Of the generally quick service chains, my facorites are Qdoba (which I much prefer to Chipotle), and my number 1, Noodles and Company. Yum, yum, yum. Noodles makes such good food, especially for the price and service time. Their penne Rosa and pesto cavatappi are incredible.
McCormick and Schmick
First Watch
Chipotle
The very regional Tudor’s Biscuit World
Sonic
I don’t get this at all. I mean, obviously we all have different tastes, and are entitled to our own opinions, for sure. And we can certainly debate where In-N-Out burgers rank in the world of burgers… I personally disagree with those who say it’s the ‘best burger ever’; I think there are plenty of upper scale burger places that way surpass it (Burger Bar in Vegas comes to mind, for one… Father’s Office and Umami in L.A. as two others). I do think it’s among the best fast food burgers, at least.
But to say they’re “terrible”… that I just don’t get. They use high-quality meat, and everything is cooked fresh. The toppings are also very fresh. I can understand not thinking it’s the greatest burger ever, but calling it “terrible” strikes me as very odd. Did you maybe just eat there once, and have a particularly bad experience for some reason? Because… again, I can certainly understand saying they’re overrated, but I can’t wrap my head around someone thinking that In-N-Out burgers are “terrible”. They’re made of high quality meat cooked fresh… what could make them terrible?
KFC Original Recipe = Red Neck Crack.
To each their own, I guess, but I just can’t see the burgers as “terrible.” Not the best ever? Yes. Overrated? Yeah, ok. Terrible? They’re certainly better than McD’s or Burger King! I mean, I know that’s setting the bar pretty low, but In-N-Out burgers are so much better than many, many others.
I would kill for an In N Out here in China. I would eat there every single day. During my last trip back to the US (years and years ago) I went straight from the airport to In-N-Out.
Though I’ve never eaten there (since I’ve never been that far out west, dammit), I can certainly understand where you’re coming from because ever since Five Guys has opened a few locations in my neck of the woods, I’ve been hearing about/reading about how everyone who likes Five Guys is deluded, since their burgers are simply terrible.
But then, really, what do I know? After all, I’m the one who just started a thread characterizing my least favorite chain restaurant as “evil”.
I picked Pappadeaux because that’s where I’d go to eat if I was picking from the list of choices. Admittedly, I’ve never eaten at the majority of those places.
My experience with Five Guys is their food varies a lot from franchise to franchise.
Pizza Express…British chain, very tasty.
Similar experience.Not good.
My vote is WhatABurger.
You know, despite the rage that burns hotter than a thousand suns for Applebees, I’ve actually had great good there on numerous occasions. I’m a big fan of both their Bourbon Street steak cooked on a hot iron skillet, and their dynamite shrimp, which come in this spicy-mayo sauce which is just out of this world. Both of those combined with their 3 dollar 20-oz beer specials and I’m usually a happy camper.
Up here in Canada, East Side Mario’s is pretty good, as is Kelsey’s. Casey’s is not bad too, but they started featuring a lot of Thai food; good if you like Thai, I suppose, but it’s not my favourite.
I wonder if the problem was that you’d heard so much about In-N-Out Burger that the reality couldn’t possibly live up to the expectations.
As to the OP, I think I’ve only ever eaten at In-N-Out Burger and Popeye’s and I wouldn’t call them “rather good.” (BTW, aren’t Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris on a completely different level from the rest of the list?)
Interesting. I’ve never even heard of most of these.
There are a few that I’ve heard of but I’m pretty sure that I’ve only ever been to one of them, Hardee’s, and that was a long long time ago.
My very first Chipotle experience was when we were attending a convention in Houston about 5 years ago. We were staying in the hotel that connects to the medical center downtown and we tried the Chipotle up the block. I fell in LOVE…every time we went away after that I managed to find a Chipotle near the hotel. We didn’t have one locally until about six months ago. I thought I died and went to heaven.
I have to order without rice, since it has cilantro mixed in and I’m a soap-taster, but that makes it a little bit healthier, perhaps…fewer carbs in an already carb-loaded meal. But it’s so GOOOD!
YES.
Give me a whataburger, Fuddruckers or Red Robin burger any day over anything In and Out has to offer.
Of the ones listed, Ruth’s Chris is the best food. Dinner for two is upwards of $120 on the downside.
Hear, hear! Now you’ve got me hungry. Is 8:17 am too early for a hamburger?
I wasn’t too impressed with Ruth’s Chris the one time we ate there. First, I don’t care for how they serve their steaks to you on a sizzling hot plate. A steak is too good to do something that heinous to it. It should be treated with care and allowed to rest on a (room temperature) plate for 10-15 minutes before being served, to allow the juices to settle and not some spilling out all over the plate as soon as you cut into the thing. Also, the service was condescending at best, flat out rude at worst–not acceptable when you’re paying that kind of money for dinner.
I would argue that Eddie Merlot’s features the best food and service of all the restaurants listed. (But I still voted for White Castle.)
What if I add a cup of salt to that high quality, fresh cooked meat? Or just one pinch of cilantro, which you may think tastes like dish soap? They guy just doesn’t like the burger. He thinks it tastes nasty.