Survey names America’s favorite burger...

[posty]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38694233/ns/today-foodwine/

 

According to the latest Fast Food Survey by Zagat, the best burger in America comes from Virginia-based chain Five Guys. But while the regional chain edged out national players in the hamburger category, Dairy Queen rules the Best Milkshakes category, while the best fries still come from McDonald’s.

 

The results of the survey were revealed live on TODAY Monday. The survey covered 136 fast-food and full-service chains nationwide. Voting on zagat.com, 6,518 voters weighed in on everything from chicken and cheeseburgers to smoothies and seafood. Full survey results are available at zagat.com/fastfood.

 

“I think the headline is Five Guys,” Zagat Survey CEO Tim Zagat told TODAY’s Ann Curry. “It’s a chain that has 500 outlets, but that’s small. But it’s growing.”

 

Zagat admitted that Five Guys’ victory “was a big surprise to me, because I’ve never yet eaten a Five Guys burger.” But McDonald’s taking the french fries honors came as no surprise, he said: “It’s almost expected every year — McDonald’s, McDonald’s, McDonald’s. Our surveyers voted for them overwhelmingly. I personally like them better.”

 

“People think of Wendy’s as the square burger, but actually they do just about everything else right [too],” Zagat said.

 

Also holding onto its title is West Coast burger chain In-N-Out Burger, which again took Top Food among Large Chains. New to the survey is regional seafood chain Bonefish Grill, which took top honors in the Full-Service category, while Ben & Jerry’s prevailed in the Quick-Refreshment category.

 

The year’s winners for Top Healthy Options are Subway (Mega-Chain), Jason’s Deli (Large Chains), Jamba Juice (Quick-Refreshment) and Bonefish Grill (Full-Service). “They’re quick, they’re convenient, they’re reasonably priced,” Zagat said of Subway. But their most important quality, he added, was their “combination of fresh ingredients and a healthy end product.”

 

Taking home the prize for Best Value among fast-food establishments is McDonald’s, which also got top honors for Best Value Menu, Most Child Friendly and Best Drive-Thru. “At the end of the day, they do it for a very low price,” Zagat said of McDonald’s. “Their Dollar Menu speaks for itself.”

 

The remaining top-ranked values among fast-food chains are (in order) Panera Bread, Chipotle, Taco Bell and Chick-fil-A. The top three full-service winners for Best Value are Olive Garden, Cracker Barrel and The Cheesecake Factory.

 

For coffee lovers, it’s still all about Starbucks, which won the Best Coffee category for the second year in a row, beating out (in order) Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Caribou Coffee. “Starbucks: The name says great coffee,” Zagat told Curry. “Peet’s is an excellent coffee chain, but so far they’re not everywhere, and Starbucks is.”

 

Here are other highlights of the survey:

 

Best Burger

 

1. Five Guys

2. In-N-Out Burger

3. Wendy’s

4. Burger King

5. McDonald's

 

Best French Fries

 

1. McDonald's

2. Five Guys

3. In-N-Out Burger

4. Wendy's

5. Burger King

 

Best Milkshakes

 

1. Dairy Queen

2. Cold Stone

3. Sonic Drive-In

4. Chick-fil-A

5. Ben & Jerry's

 

Fast-Food Chains

 

Best Fried Chicken: Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

Best Grilled Chicken: Chick-fil-A

Best Fish: Long John Silver’s

Best Salads: Panera Bread Co.

Most Child-Friendly: McDonald’s

 

Full-Service Chains

 

Best Steak: Outback Steakhouse

Best Pasta: Maggiano’s

Best Breakfast: Cracker Barrel

Best Seafood: Bonefish Grill

Best Desserts: The Cheesecake Factory

Most Child-Friendly: Chuck E. Cheese’s

Edited August 16, 2010 by posty

[Big Country]

Interesting, I had never heard ofFive Guys until yesterday when my wife mentioned that my brother in law had been trying to get into one that had opened in our town (apparently it is an east coast chain, and we are in southern california) but the line has been constanly out the door.

 

Guess I'll have to give it a try to see if it really gives In n Out a run for it's money.

[TimC]

I can no longer eat Five Guys on my cholesterol meds. You order one order of fries that'll feed like 4 people and hope the bag doesn't break carrying it further than 10 feet because of the greasy bag. The BP oil spill had less grease than an average Five Guys order. It's okay, but people sure seem to love it.

[Cunning Runt]

You order one order of fries that'll feed like 4 people ...

 

Yep.

 

Word of advice if you've not eaten there - you seriously do not need to order fries for each person. They fill up a cup as the order, but then dump in a whole fry-shaker more in the brown paper bag. We got two orders for me, the wife, and two kids, and ended up throwing out about half of them there was so many. 1 order woulda been plenty.

[SheikYerbuti]

In related news, Wal-Mart beat out Target in a survey of Americans asked to name their favorite place to buy cheap chit.

 

Next week I'll be releasing the results of my personal study of the best turd I've ever pinched out.

[TimC]

Way to tease, you bass turd Sheik...I gotta wait a whole week?

[Dutch Oven]

I've never had Five Guys, but I'd put Sonic over all the others but In-N-Out

[cre8tiff]

Five Guys is awesome, as long as you aren't cholesterol-challenged as the mulleted one.

 

But yeah, I get the small burger and it is MORE than enough.

[matt770]

The best chain on the planet is Moe's Southwest Grill.

[SEC=UGA]

Five Guys is very good... There is another franchise down here that is trying ot mimic them, Cheeseburger Bobby's

[SheikYerbuti]

The best chain on the planet is Moe's Southwest Grill.

 

Chipotle SMOKES Moes.

[matt770]

Five Guys is very good... There is another franchise down here that is trying ot mimic them, Cheeseburger Bobby's

 

Do you remember Backyard Burger on Windy Hill? I loved that place.

[ABearWithFurniture]

I love me some Chipotle...

 

In-n-Out burger is okay...never could see what the fuss was all about out in Cali...

 

For cheap/quick...still can't beat Taco Bell or McDonalds

[Square]

Guess I'll have to give it a try to see if it really gives In n Out a run for it's money.

We just got a couple Five guys in Omaha but I've tried them when I was in DC. Five and In and out are both good. I was in San Fran this weekend and had In and Out for the second time in my life and it's hard to say Five guys is better than that. I'll have to eat a Five guy's burger this week and compare. Both are heads and shoulders above the rest of the burger joints IMO.

[Bier Meister]

burger for burger, i prefer in-n-out. i like that 5 guys offers more toppings.

 

 

edit: wish i had either close to me.. gladly trade our wendy's (mcd's, bk, good times, a&w for that matter) for them.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Bier Meister

[lennykravitz2004]

Where is White Castle on this list?

 

And I always liked going to Texas b/c I would stop and get a Whataburger.

[tazinib1]

For those of you that have never had an In-And-Out burger, put it on your bucket list. Burger/Cheeseburger/Fries and Drinks are on the menu. Nothing else. Everything is made from scratch, from the patties to the buns and you can watch them cut the fries if you get there early enough.

[polksalet]

Whataburger

DQ

Back Yard Burger

[Skippy]

No Five Guys anywhere around the Pittsburgh area. I have had an In and Out burger and I really thought that was quite good. I also like Sonic but there is only one around Pittsburgh and it is far from my end of the little world.

 

So from what I know, I would rank them like this:

1. In-N-Out Burger

2. Sonic

3. Burger King

4. Wendy’s

5. Five Guys - never had one but still ranking them ahead of McDonalds.

 

 

10. McDonald's

[Yukon Cornelius]

culvers

[keggerz]

Five Guy's does make a damn good burger. Another place that does a good burger is Cheburger Cheburger (the one we had here in Williamsburg closed but that was more to do with the center they were in than anything else, imo)...We ate at their original location in Sanibel Fla and the burgers were very good in both locations.

[Moss6]

culvers

+1

 

Also tried one of those smashburger joints - solid

[Hugh B Tool]

Double/Double with grilled onions(animal style) is simply the best burger day in, day out there is. In-N-Out has been doing it the same way from the start. Peanut oil fries are to die for late night with that Double/Double

[Chief Dick]

culvers

 

+ wurd

[skylive5]

They must have left out the PNW in their survey as it is patently obvious to even the most casual observer that the best burgers in the USA are made at Burgerville USA.