Yes, their burgers are also quite tasty…damn, I want to go to Red Robin now.
I like Red Robin but I think of them as a sit-down place as opposed to carry-out which changes my level of expectations. But the Royal Red Robin is good eatin’.
I had the single worst burger of my life at Red Robin. Then they refused to replace it when it was overcoked worse than hospital food. But others like it so it must have been that location.
I’m not understanding the hate for In-n-out fries. If you get 'em well done they’re fantastic.
While I’ve never had a burger from any of the OP’s top five chains (therefore can’t comment on them), I do enjoy Red Robin, when I can get to one. Unfortunately, I don’t get there often, since the nearest one is in Pittsburgh, two hours away. 
Outside of that, my fave burgers are the ones I make here at home, with the pre-formed Bubba Burger patties (85/15) from Wal-Mart, which I season just the way I like them, cook them medium rare, top them with sharp cheddar, and put them on a bun with steak sauce and dill pickle slices.
If ye dopers are ever in Orange County, California, do not pass up a burger at Knowlwood. There are four of them here. Their burgers put the smack down on In-N-Out’s pasty burgers and smooshy fries. In-N-Out is over-rated, and yes, I am actually born and raised in SoCal.
As a matter of fact, Tommy’s is over-rated as well.
(Flame suit on.)
For drive through burgers, Carl’s Jr. Six Dollar Burgers are teh shit.
Oh, man. We used to go to Knollwood in Santa Ana all the time. Those were good burgers, and I liked the old-timey décor. Nothing like that up here (that I know of). They need to leave the cheese off of the fish tacos, though.
I mentioned Dope burger in another thread. (NB: It’s not a chain, so it really doesn’t rate mentioning in this thread – but I’m doing it anyway.) Damned tasty burger, and inexpensive to boot. Really good fries and onions rings, but rather pricey. Unfortunately there was a fire either at Dope Burger or Lava Lounge last week, and Dope Burger’s phone has been disconnected. I hope they come back.
I heard a lot about Red Robin, and being a burger lover, was quite excited to find out there was one near here. Went to lunch there one day, and was quite disappointed. When my burger came, the first thing I noticed was that it was perfectly round, and the edges were perfectly vertical. A preformed patty. I dug in and the first thing I noticed was the beef was incredibly dry. One thing I will say though, the lettuce, tomato and onion on the burger were incredibly fresh, crisp, and very tasty. Still haven’t gone back, though. I’ll stick to my local haunts. Mmmmm…
The thing to do at Red Robin is to order your burger “deconstructed.” That way you get all the topping on the side, and you can customized the burger as you wish. No more “towering burger full o’toppings” that is impossible to eat.
The toppings were fine. It was the quality of the actual beef patty I found wanting.
I gotta say that the two times I ate at Fuddruckers was two times too many. The burger was flat, weirdly gray, and decidedly untasty. Plus the condiment bar was disgusting to behold.
I did, however, have a Faygo Black Raspberry soda in the bottle there, best soda I’ve ever had. I do like regional soda pop, and Fuddruckers had a good selection. The food, though, was flat out awful.
Must have found a bad one. I just got back from our local RR, and my burger was perfect.
Count me as another not a fan of five guys. I’ve never had good fries from them. (Which when I found out they only fry them once instead of twice like they’re supposed to explained a lot. Thanks Alton Brown for pointing that out btw. That probably explained why at least one time they were basically raw.) Come to think of it all three times I had it they over cooked the burger. (3 different 5 guys restaurants.) The best chain around here (Mass) I’d have to say is Flamers. (Although admittedly the best burger and fries I’ve had over all was the Fireside Grille.) Hey, true story I tried to give them yet another chance. (Yes a 4th one.) Guess what, when I went there their grill was broken and they couldn’t serve any food at all. (Yup, I’ve had no luck with five guys.)
AFAIK, they are twice fried. Where have you heard otherwise? (Also, I’ve had great once-fried fries, too, so the twice-fried thing is not a big deal to me if the fry tastes good in the end, which a Five Guys fry, to me, does.)
My favorite chain is The Habit. It started in Santa Barbara and Goleta but has spread out a lot in the last 10 years.
The burgers, fries, and onion rings are all delicious, and pretty affordable. They have good shakes, and they give out their own homemade ranch which is just amazing.
I don’t understand the love for In-N-Out’s burgers. They don’t taste like meat, they taste like a solidified slab of their grease. Every one I have had, in multiple states, has tasted solely of grease with no other flavor except that of the condiments and fixings. I’ll take a Carl’s Jr. Six Dollar burger over them any day for twice the price.
Five Guys would have to serve me something truly inedible for them not to beat out In-N-Out.
Edit: On second thought, I get it. People really love the taste of grease.
shrug Different strokes, I guess, but for me, In-N-Out’s biggest selling point is that the burgers taste like actual beef, freshly prepared, minimally handled. They taste like the burgers I might make at home.
In-N-Out is good, but I give the nod to Five Guys. The Cajun fries at Five Guys are spectacular and I think there is a bit more seasoning in the burgers. I haven’t had In-N-Out in about five years and I just Five Guys over the weekend, so maybe my judgment is skewed.
I agree. I normally hate french fries, but eat them only at In 'n Out -they make them from scratch (you can see them cutting the potatoes) - it really doesn’t get fresher than that, and they are perfectly cooked.
I used to live in the Chicago area, and then in NYC - both of those places have fantastic burger joints (Jackson Hole in NYC is great!) but living here on the left coast, you have a larger selection of chains to choose from.
Here in Las Vegas, within 3 miles of my house, we have In 'n Out, Red Robin, 5 Guys, Tommy’s, Fatburger, Steak 'n Shake, Sonic and of course, McDonalds and Burger King. I am surprised there is a cow alive within 100 miles of here. For that matter, I am surprised there is a human alive within five miles if you eat at all these place.
My ranking:
- In 'n Out - just can’t beat the price and quality. Plus I do love the fries.
- Fatburger - also good, but most are in casino food courts and thus a bit pricier than the normal non-casino locations. Excellent onion rings.
- Red Robin - much pricier, and more of a restaurant than fast food chain.
- 5 Guys - not bad, but not really worth going to with the selection all around here.
- All the others.
I rolled by Smashburger the other day and got the large Windy City (1/2lb, haystack onion, tomato, lettuce, cheese and spicy mustard on a pretzel bun) and it was good eating. The whole meal was a bit pricey but that had as much to do with the up-charge on the burger size than anything else. Assuming I was in the mood to drop $8 or so on a burger and fries, I’d go back to Smashburger before Five Guys.
The fries themselves were some fancy affair with oil and rosemary. They have normal fries as well and I’ll just go with those next time as the ones I had were… okay, but nothing great and forced me to wipe my hands down after every oily fry.