Glad someone else dislikes the fries, now.

Yeah, but I talked myself into getting a quarter pounder on the way home, and a filet o fish for a buck and got the fries anyway. Filet O Fish is still hanging tough.

Yes

Now the sign should say "Over 1 Billion Thrown Away".

I think I will do some research tomorrow ,
We got
Whataburger
Five guys
In n out
Culver's
Zin Burger
And all the chains

Is he listening to the ocean sounds coming from those burgers? lol

You are missing Whataburger. hands down one of the best.

I went on a deep search to find machine and bags of pellets last year. You can find the spuds , just no machine to work with.
Those fries were the best fried mash potato fries ever! , and the ketchup cups were revolutionary for dipping.

I'll be honest, I'd rather have a good "grilled" burger than I would a steak. I get a lot of guff for that from friends and family at cookouts lol. They look at me like I've totally wronged them or something when I say, just having a burger when most others besides the kids are doing the steak thing.

Serious question: I don't think I've seen Sonic mentioned here. How are the burgers?
The nearest one to me is at least a dozen miles away. I've literally seen more of them outside of California than in California. If I go by one is it worth popping in and trying their food?

I'd rate Sonic better than McDonalds or BK but there are far better options mentioned in this thread. The Sonic near me went out of business a couple years' ago because of lack of business.

Not bad, but I get the foot long chili cheese coney with tator tots and a chocolate shake and call it a day.

https://www.yelp.com/topic/san-francisco-why-carls-jrs-no-longer-have-the-crinkle-fries-or-frispos

I've looked too. Not much out there. You would have to find an old picture of the fry station inside a Carls Jr. or Pup N Taco.

I worked at both and the machine was a real work of genius and fun to watch. You pour the pellets in the top, push the button, and the machine does the rest all visible through a clear cylinder. When I cleaned it at the end of the night it was like leftover cookie dough.
5737258249_84b911f89d_b (resized).jpg

Yup....then a metal plate would then push the mash potato fries right down into the fryer. That's how I remember it. Carl's Jr. 6th and Maple off the 91 was my first job when I was 16. The gas next door at Arco was .59 c a gallon.
I also miss Carl's Roast beef sandwich of that era early 80's..So good, had a ortega chili on it and swiss, yummy.

That was real good but it went in a microwave and sometimes wrecked havoc on the bun. But I ate them. Steak sandwich made with flaked and formed beef too.

When I would come home from a long day at the beach and start my shift, I would take three big patties and frisbee them halfway into the charbroiler so they came out juicy and rare and put three slices of swiss cheese on it. I would also leave an order of onion rings in the fryer twice as long as they were supposed to be so they were super extra crispy and have a serious munch. It was all half price for employees so there was no incentive to steal anything.

They were Hardy's here and they used to have a decent fish sandwich I think called The Whaler.

The Whaler was Burger King

Well it was decent but, BK burgers suuucckkk!

I am pleased to say at least The Whopper is still the same size, unlike the Jumbo Jack.

Thats right, the Steak sandwich was that long bun 2 oinions rings and a tomato. Miss the old Carls, and the old time star.
Full discloser- I got fired from that Carls after 3 months....I got caught to many times eating the onion rings. I still remember that last time manager caught me, the onion ring was half way in my mouth. Lol, still makes me smile. She did me a favor, i went and became a box boy at Alpha Beta, my first well paying Union job.

Another member of the now defunct club.

download (4) (resized).jpg

Alpha Beta paid well because it was a union job. Once you made journeyman which I think was after 3 years, your pay bumped up to over $9 hour. This was back in the late 80s.
Edit: That was boxboy pay. If you got promoted to checker it was something like $13 or $15 an hour.

I didn't know fraternities employed box boys. What college was that chapter of Alpha Beta at?

That's why I was Happy I got fired from Carl's. You actually went to a class to learn bagging. There was an art to it in the old days with the paper bags. I watch helpers at registers bag my groceries today and I cringe, no one ever tought them the right way to do it. I have told some to stop and ill do it.
Still have an old milk crate, holds my empty beer bottles.

20190911_153857 (resized).jpg

If I were on death row, my last meal would be a burger.

I got let go from Carls because I was only 14 and you had to be 16 with a work permit. Somehow I had got around that for a while because my brother was an assistant manager till they caught on. Anything to make a buck back then.

I just dug out a 70s vintage Carls Jr tray been hiding at my moms house for the last 40+ years.

I’ve tried all of those listed on the poll except In and Out, and Freddy’s is better. It’s like Steak and Shake on steroids. The fries and desserts are great too.

There’s one in Gainesville. I really like them.

Waffle House!

goooooood-burger (resized).jpg

Me too. I just tell them I will bag it. When they do, it’s like they don’t even take stock of all the items you purchased. They start dropping them in the bag randomly until they get to the six pack of beer and look confused. Usually they just leave it out of the bag because they’re too lazy to repack it properly. If there are two bags worth of groceries, you can bet one bag will be light as air and the other bag will weigh 50 pounds. Not to mention they are slow AF.

What about Red Robin?

IN N OUT. 5 Guys always makes me shit my pants.

Aren't the closest ones to you in Phoenix? Road Trip!

Does Burger King still have that breakfast sandwich with like 5 hash browns, 8 sausages and 17 eggs on a hoagie roll?

This is true.

If I want a burger meal with more calories than I can possibly burn in a day, it's the Black Bear Diner, and I don't have to go very far.

download (resized).jpg

You mean The Godzilla????

Fuddruckers .

I found this https://www.bk.com/menu-item/egg-normous-burrito

I wonder if it's that big IRL

Somehow that didn't seem to matter to the establishment across the street. The way I felt was "Boy I'm moving up in the world now!"

carls (resized).jpg

Also in the Midwest, Culvers. There used to be a little drive in near my high school that had one of those fry machines. I was told they had similar on Navy ships years ago. not sure if its true or not, just something I was told.
I'm of the opinion that most of these are good in their own way. There are times I just really crave a Whopper. other times I would kill for a Whataburger. I like 5 guys sometimes as well.

If you're in Atlanta, make sure to grab a burger at local legend The Varsity.
..........

Seriously though, i would never recommend that to anyone. A couple of really great local burger chains are Grindhouse Killer Burgers and Yeah! Burger.

Used to be able to find the occasional Fatburger or Fuddruckers around which were both pretty good, but haven't seen any in awhile. Don't particularly care for any of the national chains we have now.

I'm obviously in the minority, but I've never understood the fascination with Five Guys. In my opinion, it's the most overrated restaurant chain in America. Not only are their burgers average at best, but they are also way overpriced.

I feel that way about Red Robin. At least the fries are good at Red Robin.

What I like about Five Guys is I can build a burger with whatever toppings I want. And their fries are great and they always give you a shitload. I have no complaints about the meat they use in their burgers.

They have tasty fries. I'll give them that. I also like the peanuts.

I won’t give them that. I like crisp fries. 5 guys fries are mushy and have some funky flavor to them. I just want salt on my fries not some weird flavored salt like they it on theirs. The few times I’ve eaten 5 guys I always felt bleh afterwards and for the next few hours.

IHOB