# Cheeseburger hegemony **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066 "2018-06-14T02:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/21 "2018-06-14T12:01:26Z")
I hate cheese on a burger. It is an abomination. The very rare times I order a Big Mac- without cheese- I still get cheese. They say just take it off. Um, you know what happens to processed cheese against a hot patty??? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/22 "2018-06-14T12:27:42Z")
Something about cheese on a burger…it’s just not…kosher. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/23 "2018-06-14T12:47:50Z")
Another non-cheeseburger fan, and I’ve noticed this too. Sometimes I’ll order a burger at a schmancy place (and by “schmancy” I mean I don’t order at the counter), and the wait staff’ll say, “What kind of cheese,” because it’s just that fancy, they have DIFFERENT CHEESE OPTIONS. No cheese! That’s what kind of cheese! As you say, it’s super trivial. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/24 "2018-06-14T12:52:37Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Seems like every hamburger comes with cheese as the default now, which, to my mind, makes it not a hamburger anymore. And where’s the ham? If I were a space alien, the first thing I’d ask the people of earth is: “Whaaaat’s the deal with hamburgers? There’s no ham! You could call 'em beefburgers, but noooo, that’s not confusing enough… Can you see why no other civilizations want to visit you people?” [/seinfeld voice] ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/25 "2018-06-14T12:55:36Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Um, you know what happens to processed cheese against a hot patty??? A taste bud orgasm? ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/26 "2018-06-14T13:03:24Z")
Jack in the box also offers its burger plain and cheese is a separate question and cost maybe you just need to eat at a better quality fast food joint. Generally, i prefer a cheese burger but the processed cheese food doesn’t really add to the fast food burger in my opinion and especially where I’m paying extra for the cheese i usually pass. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/27 "2018-06-14T13:18:33Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m pretty sure the QP and the QPwithC used to be distinct menu items, but now there’s just the latter. My brother worked at a McDonald’s when he was in high school back in the late 70s. I remember him telling a story about a customer ordering a QPwC, without cheese. Bro: You mean a Quarter Pounder? Customer: No, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, with no cheese. After a couple rounds of back and forth and the customer insisting on a QPwCw/oC, my brother rang it up as a QPwC and served him a QP in a QPwC wrapper. As far as the OP goes, I checked the menu for Culver’s and it appears their basic “Butterburger” has no cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/28 "2018-06-14T13:55:01Z")
Moved to Cafe Society ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/29 "2018-06-14T14:02:52Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And where’s the ham? > > If I were a space alien, the first thing I’d ask the people of earth is: > “Whaaaat’s the deal with hamburgers? There’s no ham! You could call 'em beefburgers, but noooo, that’s not confusing enough… Can you see why no other civilizations want to visit you people?” [/seinfeld voice] [Professor]Well, you see, the name is really related to the German city of Hamburg. Every German/Austrian city has their own version of sausage, which takes on the city name - with an “er” ending. Frankfurt - Frankfurter Vienna (Wein) - Weiner Hamburg - Hamburger [/Professor] ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/30 "2018-06-14T14:06:26Z")
Burger factories like McDonald’s may be like that, but any decent restaurant starts with the basic burger, and you have to build it by choosing the components you want. One of those optional components is cheese. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/31 "2018-06-14T14:14:44Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > The cat’s eaten it. Has he? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/32 "2018-06-14T14:25:09Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Has he? You’ll have to open the box to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/33 "2018-06-14T15:33:07Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Burger factories like McDonald’s may be like that, but any decent restaurant starts with the basic burger, and you have to build it by choosing the components you want. One of those optional components is cheese. I’m not sure that’s true. I linked upthread to a hagiography to the burger at Craigie on Main, the _ne plus ultra_ of the Boston burger experience, and it comes with cheese. To wit: Shelburne Farm cheddar. A fancy restaurant may offer more and better toppings, and take more care in making sure the right ones are applied, but I think they’re as likely to run afoul of this trend as any other. It might be interesting to actually research this. At different restaurants, what do they call their meat-on-bun offerings, is cheese (or a choice thereof) offered as an option, and what does the burger come with if you don’t specify otherwise? Of course, we’d have to conduct this research under the tightest security, lest someone else get wind of it and try to scoop our results. Volunteers for the effort would have to be carefully screened. Thread moved, okay; but I thought Great Debates, surely. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/34 "2018-06-14T16:15:12Z")
Count me in the “No cheese!” cohort. And I have noticed the OP’s complaint myself. I was just never motivated enough to post about it. Personally, I don’t like cheese on a burger. I am boycotting BK, and In-N-Out is out of my way, so if we are doing fast food burgers, McD’s is it. Then we run into the problem of special ordering, which kicks you out of the drive-thru line and into the “Waiting for my Special Order” parking spaces, which are nearly inaccessible during any kind of rush. Add to that the fact that they always screw up my order when they bring it out. Not a fan of the change. _Sans fromage!_ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/35 "2018-06-14T16:33:33Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > [Professor]Well, you see, the name is really related to the German city of Hamburg. Every German/Austrian city has their own version of sausage, which takes on the city name - with an “er” ending. > Frankfurt - Frankfurter > Vienna (Wein) - Weiner > Hamburg - Hamburger > [/Professor] Vienna (Wien) - Wiener Wein ist das stuff you drink. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/36 "2018-06-14T16:39:16Z")
Is it necessary to point out that McDonald’s does have hamburgers? (It’s just that everything bigger or fancier than a basic hamburger is made with cheese.) ---
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/37 "2018-06-14T16:39:18Z")
At Burger Kings in China, the default is no cheese. I have to ask them to add cheese, after which they tell me that it doesn’t come with cheese. That’s when I tell them yes, that’s why I want them to _add_ cheese. At this point they become flabbergasted at the idea, and have to ask the manager if that is possible. If I am lucky, the manager says yes and I get my cheeseburger. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/38 "2018-06-14T16:57:29Z")
I have been bitching about this for years. If it has cheese, it is a CHEESEBURGER. There are two words for a reason, and the reason is not that one has ham. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/39 "2018-06-14T17:07:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Vienna (Wien) - Wiener > > Wein ist das stuff you drink. I never drink… wine. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066/40 "2018-06-14T17:12:54Z")
I might be more willing to accept this if they actually did put cheese on their burgers. 60% is not cheese. And “American” cheese adds nothing to a burger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheeseburger-hegemony/816066.md?page=3)