And there is no mention of Harvey’s, which we do have in Canada, and which does the best, bar-none, fast-food burger in Canada. Miles ahead of McD’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s. I cannot speak to the others, as they don’t exist here, or they’re not in my location.
So when can we sample and judge that one? Hey, I can bring some beer. 
When in SF a while back I sent the Ottlets a picture of a doubledouble with fries at the In-n-Out near Fisherman’s Wharf. Because I’d never been to one before, and I know that the closest most of the “seafood” places there get to a fisherman is the picture on the frozen fish box.
(Most of the options aren’t available hereabouts. Of those that are, I’d have to say Five Guys and Wendy’s.)
Dang. I haven’t eaten in any of these places in more than 20 years. BC has the White Spot with its Triple-O sauce, but I haven’t had one of those in 15 years.
My favorite is Five Guys, because they are the only place I know that has an option for chopped green pepper on their burger. Yum!
I know I’m in the minority, but the worst place on the list (of those that I’ve tried) is In N Out. And I tried several locations, just to make sure it wasn’t one particular place. Nope, all terrible.
My 3 choices were Wendy’s, Steak & Shake, and Carl’s Jr. I would have chosen The Habit instead of Carl’s Jr. if it was on the list. I’ve been meaning to try Five Guys; maybe now I’ll have to give it a shot. For research, of course.
My one visit the burger was fine but the music was kind of loud.
It’s not on the poll and I didn’t think to vote for Other, but there’s nothing that beats an Original Tommy’s double chiliburger (no cheese) with a side of chili fries and a chocolate shake.
Sadly, AFAIK, nobody up here in the Pacific Northwest makes chiliburgers the way they do (beanless tomatoless chili with a thick almost paste-like consistency, with mustard, pickles, onions, and tomato), and most of them would look at you funny if you tried to order one that way.
Their Tempura Green Beans are to die for. I convince myself they are healthy because they are vegetables.
Only been to 3 of the places on the list. Sort of like Quadgop, things are far away.
So Red Robin for sure. It is 100 or so miles away. And I have to remember to tell them NOT to put what ever weird seasoning they have on their fries.
I agree. Harvey’s is the best burger available in Canada outside the Wolfpup domicile. I don’t like the new fries they switched to about ten years ago, but they do have delicious onion rings, so I just get those instead.
The secret of the Wolfpup Burger is applying the old adage about good cooking: simplicity + quality. There are no pretensions about the Wolfpup Burger, just the very best basic ingredients.
My closest Tommy’s is about 100 miles south of me but I make enough trips to LA to buy the occasional quart of “Chili to Go”. It freezes well and if I bring home a charburger from the Habit, I can make a reasonable approximation of the Original.
Fuddrucker’s
Red Robin
Five Guys
This poll made me realize that I don’t eat fast food burgers. Not that I’m a food snob or that I eschew fast food in general; I would generally say “I love fast food!”
but I guess that’s not entirely true. I’d eat a chicken sandwich from any place on the list but not a burger.
I think if one doesn’t like a lot of toppings, or at least the ones typically offered at most places, the burger itself doesn’t have a lot to offer. And if you like your meat cooked any way other than medium well, you’re out of luck there too. Heck, I’ve had Five Guys plenty of times but it’s mostly because of the fries and the fact I can choose the toppings I like.
The best fast-food burgers I’ve ever had were from Metzgerei Volz, a butcher in Darmstadt. They have a hot-food counter in the store that sells sausages, grilled chicken, pork chops, and Frikadelle (think giant meatballs) to the lunchtime crowd. A couple years ago they started selling cheeseburgers one day a week, and they were delicious. The line outside the shop was always twice as long on cheeseburger day. I can’t really explain what made the burgers so good, since they were just a beef patty on a bun with ketchup and mustard, but for some reason they were extremely habit-forming.
But of course, Volz is just a family-run business with one tiny location, and so if you don’t live in Darmstadt you’re never going to eat their cheeseburgers. As far as North American chains go, I’m rather partial to A&W, which at least offer some toppings (like mozzarella) that you don’t see elsewhere. And of course, root beer is always available. I had In and Out for the first time back in 2019, and while the burger was good, I didn’t think it was anything too special.
I had a mushroom swiss burger at Red Robin once that was a transcendent experience. I don’t know if the burger itself was really that good, or I was just really hungry and in the mood for a burger.
For regular fast food, I do like a BK whopper occasionally.
And those White Castle burgers are darn tasty. I’m glad there’s not a White Castle too nearby so I’m not tempted as often.
OTHER Rally’s is consistently good. It’s quickly become my go to place.
Sonic. Depends on the location and current staff. Sonic can be really good. It’s been my favorite since high school. The best locations are usually in small towns.
Wendy’s - same thing. A well run Wendy’s makes very good burgers.
They have some smaller locations called Triple O’s in non White Spot areas. Those burgers are so tasty but TBH too expensive.
Maybe I’m a snob. If I’m driving and have to grab drive-thru food, I’ll eat a BigMac or Burger-King Burger. But any of the other burgers aren’t grilled to order and I prefer a rare burger. I guess my Poll answer would be “other”, cook my own.
Lately I’ve been buying “ground cow” from a local source. They take a steer and turn it into ground meat. All the roasts, steaks, etc are included. It’s delicious.
Five Guys started around here so we’ve had it for a really long time and it’s still just as good as it ever was.
McDonald’s: the quarter pounder with cheese is just a classic lifelong standard.
OTOH, given a choice between McDonald’s and Wendy’s, which is not an uncommon decision I face, I’ll almost always pick Wendy’s, but about 50% of those times I’m getting a chicken sandwich and not a burger, which is why they’re my 3rd choice.
Slight continuation of a sidetrack, but one that contributes to why a burger is a ‘favorite’.
For a couple of years I was in a plan with my in-laws to split part of a whole, locally sourced cow - they were actually with another family each getting half, and I was taking the part of the half they couldn’t get through in a timely manner. The meat was fantastic except for the ground beef. And that was because, for whatever reason, all the provided ground beef was 10% lean or less. Which means a crappy burger. I find 80/20 fat ratio is baseline for a decent hamburger (+ or - 5% of that works).
Most Fast food burgers are all too homogenous to evaluate, but they’re also packed with extra salt and other additives to address that. But the best burgers I’ve found, including many on this list, will have perceptible fat/grease left when served and eaten.
If your burger is a lifeless, -dry- grey puck on a bun, it will never be a favorite of mine.
I didn’t see the “Other” option, or I’d have picked it and said that Dairy Queen, Chili’s and a smattering of local old-timey burger places more or less set my childhood concept of what a burger should be.
That said, Fuddruckers, Mooyah and Smashburger are the closest modern-day places to my platonic burger ideal.