From coast to coast, fast food chains have popped up across the U.S. like mushrooms
after a rainstorm. Many are specific to a state or region, and the only way
you can try them out is to go there. Let's talk about which ones are worth the trip.
BurgerFi started out in Florida, and has since expanded up the Eastern Seaboard.
BurgerFi actually is a reference to the, quote, "Burgerfication of the Nation," and the fast
casual burger joint currently has 10 burgers on the menu at most locations, including three
plant-based burgers. Most of the six beef burgers have two patties — fresh, never frozen — and
some are loaded with fantastic toppings, like bacon-tomato jam. BurgerFi also gets serious
points for having hot dogs made from wagyu beef, and using only humanely raised chickens.
One item BurgerFi is especially famous for is their onion rings. These crispy
beauties are as large as a bangle bracelet and are beer-battered and fried to order. And, of course,
you can wash down the delicious burger and onion rings with one of BurgerFi's shakes,
with flavors such as red velvet, Oreo cookie, or banana churro. It's a win from start to finish.
Wisconsin-based Culver's started in 1984 with primarily Midwest locations, but since then,
they've reached out to the Southeast and Southwest with over 800 locations.
Culver's serves a lot of frozen custard, but the star of the show is their famous ButterBurger,
a pressed and seared fresh beef burger with a buttered bun. Slapping a dollop
of butter on a burger isn't as weird as you might think — in fact, it's delicious.
Wisconsin is the Dairyland State, and keeping true to Culver's Wisconsin roots, you'll find fried
cheddar cheese curds, pretzel bites dipped in cheddar cheese sauce, and an ever-changing menu of
daily-made frozen yogurt and shakes, including a root beer float, made with Culver's own root beer.
Along with the usual chicken and fish sandwiches, Culver's also has "Homestyle
Favorites," such as a pot roast and a pork loin sandwich. Culver's is fast-growing,
and it's likely you'll eventually get to try this Wisconsin institution closer to home.
But until that happens, it's worth the road trip.
The original Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits was opened in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1977.
It featured a crispy Cajun-spiced chicken breast sandwiched between the halves of a
buttermilk biscuit, and it was a major success. Today, Bojangles has well over 700 locations,
almost all in the South. Their success can be attributed to the chain's continued insistence
on using fresh — never frozen — chicken, and daily baked biscuits made from scratch every 20 minutes.
Bojangles kept to its Southern roots by adding Cajun beans,
dirty rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, mac 'n cheese, and other Southern staples to the menu.
All that means it's worth stopping there a few times when you're in town.
When compared with KFC, Bojangles chicken is less expensive,
more flavorful, and less greasy. Bojangles famous biscuits aren't just made for the chicken;
there are many chicken-less biscuit menu items that pay tribute to classic Southern cooking.
The quality of ingredients is Bojangles' hallmark as a fast food place,
so if you're driving through the South and have a
yen for some good ol' fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits, stop by Bojangles.
If you're not from Ohio, you might scratch your head and wonder "What the heck is Skyline Chili?"
It's a Cincinnati culinary institution dating back to 1949, when their top secret recipe for
a beanless chili first hit the streets. The chili is made with a unique blend of spices,
and since they're not giving specifics, you'll have to go there for the real deal.
At Skyline, the chili is ladled over spaghetti and then topped with a blizzard
of shredded cheddar. It's not pretty, but many say it's incredibly delicious.
This chili-spaghetti concoction is served in several different ways,
and that's referring to the number of ingredients. The chili-spaghetti-cheese combo is called
a 3-Way. Add onions or beans, it's a 4-Way, and add both onions and beans it's a 5-Way.
And then there's The Coney, which is basically a chili dog with gobs of cheese.
They have salads, potatoes, and kids meals, but locals go there for the chili.
Most of the Skyline Chili locations are in Ohio, but there are a few in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida,
and Tennessee. You can buy canned Skyline Chili online or in many grocery stores,
but you should try the real thing in Ohio and see what all the fuss is about.
If you happen to be driving through eastern Tennessee or southwest Virginia,
it's likely that an oddly-tiered sky-blue structure adorned with gigantic fast food
will catch your eye. Pal's Sudden Service has steadfastly kept their 30 locations local,
and it's famous for their food and extraordinarily well-trained staff.
All but two of Pal's are drive-thru only, and they serve most of the same food you
can find at any other drive-thru but with a Southern twist. Breakfast, for example,
is all about the biscuits and the cheddar rounds, which are hash-brown bites stuffed with cheese.
"Mmmm…. Crispy, crunchy on the outside, and full of magic."
Not only is Pal's known for its high quality, but it's renowned for super-speedy service — you'll
spend just 12 seconds at the drive-up window and 18 seconds at the handout window.
They've set the standard for what drive-thrus should be. Maybe their buildings are a bit wacky,
but Pal's is one of the best fast food joints in the country.
This wildly popular burger joint opened in California in 1948, nestled in a small space
with no indoor seating and a two-way speaker box connected to the kitchen.
Owners Harry and Esther Snyder built their burger business by using only the freshest ingredients,
keeping as much of the work in-house as possible
It's enormous popularity has a lot to do with In-N-Out's ingredients.
They use fresh beef, which they grind themselves, the vegetables are fresh,
and the soft spongy buns that perfectly cushion the burger and toppings are baked daily.
The menu is simple — burgers, fries, shakes, and soft drinks — and the not-so-secret
menu gives you options for how many beef patties you want, toppings to choose from,
protein-style, animal-style, and even a grilled cheese. For years,
In-N-Out Burger had been exclusive to California, but it's since expanded to over 300 locations.
Still, they say not to expect nationwide expansion anytime soon, so try them when you get a chance.
Wawa started out in Pennsylvania, but over the past 57 years, it branched out along the East
Coast and now has over 850 locations. Fans of Wawa are quite enthusiastic, and it's little wonder.
Wawa's menu is amazing. Breakfast sandwiches are hoagies stuffed with scrambled eggs or an
omelet and meats, such as applewood-smoked bacon, sausage, or even cheese steak.
Sizzlis are Wawa's prepackaged on-the-go breakfast sandwiches that have reviewers swooning.
As to the award-winning sandwiches, you'll definitely struggle in choosing only one.
They have hot and cold hoagies, deli sandwiches, pitas, and paninis,
all made to order. Adding to Wawa's dizzying array of fast foods are salads, soups, mac 'n cheese,
stuffed pretzels, chicken bites, jalapeno bites, and their own milk and ice cream. You could easily
cater a big event with Wawa, and actually, if you live in Philadelphia, they'll do it for you.
One of the fiercest rivalries in the fast food industry is between Wawa and Sheetz.
Even Pennsylvania politicians get heated up about which one is better, and that's how you know it's
serious. In 1952, Bob Sheetz bought one of his father's dairy stores and founded Sheetz
Inc. Then, in 1962, he brought in his brother to work part time at the Sheetz convenience store,
and by 1972, they expanded to 14 stores. The company has been growing ever since.
When compared side-by-side, both chains have freshly made burgers, sandwiches, and salads,
but Sheetz has more Mexican dishes. Sheetz also leans a little more heavily toward fried foods.
Both are great for food-on-the-run and late-night munchies, and it comes down to location.
So if you're driving east to west (or vice versa) in Pennsylvania,
try them both, and join the Sheetz vs Wawa battle.
If you live above the Mason-Dixon line, you've probably never heard of Cook Out,
a fast food chain with over 250 locations throughout the South. That's a shame,
because Cook Out is one of the best burger joints in the country, for several reasons.
Most Cook Outs have a double drive-thru and a walk-up window, so you have plenty of options
for getting your food fast. Its menu is an eclectic mix of char-grilled burgers,
hot dogs, corn dogs, and grilled chicken, but you can also pick up some traditional
Southern favorites like hush puppies, vinegary coleslaw, and barbecue pork.
The combo trays are incredibly inexpensive — under $5 — and the portions are heaping.
Cook Out is also famous for its 40-plus milkshakes with flavors such as peach cobbler,
banana pudding, and versions of cheesecake. It's worth a stop just to sample the desserts.
According to the story, brothers R.B. and Maurice Jennings were given a choice by their grandmother
as she was dying: the farm or the biscuit recipe. Maurice got the recipe, and when the biscuits
surpassed the sales of pizza at his 12 pizza places, he transformed them into Biscuitville.
Maurice's son took over the business, which now has 65 locations, almost all in North Carolina.
As you might expect, biscuit sandwiches rule the roost at Biscuitville, and they are gems
of Southern cookery. The buttermilk biscuits are made from scratch every 15 minutes,
and you can watch the "biscuit boss" make them in real time.
Biscuitville is only open for breakfast and lunch. Its menu has the usual breakfast sandwiches
with egg, sausage, bacon, and cheese, but the addition of Southern-style ingredients — which
Biscuitville sources from local farms — make the true biscuit-sandwich stars.
The spicy chicken and honey biscuit, the pork chop biscuit, the country ham biscuit,
the homestyle gravy biscuit, and even, the fried bologna biscuit are unique
to Biscuitville. They're also famous for their baked goods — peach muffin,
apple fritter, honey bun — all baked fresh in the morning. It's easy to understand why
Biscuitville has been voted one of the 10 best regional fast food chains in America.
Shake Shack started out as a hot dog cart in Manhattan's Madison Square Park in 2001, and
in three years, it grew into a permanent kiosk. The menu expanded to include burgers, crinkle-cut
fries, and shakes, and it's called "fine casual" because customers will find seriously high-quality
ingredients being used in a casual setting. It's safe to say that the concept changed the fast
food industry, and you can find Shake Shacks in 275 locations from California to Dubai.
Burgers are the main attraction, although there are a couple of chicken and vegetarian options,
as well as hot dogs: And they're really, really good. The crinkle-cut fries are also a big thing,
despite a negative New York Times review in 2012.
Everything on the Shake Shack menu is made with fresh ingredients... except for the crinkle-cut
fries. They're frozen, and after the Times review, Shake Shack spent $1 million to research hand-cut,
fresh French fries. They bombed, and the frozen crinkle-cut fries are here to stay.
You can top 'em with Shake Shack's special cheese sauce and bacon, so what's not to love?
Shakes come in five flavors, and the Shack's frozen custard is whipped up fresh every day.
Penn Station is nowhere near New York's bustling train terminal.
It's a chain of fast casual restaurants with over 300 locations in 15 midwestern
and southern states. Originally called the uninspiring Philadelphia Steak & Sub,
it was changed to the more memorable Penn Station: East Coast Subs.
The menu has a few wraps and salads, but almost all of the sandwiches are grilled or cold subs.
Made to order with freshly baked bread, Penn Station's subs are stuffed with meats and cheeses
in 20 different varieties, such as the chicken cordon bleu, pizza, and, of course, cheesesteak.
Most of the ingredients are fixed, but still customizable, for each sub,
but the Dagwood lets you dream up your own sandwich. If you don't want to be weighed down
by the roll, you can turn any sub into a wrap or salad or order a 3-inch "snack size." Fries
are hand-cut and fried to order, and pounds of lemons are squeezed everyday for fresh lemonade.
Penn Station offers you a more custom-built experience than other more famous sub chains.
"Livin' the good life, Joe. Livin' the good life, indeed."
Texans are obsessed about Whataburger as Californians are about In-n-Out.
This Texan fast-food icon began in 1950 in Corpus Christi, Texas, when owner Harmon
Dobson dreamed of creating a burger so huge the customer would yell out "What a burger!"
In 1961, Dobson built the first orange-and-white striped A-frame store, and as a former pilot,
he designed it so Whataburger could be seen from a plane. Dobson died in a plane crash in 1967,
and his wife took over running the business. It was family run until 2019, and today,
Whataburger has over 800 locations in the Southwest and Southeast, from Arizona to Florida.
Whataburger has seven burgers on the menu — along with limited-time special burgers, but customers
can customize the bread, the meat, the size of the burger, and the toppings over 38,000 ways.
Whataburger is open 24/7 and has an impressive breakfast selection, including biscuit sandwiches,
pancakes, egg sandwiches, and taquitos, which can be made to the customer's preferences.
Fries and onion rings can be amped up with an array of dipping sauces and ketchups,
and even the three salads on the menu can be customized. Everything's bigger in Texas!
"There are hamburgers, and then there are hamburgers, like the kind you get at ….
Whataburger."
Georgia-based Zaxby's was dreamed up in 1990, and although it was slow to expand,
there are currently more than 900 locations situated in the South and Southeastern U.S.
Today, Zaxby's is often compared to other chicken fast food restaurants. Known for their boneless
and bone-in chicken wings and chicken fingers, Zaxby's also gets things right with its breaded,
fried chicken filet that's topped with the top-secret Zax Sauce or the newer Spicy Zax Sauce.
In fact, sauces are a big deal at Zaxby's. If you order chicken wings, you get to choose a sauce or
dip from 15 that range in heat level from mild to "insane." Each meal comes with crinkle-cut
fries and Texas toast, a thickly sliced bread that's been buttered on both sides and grilled.
In March 2021, Zaxby's threw down the gauntlet by re-launching the "chicken sandwich war" with
its Signature Sandwich, a behemoth that needs its own larger bun and wrapper. If you're down
South and it's Sunday, when Chick-fil-A is closed, get your fried chicken at Zaxby's.
In 1980, the new owners of The Hamburger Habit changed the name to The Habit.
By 1997, The Habit had only 17 locations, until it was purchased by a private equity firm.
The chain rapidly expanded, and in a 2014 Consumer Reports poll,
it beat In-n-Out Burger for having the tastiest burger in America.
The Habit Burger Grill doesn't have an extensive menu, and though it's considered fast food, it's
pretty elevated. There are five hamburgers, all chargrilled over an open flame and made to order.
One of the standouts is the Santa Barbara Char, a double burger with cheese and avocado on
grilled sourdough bread. Marinated chicken and beef sandwiches are also chargrilled,
and if you're not in a meaty mood, go for the sushi-grade ahi tuna filet sandwich.
Salads are definitely on the healthy side with chargrilled chicken.
You can get fries and onion rings, but why not try the tempura green beans instead?
In 2020, The Habit Burger Grill was bought by Yum Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC,
and Pizza Hut, so this California regional favorite could pop up near you soon.
As the first fast-food chain restaurant in the world, White Castle turned 100 in 2021.
Co-founders Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson opened the first White Castle in 1921,
and they sold their square sliders by the sack, for just 5 cents apiece.
Back then, burgers were frowned upon as unsafe and unsanitary, so Ingram and Anderson set out
to change the public opinion by promoting their spotlessly clean restaurant, where
patrons could watch the 100-percent beef being ground. Obviously, their perseverance paid off.
Still a family-run business, there are nearly 400 White Castle locations in 14 states,
mostly on the East Coast, Midwest, and Florida.
A lot has changed since 1921, and White Castle's menu reflects the update to more modern tastes.
The Original Slider is still there, but what's new is the Impossible Slider,
a seafood crab cake slider, a panko-breaded fish slider, and even a chicken and waffles slider.
Sides run the gamut from traditional — fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks — to a bit out
there — chicken rings, fish nibblers, and clam strips. White Castle is considered a niche chain,
but with the new menu items, the ol' timer is still making its mark as distinct.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…. Let's do this together."
Founded in 1932 during the Great Depression,
Krystal is the second oldest fast-food chain in the country. It was inspired by White Castle,
and sold similar mini square burgers for 5 cents apiece in their first Chattanooga,
Tennessee location. Krystal caught on, and the chain expanded only in the South because
of an agreement with White Castle that neither would cross the Mason-Dixon line.
It wasn't only the burgers that were small; Krystal also miniaturized hot dogs and corn dogs,
called "pups." But over the years Krystal has had severe legal and financial problems,
and in January 2020, the company filed for bankruptcy. Four months later,
Krystal bounced back with a new owner and is once again serving.
Their sliders are called Krystals, and they're constantly compared to White Castle's Original
Sliders. The main differences seem to be that Krystals have a denser bun and are more savory.
Burgers aside, Krystal has uniquely Southern menu items, like the Scrambler, a bowl piled
with scrambled eggs, cheese, grits, and bacon or sausage. Chili cheese tots are a recent addition:
Think tater tots drenched in chili and cheddar cheese.
Even die-hard White Castle fans need to head here at least once: You have to experience
it to have an opinion on which is better, right? Just sign us up for more sliders!
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Mashed videos about all your favorite restaurant chains are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.