I was sort of trying to steer clear of local places that only have a handful of locations. I could've put Volcano Burger on there, but I'd probably be the only one to vote for it (although I think someone else here might be close enough to know that place).
I went with Five Guys. It's more expensive than the other places, but I'd rather pay $15 for Five guys than $8-10 for In-n-Out (which, IMO, is massively overrated). The Five Guys burger is hands-down the best of any of the major chains, and their fries are usually pretty good.
This is a very reasonable point, but the logic goes both ways. I'd rather pay $20 for a top notch burger from a real restaurant than $15 for a pretty good burger from 5G. Perhaps the best burger in Dallas, with half fries and half rings, plus a drink is only $18.50. Right now Dallas is having a kind of burger renaissance, and there are several places turning out excellent burgers and sides for about what you'd pay for 5G.
I agree that I-n-O is massively overrated, though.
Honestly, I can't think of (m)any restaurant burgers that I thought were better than 5G. There's a place called Burger Bar in sort of a mall between Mandalay Bay and Luxor in Vegas. I've also been to a location in San Francisco. Those were both very, very good. But it's not at all fast food. It's a sit-down restaurant that focuses on burgers. Same with Fuddruckers, which I already mentioned.
As far as I&O, cracked.com once did a hilarious article on overrated restaurants that included I&O (along with White Castle):
"The thing is, people don't treat In-N-Out Burger like it makes a
fine burger; people treat In-N-Out Burger like it cures cancer and performs other assorted miracles. I'd heard all of the over-the-top 'It will change your life' kind of praise before I moved to Los Angeles, so, naturally, I was very much looking forward to investigating the hype once I arrived. I did. It was fine. Except for the fries, which, again, are total ass.
When I delivered this review to my new California friends, I was met with an almost universal response: 'Well, you must not have ordered it the right way. You should have gotten it animal style.' [For anyone who doesn't know, "animal style" at I&O means that mustard is fried into the patty, and they add pickles, grilled onions and extra "sauce" (i.e., thousand island dressing).]
First of all, grilled onions do not come from an animal. Also, I'd appreciate a little less pressure to put Thousand Island dressing on that shit. That is the worst dressing ever made. I would put raspberry vinaigrette on a burger before I'd consider that nonsense. Besides, that there is a 'right' way to order is your first indication that you're dealing with an overrated sandwich."
Spot on stuff! And mustard is Satan's smegma.
This is the problem, IMO, of having 5 guys listed here with the likes of McDonalds and whatnot. I don't consider 5 guys fast food.
I don't see the difference. Both are burger places where you walk in and order at a counter where you pay before you get your food, which you receive within a matter of minutes after placing your order. You can either get it to go or eat it at tables that you find yourself. There's no waiter/waitress service. Price and perceived quality aside, they're the same (except that I've never seen a 5G with a drive-thru). All of the fast food places fall somewhere on gradients of price and perceived quality, but they're still the same thing on the most basic level.
As a Chicago food guy, I very, very often get a hankering for an Italian beef or sausage. My go-to's there are Buona and Beef Shack. Augustino's also has a very good beef. I am NOT a Portillo's guy. Hugely overrated, in my opinion.
There's a Portillo's in southern California (near Knott's Berry Farm). I heard great things about it. My son and I went there and it was AWFUL. Had both a burger and a dog, and both were among the worst I've ever had.