Throughout the 20th century, the burgeoning age of automobile travel meant that more Americans
were taking to the road. The further the American highway system expanded,
the further from home Americans could wander. And, as exciting as this was,
it also presented a novel challenge: namely, where to eat while on the road?
In 1921, White Castle swept in with a workable solution,
opening what is thought to be the first roadside hamburger stand in the U.S.
Over time, stands became chains, which grew increasingly popular — and, not just on highways,
but everywhere American humans tended to congregate. With the advent of television
advertising, competition among the various chains became ever more public and ever more fierce.
But the stakes then were nothing compared to what they are today.
With nearly 200,000 fast-food restaurants dotting the American landscape and relative
newcomers like Five Guys and Shake Shack boasting higher-quality burgers and fresher produce,
old-timers continue to try keeping up by creating classic and novel fast food cravings.
McDonald's and Burger King are still the two biggest burger chains in the U.S.,
but whether that means they're the most popular or the most capitalized isn't necessarily so obvious.
To get to the heart of the matter, we decided to survey hundreds of Americans to find out what
they believe is the best burger chain — and the results might surprise you.
"How is everything?"
"This might be the best hamburger I've ever had in my life."
"Well, we aim to please!"
There is no denying that America continues to adore old burger chain favorites such as
McDonald's and Burger King. However, you might not necessarily want to be so quick
to discount the impact that some of the relative newcomers are making. After all,
they are changing the long-established rules of the burger chain game.
In essence, the newcomers have been gradually transforming the burger landscape towards
something a bit more "gourmet." Because of this, it’s now socially acceptable for Americans to
order their burgers lettuce-wrapped and their French fries fresh, not frozen.
In fact, based on the results of our survey,
it might be time for some of the old-school burger behemoths to acknowledge that the
next generation of brands may actually be onto something with their modern tactics.
So, when we surveyed hundreds of Americans about which U.S. burger chain they thought was the best,
the options didn't even include McDonald's or Burger King — two of the biggest old-school
faves. Also conspicuously absent was the OG burger chain, White Castle.
Instead, the 603 U.S.-based respondents were able to pick from
Five Guys, In-N-Out, Red Robin, Steak 'n Shake, Whataburger, and Shake Shack.
Nearly 28% of the people who participated said that the title goes to Five Guys,
which was founded in 1986 — still relatively recent. In the time they’ve been around,
they've made their mark, nabbing the Harris Poll distinction for "burger brand of the year" in
both 2017 and 2018. Perhaps it's the fact that you can choose from 15 different toppings for
your burger that makes them truly delicious. After all, there are supposedly 250,000 ways
to customize. You won’t find many burger chains offering that kind of variety!
The second-place spot went to In-N-Out Burger with close to 22% of the vote. The California-based
favorite was founded in 1948, putting it in a similar age group as McDonald's and Burger King.
Regardless, In-N-Out Burger skews closer to the benchmarks of burger brand newcomers
with its emphasis on quality over quantity, fresh ingredients, and customized ordering.
Red Robin took third place at around 19%.
In fact, altogether, the top three monopolized more than two-thirds of all of the votes.
The remainder was distributed fairly evenly among Steak 'n Shake, Whataburger, and Shake Shack.
Steak 'n Shake and Whataburger, like In-N-Out Burger, skew toward the new-burger-chain ethos.
As for Shake Shack, which was founded basically a minute ago in "burger
joint years," we consider it impressive that such a newcomer made an appearance at all.
But then again they do have delicious burgers — and shakes, of course.
There you have it: Now, if you're ever in doubt, you know some of America’s favorite burger chains!
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