/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.16719831]

Which fast food burger chain has the best standard burgers? I'm referring specifically to their standard burger combo(s), none of the crazy stuff like bacon cheddar onion triple stack burger or something wild. What is the best basic fast food burger?

I hadn't been to a fast food burger place in years, having only ever gotten breakfast at McDonalds when I went to one. So I decided to go on a tour of them. I started with a quarter pounder from McDonalds and a big mac. I was not impressed with either. The big mac lacked substance and the quarter pounder failed in its task of being a solid meaty version of the standard McDonalds burger. It was tasteless and stale. I really enjoyed the whopper, it had a nice solid taste to it, and it had the least spillage of the burgers I tried, I assume due to its large width. Lastly, on my way back from a relative's 60th birthday, I just tried the Wendy's "Dave's single". It was much better than either of McDonald's offerings but it fell short of burger king. It just didn't have that same solid taste.

I think next I'll be trying Carl's Jr. I don't know what I'll do after that.
I didn't think the "best standard combo" question would be as compelling so I left out sides for now. You're welcome to mention them though. I really like having the option to get onion rings or something besides fries with my burger. Wendy's had that but their options weren't compelling. Chili and a baked potato isn't my thing.

So yeah. What do you think about the fast food burgers on offer and where should I go next?

[Anonymous No.16719841]

Oh and the whopper is from burger king for those who don't know. I forgot to mention.

[Anonymous No.16719858]

Whataburger but only the texas ones

[Anonymous No.16719884]

I unironically hit the local Dairy Queen for burgers and leave without buying any ice cream.

[Anonymous No.16720028]

>>16719831
Didn't read.

[Anonymous No.16720033]

>>16720028
thx for bump

[Anonymous No.16720038]

>>16719831
Dear anon, I agree with your opinion and prefer the whopper.

Cant help you further with your quest since I'm from Europe.

With kind regards,
Anon

[Anonymous No.16720040]

>>16720038
oh thankies anon. Are there any good fast food chains specific to europe? Like ones that originate there and are found all over?

[Anonymous No.16720101]

>>16719831
Wendy's has some decent burgers. They put all the toppings on even on the value menu burgers.

[Anonymous No.16720141]

>>16719831
imho zinger burgers from kfc are the best

[Anonymous No.16720155]

>>16719831
Honestly, with the prices at the fast food chains being the way they are, you're better off just finding some local burger joint, or making your own. I have a food truck, just burgers and fries, grind the meat and chop and three stage fry the fries myself; used to be that I couldn't park anywhere near a McDonald's or whatever, because their prices beat the shit out of mine and I couldn't compete, but now I can pretty much set up in their parking lot if I felt like it, my burgers are cheaper than their shit now and a lot better.
I'm not telling you this because I'm biased, and I used to eat at Checker's and Krystal burger all the time, I'm just saying, for the value you'll probably enjoy a local spot more.

[Anonymous No.16720635]

[Anonymous No.16721502]

For me it's the famous star with cheese at Carl's Jr. with onion rings and a vanilla shake.

[Anonymous No.16721532]

>>16719831

Burgers are in a pretty sad state right now honestly. That being said McD's has some decent ones, just not the cheap ones. And honestly Arby's has some of the best ones, just overflowing beef and cheese.

Avoid Burger King at all costs, If you're near one, In-N-Out is the best cheap burgers, for sure.

[Anonymous No.16721545]

>>16719831
Trash. Every last one of them. Make your own food and quit giving those scum your money.

[Anonymous No.16721547]

>>16721502
carls jr by me always overcharges somehow so i stopped going. im nobody's chump

[Anonymous No.16721554]

>>16721532
>Avoid Burger King at all costs, If you're near one
W-why?

[Anonymous No.16721684]

>>16719884
The dude is better than the burgers at DQ

[Anonymous No.16721748]

>>16721545
not all of us are gay like you

[Anonymous No.16723348]

Culver's. I just had it today. It was so juicy. The key to a good burger is just the juice and little more. No need for crazy stuff.

[Anonymous No.16723857]

Wendy’s>mcdicks>Hardee’s/Carl Jr=BK

[Anonymous No.16723884]

>>16719831
Probably a tie between Culver's and In-N-Out, but I almost never get a fast food burger anymore. I'd rather just make them myself.

[Anonymous No.16723911]

It's not exactly fast food but if you call before, by the time you drive there they'll just walk it out to you faster than a drive thru anyway...
Chili's. Actually has a decent basic fuck you bacon burger. The meal with fries is like 10 bucks, and with a combo from McDonald's costing just as much nowadays, there's really no reason to not just pull up here instead (or the pita place next door)

[Anonymous No.16723921]

Wendy's
Whataburger
In-N-Out
whatever else

[Anonymous No.16724084]

>>16720155
Pretty spot on. The only reason to get fast food is to get value menu shit, or whatever the special of the month is. Otherwise it costs just as much as the local place but with tasteless meat and wilted vegetables.

[Anonymous No.16724095]

Why is it that the ice cream machine is always out at McDonald's but the grill is never out of service at Dairy Queen?

[Anonymous No.16724106]

>>16724095
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDEtSlqJC4

[Anonymous No.16724154]

>>16724095
it's a finicky fucking machine because they wanted it to be self cleaning. It has a sanitation cycle built in for the shake mix. If the diagnostic reads off for any of their criteria it shuts the whole machine down and a certified taylor technician has to come service the fucking thing.

Here's a website that will show you the nearest working mcdonalds ice cream machines
https://mcbroken.com/

[Anonymous No.16724216]

Best fast food chain burger I ever had was from this place called Steers in South Africa. For a third world country, they've got some good quality beef.

[Anonymous No.16724273]

>>16724216
saffer beef is generally superior to american beef tbf

[Anonymous No.16724400]

>>16721532
>Avoid Burger King at all costs
Okay, that's easy. Ours got shut down because they were dealing meth out of the drive through.

[Anonymous No.16724425]

>White castle at the bottom


Fucking based, out of all the popular chains that one wins. But nothing beats a local joint, or just learning how to make nasty greasy amazing fast food burgers at home.

[Anonymous No.16724441]

>>16724154
At least DQ was smart enough not to buy a self cleaning grill that would be broken all the time.

[Anonymous No.16725271]

>>16724154
>If the diagnostic reads off for any of their criteria
criteria including "slightly overfilling"

[Anonymous No.16725641]

we mostly have MDs, BK, and KFC around here.
I like BK the most.

[Anonymous No.16725648]

>>16723857
Wendy's went downhill. They switched to leaner meat.

[Anonymous No.16726904]

>>16725648
which is weird because leaner beef is more expensive

[Anonymous No.16726957]

>>16725648
I think McDonald's must have switched to leaner meat or something. I had a burger there for the first time in a long time and the meat tasted terrible. It was bland and crumbly. I wonder if they're all doing it to make their chicken sandwiches more appealing because muh climate change.

[Anonymous No.16726964]

>>16719831
OP, I agree with you BK > Wendy's > McD's ranking.

>>16721502
>For me it's the famous star with cheese at Carl's Jr.
Here in Virginia, they're called Hardee's, and the famous star is good, but they also sell a 1/3 pound "Thick Burger" that I prefer.

>>16721532
>If you're near one, In-N-Out is the best cheap burgers, for sure.
I ate there once. Nothing special, blah at best. McDonald's tier, almost any fast food burger is better.

>>16723857
>Wendy’s>mcdicks
Sure.
>mcdicks>Hardee’s/Carl Jr
Oh, fuck no.

[Anonymous No.16726972]

>>16726957
>I think McDonald's must have switched to leaner meat or something.
That's odd, they've been bragging about the leanest beef in the industry since the 70's.

[Anonymous No.16726978]

>>16719831
Try burger street, if it's not just an Oklahoma thing.

[Anonymous No.16727031]

I'm a borger king tranny and I love big juicy whoppers.

>om nom nom nom
>cronch cronch
>siiiiiip
>haa....

[Anonymous No.16727045]

>>16726972
I'll admit that it's been a couple of years, but the flavor the beef patties was noticeably bad.

[Anonymous No.16727087]

>>16726964
literally all this shit depends on your location and franchisees. My local hardees are bottomest of the bottom barrel tier. I wouldn't feed my dog anything they made. But my mcdicks? Better than my wendys, and my BK went out of business. One town over? Never go to McD's, and Wendy's is really fucking good.

[Anonymous No.16727103]

>>16727087
>all this shit depends on your location and franchisees.
Color me doubtful.
This is factory food, and usually only the bread is "local" (three or four state area).
I seriously doubt any chain is going to vary between two adjacent towns.

[Anonymous No.16727132]

>>16727103
I'm dead serious, anon. If management is shit and doesn't enforce corporate protocol with respect to cycling the product, then you end up with
>cold, soggy, limp fries
>dry, lukewarm burgers
>stale buns
>moldy soda machines
>nasty veggies
>sad, greasy chicken

I am a fatass at heart and have seriously tried to figure out which local fastfood is good or not. I know it's just an anecdote and I don't have a peer reviewed study for you, but it's my lived experience. It might not be the case for you! But there's definitely a "good" mcdonalds in the nice area of town, and the others are... not good.

[Anonymous No.16727153]

>>16719831
Burger King

[Anonymous No.16727170]

>>16727132
Sorry, what planet do you live on again?
I've been doing burger joints for over a half century, and I'll tell you about the only thing management fucks up is speed of service.
Notable exception: If KFC doesn't change out their oil often enough, shit can get nasty.

Please note, I'm not saying management _can't_ fuck up other things, but rather that they generally don't.

All my experience is east coast, west coast and Hawaii.
Maybe flyover states are somehow different.

[Anonymous No.16727197]

>>16727170
I mean I agree that management generally doesn't fuck up shit other than speed, but when they do, it's fucking awful. And yes generally you can generalize a chain by its overall quality, but there are outliers. I must have bad luck because several chains here have horrible management. Not flyover, btw.

[Anonymous No.16727216]

>>16727197
>but there are outliers.
Not in my experience.
The whole selling point of fast food joints is consistency of product.

>Not flyover, btw.
OK, then where IS this black hole of name brand inconsistency?

[Anonymous No.16727302]

>>16727170
I mean, this seems like common sense what >>16727132 is saying. If the manager isn't upholding standards than the average retard manning any station at a fast food joint is likely to be sloppy and fuck it up. And that results in shitty food. Like, these are minimum wage employees, they're not exactly there to uphold the standards of fast, high quality food, they're there to make enough money to pay rent, they don't really give a fuck.

[Anonymous No.16727313]

>>16719831
Wendy's. Dave's single shits on all others.

[Anonymous No.16727397]

I know it's a meme, but probably In-N-Out.

Alternates might include
>5 Guys
>P. Terry's
>Blakes

[Anonymous No.16727422]

>>16727302
I'm not saying his story is implausible, I'm saying I've never seen anything like what he's describing.
The meth-addled min-wagies aren't different from town to town, and I doubt there's much they could do to fuck up the factory-cooked, reheated on site product.
BY and Wendy's don't pre-cook their meat, but at BK they put it on a conveyer belt that runs through the burger cooking machine.
Wendy's requires a little skill, but not much.
Nah, both experience and observation tells me there's far more variation in quality from chain to chain than franchise to franchise.

[Anonymous No.16728623]

>>16726978
The hell is burger street? I ain't heard of that anywhere near okc

[Anonymous No.16728636]

>>16719884
DQ hunger busters rock. No cheese

[Anonymous No.16728661]

>>16727103
>Color me doubtful.
It's a matter of who owns the franchises in your area, and what their hiring practices are.
In Mississippi, Wendy's was unsurpassed in terms of service and quality. But In Virginia they don't give a fuck and won't even give you food at a passable temperature. If you complain, they'll just tell you to go fuck yourself.
In small towns, Carls' Jr can be pretty good. In cities it's worthless.
The best and highest rated Burger King locations in the entire country are primarily in Arizona and owned by one family. Everywhere else, they're garbage.

The only chain that seems to have nationally consistent hiring practices is Chick Fila. And jokingly I've never heard anyone say anything good about Jack In The Box anywhere.

[Anonymous No.16728673]

>>16719858
I went to one last month on a trip to Texas and the experience was ruined by the amount of sheboons both as customers and working there.

[Anonymous No.16728688]

>>16728673
Was the entire staff of corpulent sheboons sitting on stools at every station? It was that way the first time I went to a Shake Shack in New York.

[Anonymous No.16728690]

>>16719884
>Dairy Queen
Minnesota stop sign

[Anonymous No.16728701]

>>16728636
Based, and G-D pilled. Dairy does not belong on beef as prescribed.

[Anonymous No.16728702]

>>16728661
>But In Virginia they don't give a fuck and won't even give you food at a passable temperature.
I've lived in Virginia for 30 years, and I've never had that problem. And not just at Wendy's, no, I've never had that problem at any fast food place.

>If you complain, they'll just tell you to go fuck yourself.
Again, nothing I've ever experienced at any fast food place, not just in VA, but Maryland too.
I've been eating fast food for half a century, and slow service, sketchy cleanliness and tomatoes with the unripe white part still in are the only issues Ive ever had with any chain.

>In small towns, Carls' Jr can be pretty good. In cities it's worthless.
Never had this experience either.

And BK isn't "garbage" anywhere I've ever eaten.

>nationally consistent hiring practices i
Do you think any of these places aren't just drawing from the bottom of the barrel?
If you can't get hired by Costco or Walmart, then settle for fast food or a gas station.
https://youtu.be/iOhVbjsxlH0

You DO understand these chains are a short step up from 7-11 food, right?
Not sure if you have super high expectations or just live somewhere where the local meth-heads are even more incompetent than the meth-heads where I live.

[Anonymous No.16728709]

>>16728688
No but they might as well be. The cashier taking my order seemed to get out of breath just by pushing her computer terminal.

[Anonymous No.16728732]

>>16728623
Guess it's just in Tulsa then. There's only like, two in the entire city, as far as I know.

[Anonymous No.16728753]

>>16728709
>I'm triggered by fat people, black people and women.
I guess you better stop going out in public then, snowflake.

[Anonymous No.16728773]

>>16728753
Perhaps I should. Humans make me quite angry and I feel intense rage whenever I have the displeasure of interacting with one. A foolish race that destroys everything they touch. What a pitiful existence.

[Anonymous No.16728780]

>>16728732
>Guess it's just in Tulsa then
It's like neither of you has heard of Google:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Street
> the chain has 14 locations in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and 4 locations in the greater Tulsa, Oklahoma, area

With 18 locations, I'm suprpised they even have a wikipedia page.
I'm also surprised anyone would cite them on an international forum.

[Anonymous No.16728785]

>>16728773
>What a pitiful existence.
For you.

[Anonymous No.16728800]

>>16728702
>BK isn't garbage anywhere I've been

[Anonymous No.16728817]

>>16728800

[Anonymous No.16729016]

american burgers are shit

[Anonymous No.16729032]

Does animal style count as standard? If so, in n out

[Anonymous No.16729147]

>>16727103
He's right anon, despite these places using standardised templates and advertising themselves on 'you know what you're getting', managers will still find ways to stand out or fuck up.

[Anonymous No.16729786]

>>16729147
>He's right anon,
And yet I've never seen it happen.

[Anonymous No.16729889]

>>16728780
Google? I have exclusively asked Jeeves all my questions for the last twenty five years