As I mentioned in the other thread, I’m totally stoked that Fudd’s is finally opening here in Vegas. We have some of the other aforementioned places here, some good, some just OK.
There needs to be a distinction between fast-food and sit-down places, though. Here’s my ratings in each category:
Fast-food
In-and-Out–Probably the best fast-food burger of all. It helps when the restaurant concentrates on just a few items. Tasty, fresh, sloppy–everything a burger should be. Always got a kick out of the fact that “animal style” isn’t mentioned on the menu; it’s something you have to know about.
Fatburger–Not as good as they used to be, but still better than most. Whodathunk a burger with a fried egg on top would be so good?
Wendy’s–Again, not what they used to be, but sometimes you just gotta have one. Double with cheese with a packet of that weird hot sauce drizzled on top–mmmmm.
Overrated: Sonic. Good for the nostalgic drive-in experience, otherwise just meh. Sit-Down
Fuddruckers–Great burger, tasty buns, molten cheese sauce…doesn’t get any better.
Red Robin–Dee-lish! And they now have garlic fries ! Close second.
Island’s–Just opened here and quite impressive. Definitely worth a try if you have one nearby or see one in your travels.
Tied for 1 & 2 - In 'N Out and Fatburger. I may give the edge to Fatburger, but I’ve only been there once. I had actually never heard of the place, but we were short on time and I couldn’t find an In 'N Out, so I popped in. What a great decision that was.
And In 'N Out is a fantastic, no-frills establishment. Short menu, great quality food, unbelievably attentive and interested service from a fast food chain.
3 - Culver’s Home of the butter burger. Also made from fresh (never frozen) ground beef. Served on a buttered and lightly toasted Kaiser bun. Solid burgers from the Midwest, and you can follow it up with their famous frozen custard.
Of the Big Three (Wendy’s, Burger King, McDonald’s), I must confess (and please don’t dock me points for this), but my favorite is McDonald’s double cheeseburger or quarter pounder w/cheese, followed by the Whopper. I don’t much like Wendy’s at all.
Scotty P’s is pretty good. I think Champ’s, down in Dallas proper, may be better.
Perhaps I have simply been unfortunate, but this does not remotely describe my experiences with Fuddrucker’s. I have never yet gotten a burger from them cooked the way I asked for, let alone the way I wanted. I order “well done”, and all I ask is that it be cooked all the way through. Somehow, I always wind up with blood-soaked bread and meat that still seems to be mooing faintly. Ordering “very well done” and (on one particularly snippy occasion) “burn it, please” never seems to help. Once I take it back and get them to actually cook it, the resulting burger is usually decent, but not spectacular.
The Moron Burger is a memorable burger for me. Long gone from these shores, the Moron Burger was almost the size of a dinner plate and legendary in NW Ohio. I can’t remember the name of the inventing establishment, but the burger was at least a pound and a half of meat on a giant special baked bun, piled high with all the fresh fixings… biggest Burger I have ever seen. Three people could split it and still have leftovers.
The interesting thing was the patty. It was a giant welfare burger- Eggs, bread, onions and who knows what else all mixed in to the ground beef. It reminded me of a Giant German Frikadelle.
It was a tasty and interesting flavored burger, too. Haven’t had one since I was a kid.
…Still get a hankering for a Frisch’s Big Boy now and again.
In Eagle Rock (for the my feloow SoCal-ers) there is a new place on Colorado, I believe, called The Oinkster. Great burgers and absolutely astonishingly good Pastrami. I have never even heard of Farmer Boys. There appears to be within Lucnch-ing distace of work so maybe I will try it next week.
Wow. I have never ever been to a burger place that undercooks their burgers. It’s invariably the other way around. In the other thread, I was raving about how Fuddrucker’s actually made my burger medium rare when I asked them to (something 90% of burger places that ask you how you want your meat done invariably overcook). Yesterday, I decided to pop in to the Fuddrucker’s again and was a little bit disappointed when my medium rare somehow became medium to medium-well. Well, you win some you lose some, but I’d venture to guess your experience must be either anomalous or you have a different definition of well-done than the rest of us.
Which McDonald’s blatantly ripped off and built their Big Mac empire upon.
:dubious:
I like Mac sauce, no doubt… what is the secret ingredient in the Mac sauce…what is it that gives it that tart and enhances the meatieness? It is a mystery to me…I do know there are soy products in that sauce… but what else?
I’m going with anomalous, because they’d never stay in business if they consistently served burgers like that. I’m not talking about the meat being pink in the middle. More like singed on the surface and red everywhere else, oozing lukewarm, bloody fluid into the bread. The other people I was there with on each occasion got more or less what they ordered (though one guy did complain that his “well done” burger was overcooked). I don’t know, maybe I just look like I enjoy raw meat or something.
Just to remind myself, we went to Fuddruckers tonight for dinner.
It was good. Not oh my!!, but good. I ordered my burger medium rare and it was cooked perfectly. However, the bacon was piddly and the cheese was rubbery congeal-y. The kid ordered a plain burger and she really liked it. I do have to say the onion rings rocked.
Near me there is a small restaurant called Big Louie’s who have great burgers. 95% of the time they’re cooked the way requested and if you have bacon on it - it’s thick cut applewood bacon that’s fantastic.
Come on, Apple Pan is just up the street from UCLA. It’s not cheap though, I think it’s $6.20. Farmer Boys is now on my Google Maps L.A. junk food map. I’ll hit it next time I’m in downtown.
The last time I was in Vegas, I had a $16 Kobe beef burger at the Burger Bar in the walkway to the Mandalay Bay. It was pretty good, but it doesn’t make my list.
As scotandrsn said, I guess neither the Apple Pan nor the Burger Bar are chains.
OK, I forgot my honorable mentions. I went to UC Davis, so I’ve got a soft spot for Nation’s Giant Hamburger. The Hat in L.A. has a chiliburger that is almost as good as a Tommy’s, but not quite. It’s also got a killer pastrami sandwich. Fatburger makes the list also.