America's best and worst fast foods

[Bubba1]

This months consumer reports has their rankings on the best and worst fast food restaurants in the US based on reader surveys. Interesting findings.

Best Burger chain: In-and-Out Burger
Worst: McDonalds

Best Pizza chain: Papa Murphy's Take N' Bake Pizza
worst: Sbarro

Best chicken chain: Chick-Fil-A
Worst: KFC

Best Mexican Chain: Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill
Worst: Taco Bell

Best Asian Chain: Pel Wel Asian diner
Worst Panda Express


Best tasting burger:
1. the Habit Burger Grill
2. In-and-out Burger
3. Five Guys

worst tasting burger:
McDonalds by a large margin
Jack in the Box
Burger King

highest scoring restaurant chain was a tie between In-and-Out and Papa Murphy's. Lowest scoring restaurant was Sbarro.

I haven't eaten at all of them, but I do agree In-and-Out Burger and 5 Guys makes very good burgers.

[Dattebayo]

5 guys is just a grease bomb in tin foil with over/under cooked fries in a brown bag and no consistency among their chains, and it is most interesting that many of those "chains" are unheard of around here or anywhere I've been in the last 2 years...

[Rogue One]

Typical useless CR survey. Unless the chain can be found in all 50 states, it should not be included.

There isn't a Papa Murphy's Take N' Bake Pizza, nor a Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill within 100 miles of me. The closest Pei Wei Asian Diner a good 72 miles away, in another state. Never mind the fact I've never heard of those restaurants, it seems pointless to include them if I can't go to one in my state.

Oh, and the worst chicken I've ever had came from Chick-Fil-A (cardboard taste), and the worst burgers were from Five Guys.

[nissangirl74]

In 'n Out is meh. I've eaten at more than one location and I really don't see what all of the hype is about. I can, and do, make better burgers and fries in my own kitchen.
Mc Donald's - I like their coffee, iced tea, and strawberry banana smoothies. That's it. I tolerate a Bacon egg and cheese biscuit on occasion if I'm in a hurry because it's kinda hard to screw that up. All of their lunch and dinner food sucks.
Five Guys is good at certain chains. Here, the burgers are better in Scottsdale but the fries are better in Surprise.
Burger King is horrid. The food is gross and the prices are high.
I will never, ever, ever eat at Jack in the Box again. The last time I did, I puked for 6 hours across 10 states (flying to Carlisle, May 2012?)

Never had Papa Murphy's or the Habit Burger.

Sbarro is too greasy.
Chick-fil-A is OK but WAY over-priced.
KFC sucks (it used to be amazing )
Taco Bell is OK about once every 6 months. I pay for it the next couple of days though.
Panda is starting to be really bad. The last time I went there, the quality was sub-par. Saraya got really sick the last time she ate there so it is now off-limits.

Pei Wei is delicious. You get a lot of food for the money too.
I like Rubio's. Their street tacos are awesome.

[Bubba1]

hmm, I guess the individual franchise owner makes a bigger difference than I thought.

In-and-Out: I ate at two of them, in the Long Beach CA area. I thought they were both very good. Caloric and cholesterol bombs for sure, but tasty. Fries at both places were very good.

Five Guys: I ate a few of them too. One in NYC, the other in upstate NY . Very good too, similar bombs as in-and-Out, but not quite as good as In-and-out. And the fries at both locations, I thought were good, and the portions were huge.

McDonald's - I've been to too many to count but they were consistently subpar (except for their fries, which are good) On the Plus side I have yet to see any whip marks on the meat where the jockey hit it.

KFC I agree, pretty good a loooooong time ago, not any more. Perhaps they need to finally change the grease they use....

Chick Fil-A. I went to one recently with a friend who swears by them. While I did not swear while there. I thought the food was on the bland side. Ok, but not great, and not awful

Taco Bell. I've never had a good experience with their food. Every visit was almost always combined with a lengthy, stinky, ozone layer depleting, double courtesy flush, explosive power dump. Though looking back, I think there's some value to Taco Bell as prep for a colonoscopy. More effective than any laxative.

Sbarro. I've eaten their pizza few times. Around here they're located mostly along highway rest stops. doughy and overpriced but not dreadful. Sad to say, if located beside a Taco Bell and McDonalds I might still gravitate toward it.

[Jesda]

Everything at Pei Wei tastes like salt.

[elwesso]

I definitely agree about 5 guys being a grease infused meat puck, but it's still pretty good. I actually like the plain McDonalds cheeseburgers. Of course, they're not the best but they're pretty good for the price.

In all honesty, if you're too lazy to make food yourself and/or you're too impatient or in a hurry to sit down at an actual restaraunt, you kind of have to expect what you get.

You notice that all the "worst" ones are the most popular (and easily in all 50 states), and the best ones are mostly regional. One would have to assume that more people have have tried the "worst" ones versus the semi-regional ones, so that would mean more people likely would have a negative opinion (since more total have experienced).

I wonder where places like subway, wendy's, little caesars, arby's, rally's/checker/krystal compares?

[jbracy7]

I carry a small grill in my car 24 /7 so I make the best food at a rest stop
Burgs,smoked sausages kids get out and play, however long trips only, for short trips I have almonds ,trying not to ever eat fast food again

[Bubba1]

I definitely agree about 5 guys being a grease infused meat puck, but it's still pretty good. I actually like the plain McDonalds cheeseburgers. Of course, they're not the best but they're pretty good for the price.

In all honesty, if you're too lazy to make food yourself and/or you're too impatient or in a hurry to sit down at an actual restaraunt, you kind of have to expect what you get.

You notice that all the "worst" ones are the most popular (and easily in all 50 states), and the best ones are mostly regional. One would have to assume that more people have have tried the "worst" ones versus the semi-regional ones, so that would mean more people likely would have a negative opinion (since more total have experienced).

I wonder where places like subway, wendy's, little caesars, arby's, rally's/checker/krystal compares?

Wendy's & krystal tied for 3rd worst in Burger chains.

Checkers was tied for 2nd worst burger chain

Rally's was not in the article.

Little Ceasar's was ranked mid pack for pizza chains.

Subway was 4th from the bottom for sandwich chains

Arby's tied for 2nd worst for sandwich chains.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Here's my take:
I actually like McDonalds. They seem to be the most consistent. While they don't have "the best" of anything (unless you're drunk, then the McRib is the s***), I'm hard pressed to find something bad there... although I do stay the F away from the fish sandwich.

Krystal- nasty. Big cubes of grease. I've eaten here/Whitecastle I think 2 or 3 times in my life and have felt awful after every time.

5 Guys- I've been to 5 or 6 of these, each one was different yet equally awful. Again, nothing but grease. The beef tastes completely unseasoned.

In & Out - Not bad, but I don't see what the hype is about

Sbarro- what joel said. Doughy, and generally not that great.

Chic Fil-a - its f*** chicken on a bun. I've never understood why people go absolutely s*** crazy over it. They definitely seem to have the most loyal following. I don't get it.

KFC- there's a good/decent one in New England that I go to from time to time. Other than that, they've definitely gone down hill.

BurgerKing- Same deal as above. Around here, they can't seem to get the food hot for some reason. Go figure.

Taco bell- I enjoy it!

Subway- my go to fast food joint. I love eating fresh. I think I've only had 1 bad sandwich there and its because I had them put avocado on it. Stay away from that stuff and stick to the basics.

I haven't really heard of any of the other ones. There's a sandwich chain (small chain) called D'Angelo in New England that makes awesome hot sandwiches. Pastrami and cheese that will blow your mind.

[nissangirl74]

As much as I love to cook, there are some days that I just walk into the kitchen / pantry and decide I don't feel like digging in. The sad thing is, every time we go out to eat somewhere, I can't help but think (and Greg and the kids tell me), your food is so much better. Many of the restaurants on that list used to be OK, some better than OK. Now, If I want to go grab a bite somewhere, the choices are VERY limited. I know the whole profit margin / gotta make a buck scenario but damn. Crappy food, small portions, lots of salt/fat, not much flavor, high prices...is it any wonder that this industry is in trouble?

[Jesda]

Subway is a godsend on road trips. It's an easy way to scarf down some veggies while dining at truck stops.

[nissangirl74]

Subway is a godsend on road trips. It's an easy way to scarf down some veggies while dining at truck stops.

and an affordable way to feed a car full of teenagers

[Heavy]

No way in hell is 5 guys better than shake shack...

[MinisterofDOOM]

I really don't understand what's so great about In-and-Out. They're tiny, basic, bland, featureless burgers. You can't even get them with pickles (the only way a burger should ever be eaten)! The rest of their stuff is pretty average, too. There's an In-and-Out about 15 minutes from where I used to live outside Salt Lake City, and people drive from all over the damn valley to eat there. Half the parking lot is always blocked off with cones to direct the ridiculous drive-through traffic, and there's never a place to sit. If it was some kind of ultragourmet burger that MIGHT make sense. But it's farking fast food, and basic, no-frills fast food at that. I DO NOT understand the appeal.

I actually ate at The Habit last week, and it was pretty good. Their grilled bread (in place of a bun) is fantastic, and even their mushroom burger (generally something most places screw up, allowing too much mushroom juice to ruin the bread and slop up the condiments) was clean and delicious with the perfect proportion of burger and mushrooms. It wasn't a dry burger, but it wasn't soggy, either. The bread was really what made it for me, though. Most burgers are served on gooey, dense, might-as-well-be-wonder-bread buns that get in the way of the actual burger by tasting wrong and ruining the texture. A perfectly-grilled sliced bun adds EXACTLY the amount of buttery taste and crispy texture to make a good burger something special. Avacado also makes everything better (even mushrooms and burgers), so they get bonus points there, as well.

I'm still a 5 Guys fan, despite it being a grease-fest. If I wanted something healthy, I would not be ordering fresh-cut fries and a double bacon cheeseburger with mushrooms. If 5 Guys fries are "overcooked" then that's just how I like them. They should be crispy outside and soft inside. Plus, they generally have some tasteful classic rock playing in the store, so I can enjoy my food without having to have my brains gouged out by modern pop bullcrap.

Another good fast food place that's not REALLY fast food is a greek chain from Utah called Crown Burger. They're kind of like a proto-5 Guys but with less grease and a mainly greek menu. Their burgers, corn dogs, and fries, are among my favorites. They're not tremendously fast, though, and are more of a "fancy sit-down" burger join than fast food.

Burger King is abominable. Their burgers taste like nothing at all.
Jack in the Box is also terrible for burgers. However, their grilled sandwiches are pretty good when in a hurry, and their stuffed jalapenos are pretty damn tasty. Their curly fries are rarely cooked properly, though.
McDonalds tends to have the worst service in my experience. It's not uncommon to find oneself standing in front of the counter waiting to be addressed while several acne'd kids run around looking busy but refusing to let you know when the Hell they'll find time to notice you. A simple "I'll be right with you" is the most basic basic in customer service. If you can't be bothered with that, I certainly can't be inclined to give you my money.

Also, how the @#$% is Papa Murphy's a "restaurant chain"?!?!?! You take the (crappy) food home and prepare it yourself!!!! The food is neither cooked nor consumed at the store. Somebody needs to mail CR a dictionary.

And you guys are doing Subway wrong. The only veggies my Subway visits involve are olives and jalapenos.