The heap of reports about limp assed fries in this thread makes me happy the one near me can actually cook them right.
always fresh and crispy, when I order online they dont cook the fries until you show up for pick up.
Rip the bag open.
My wife and I think stuffing the bag with fries is nice, generous touch.
We’ve had Smashburger and Meatheads open in the Chicago suburbs in the last few years. I want to say there’s another similar place as well but can’t recall.
In my opinion, 5 Guys sits in an uncomfortable location between “tiers” of burger joints. They’re significantly more expensive than the McD’s/Wendys/BK fast food staples but the places at 5 Guys’ price point (Smashburger, etc) make a much better product. So they don’t fit “Mediocre but cheap” or “Pricier but tastier” compared to the competition.
That’s not even mentioning that you can swing a sack of potatoes here and hit three independent “beef, burger and gyro” joints, each of which can at least produce a competent if not awe-inspiring burger for a reasonable price.
I enjoy five guys quite a lot, but it should tell you something about my taste buds that I think McDonald’s McDoubles are about my favorite hamburgers ever made. Maybe I just like a lot of salt?
I prefer 5 Guys’ fries to their burgers, I usually don’t even get a burger when I go there. I make a meal out of a small order of fries. But they have stiff competition in this area. Across the street from mine we have Kincaid’s. Their burger is tastier, but they serve krinkle cut fries. They’re the wife’s favorite. There’s also a shack named Charley’s near here/there that really does an obscene burger. Wonderful burger, but it’ll make the two pieces of wax paper its wrapped in transparent. I don’t get to go there often because of this fact. Their fries are what 5 Guys’ fries are trying to be.
To be honest, In-and-Out’s fixation with thousand island has made me stay away so far.
Either way, you’re all deluding yourselves into thinking Whataburger isn’t the best burger to be had anywhere because you don’t live near one. Thin and fried to death, the way they were meant to be. Reading this thread today made me decide I had to have it for dinner. Thank the maker that they’re open 24-7!
There’s been one, about a 20-minute drive from here, and a new one just opened, closer. I’ve eaten in both, and have no complaints. The food quality and the service are way better than any other fast food in the area.
Ahh, the great burger argument. Okay’ I’ll play.
[ul]
[li]Five Guys - I’ve been to one of their Northern VA stores, I’ve been to a number of their locations in the Atlanta area. Better than typical fast food burgers, fries so-so, but they try to make up for it with quantity. Meh.[/li][li]In-N-Out - Been to a number of locations in CA and Vegas. Double, Animal style. Damn good. Not nostalgia for me, never heard of them before going to one in LA.[/li][li]My fave? - Cook-Out, a small chain of drive-thru locations in NC, SC, TN, and VA. Damn good flame cooked burgers with fresh toppings. Order the fries cajun-style! Outstanding.[/li][/ul]
Micky D’s black angus with mushrooms and swiss is superior to Five Guys-less grease, more meat. Five Guys fries are pretty good, but too damn greasy.
The best burger chain? Possibly Fuddruckers.
You’re right about the pay. Starting is usually about $10 an hour, at least it was when I checked a few years ago. They were mentioned in* Fast Food Nation* as being a company that treats its employees right.
I, too, really enjoy those McDoubles. It’s the best burger a buck can buy. But I don’t mean that just as a back-handed compliment. There’s three burgers I enjoy at McD’s: the McDouble, the Double Cheeseburger, and the Quarter Pounder with Cheese. (Actually, their plain hamburger and cheeseburger I enjoy, too.) But McDonald’s kind of is its own thing. There’s a peculiar taste and smell to them that no other burger place has. It’s like a Subway in that regard: I can smell the place a mile away, although the smell of Subway repulses me, but McDonald’s I’m fond of.
Part of why I like them stems from, I think, a bit of nostalgia. A trip to McDonald’s or a McDonald’s catered lunch at school was a special event. I had McD’s maybe six times a year, and it was always associated with a pleasant event. In grammar school, it meant it was the day before a holiday break, and we got to watch movies in the lunchroom and eat a McDonald’s burger. At home, it was a treat of some sort for a job well done. Dad would occasionally bring Burger King Whoppers home to surprise us, but I never developed the same kind of affection for those burgers, so it can’t all be nostalgia. I just think BK tastes like crap, but McD’s doesn’t, for some reason, to my tastes. As much as I can be objective in a subjective domain like taste, I think McD’s burgers are a respectable product, and their fries–while not my favored style of fries–are pretty much the ultimate example of that shoestring, skinless style. But McD’s burgers are not particularly “beefy” tasting–they just taste like McDonalds.
It’s still a good burger without the special sauce. First burger I ordered there was my standard cheese, ketchup, mustard, onions, pickle, and it rocked.
I’ve had the Whataburger in Phoenix. They’re solid. It might make my top three of fast food burgers. I think I’d put it In N Out, Culvers, Whataburger-Five Guys (tie).
I tend to lump burgers into 3 categories:
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Fast food burgers. These come wrapped up in paper or in a box, and the places always have a drive-through. They’re also usually small-ish burgers, around 1/4 lb. They usually have a gimmicky burger or sandwich of some sort that changes periodically. McDonald’s, In-N-Out, Whataburger and Burger King all fall into this category.
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Fast-casual places. These aren’t quite fast food- they usually don’t have a drive through, but are usually more than 1/4 burgers, and tend to try to differentiate themselves as being better or more upscale or whatever. Five Guys, Smashburger, and most local burger joints fall into this category- usually counter service where they call your number or name and you come get it.
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Restaurant burgers. These range from a Chili’s/Bennigans/TGI Friday’s up through fancy steakhouse Kobe burgers. They generally have sit-down service.
Using those 3 categories, in my opinion, Five Guys comes out better than anything in the Fast Food category (which it should, being up a tier), but is absolutely and totally unremarkable for fast casual burgers. Smashburger is the place to go for my money.
I can agree with the taxonomical divisions, but I feel like Five Guys goes more into your category 1, but prices like it’s a category 2 burger. I mean, if In N Out fits category 1, then so does Five Guys and Fatburger and Culver’s and places like that, except for some of their price points. Fuddruckers or Steak & Shake is more like something I’d consider fast-casual. And the tiers don’t go according to quality. A great tier 1 burger can be better than a good tier 2 or tier 3 burger. ETA: I totally forgot about Fatburger in my ranking above. Sorry, looks like Five Guys is dropping off my top 3: In N Out, Fatburger, Culver’s.
I agree that Whataburger is probably amongst the best. When I first moved to Texas I had never even heard of them, and when I had one I thought it was pretty good but it didn’t blow me out of the water. Nowadays though they are probably my favorite burgers.
I’d still take a McDouble though, given the option. And there’s no nostalgia in it for me. My dad, when he let us get fast food, was an ardent BK fan and we were practically forbidden from going to McDonald’s.
Five Guys are opening sequentially in a slow, ominous movement directly towards our house, which has potentially bad consequences for my waistline, as I love the things. Love the burgers, love the big fries, love the peanuts. The “regular” is too much burger, agreed.
Had In-n-Out last trip out to LA and was not impressed. The burger was nothing special and the fries were those mushy shoestring things. Granted, I did not get a Double-Zero Triple Probation Whatsit Nonsense Heart-Attacko burger, or whatever secret code they use to hide the actual desirable selections from the paying customers, so my experience was perhaps not all it could have been.
On that trip we also went to Umami Burger, which is terrific. Pricey, but terrific.
When you’re talking about the actual meat, I honestly think Sonic has the best burger. The others may taste good put together, but the beef by itself is always rather bland. Even Burger King, which I thought was my favorite.
I haven’t tried Dairy Queen in a while, though.
(Whataburger is good, but it’s a step above the fast food burger. The patties aren’t small and flat.)
Large quantities of fries never impressed me. I can go to the local Doggie Diner and get a sack of fries the size of my head (the sack, not each fry) for a couple bucks. You’d think they were trying to get rid of them.
Potatoes are pretty cheap though and adding a million fries is just a way to bulk up the perceived value without adding much more from the restaurant’s end.
Don’t bother. Their food is very poor. I go there for the blizzards only.
This is what annoyed me about the place. If you don’t know that there are better items off-menu, you’re just shit outa luck and end up with lousy food. It’s a poor way to treat customers.
I’m almost always disappointed in the burger bun at most places. Do you Americans just not realize how cloyingly sweet those “normal” burger buns are? And so soft as to completely disintegrate when you bite into them? Give me a sensible, solid, preferably toasted bun, which maintains its structural integrity, and soaks up the juices. One of the reasons I usually prefer my homemade burgers.