to these damned $2 things. Had one today, in fact. I’ve had so many of them that I’ve already got a list in my head of “preferred McDonalds” that consistently prepare them better than other McDonald’s. (Some don’t melt the cheese enough; some skimp on the crispy jalapenos, I’ve had one completely forget the sauce, etc. Why there’s so much variety, I don’t know. I thought they were all, in theory, supposed to be the same, but I’ve noted quite a range of quality.)
In the years since I first posted in this thread, I’ve had my first (and second and third) experience with Whataburger, and I definitely have to add it to the list. The Green Chile Double…good God. Why can’t they have those in LA?
The first time I went to a Fatburger (on the Vegas strip), I remember that I could choose between a flat-grilled burger and a flame-cooked burger. I haven’t seen any of them offer the flame-cooked version since then. Was that just a one-off thing, or do they have this option in other locations as well?
(There was one in the San Francisco Bay Area - on Monument Blvd. just west of 680 in Pleasant Hill, if you’re familiar with the area - but it closed years ago after about a year in business; it’s a Five Guys now.)
As for which burger I think is best: if it’s just the burger, then I vote for Carl’s Jr. If you include the fries, Five Guys; the only reason I have never gone to Carl’s Jr. for just the burger and then to Five Guys for just the fries is, the two Five Guys that are anywhere near where I live are nowhere near any Carl’s Jr. locations. I have gotten a meatball sandwich at Togo’s and then In & Out fries on a number of occasions.
Yeah, that green chile burger is pretty great. (I’m pretty much addicted to green chile anything.) Wish they had those around here, too.
Keep an eye out in August/September. You can get the good stuff in LA and make your own all year long. Get about twenty-five to forty pounds and freeze in ziplock bags, seven or eight chiles per bag.
You know, I don’t remember seeing that option (and I have been to that location), but looking online, it appears to be an “off-the-menu” option for Fatburger, which seems odd to me. Anyone know the dope on this? (It’s also possible I didn’t notice because I prefer (flat)griddled burgers, but I don’t remember ever being given the option.)
Follow-up: I went to Dairy Queen today, and they didn’t have burgers at all. I had a completely boring and mediocre BBQ beef sandwich, just as average as could be. Might just as well have come out of a can.
The milkshake was good, though!
Yes, Whataburger is one of the few things I miss about West Texas.
I was at HQ for the past couple of days and tried Foster’s Grille for lunch on Tuesday. They’re not exactly fast food: you circle what you want on an order form, stand in line, then hand the form to the cashier, who totals up what you owe and somebody brings out your food when it’s done.
Right now, they’re mainly clustered within 30 miles of Manassas, VA, but they’re expanding into other areas. There’s one outside Charlotte, NC, and another around Fort Myers, FL. Check 'em out if you happen to be near one!
Ah for the days of 2007 when we went to fast food places for burgers instead of chicken sandwiches 
I live in Dallas and we’ve been fortunate to get a good number of chain restaurants from other regions in the last few years, so burgers I never could have tried back in 2007 can make my list today.
- Shake Shack - This may not be fast food because no drive thru
- Whataburger
- Steak and Shake
- In N Out
- Freddies - I don’t know how national this chain is yet but they’re quite good.
…
…
… - Burger King
Funnily enough, after my hometown got its first Burger King in the 1980s they actually became my favorite fast food burger (Hardee’s and McDonald’s were the only other fast food places in town at the time). Ok, part of that was because they had a cool playground. But I also just liked their flame broiled taste better than how the others cooked their burgers. But after I had my last Burger King burger it did seem like they had gone downhill.
And conversely, although the OP rated Hardee’s as their favorite, they used to be my least favorite. But that may be because I haven’t eaten at a Hardee’s since I was in college, nearly two decades ago. That last Hardee’s meal was probably the worst fast food meal I’ve ever had. I ordered roast beef, not a burger, and received this horrible soggy roast beef sandwich. I swore after that that I would never go to Hardee’s again. I have heard that they’ve improved since Carl’s Jr. took them over, so maybe I should give them a second chance. Except now I live in California, where there are no Hardee’s, but rather Carl’s Jr. Maybe I should give them a try. In my almost 15 years here I’ve actually never been to a Carl’s Jr.
Since I’ve been living in California I have become a big In-N-Out fan. They are, no contest, my favorite fast food burger. In response to the post from 2014 saying it’s “not the godlike burger that everybody seems to claim it is,” I hear that a lot from In-N-Out detractors. I think all the hype that’s built up around them leads people to have overly high expectations. They are, at the end of the day, still a fast food burger, and think some people forget that. I have had burgers from sit-down restaurants that were better than In-N-Out, but In-N-Out is better than every other fast food place I’ve been to. In-N-Out seems to care about the freshness of their ingredients, and that makes a noticeable difference in quality.
I will always always love a Whopper Jr. Haven’t tired of it in umpteen years.
Though there is a gas station/dairy/deli that is just taking over every empty corner of this city, Byrne Dairy, and they have really great food. On Wednesdays, cheeseburgers are half price for $1 each. (they bake the hamburg patties right there in an oven, put them on buns with white Amercan cheese.) . They are not fantastic, but they aren’t at all bad!
I’d jumble the Top 5 around a little, but, otherwise, completely agree with the gist of your list.
Whataburger is the ONLY one to count. It’s them and then everybody else.
I don’t think we can count the Fudd. No drive through and there is nothing fast about ordering because they make everything from scratch.
Maybe 12 years ago Wendy’ burgers actually had flavor but I had one recently and then remembered “Oh yeah, this is why I haven’t eaten them in years.”
Best Regional Burger - In n Out
Best National Burger - Carls Jr
Honorable Mentions - Fatburger (exactly as my mom made them), Fuddruckers (sit down - not fast food), White Castle (because . . . I don’t know why but I love them. I was so disappointed that there was no WC in the Detroit airport when I had a layover), Tommy’s (the quintessential chili-burger)