In-&-Out

It is still a crappy cheeseburger, but its the way a crappy cheeseburger is supposed to be. Cheap, fast and produced by a kitchen that is a shining example of fast food.

In a day when the big three (golden arches, BK, and Wendys) have mostly priced themselves out of their own market. I make it a point to stop by every time im in a place that has one. The farthest one from California is just east of Nashville TN.

My town used to have a Burger King. A Whopper I had there one time was quite literally the best burger I've ever had, before or since.

That said, this was ~30 years ago at one specific franchise, and I hear that BK food is terrible now, so maybe this doesn't count.

I'd have to say Five Guys has the best fast food burgers. With Freddy's coming in a close second.

How have you only eaten A&W?

But also, in terms of fast food burgers, A&W Canada is pretty top tier.

Any local fish and chip shop makes a better burger than the American chains. And cheaper. I'm in Aus.

Super Duper Burgers, only in northern California right now, but hands down my favorite burger. Second is In & Out animal style.

I’m realizing I like smash burgers from fast food places. For me Shake Shack tops that list, with Freddy’s a close second. I was surprised at how good I thought Sonic’s smash burger was since I usually haven’t been overly-impressed with their food. Not a smash burger, but I do like Five Guys, although they’re really expensive. None of those I would describe as particularly fast, though.

For something that’s actually fast, as in my food can be ready as soon as I get to the window from when I ordered at the drive-thru intercom I’d say Wendy’s is currently my favorite. They changed their burgers after founder Dave Thomas died and I haven’t liked their changes to the traditional lineup, but the Double Stack or Baconator/Baconator Jr. are good. The others like McDonald’s, Burger King, Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. are consistent, rarely bad but also rarely great. You’re in Canada and I’ve noticed when we go visit my wife’s parents up there that McDonald’s is often running some limited-time variant on their burgers, often the quarter pounder, and sometimes they’ve been good, or at least interesting. We don’t seem to get those in the US, so if you want a fast food burger you might want to at least try them since you have easy access.

My recommendations might not mean much, though, because I haven’t been particularly impressed with the A&W burgers I’ve had in Canada. I’ve already forgotten what I really don’t like with them even though I had one a few weeks ago, but I think it’s something like the buns are weirdly grainy and the meat is loose and has an odd flavor. I like the root beer, though, in spite of your paper straws that start breaking down way too fast.

Super Duper, San Francisco CA

Whataburger, but specifically the Sweet & Spicy Bacon Burger. Their regular burgers are pretty generic, but the one I mentioned is great. I don’t even buy it often anymore because you can buy their sauce at the grocery store, so I sometimes make my own version at home.

I don't get the appeal, any burger you make at home is going to be a million times better than a fast food burger. You don't even have to complicate things, just buy the buns, butter and toast them, spread a spoonful of aioli, throw some fresh salad from the market, press garlic, a big slice of ancient tomato, there, it's already better than any store-bought and we haven't even gotten to the patty.

In terms of large, North American fast food chains, I like A&W, Carl's Jr/Hardy's, and Jack in the Box. In terms of smaller, regional chains, I think In-N-Out is leaps and bounds the best (though What-A-Burger is also really good). Outside of North America, I'm a pretty big fan of Mos Burger from Japan. JollyBee from the Philippines is also pretty great, but mostly because they serve spaghetti and I find that amusing.

I think Shake Shack is overrated but worth trying. FiveGuys is meh.

I also firmly believe that smaller burger chains like In-N-Out, Shake Shack, and What-A-Burger are probably more or less equal in terms of quality and what determines which you think is best is where you grew up.

As a fellow Canadian, I'm partial to the Harvey's veggie burger. It's often on sale in the app and generally hits the spot, though sometimes it's a bit dry if they overcook it.

I'm not a strict vegetarian, but don't go out of my way to get meat either and sort of default on veggie burgers. I've tried them at other places. A&W has the Beyond Burger, which has a bit of an aftertaste I don't care for. I should go back though and try the masala burger. I'm curious about that one.

Burger King has the Impossible Burger. That's quite good, but there are no BKs near me. McDonalds also has a veggie burger now. I tried it. It's very soft and a tad boring. I don't think the Big Mac-style mayo-based sauces work great with it? I wish they would let you opt for one of the nugget sauces instead. Like it might be good with BBQ?

The best i ever had was the one from the "American Cafe" next to the embassy. Sadly, the embassy moved, and the Cafe closed long ago.

Second is the "Lieblingsburger" food truck, a small local chain.

With big Chain Burgers, I prefer Burgerking. Eons ahead of McD.

Right now it's the double steak burger with cheese, plain, from Steak N Shake. So delicious.

I'm a Hardee's person. That mushroom and Swiss is my fav

I'd probably also go with A&W. I've gone vegetarian and as much as I dislike the pricing on the Beyond burgers at the grocer, they do make a pretty good one. And while I'm not really into their masala burger, it is neat that they have more than one option I can actually eat - truly a sad statement, but here we are.

I used to be pretty into Harvey's though. People are pretty divided on them because like, it's an obviously frozen hamburger and it tastes like it. But A) all their competitors are freezing their patties, and B) it honestly tasted like the obviously frozen burgers I could have been making at home.

Nowadays they cost about as much as going to a nice place though, so there's not nearly as much fast food in my diet.

Despite reddit and Lemmy nerds screeching, McDonald's is fantastic.

That being said a fast food burger is a burger, they are all pretty much the same except form factors.

Common! Which country?!

Where in Canada? Toronto has small shops that are better than any of the big chains.

• Rudy
• Cleo's
• Rosie's
• Burgernator

But if you're asking me to pick from the well known chains I'd have to go with Shake Shack over the others.

I like Dirty V (Norway) and Vincent (Germany). I can go with Max Burger (Scandinavia) too, if the other options are MacDonald's or Burger King, as these two mainly make vegetarian food that is unseasoned and lazy.

It used to be Fat Burger, but the only one near me closed.

Now it is Five Guys.

I've had enough burgers at fast food chains to confirm none are even close to what I make at home.

MacDonald's are too small, hardly any meat.

At Burger King getting a Whopper on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday is a mistake. Patties are cooked ahead of time and are very dry. I had one on a Friday that was amazing. Another time the Friday Whopper was meh.

A&W Mozza burger is pretty good but have gotten smaller and more expensive over the years.

Harvey's are the closest to what I make at home.

Lick's

Here's a shoutout to Albino Black Sheep!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=SXCfV2zkGU0

There is a local business called The Real McCoy - their mojo burger is the best burger I've ever had anywhere.

Honorable mentions - The Burger's Priest bone marrow lettuce wrapped was great.

Harvey's veggie burger was a solid choice.

BK Whopper of the major chains.