Rating the hamburger chains

[mentalbreak]

Businesses, no matter what type of product, are very adept at charging the same price for a secretly lesser quality or quantity product.

This happened at least 14 years ago, but my first known exposure to shrink-flation was toilet paper. The manufacturers of Charmin changed the width of the roll. My parents had TP holders at the time that had about an inch or so tab on each side to hold the roll, and the new size did not reach both sides. Eventually all brands joined the shift, and they had to replace their built-in TP holders with the ones with a spring loaded bar from end to end.

 

[PigsDad]

Are today's Wendys hamburgers smaller in size or is it just my conceptions?

The standard patties are and always have been 1/4 pound, but the burgers on the value menu are smaller patties.

Kurt

 

[geekette]

None of these chains around anywhere I’ve lived. I’d be happy with Fuddruckers from the 70s, last I ran across one (couple decades ago), it wasn’t same quality.

Have eaten at Culver’s but can’t say I remember A Great Burger. Tried Red Robin once and left wondering if burgers were really their specialty.

The chain, mentioned upstream that I can’t see right now, I think Cook Out, haven’t tried a burger but was unimpressed with the bbq.

Indy had Famous Betty’s, that was a good burger, consistently.

Can’t remember last I had a burger out. Most likely was McDs quarter pounder. Sure, more sodium than I need in a week, but consistent year to year, store to store. I don’t tend to get a burger from a sit down restaurant.

 

[kupool]

I'm currently involved in a total love affair with Whataburger as well as Red Robin.

 

[SusanRN]

I've never heard of Culver's and no one seemed to answer the question of where you can find them, so I looked it up.
Founded in Wisconsin. Now in 26 U.S. states, mainly in the Midwest.
None here in Maryland.

 

[JanT]

There's a bumper sticker, "If this car is parked at any burger stand other than Fatburger, I've been kidnapped."

It's the only one that makes something close to what I make if I feel like making a burger from scratch. In-N-Out means lousy fries and the worst cheese (seriously, the cheese was formulated to stand up to high heat). I'd rather have cheese. Not "formulated cheese." And all the "animal style" and "well done" in the world won't fix fries that aren't cooked properly.

Culver's and Habit are OK. Not in the same league as Fatburger. But OK. I'll go to a supermarket deli before I'll go to any of the other burger chains.

EDIT -- That isn't fair. There IS a way to fix In-N-Out's fries. Here's how.

1) Order fries, unsalted. That's it. Take your unsalted fries to a table, spread them out on the dining tray and let them cool down for 20 minutes.
2) Put the fries back into the fry container, take them back to the counter.
3) Order a burger without cheese -- because that cheese is really, really nasty. Hand them the fries and ask that they be fried again. "Just a few minutes, please. And you can salt them this time."
4) Enjoy your correctly-cooked fries and burger without nasty formulated cheese.

Or just go to Fatburger. Their fries aren't great, either. (This isn't Belgium, after all.) But they're passable. And the burger makes up for it.

The McDonald brothers inadvertently recreated the pomme frite frying process by batch-frying the day's spuds in the morning; cooling them in the dry San Bernardino air, and then frying them again to order. That and beef tallow is why there's a McDonald's in half the towns in North America.

Scoop, I think you and I disagree about a lot of things but on an opinion about Fat Burger? We DEFINITELY agree! Those burgers are the best and make sure you order fat fries!

 

[DrQ]

I’d be happy with Fuddruckers from the 70s, last I ran across one (couple decades ago), it wasn’t same quality.

Yeah, Fuddrucker's was one of our team's go to for Friday lunches. You could watch them grind their own meat into burgers and table with fresh topping was superb! Yes we went to one about 10 years ago and it was a shadow of what we experienced in the 80's.

 

[Brett]

I've never heard of Culver's and no one seemed to answer the question of where you can find them, so I looked it up.
Founded in Wisconsin. Now in 26 U.S. states, mainly in the Midwest.
None here in Maryland.

Culver's is all over the USA -- except NE and the West

The burgers are good (and soft serve ice cream) but the best burger is the one you make at home
.

.

 

[Big Matt]

Fun thread. I don't eat fast food much anymore, so I'm not really up on a lot of this. There are some burgers that were better than others over the years for me. The best of all time for me was early on when Wendy's would make the burgers pretty much to order. They were insanely good. I also loved the Dairy Queen Brazier Burger. They quit making them that way a long time ago. It was nothing fancy, but the flavor was great. Finally, Hardees still uses the conveyor belt to grill their burgers. They used to have a burger called the Husky and Husky Junior. Awesome with the sauce. Now I'm hungry.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Five Guys is the best as far as I'm concerned. I actually enjoy eating one. People rave about IN n Out but my family thinks those are terrible. Shake Shack is better than the McD and BK or Wendy's. I don't find any of the big 3 very appealing.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Fun thread. I don't eat fast food much anymore, so I'm not really up on a lot of this. There are some burgers that were better than others over the years for me. The best of all time for me was early on when Wendy's would make the burgers pretty much to order. They were insanely good. I also loved the Dairy Queen Brazier Burger. They quit making them that way a long time ago. It was nothing fancy, but the flavor was great. Finally, Hardees still uses the conveyor belt to grill their burgers. They used to have a burger called the Husky and Husky Junior. Awesome with the sauce. Now I'm hungry.

When I was about 12 years old, there was a DQ that served Brazier Burgers. My pals and I thought that those were the best burgers around. If I recall correctly, they were the only place that cooked their burgers over an open flame instead of on a griddle, and that made a huge difference.

When I was in college in Saint Louis, Burger Chef had some stores in the area, and that became our go to place. Again, IIRC, Burger Chef also broiled their burgers, which made them stand out vs McDs and Jack in the Box.

Burger Chef - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Luanne]

Culver's is all over the USA -- except NE and the West

The burgers are good (and soft serve ice cream) but the best burger is the one you make at home
.

View attachment 122382


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Not in the two states I've lived in.

 

[dioxide45]

The burgers are good (and soft serve ice cream) but the best burger is the one you make at home

I don't think they serve soft serve ice cream at Culver's. It is frozen custard.

 

[Big Matt]

When I was about 12 years old, there was a DQ that served Brazier Burgers. My pals and I thought that those were the best burgers around. If I recall correctly, they were the only place that cooked their burgers over an open flame instead of on a griddle, and that made a huge difference.

When I was in college in Saint Louis, Burger Chef had some stores in the area, and that became our go to place. Again, IIRC, Burger Chef also broiled their burgers, which made them stand out vs McDs and Jack in the Box.

Burger Chef - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So then, if you remember Burger Chef, you have to remember Burger Chef and Jeff. Incrediburgable? We had one for a few years where I grew up. We also had a Heep Big Beef. Damn I'm getting old.

 

[geekette]

I only eat fast food when I'm traveling. I happened to eat a Wendy's "Dave's single" hamburger in Hauppauge, NY yesterday and it was great. Truly excellent. I also loved their chili. But I've eaten at Wendy's elsewhere and it was not so great. Same thing with Wendy's breakfast combos. Some restaurants, almost beyond belief good. Other times, well below Meh.

I usually love the SuperSlam at Denny's when I/we are traveling. But there was one time on Christmas Day at a Denny's in the Florida Panhandle (was it Fort Walton Beach?) when I had the greasiest breakfast I've ever gotten. I pointed it out to the manager and he told me there would be no charge and that we should come back and they'll do better. Maybe their cook didn't come in and the replacement didn't know how to cook.

My conclusion is to not judge an entire chain on the basis of one meal. It could be just that location's employees that day.

Although, of course, all these fast food places are better during times they have a lot of traffic. It's not a good thing to be that person ordering fries that have been sitting there for half an hour. But I've learned that most fast food places will cook up a new batch of fries for you upon request.

Denny’s…. Have eaten at those for decades, agree on store to store, visit to visit. One of the last times was to the then-local store. They had just come out with a new menu. Eggs Benedict being one of my favorites, I ordered that. Blech. Really terrible hollandaise. Sent it back, told them to check the sauce, bring Grand Slam instead. I moved, don’t know if they fixed the sauce, but I’ll have my eggs Bennie at home.

I like breakfast, don’t like to risk it at Waffle House and one experience with Huddle House caused me to never return. Bob Evans is pretty much gone but would be my choice if they’ll carry fried mush again. Cracker Barrel is decent usually, I just have to remember to not get the biscuits and gravy. They had a pot roast special that was really good.

 

[DrQ]

When I was in college in Saint Louis, Burger Chef had some stores in the area, and that became our go to place. Again, IIRC, Burger Chef also broiled their burgers, which made them stand out vs McDs and Jack in the Box.

Burger Chef - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I discovered Burger Chef (and Jeff) when I was a freshman at Purdue living at McCutcheon Hall. Being that we had a 20 meal program, we would go to "Burger Death" across the street for Sunday dinner. I did like that you could order the burger naked and they had a fixin's bar to deck it out like you wanted.

 

[geekette]

So then, if you remember Burger Chef, you have to remember Burger Chef and Jeff. Incrediburgable? We had one for a few years where I grew up. We also had a Heep Big Beef. Damn I'm getting old.

Burger Chef and Jeff, for sure. The Burger Chef became a Hardee’s. Gone before the 80s? Incrediburgable sounds like marketing genius. Nope on Heep.

also getting old, we had Taco Tico before Taco Bell took over.

If I walked another 100 yards, Noble Romans. Best pizza around, there was a viewing platform so kids could watch them toss the dough. Dark dining room playing silent movies on a projector. Deep dish Sicilian, mmmm. Their breadsticks and cheese sauce are downright addictive, too.

 

[SusanRN]

I’d be happy with Fuddruckers from the 70s. Tried Red Robin once and left wondering if burgers were really their specialty.

burger out. Most likely was McDs quarter pounder. Sure, more sodium than I need in a week, but consistent year to year, store to store. I don’t tend to get a burger from a sit down restaurant.

I agree with you on all of this. The advantage of Mickey D's is consistency, and a quarter pounder with cheese is pretty good by itself. I don't like *any* kind of condiment on a sandwich, which means I really taste the meat.

 

[Big Matt]

FWIW, Heap Big Beef was a competitor of Arby's and not a burger chain, but it was a new thing in town and it lasted for a few years.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I like breakfast, don’t like to risk it at Waffle House

When I'm in the South, Waffle House is my go-to for breakast. Two eggs over easy with hash browns scattered, smothered, peppered. I've never had a waffle at Waffle House!

 

[pedro47]

Not in the two states I've lived in.

Culver’s is not in Virginia. I have not seen a Burger Chef restaurant in over forty-five years.

 

[DrQ]

Culver’s is not in Virginia. I have not seen a Burger Chef restaurant in over forty-five years.

The chef passed away and Jeff sold out to Hardee's/Carl's Jr.