Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/08/23/dataviz-of-burger-satisfaction.html
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The cult of In-N-Out is strong. I always found it slow and bland, and I honestly have no idea why they think it has “healthy options”.
It may be low quality, but McDonald’s is very fast.
I completely agree with the Steak And Shake assessment. Multiple times I went in high school with a group of friends and would be the only one that didn’t get my food. I wrote it off 20 years ago.
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Yet not a single one is on this list. The only list that matters.
https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2016/05/16/blakes-lotaburger-best-nm-green-chile-cheeseburger.html
For those of you unfamiliar with Lotaburger (which puts Whataburger to shame)
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I’m here to inform y’all heathens that Whataburger is a goddamn treasure.
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Fast as shit through a goose.
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In-n-Out has offered “protein style” burgers - no bun, they wrap it in lettuce - for a carb-free option. I suspect that’s where the “Healthy” bit comes from.
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Hmm. Not challenging the relative quality of the burgers (which are, I think about as charted here).
But although I’ve sometimes had to wait several minutes for a McDonald’s order to be filled, I don’t think it’s ever been slower than the quickest service I’ve ever had at a Five Guys.
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Yeah, how the heck did 5 Guys score high in speed?
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Steak 'n Shake was one of our favorite places in high school. The service was slow and orders often never showed up. But it was a good burger and decent shake for the price. The place was always a mess in the evening, they never really catch up after the lunch rush. It usually looks like a bomb went off in a french fry factory.
I think the trick to Steak 'n Shake is to be a teenager with friends who work there. These days I only go there for nostalgia, even though my wife doesn’t really like the place.
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Where are these Culver’s of which they speak…?
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Started in Wisconsin and spread outwards. Grew up with them, and can confirm they’re pretty good (used to be better when the chain was smaller, though).
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Five guys does no bun, I bet a lot of them do.
Realistically the “healthy” scale should be low on all of these salt/fat/sugar shacks so I found the category interesting as well.
Why should mcdonalds score so low on value when it might be the cheapest option? Is it because the food is so bad that people want to pay even less for it? Then look at five guys where the ingredients are fresh, but customers once again don’t appear to be happy paying for high quality (healthier) either.
Then I start to wonder if there is more of a herd mentality happening… everyone knows you have to hate mcdonalds, and you aren’t “in” if you dont proclaim your love for in and out.
Fun graphs!
they call them “Butter Burgers” and they are the Kwisatz Haderach
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Were you raised in the midwest?
I was also disappointed by in and out, part of that is because there is a good burger 5 minutes from everywhere in my city. California simply isn’t a burger town and in and out is the default incumbent everyone grew up with.
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I have a suspicion some of these scores are relative to expectation.
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CA, especially socal is a burger town, and you will be hard pressed to find anything thats a better quality for the price. The real thing that makes In N Out stand out is the fact that they put locations along the highways, such as up the central valleys or along the way to las vegas, where otherwise your only options would be McDonalds or other things that congregate around gas stations. When you are an hour outside of Barstow, you’ll be mighty glad to see that golden arrow.
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I miss Culver’s, since moving to PNW ten years ago from the midwest. Haven’t found a better balance of taste, quality and value out here.
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Thanks, I had no idea, with all the fish tacos and avacados there was so much burger action in CA as well.
Need to update my in n out dislike to “road trip” food
In-N-Out was specifically cited in Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation as an example of a chain that avoided many of the most harmful influences of the fast food industry. The ingredients are (relatively) locally sourced and freshly prepared, the milkshakes are made from real ice cream, etc. It’s not exactly health food but it’s not McDonald’s either. And if you think McDonald’s food is more flavorful that probably has to do with all the artificial additives they use to recreate the flavor that was largely lost during the various freezing/shipping/processing stages.
To those who insist “Five Guys is better!” I won’t argue the point, but a Five Guys cheeseburger will also cost you three times as much as an In-N-Out cheeseburger.
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