In Seattle there’s a small (five or so locations) called Lunchbox Laboratory that does some really unique burgers. They use American Wagyu patties (which are admittedly overrated, but do taste better than your standard patty) along with some other creations like “dork” (50/50 duck and pork) and beef/buffalo patties, and they have a wide array of housemade sauces and unusual toppings.
It’s worth checking out if you’re in town. I’m fond of their “burger of the gods”, which comes with caramelized onions, bleu cheese, and Gorgonzola spread, to which I add tomato and bacon.
My kid’s girlfriend visited from NYC, and had a list of Things She Had To Try In The Midwest:
A Friday Night Fish Fry
Steak at a small town Supper Club
A soggy Italian Beef
A Spotted Cow
An Old Fashioned…
and Culver’s.
Before she left, she had to go to Culver’s again. She got to go to the very first one that time, tried different things, including their Frozen Custard, loved it all.
I do love their burgers, crispy on the edges and lots of good toppings on 'em. And their Diet Root Beer is the best, tied with Sprecher’s. And they have a great Kid’s Meal.
But they also have great salads… the Strawberry Fields is huge, and has lots of berries, pecans and bleu cheese.
I ate at Five Guys once. The burger tasted just like the ones I used to get at Wendy’s back in the late 70s. The fries were limp, oily, and soft. That does not make for a good fry, IMHO. The price was triple what I’d spend at another burger joint, and the good burger didn’t make up for the lousy fries!
You probably want something else in your fry, because it’s by far the best fast-food fry in my opinion (and many others in this thread.) “Limp, oily and soft” is not the way I would describe them, but they are not ultra crisp like McDonald’s. They have a satisfactorily crisp exterior, with a soft, potatoey interior. They taste like actual potatoes.
I think part of what’s going on here is that none of these “fast-ISH food” places are absolutely consistent.
I’ve had the odd soggy fry at 5 Guys, but most of the time they’re pretty good… and certainly copious.
And speaking of Culver’s, I was driving home from Back East today, and my wife texted me “Can you pick me up a Cranberry Bacon Bleu salad?”
I got myself a Butter Burger with everything, as a handling charge.
Red Robin isn’t bad, but we dont like thick fries. The menu has lost of stuff, and we can always get a good meal there, however.
For some reason, they despise and hate 1000 island dressing for burgers.
My fave is still In & out. Low prices, and yes I skip the fries. I cant make one for that price, as it would mean stocking lettuce and tomato.
Fatburger is pretty decent.
I used to work security there- a long time ago. About 2-3Am, you’d see gangbangers, Hollywood stars & starlets, bikers, dudes in tuxedos- all lined up for a chiliburger. Amazing people watching. The parking lost were so small, before they hired me, they had knife fights over parking. I assume they still have security, unless they have more parking.
I now have one about 15 minutes away, right off I5. Still great- “No onions, extra pickles please!”
And a big slice of tomato- great pickles too.
They also have California style with lettuce and 1000 island rather than chili, but nope, gotten get that heartburn.
One of the pluses for 5 Guys is that the only thing they do in their deep frier is fries, and there is no gluten in them. And, they have a non-gluten flat top. So it’s possible for a gluten intolerant person to get a burger and fries here.
Here in the Twin Cities we have a “My Burger” chain. They do the smashed burger style. At first, the prices look high, but they include fries. Upcharge sweet potato fries, and decent milk shakes.
Oh yeah, no parking and people used to getting their way. Always a fun combo.
You just dredged up a memory. Back in my Tommy’s era (76-81) they used an outfit called “Rupp Security”. Not a company I’d ever seen anywhere else. Odd I remember that detail but here’s why …
The regular guard was this guy that looked like Blaster of Mad Max’s MasterBlaster tag team. He was clearly mentally challenged, his head was crooked and one eye didn’t track well. Talking with him it was obvious he was “off”. But he was real big and you expected he’d go apeshit for random reasons. So folks did what he told them to do.
The shoulder patches on his ill-fitting uniform were pretty simple and said “Rupp Security” in big letters. I often wondered if he was Rupp; a one-man security force. This was decades before the internet, so answering idle curiosity questions like that wasn’t easy.
Thanks for that.
As do I. If that shit touches my burger, it’s going back.
Ditto us folks from USC. A must-do collegiate experience.
I just realized that there’s a “Fast Food Geography”: cities and suburbs where everyone drives (as fast as they can), and there are fast food places at every major intersection. There, if you want a burger, you move over a lane or two and pull into a fast food place that’s quick, or a full-fledged restaurant that’s not.
I live in a smaller city where there are more pedestrians and bikes… and bars or cafes that make excellent burgers, every few blocks (downtown it’s two per block, farther out it’s up to a half mile between).
So I can walk to three bars that’ll make me an awesome burger in a minute or two (probably in the time I’d be waiting in a long drive-through line) and I can take it to go or eat it at the bar.
And my favorite bar has thick patties of beef from a local butcher, I can order it medium-rare but crispy on the edges, and they have homemade sauces (the brown mustard/garlic/horseradish is delicious… wonder if I can just get a cup of that to go?)
I just realized that I don’t need to go to fast food places unless I’m on a road trip.
That’s also quite true in older cities and burbs. Such where I live.
It’s the unfortunate folks living in newish suburbs where it’s a 15-20 mile drive to anything built before e.g. 2010 who live in a “restaurant food desert” where every eatery or drinkery, from humble to fancy, is a national or regional franchise.
Well, you know, tastes differ. I think that ketchup and/or mayo is heresy on burgers. But, I have no issue with those being available for the people who want them.