Consumer Reports - FAST FOOD SURVEY...do you agree with these results?

General Discussion
#1

I have to say, most burger places suck. Frankly the best burger chain burger I’ve ever had was a Canadian chain, Lick’s, that recently went out of business. Their burgers in pretty much every survey, came out on top. Unfortunately being a small Canadian chain of around 20 locations in Ontario, it’s tough to compete with the advertising of the bigger chains.

First off, my preference - flavourful burger…not just plain beef, but I like a bit of flavour. I also like flame/char grilled. I don’t care much for these flat greasy frying surface burgers like McDonalds or five guys does. I tried in and out with the JHM guys in California last year, and it was pretty solid. Animal style I think they called it. I still prefer a flame grilled burger though. I also know that White Castle is just plain garbage…and I don’t understand how they’re in business. Five guys opened up here last year or so, and it’s just OK. Not great. Price was shocking…cheeseburger, fries and drink was $15!

Chipotle is pretty decent. A local chain I think has the best burrito I’ve ever tried, but chipotle (and frankly all of them) are decent. Hard to mess up a burrito.

http://static3.consumerreportscdn.org/content/dam/cro/magazine-articles/2014/August/CRM_Consumer_Reports_Taste_Champs_08-14.jpg

#2

I agree with the Chick-fil-A rating, normally the only fast food I willingly get, sometimes Wendy’s if I starving and on the road.

I’ve tried a few Jimmy John’s and they were shit.

I’ve never had a good fast food hamburger.

#3

Definitely agree with Portillo’s rating. Their entire menu is great.

I’ve only tried about half of the burgers from the places listed. I agree that fast food burgers are generally shit, but White Castle sometimes goes well with hangovers. Fuddruckers makes a decent burger.

My favorite chicken place is Brown’s Chicken, but I think that’s only in Chicago. Chick-fil-A is pretty good, and they have great waffle fries.

I’ve never had a Chipotle burrito - need to get on that.

Fuck now I’m hungry.

#4

X2 on chick fila!

I haven’t seen a fair bit of the burger places before, so I can’t comment much. I do like 5-guys though, mainly b/c I’m a big toppings guy, so I can add bacon, grilled onions, mushrooms, cheese, bbq sauce etc that most fast food joints don’t consistently offer. I wasn’t particularly impressed with in-n-out though. I’m the minority, but it was just okay to me.

For sandwiches, Firehouse, Penn Station (Pizza sub is awesome), and Potbellys are all good in my book.

And like you Saki, we have a local burrito place that is my favorite, but Chipotle is hard to beat on a regular basis and I love their barbacoa meat.

#5

we have Mary Brown’s…is that the same?

#6

^^ I don’t think so. Pretty sure the one I’m referring to is just in Chicago. Really good fried chicken.

#7

Cookout has a decent burger IMO

#8

Agree. Char-Grill has awesome burgers for a fast food place, but they are kinda local chain.

#9

saki and I will always butt heads over 5 guys - I like them! In and out is better though. Helps there seems to be one wherever I go in the US. I agree though 5 guys is overpriced, esp when a beer and a burger often ends up costing less.

Not fast food, but I have had excellent burger’s at Earl’s.

#10

Portilllo’s is the best. They just sold the company to a company that will probably take it nation wide. Hopefully quality doesn’t slip. They sold for 1.3 billion. They were a family owned but I guess the family doesn’t get along so Dick Portillo decide to sell the joint.

One of my favorite burgers I actually had in Toronto. I don’t remember the name of the place but it was at the Urban Eatery underground (mall?). Smoke Burgers? Something with the word smoke in it.

I used to like the Angus burgers from McDonalds if I was just looking for something quick. Obviously MCD quality control is shit so sometimes it was great sometimes its was horrible. Other than that the only fast food burger I will eat is Portillos. I’m an extremely fussy whiny bitch when it comes to food lol. Five guys is meh. Edible at least.

They just opened a Firehouse Subs right by my house. I’ll have to try that sometime. I think Jimmy Johns>Jersey mikes. Here in Carol Stream we have this place called Augustino’s Deli. I would put their subs up against anything. You could bleat someone to death with one with how much meat they put on them.

Surprising to see Chic-Fil-A on there but I guess there really isn’t many chicken based fast food chains. That sauce they have is pretty good. Chick sauce?

#11

^^ Ya Portillo’s is something of a staple in Chicago. Best hot dogs you can find.

#12

My wife has a simple rule that I’ve adopted. If the list of ingredients has many unnatural components… don’t eat it. The more processed food it, the more unhealthy it is.

That said, there are a few places that I enjoy…

5 Guys and Smashburger are very good. Food is simple, fresh, and made-to-order.

Surprised to see Portillo’s listed, as I never really considered it in that category. The one that was nearby (when I lived in Chicago) had a Barnelli’s Pasta Bowl integrated, and you could get awesome Italian dishes very fast. I loved the ziti with hot spiced sausage. Really a unique restaurant, a category breaker. Haven’t seen anything like it - I hope the new ownership takes advantage of the potential.

#13

Earl’s is fantastic across the board. Staff, food, all great. Canadian chain I believe, so most of these guys won’t know it.

#14

I had a fridge magnet at my last job that said “I love Earl’s girls”

#15

they hire very well

not really fast food, so definitely off topic, but I don’t think the topic integrity here in GD is all that sacred lol

http://www.earls.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/TOearlsgirls.jpg

http://blogs.ubc.ca/varunbanthia/files/2012/09/Earls_London_Staff_11.png

#16

Hahaha. They all look underage. Most of the earl’s in Vancouver are awesome. I went to one on Wednesday for a couple beers. Ordered my favorite sleeve. It came out underfilled as the keg was almost empty. They comped the sleeve, and gave me a free pint of their house beer, along with another free pint once that was done. ;D

#17

wtf is a sleeve?

whenever I go to Earl’s I order the cajun blackened chicken with the warm potato salad. It’s excellent.

#18

Sleeve = pitcher?

#19

12oz, whereas pint is usually 16-20oz. I think it’s usually just called a glass of beer

They have a weird pricing structure where their sleeves are less per ounce than a pint. I don’t think anyone’s noticed it though.

Clearly I need to go to earls tonight, order a few pints and sleeves (and cajun chicken) and take some pictures for clarity.

#20

I’m not a big fastfoodie. Still this survey seems off. I’d like to see the database groups they pulled from. Or how they came to these results. Carl’s Jr and hardee’s. are the same chain owned by the same company. The chain name differed by location. In the survey above they get two different scores. Different scores same food?