Stents

It's the winner here all things considered. Plus getting in and out of our closest In-N-Out is a super big hassle. I don't even bother with the three others within a few miles that do have a drive thru.

He didn't even include that lessor burger joint in the poll.

In and Out must be one of those back east burger joints that I would like to try some day.
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I'm shocked as well. I can only assume it is because they don't have a Braum's nearby. They are not only the best fast food burgers, they are better than most sit-down restaurant burgers too. In addition, they have great fries, ice cream, chicken fried steaks, and a top-end "dairy" section as well.

The only problem is that Braum's are only within a few hundred miles of their dairy farm in Oklahoma, so locations are only in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.

They are so much better than five guys, it's not even funny.

I want a fresh burger the way I want it. With as many of the ingredients I like put on it. I want to sit on the patio if I want. And eat peanuts out of the shell if I like. I want fries with real flavor.
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In and Out is gaining in the poll, but I've still never heard of that place. California is kind of an island in that regard.

I have heard of White Castle though. We only get them frozen.

Give me Habit Burger anytime. That's definitely a California chain. I had a really good Super Duper a while back, though, so I could be persuaded. Never got into In and Out(I suspect that a lot of their popularity is nostalgia), and I've never had a really nice burger at Five Guys. There is a SF bay area chain called Beer Baron Bar and Kitchen that cooks some good burgers and they pair them with duck fat french fries. Don't bother going there if you are on any sort of diet. Nothing like a great draft beer, some of those fries and a medium rare burger still steaming from the grill.....

Dude, it's almost a tossup between Habit and 5 Guys for me as they are both only a few blocks away. I'll go to either way before I'd even consider In-N-Out. Depends on what I'm in the mood for.

Both have great burgers, shakes, and fries. 5 guys wins out with the peanuts, a slight edge in the shakes, and I really like all the grilled doodads on my burger.

Habit is a little cheaper and has an avocado option, and onion rings to die for. And is closer to the college, so the scenery is always great.

Habit is always 10 times busier than 5 guys so that must say something.

I know I have way over posted in this thread but I'm enthused! So I'll just leave this here for posterity's sake.
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There is a Five Guys within a mile of my house and I’ve eaten there once and a few other five guys in the la area and I gotta say their burgers are garbage. Over hyped like those nasty chick fila pickle brine tasting sandwiches.
Johnny Rockets has best burgers and fries. And milkshakes.

See what all that smoking dope has done to me? I forgot all about Johnny Rockets.

But the closest one is a drive. And in an amusement park none the less.

Smashburger if you double up on the patty and get the fried egg on it!

Johnny Rockets brings the can with the shake, boy does that take me back.

Cocos used to do that with the best burger ever, The Lumberjack. Hasn't been the same since they renamed it The Cattleman.

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The blarney Stone in Syracuse, NY

And I keep hearing Smashburger. That must be one state of the art burger.

Wanna get sloppy? Let's go to Tommy's.

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Disclaimer- I have made most of my burger choices here including regards to how far I have to go to get them.
Five Guys is a hop skip and a jump that any derelict could pull off.

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I'm still with ya. barely.

Why don't you guys put In and Out over the top just to humor me.

No Burger King wtf rigged!!

They just opened one of the Freddy's steak burgers here and I have to say they are pretty damn good, I'll go back.

I chose Five Guys. The very best burgers come from melt for blue in my area. They use a prime rib ground down in about the most Fantastic Burger you've ever had. Melt and blue are the same company. So it is a chain of two stores.

Red Robin has the best burgers around here.

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I can't believe all the votes Five Guys and In-and-Out. They're both so 'yesterday' They built a business and menu and have never changed. They're tasteless compared to some of the other offreings (read, SmashBurger). Never heard of Burger Habitat, so I can't comment.

I voted Shake Shack. I've never had one in the states, but they opened one in Hong Kong about a year ago. It's my 'go-to' burger place. Just be sure to avoid lunch and dinner time 'cause it's always packed. I refuse stand in line an hour for ANY burger. But go there between 1-4pm and there's no wait.

They also have these cool automated hand wash stations

Most of those places on the poll don’t exist around the greater Boston area.

Nor the island I've been living on.

Portillos

I stop at the one in Jackson on Airport Road & I-94. Of course it is now Jackson Coffee Co. these days.....

Whataburger not even in the poll? You poor non-Texans.

Habit is also Sam Harvey's favorite place. He's the one who introduced me to it.

Culver's, full stop.

But I see it didn't even make the poll. Must be that west and east coast bias

for a chain Burger - Culvers is pretty good and their burgers are consistent. Red Robin is not bad either. But I'd give the nod to Culvers. Don't mind an occasional Whopper from Burger King .

Culvers would get the vote.

I voted Five Guys, but Fudrucker's, Fat Daddy's and Circus Burger are better. Sadly, none are alive anymore in our area. The closest and best now is now Bad Daddy's, but not sure if that's just a regional chain.

Fuddruckers
Five Guys
Carl’s Jr*

*Not Hardee’s the east coast version of Carl’s Jr. Their burgers are horrible

Where’s Burger King????

Fuddruckers closed doors in my area but had the best. 5 Guys is ok but charge way too much imo. We have some local joints that have been around for decades that serve up a tasty burger.

I love how Five Guys has all the wall hangings saying stuff like "Voted Baltimore's best burger" etc. They had one that said "The best $5.00 burger there is". I got the manager and walked him to the sign. I told him I'd like to try the "Best $5.00 hamburger" where is it on the menu? He started with the old errr, ummmm, hmmm, Then he suggested the "Little Hamburger" on the menu. I asked why doesn't the wall hanging say "the Best $5.00 Little hamburger"? He had no answer.....

There burgers are good but they go down like a brick. Fries taste great but they are not for those on a diet. I recall a large has like 1600 calories.

In and out dominates the market, but I have always preferred Carl's Jr.

Choices.

https://mentalitch.com/the-history-of-carls-jr-and-hardees/

But when I was working in the field. I would have Carl's and in and out atleast once per week.

The lines at in and out show I am in the minority...

Freddy’s

Around here it's Mooyah's by a wide margin. Not cheap but excellent. It's fast casual rather than fast food.

Man I used to love gettin a sack of 12 burgers, handing over a 5spot and getting a couple pennies back...
Back in the mid 90’s

One of the best for sure, always stop by there on long trips since none are local.

The first Detroit area location in Sterling Heights is still open after over 30 years. Not local to your home, but not far from some tournaments you participate in. There's one near Lawrence Tech as well.

Believe it or not, In-N-Out sometimes closes a location.
In June of this year, this one was because it it was actually too busy. Drive-Thru traffic was backing up into the streets after clogging up the strip mall parking lot. A new restaurant was built down the road with a better traffic pattern. Note that the Trademarked crossed palm trees are removed when the store is shut down.

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In and Out was founded by the principle of fresh food fast. Local. Friends socialized with the founder for years. And would tell me 20 years ago that he only wanted a localized chain so the supply chain was amazingly consistent. Well that was the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Their now in Texas and other locations 1000 miles from where he intended. His idea of fresh food fast was way, way ahead of its time. Now many burger chains offer fresh not frozen food so In and Out doesn't stand out as much anymore. I with Odin. For me, The Habit now seems to be the 1960s and 70s In and Out. Fresh food with a few new ideas.

Fatburger has always been fresh. Their burgers aren’t perfect circles...know why? Because they throw a ball of meat on the grill and smash it down. And you guessed it...Smash Burger is a total rip off of them. fatburger is definitely not the cheapest but they’re still the best and the OG.

None of the burger chains offer a great burger. The best burgers start with the best ingredients. At a minimum it must be mixed with sirloin or ribeye, with bonus points for Wagyu and Kobe for the touchdown. Of course every truly good burger is tailored to the individual. You want to be asked if you want cheese or do you want to order half pepper jack and half Swiss? Do you like mushrooms and onions, but only if grilled? Doesn’t seem like any chains can give you a $25 burger that tastes like a million.

That's a by product!

Problem with polls like these is a lot of "national" chains are still very heavily biased toward certain regions. I've been all over most states east of the Mississippi (though not so much since my kids were born) and STILL have never seen an In-N-Out or Whataburger. And I'm sure others like me would say the same going the other way.

And while some chains can be great, NOTHING beats a good ol' mom-n-pop grease stand that knows what they're doing and does it well.

So as for "national" chains, Five Guys comes consistently closest to that for me. So many toppings and perfect fries. They can be heavy, but what great burger ISN'T heavy?

But the best burgers I had were from Maxwell Street Station in Chicago (24/7/365 open walkup griddle counter; no-nonsense patties slathered with mustard and grilled onions on a soft toasted bun)... and at the opposite end, Terry's Turf Club (RIP to the original 2018) in Cincinnati - I don't even remember what types of gourmet nonsense I tried each time but they were fully loaded as big as your head, absolutely fantastic, and offered the BEST onion rings I have ever had, hands down.

This thread is making me hungry!

How White Castle doesn’t win this poll is beyond my comprehension.

Go Blue!

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