Best burger: Wendy's

Linda says that Wendy's burgers are OK, no better. Her fave is Der Wienerschnitzel with Dairy Queen as a runner up.

Airport food. Brrrrrrrr!

[Jenise]

Robin,

I'm not Hoke, but since I originally objected to the term 'national', what part of "Pretty easy to drive through large portions of this country and not see a Chik-Fil-A. Can't say that about McDonalds, Burger King, etc. " don't YOU understand? Hop on I-5 in Orange County, California and drive 1500 miles north like I have, and you'll never see one. There are none in Oregon, Washington or Idaho. And apparently people who do not go to malls or travel by air throughout the U.S. never see them either. It may look differently in the bible belt, but 1200 locations doesn't a national company make.

[Jenise]

Linda says that Wendy's burgers are OK, no better. Her fave is Der Wienerschnitzel with Dairy Queen as a runner up.

Now that's a shock. Wienerschnitzel! But actually, back in my career days of spending many hours on the road, the Wiener was one of my favorite burger stops too, though probably for a different reason. I liked it because they always have rye bread on hand and would make me a patty melt of sorts--just dry toasted rye with cheese, onions and a burger patty. Not greasy, and much easier to eat while driving.

I almost hesitate to ask this, but... is Der Wienerschnitzel a national chain?

edit: They don't seem to be. I put in my sister's Baltimore zip code and came up with their closest location being San Diego!

Robin,

I'm not Hoke, but since I originally objected to the term 'national', what part of "Pretty easy to drive through large portions of this country and not see a Chik-Fil-A. Can't say that about McDonalds, Burger King, etc. " don't YOU understand? Hop on I-5 in Orange County, California and drive 1500 miles north like I have, and you'll never see one. There are none in Oregon, Washington or Idaho. And apparently people who do not go to malls or travel by air throughout the U.S. never see them either. It may look differently in the bible belt, but 1200 locations doesn't a national company make.

Heh, heh, heh.

Now who's being Simon Cowell?

Good news is, by Robin's definition of national, In 'n' Out would definitely be national, so it would perforce win the coveted #1 spot, right?

I almost hesitate to ask this, but... is Der Wienerschnitzel a national chain?

edit: They don't seem to be. I put in my sister's Baltimore zip code and came up with their closest location being San Diego!

Yuh, he's a little testy these days, isn't he, Stuart? I guess the question is am I being more irritating than usual, or is he being more irritable than usual? Maybe both?

I remember the old Wienerschitzel when I lived in other places and in other times. I particularly liked the fact that they called themselves Wienerschnitzel when they never once made a single serving of Wienerschnitzel, and appartently had no idea in hell what a "schnitzel" actually WAS.

If we're talking dogs, though, I'd nominate CostCo for good trash food doggy style. But I don't think they'd qualify as a national chain.

Wait...is there a CostCo in Louisville?

[Robin Garr]

Good news is, by Robin's definition of national, In 'n' Out would definitely be national, so it would perforce win the coveted #1 spot, right?

About 150 properties in three states?
http://www.in-n-out.com/locations.asp?view=all

Yuh, he's a little testy these days, isn't he, Stuart? I guess the question is am I being more irritating than usual, or is he being more irritable than usual? Maybe both?

Both, probably.

Wait...is there a CostCo in Louisville?

There is, but it's new. And in tract mansion country, of course.

Hoke wrote:
Good news is, by Robin's definition of national, In 'n' Out would definitely be national, so it would perforce win the coveted #1 spot, right?


About 150 properties in three states?
http://www.in-n-out.com/locations.asp?view=all

Okay, works for me. National it is!

Quote:
Yuh, he's a little testy these days, isn't he, Stuart? I guess the question is am I being more irritating than usual, or is he being more irritable than usual? Maybe both?


Both, probably.

Yeah, probably so.

Quote:
Wait...is there a CostCo in Louisville?


There is, but it's new. And in tract mansion country, of course.

When I lived there we used to call them "McMansions", Robin. You should not construe from that, however, that they were built by a national chain.

Not sure how "National" it is, thought its pretty common in the south. My favorite "Burger" vote goes to Whataburger.

But I guess it just shows how regional things like this are. I've never even heard of "Carl's" and I think I've only seen a couple of Hardee's.

Richard

Richard,

During my forced stint in the Panhandle of Florida many years agone, I frequented Whataburger pretty often. Good, huge, sloppy burgers, when that was what I wanted.

If you've never seen a Carl's Jr., perhaps you've seen a Rally? Same thing, just dressed differently.

But you're right about regionality. When I was young in the South (Georgia) Krystal's was a major treat for us kids, with their little slider-postage stamped burgers on dinner rolls. (Now I wouldn't go in one on a dare.) But I had no idea what people from the North (we called them "Yankees") were talking about when they went on and on and on about White Castle.

But I think my favorite regional chain, now long since gone (unless there's some surviving I don't know about, and you can't go home again anyway) was Lum's. Cooked their dogs in beer and had the best damned french fries in the world then.

Hoke, Robin, yes, both.

Larry, I'm late to the party, but what happened to White Castle?

Still tops for me -- maybe it's nostalgia -- but I've never had six bad White Castle hamburgers -- my usual order. And the fries in this area are awfully good.

But maybe Zagat's doesn't consider them national? Too Heartland and East Coast I suppose.

You guys are crazy to debate over whether a restaurant named "Chick-Fil-a" is national or not. Shame on all of you.

FWIW, we started getting these about five years ago. There's two within 30 minutes of me that I know of. I don't eat fast food or chain restaurants (other than the occasional Subway or Quiznos) but some of my staff who were raised in the South swear by the breakfasts at Chick-Fil-a.

[Jenise]

I almost hesitate to ask this, but... is Der Wienerschnitzel a national chain?

edit: They don't seem to be. I put in my sister's Baltimore zip code and came up with their closest location being San Diego!

I'm almost surprised there are any left around, Stuart. I just can't quite get my head around the idea of hot dogs being...oh, neccessary? So easy to make at home, or grab at Costco as someone pointed out.

[James Roscoe]

Best "national chain" hamburger, by the lofty standards of this thread: Five Guys! Best fries too! Don't tell me there are none near you. Wait five minutes, one will open soon.

Jenise: Linda can tell you where every one of them is within at least a 100 mile radius. Mustard Dog with a turkey hot dog. Ugh.

DQ anecdote: There aren't any DQs nearby, so going there for her is a major occasion. Along 101 between SF and LA, there's a DQ right at the Gonzales exit. The last four times in a row that we've driven south, Linda has fallen fast asleep (I mean snore and drool); I keep thinking we'll sneak by that exit ramp, but each and every time, when we're less than a quarter mile away, she'll snap awake and say, "Exit here!" Spooky.

I almost hesitate to ask this, but... is Der Wienerschnitzel a national chain?

edit: They don't seem to be. I put in my sister's Baltimore zip code and came up with their closest location being San Diego!

There's some in Albuquerque, so your sister won't have to drive quite as far.

Larry, I'm late to the party, but what happened to White Castle?

Still tops for me -- maybe it's nostalgia -- but I've never had six bad White Castle hamburgers -- my usual order. And the fries in this area are awfully good.

The last place I lived that had White Castle was Minneapolis. Sidewalks were rolled up rather early up there and the only thing open after bars closed at 1 am was a White Castle near my house. We'd descend upon this lonely, lighted outpost in a sea of darkness and scarf down numerous sliders.

One of the original White Castles (from around 1921 or so) still exists in Minneapolis, but it now houses an insurance firm.

Curiously, here in Albuquerque, pizza joints seem to close at 9pm. Go figure.

[Jenise]

Richard, I remember Whataburger from my long drive through the southwest. Great burgers, actually, and with real green chiles that they would take the trouble to heat up on the flattop in the burger grease. Too, didn't even mind it if they didn't follow my instructions to hold the sauce because it was mustard, not mayo or some pink goo. Very civilized.

I stopped at a Wendy's a couple days ago before noticing that a bus load of teenagers had gotten there just before me. Immediately left and went in desparation to the Hardee's just down the road.

Hardee's triple thickburger with cheese and bacon, and (mixing mcmetaphores) supersize it. Three 1/3 lb. patties with all the fixin's plus half a pound of fries and about a half gallon of coke. I think it's about 2000 calories, most of them saturated fat.

It's also much more than I could choke down. The standard 1/3 lb. burger was better than I expected and better than I remember Wendy's being, and much better than anything at McD's.