In-N-Out Burger vs. Five Guys? Popeye's vs. Chick-fil-A?
The Charbonnet transfer thread below got off on a tangent re: In-N-Out Burger.
Got me to thinking about the on-going debates re: burger and chicken spots. I haven't seen a thread addressing this vital issue, so my apologies if this is a redundant topic.
I personally find almost all of them to be overrated. Most are just slight variations on the burger or chicken theme...with nothing really special to distinguish one brand over another.
What's the allure of Chick-fil-A? The chicken is fine...but nothing special. The waffle fries are likewise just meh. We drove past their new location at 8 Mile/Haggerty and there were two lines of cars about 15/20 deep.
Give me a local slider joint like Hunter House over any of the national chains...and I've had some really tasty hand-made chicken tenders at various local restaurants.
What say you about this important topic?
In-N-Out? Five Guys? White Castle? Whataburger? Culver's? Red Robin? Shake Shack?
Chick-fil-A? Popeyes? KFC? Buffalo Wild Wings? Gus's?
January 31st, 2021 at 8:39 AM ^
In terms of burger chains I actually like B.Good probably wins, but all of them feel about the same if you just get a basic hamburger. There's a small franchise out here in Boston called Tasty Burger that is pretty good. Oh, and this little hole in the wall that I've seen spreading (I assume) based on UM's new DC called McDonalds.
I've never gotten the allure of Chick-fil-A either. I've had it a handful of times and always found it underwhelming compared to the hype but perfectly fine otherwise. I actually think Wendy's crispy chicken is underrated and is my go-to. Only had Popeye's once so hard to tell much about it.
January 31st, 2021 at 9:46 AM ^
I like B.good for the non burger options, but their fries are always burned. Tasty Burger is the best.
to answer the op, five guys over in and out, but I always go to in and out when I have the option.
I’ve never been to Popeyes because chick fil a is so good why go anywhere else? I think they have dropped off recently with their big expansion out of the south east though.
January 31st, 2021 at 11:40 AM ^
Wendy's is the way to go for your readily available, go-to FF chain. The new pub style items are pretty damn solid.
I had in n out on a trip to LA five years ago and cannot remember what it was like, so that tells you how memorable it was. Still need to try shake shack and whataburger in future travels.
They opened a popeyes a few blocks from my house that is nearly causing traffic accidents because of the crazy drive through lines. Chick fil a puts it to shame. It's pretty nuts how much demand there is for it compared to twelve years ago when I spent a semester in Orlando.
I would also like to say that penn station is my favorite sub sandwich chain, with Gabriel's being a local favorite for cheese steaks.
Some fictional fast food items I would like to try are Big Kahuna, Krusty Krab, meat tornado burrito and paunch burger from Parks& Rec, and the Broodwich from Aqua teen hunger force.
January 31st, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
The Burger Show on YouTube makes some fictional burgers like steamed hams from the Simpsons, one from Sponge Bob, and some from Bob’s Burgers. Quite entertaining.
January 31st, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
Tasted Burger is the truth!
January 31st, 2021 at 8:39 AM ^
If you haven't tried the chicken sandwich at Popeye's yet, you're missing out. It is twice the size of Chick-fil-a's chicken sandwich, AND crispier, AND buttery, AND juicy. Plus the pickles have some decent thickness to them and actually look like real pickles. I was blown away when I had one last week for the first time. Seriously no contest between that and Chick-fil-a.
Popeye's fries are pretty good too in my opinion. I have not tried anything else on their menu.
January 31st, 2021 at 9:18 AM ^
Your are so right, also, at $3.99 it's a helluva deal!
January 31st, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
Sold. You guys have convinced me to drive out to Baker Rd west of A2 later today to try this mythical spicy chicken.
January 31st, 2021 at 9:44 AM ^
This ^^^. Spicy chicken sandwich from Popeyes is fire ???
January 31st, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
All the "er's" sound nice in regards to Popeye's sandwich, but given Chick-fil-A's is perfect doesn't it just make it too much of all those things?
January 31st, 2021 at 7:27 PM ^
Nothing is perfect, sir. Definitely not Chick-fil-a. Though Popeye's gives it a hell of a try.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
I agree that Popeye's chicken sandwich is solid but you can eat 2 Chick Fil A sandwiches as a healthier option lol.
January 31st, 2021 at 7:25 PM ^
Get out of here with all this "healthy" talk. This is a fast food thread! Health is not important!
January 31st, 2021 at 8:40 AM ^
5 guys is laughable with their prices, which is why that chain is closing and so is red robin.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:22 AM ^
I felt dirty every time I left a Red Robin restaurant. Do they ever clean those places?
January 31st, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
All I know is that 2016 Jim Harbaugh would have no problem eating at a Red Robin.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:51 AM ^
Agree, 5 Guys would be good for half the price. You can hit a decent sit down establishment plus tip for the same cost.
January 31st, 2021 at 8:43 AM ^
I don't eat much fast food but part of the appeal of Chick-fil-A is that they do have noticeably better (and more consistent) customer service and consistently clean bathrooms. They also seem to go out of their way to give free food in communities during crises (or are perhaps better at marketing it). That all whistles past the whole food debate (which is a matter of personal preference so whatever....) but is sometimes a big enough differentiator when it is a group decision and perhaps your spouse is giving input. Chick-fil-A's basic queue management is pretty solid too - I read where they had a CFA manager help a vaccine line because of that reputation. As a business I also think their franchise model is exceptionally smart and hopefully something others emulate since it does flow down to a different customer experience.
January 31st, 2021 at 8:55 AM ^
Yes Chick-Fil-A is definitely known for their excellent customer service and speed of orders. The food is very tasty and has reasonable prices also.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
I agree with both these comments. My sample size isn't huge (maybe four / five different places) but AFAICS it's the best run fast food restaurant chain. As they say, "My pleasure."
A note on the Popeye's sandwich: Very good all the way around, but just a little too big. (That may make no sense to some people.)
OP: Great topic for a Sunday.
January 31st, 2021 at 8:43 AM ^
You've unnecessarily muddied the waters with your loose grouping of restaurants. There are three types of eateries: fast food, real food, and pizza. Fast food: CFA, Popeyes, KFC, Arby's, McDs, BK, In&Out, etc... Real food: Red Robin, BW2, Culvers, Shake Shack, etc... Pizza shops are self-explanatory, right?
For fast food, I think the CFA and Popeyes chicken sammich is comparable - I'd eat either one anytime. I do prefer KFC extra crispy to Popeye's fried chicken, though. BK has the best fast food burger, hands down - though, to be fair, I haven't tried I&O and Whataburger because these don't live in VA.
For real food, Red Robin makes a pretty damn good burger, while Five Guys is just fucking hideous (unless you like grease).
The point of all this? I don't think its fair to compare fast food with a more traditional restaurant where the food isn't rushed through a line by high school students.
January 31st, 2021 at 9:17 AM ^
Goes to show how personal preferences can vary so widely. My family's burger list is pretty much the exact opposite of yours. We did a blind taste test of chain burger joints near Richmond recently. Results rated from best to worst: Five Guys, Sonic, Wendy's, McDonalds, with Burger King a very distant last place.
Haven't had a Red Robin burger in a long time, but we buy their fries at the store (frozen) and cook those when we grill our own burgers. The Checkers/Rally's fries are probably our favorite to cook at home. Otherwise Five Guys and McDonald's fries are at the top of our list.
I need to get out and try the Popeye's chicken sandwich. Otherwise, I've found chicken sandwiches to be fine a Sonic, CFA, and Wendy's (the spicy version).
January 31st, 2021 at 9:27 AM ^
Ha! If tastes didn't vary, we wouldn't have so many options! For frozen fries, try the McCain Dip 'n Wedges - sprinkle some paprika on before baking (convection, if you have it). These are awesome - way better than even the RR fries, which are great!
Five guys is okay - if you can sit down and eat it immediately. Otherwise, it's all just a greasy, soggy, coagulated mess... And for the life of me, I don't understand how anyone can say anything at McDs is 'good', let alone better than a similar item anywhere else! Lowest common dreg...
January 31st, 2021 at 9:57 AM ^
Every once in awhile (i.e. once every few years) I will have a McDonalds burger for nostalgia's sake, as they taste just the same to me as they did 50 years ago. My wife, on the other hand, refuses to stoop so low.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:04 AM ^
Doesn't look like the McCain's is available around here. But I'll keep an eye out for them. Thanks for the suggestion. We like to spice our fries up as well. A little paprika, or sometimes some Old Bay. Good stuff.
Ha, I think the "secret" to why my family likes the McD fries is that they generally seem to have more salt than anywhere else! And they aren't mushy/undercooked like at Wendy's. But we'll take a seasoned fry from almost anywhere as our first choice.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:56 AM ^
There is a Raising Cane's on ODU's campus if you're in Norfolk on day.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^
To you other VA fellas, do you have Cook Out yet? Or Zaxby's? We have plenty of Cook Out's here in Hampton Roads although they're not exactly on every corner. Zaxby's hasn't quite made its way to the 757 yet but we get their advertisements locally and there is one just on the other side of the VA/NC line off of 95. What regional places(or perhaps you have your Zaxby's already) do you have in your part of VA that we may not have down here in Tidewater yet?
To answer the OP, Five Guys by default since there is no In-n-Out here. Chick Fil-A for the sandwich, nuggets, & tea but Popeyes for the tenders & fries. However as several posters above have said Cane's crushes Popeyes and a very honorable mention to Hardee's/Carl Jr's on their tenders as well..
January 31st, 2021 at 10:36 AM ^
We have a Zaxby's and Cook Out near us now, west of Richmond. Haven't tried either one, yet. But I have heard Cook Out and fantastic milkshakes. I really need to get over there and try it out.
We have BurgerWorks and Burger Bach here, but I don't know if they are anything more than local chains. I've heard BurgerWorks is really good but even more expensive than Five Guys. I'll give it a try one of these days.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:53 AM ^
I've had Zaxby's once while traveling home from NC and I was fairly impressed with their tenders. It is good to know there is one near Richmond if/when I am in that area. Cook Out does have great shakes and decent food. They are open very late when not in a pandemic and give you a great bang for your buck even if the quality not quite top notch.
I'll also will have to ask friends in your area about BurgerWorks and Burger Bach and get their opinions on those places. I was also just thinking starting a separate thread about Wawa vs. Royal Farms vs. Sheetz three way dance on the best gas station food haha.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:53 AM ^
Zaxby's looks so good in their advertising but is incredibly disappointing in real life.
January 31st, 2021 at 2:15 PM ^
Cook Out is pretty good, and yeah - the shakes are excellent, all 400 flavors of them! It's a bit pricey, and the burgers are kinda small, but the taste is excellent.
January 31st, 2021 at 11:59 AM ^
For me, fries are the biggest "hit or miss". I like them hot and crispy (but not burnt). I agree hot mcdobalds fries eaten in the restaraunt are the best, but often time I bring them home, they are cold and soggy and basically go straight to the trash.
It's funny too, even amongst the same chain the differences in fries. There is a BK in my town who is always slow, gets the orders wrong and has cold, shit fries. One time I decided to try a different BK next town over. Even after I brought it home, fries were crisp, everything was hot and I would rank those fries better than cold McDonald's. We have gone there 2 or 3 times now and consistently had the best quality BK I have ever had (not saying much I know, but point is quality is a spectrum).
January 31st, 2021 at 9:59 AM ^
How does shake shack and Culver’s end up in the real food with Red Robin? And what the hell is BW2 (best guess is Buffalo Wild Wings, which would be BW3s short for the original name, Buffalo Wild Wings and weck).
shake shack and Culver’s service model is closer to fast food than a traditional restaurant like Red Robin.
your premise isn’t wrong but the way you have grouped them is even more confusing than what you are arguing against.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:04 AM ^
I could rearrange! TBH, I've never been to Shake Shack or Culvers since they aren't in VA that I know of. I thought, though, they were closer to real food. My bad!!!
Also - so that's where BW3 comes from!! I could never figure out why people said 3 when there wasn't a third W!!! So it's 'weck', eh? Okay, sometimes you learn things, even in a throw-away thread!
January 31st, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
I actually thought the 3rd "W" was for wanks(ers). It's a OH restaurant so who cares haha? I understood the BW2 reference. I think most would agree however, if you went to college almost ANYWHERE(or lived in/near a college town) in the 90's-early aughts that saying "Bdubs" would get you by.
We have Shake Shack's down here in Tidewater but I haven't been there yet so no reviews from me.
January 31st, 2021 at 11:46 AM ^
Generally you have a point that is good. But calling BW3 "real" food is, ah, a stretch. I mean I get what you're saying, but their food is downright terrible. I mean absolutely atrocious. And, it is never a good sign when it's company policy that every burger must be cooked to maximum doneness.
Also, years ago when I used to drink, I remember going there and looking at their ridiculously long menu of beers, and couldn't believe that they were almost entirely made up of bad selections. They would have like one craft beer, usually Two Hearted or Oberon, and that was it. Maybe that has changed but it just seemed like a really low class establishment.
And, to make matters worse, it originated in Columbus.
January 31st, 2021 at 1:36 PM ^
I would put almost any large (including regional) chain restaurants in the not real food bin. They tend to be lower quality than independent restaurants.
January 31st, 2021 at 3:14 PM ^
BWW is great if you like wings. I like wings, a lot; I can’t imagine going there and eating a burger. What’s the point, you know?
The new Blazin flavor is good, too.
Someone asked about Culver’s; it’s a step up from McD/BK, but not exactly Red Robin. I love their salads and their Reuben is really good. Indifferent to their fries, and I can no longer eat ice cream, though the kids like it a great deal.
January 31st, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
Weck is a type of roast beef sandwich in the eastern Ohio area.
January 31st, 2021 at 1:10 PM ^
Weck is a type of roast beef sandwich in the eastern Ohio area.
January 31st, 2021 at 4:38 PM ^
There's a shake shack in NoVA in the tysons corner mall in tysons/vienna, but none further south in VA.
January 31st, 2021 at 4:00 PM ^
Ugh, Culver's. Something is not right about their burgers. Always sit like a rock in my stomach afterwards.
January 31st, 2021 at 10:09 AM ^
This is the type of analysis one can only find on MGoBlog!
I'm good with an constructive comments re: how I framed the discussion. Wasn't necessarily thinking too much about it; was just interested in everyone's thoughts and feeling a bit bored on an early Sunday morning.
January 31st, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
Your examples of Real food places are really fast casual places. In between fast food and real restaurants, cause people demand better food than fast but don’t want to pay the price of traditional sit down restaurants.
Burger Kings near me tend to use mediocre wilted older produce. Wendy’s is way better for fresher ingredients.
January 31st, 2021 at 8:51 AM ^
Big Kahuna Burger and Los Pollos Hermanos
January 31st, 2021 at 9:10 AM ^
THAT'S A TASTY BURGER!
It was always odd to me that group of idiots were eating burgers and sodas at what seemed like 8am.
January 31st, 2021 at 9:56 AM ^
"hamburgers!... the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast"
January 31st, 2021 at 2:49 PM ^
THAT is the thing out of that movie that struck you as odd?
January 31st, 2021 at 9:13 AM ^
Love that place. It always reminds me of Ezekiel 25:17. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And you will know my name is the Lord when I strike down my vengeance upon thee.
January 31st, 2021 at 8:56 AM ^
I guess for fast food joints I’ll take Shake Shack (is SS Fast food?) for burgers and Chick-Fil-A for the chicken. CFA mostly based on their chicken biscuit which is wonderful.
I think part of the allure of CFA is their customer service and efficiency. I read a story the other day about a mayor in South Carolina who called in a CFA manager to speed up his Covid vaccination line.
https://gardenandgun.com/articles/at-one-vaccination-site-chick-fil-a-got-the-line-moving/
Edit: basically repeating what Chaco said above.