A Five Guys just opened near here. Am I in for a treat?
And put me down for Whattaburger. I’m surprised it wasn’t on the list, but maybe it’s not as national as I thought (I see them in the states I normally travel in). I chose Jack-in-the-Box since they seem to outdo the others around here.
I’ve never seen a Five Guys with a drive-thru though. (Nor a Smashburger). I think those are both “fast casual”.
I’ll go for Sonic since Culver’s isn’t on the list and I’m not sure how big they are.
I voted burger king, but I can not remember the last time I had a fast food burger. My half brother owns some % of sonics, so I guess I should have voted for them, but I have never had a good bite of food from there. (sorry Jamie)
Five Guys just opened here and although their menu seems really basic the burgers are getting rave reviews. I rarely eat burgers, but I’ll probably try them out.
I picked McDonalds. There’s no Jack in the Box in Michigan, unfortunately.
The Best is definetly Culvers!I feel sorry for those who have not had the Culvers experience!!! Yummo!!!
Flipping this baby over to Cafe Society, from imho.
Jack in the Box isn’t close to a national chain; it’s only in 19 states.
I guess if you combine Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr, you’re getting close to national, but you’re still missing some large swaths of the country (including basically the entire northeast). Not sure I’d include that here either.
Sonic is probably close enough, as they’re up to 43 states now, even if they only have a couple of locations in several of those states. I may be biased on that though because I live right down the street from one of the 2 locations in CT.
So if we’re counting Sonic, I guess I have to go with Sonic.
I disagree, at least if you read the restrictions from the initial post:
“No specialty sandwiches, no special orders, nothing but the basic roll up to the drive-thru and say “I’d like a hamburger, please”.”
(a) I’ve never seen a Harvey’s with a drive-thru.
(b) In general, every Harvey’s hamburger is a special order. For the folks who don’t know, it’s set up like a Subway sandwich shop where they ask you what condiments and toppings to put on. If you only said “I’d like a hamburger” and you didn’t specify anything else, I suspect you’d just get a patty and a bun (which sounds less than exciting).
(c) Harvey’s hamburger patties have a significant soy content. Whether you like that or not will be a matter of taste.
I loves me some A & W burger, which is sad since the brand apparently is to be abandoned.
Otherwise, Hardee’s/Carls Jr., again sad because I don’t think there are any within 500 miles of here.
Wendy’s is a distant third. Every BK burger I’ve tried over the past few years has been utterly disgusting, so I’ve given up on them.
Jeepers, man, that reads like a machine translation. Could I get an interpreter over here?
You are in for over-priced garbage.
Off the list, A&W wins handily. If you can still find one, that is. Luckily there is one about 5 miles from my place.
I voted Dairy Queen, but it depends. It seems their burgers vary wildly from place to place. Wendy’s was my favorite back in the 80s, but I’ve been disappointed with them the last four or five times I’ve been there over the last four or five years. BK is probably my least favorite of the bunch. Hate the lighter fluid taste to them. I actually like McD’s the best of the big three. They do have their own peculiar flavor and scent, but it’s one I like and one that takes me back to childhood, where McD’s was a once-in-blue-moon treat.
Voted Wendy’s, but would vote Maid-Rite if possible. Not nearly nation-wide, and arguably not a burger either, but very tasty.
Given the choices, Wendy’s. McDonald’s basic dollar menu hamburgers get worse as time goes by, and Burger King seems to have given up on flame broiling, the one thing that made them better than the rest. Even Wendy’s has gone downhill lately (their new burgers are a step down – not a disastrous one, but still not what they once were).
You’d think we competition from Five Guys and In-and-Out, they’d work on getting a good, basic burger. Wendy’s tried, but it didn’t work.
In terms of cost/wait time they’re not really in the same category, IMO.
I’m quesitoning the hypothetical, too, and going for Five Guys. Otherwise, I pretty much find fast food burgers inedible. This isn’t snobbery–I’ll eat the revolting 99-cent chicken sandwiches made from beaks and feathers and eyeballs and soaked in ammonia and flavored with artificial flavoring and everything–it’s just that I can’t stand their burgers in particular. But Five Guys makes a fairly decent burger.
Wendy’s is the best of the options. Their recent changes actually made them a little worse but they are still the best of the bunch.
I went to Five Guys for the first time a few months ago and I was disappointed. The burgers were good but nothing special. Either way I wouldn’t put Five guys in the same category as McDonald’s etc… It seems more what they call Fast Casual.
Not sure it’s even arguable it’s not a burger. Would anyone not familiar with Maid Rite call this a hamburger? It’s a loose meat sandwich, which is basically a sloppy joe without the sloppy sauce. They are…interesting.
I went with Burger king. I remember Wendy’s and Sonic being good, but its been so long that I can’t recall whether it was better than Burger king. Regarding 5 guys, definitely very good, but also definitely not fast food. Burgers are custom made at order and can take 5-10 minutes to get your order. I’m surprised white castle isn’t on the list. Not that I’d vote for them but they do seem to have cult following.
This x 2! I now re-route my weekend grocery shopping so I can hit up the Five Guys for supper. And I’m not even a burger person!
Five Guys for the US and Harveys for Canada. The Harveys near my house has a drive through which is also a Swiss Chalet drive through. Over Five Guys and Harveys I prefer Harveys.