Best Fast Food Burgers & Fries

[48Fire]

'scuse me. It's pronounced White Casket. They're only good when you're young and drunk.

Haha that's funny. And I agree with the young and drunk part

 

[RobbieB]

They put a White Castle in Livonia after I left for CA. I would see it from time to time when I visited my folks but never went there as we also had Bates. Then I worked with a woman from Minnesota who swore by them and I was interested and bought a six pack of the frozen ones and they were good.

So next trip back "home" I stopped in the White Castle to see what the real deal was all about. I liked the frozen ones better -

Still buy the frozen ones but have never returned to the eatery.

 

[Red Badger]

Which league? My wife is a White Castle fan. When we were dating, we went to a Krystal, and I had a near death experience Yeah, my wife tells me that White Castle and Krystal are not the same. I got sick several hours after we ate, and was sick for 5 days.

Krystal puts mustard on 'em. Casket doesn't. If you lift the bun up, you'll see both have 5 holes punched in them - less meat. In the case of these two toxic cousins, less of anything is probably best.

 

[48Fire]

No doubt, even my wife avoids them now No longer young and drunk (enough)

 

[Walt34]

White Castle burgers are a different creature than all the rest. Steam table minis that are an acquired taste. I think you pick it up in high school or you never get there.

Ah, this sounds like the small chain that used to exist where I used to live and work called "Little Tavern". I think that at one time there were five or so locations. They were open 24/7 and it was one of the few eating options when I was working midnight shifts. By then we called them "gut grenades" because of the reactions some guys had to them and the lingering taste.

 

[W2R]

This is my first post on this thread. I didn't post because I didn't know what to say. It's not that I never have hamburgers. I just can't eat fast food hamburgers because of my weight problem; it's been years and years since I had one.

Still, last Friday I had a delicious burger at home - - thoroughly grilled to my idea of perfection, with no fries, no bun, no cheese, no additions or condiments other than mustard. I don't miss all those extras any more.

Next time I need to photograph it. I just searched Google images for "plain hamburger pattie with mustard" and all the photos show burgers with buns and cheese and who knows what all. I could not find even one single photo of a plain cooked hamburger pattie with mustard. I could probably find a million photos of every disgusting thing in the universe, but not THAT ; too repulsive, I suppose. Is this America, or what?

 

[Jerry1]

My home town fave.

I lived at 5 Mile & Middlebelt (Livonia) a ways back and remember this place! Glad to see they are still there.

I live near Bates right now. If you’re ever back home, PM me and we’ll go have some burgers.

 

[RobbieB]

Now if you like cheese...

Try the squeeze with cheese

 

[jazz4cash]

Ah, this sounds like the small chain that used to exist where I used to live and work called "Little Tavern". I think that at one time there were five or so locations. They were open 24/7 and it was one of the few eating options when I was working midnight shifts. By then we called them "gut grenades" because of the reactions some guys had to them and the lingering taste.

Shame on you Walt34. Don’t EVER confuse Little Tavern with White Castle. They are both small burgers served on a dinner roll but that’s it. Little Tavern (Buy ‘me by the bag!) were really good burgers. It seems they all closed down when I moved away so I guess they missed my business. We have one of the original buildings with its green tile roof in the town where I live. It reopened as a donut shop. The owner didn’t have a clue. After awhile they had to start selling burgers to satisfy popular demand.

When I lived in CA I dated a Jersey girl that craved White Castle. They don’t even call them burgers....they’re White Castles. When I finally moved to the Midwest I eagerly tried my first White Castle which I expected to be similar to Little Tavern. Not even close. . Worst Burger Ever.

 

[jazz4cash]

Best Fast Food Burgers & Fries

I almost never get cheese on fast food burgers. I won’t even consider American cheese but occasionally get another variety if available. A good burger doesn’t need a lot of extras.

 

[MikeD]

In the spirit of Jack-in-the-Box Deep-fried Tacos that don't taste anything like a real Taco, but I still like both,

I like both real hamburgers AND White Castles.

The part that I like about White Castles is the onions.

White Castles taste little like real hamburgers.

I am going to try the frozen ones. I think they have them at The Harris Teeter near me.

Mike D.

 

[Red Badger]

This is my first post on this thread. I didn't post because I didn't know what to say. It's not that I never have hamburgers. I just can't eat fast food hamburgers because of my weight problem; it's been years and years since I had one.

Still, last Friday I had a delicious burger at home - - thoroughly grilled to my idea of perfection, with no fries, no bun, no cheese, no additions or condiments other than mustard. I don't miss all those extras any more.

Next time I need to photograph it. I just searched Google images for "plain hamburger pattie with mustard" and all the photos show burgers with buns and cheese and who knows what all. I could not find even one single photo of a plain cooked hamburger pattie with mustard. I could probably find a million photos of every disgusting thing in the universe, but not THAT ; too repulsive, I suppose. Is this America, or what?

As a mutual fan of the naked burger, I'd encourage you to try Bison and grass fed beef (if you haven't already). Just good food. We tend to bless ours with shrooms and onions (and I have to have my curry ketchup), but no cheese, buns, bacon, pancakes, or whatever.

 

[Mdlerth]

I only read Hooters' menu for the articles

When I was 50 years younger, I could have eaten at McDonald's every day for weeks without tiring of it.

Then about 30 years ago something changed: their ingredients or procedures, or maybe it was just my own metabolism... I dunno. But ever since then, I can't eat their food. A Big Mac would just weigh down my stomach like a lump of lead in an acid bath. I don't even stop there for a coffee any more.

Never have that problem at Wendy's, BK, What-a-burger, Hooters, Five Guys, Red Robin...

Not that I eat out very often anyway. I'll stop for a bite at one of those outfits when I'm on a trip. But where I live there are plenty of strictly local burgeries and sub shops offering more variety, so those would rank higher on my preference than the chains. Also, a lot of local places come attached to a microbrewery. A win-win!

It's way more likely that I'll throw some burgers on my own grill. When you do it yourself you can prep/season/cook/assemble them just the way you like them. It may not be to anybody else's taste, but by definition it's the best burger in the world for me.

 

[audreyh1]

One thing about burgers - I don't particularly care for the taste of ground beef. But I do like flavors of various cuts of steak, beef stews, fajitas, tri-tip, beef short-ribs, etc.

 

[NW-Bound]

I like every kind and every cut of beef. Don't have to be Kobe or Wagyu either. Not just meat, but also liver and bone marrow. Roasted bone marrow on toast, anyone?

Would eat a lot more beef, if they quit scaring me with all the health hazards, from cardiovascular problem to cancer.

 

[braumeister]

I like every kind and every cut of beef. Don't have to be Kobe or Wagyu either. Not just meat, but also liver and bone marrow. Roasted bone marrow on toast, anyone?

Would eat a lot more beef, if they quit scaring me with all the health hazards, from cardiovascular problem to cancer.

+1 But I love pork, chicken, and fish just as much.

When I was younger I could often find beef kidneys, sweetbreads, and brains in the supermarket meat counter. Loved that stuff! I thought it was offal good.

But I haven't seen those things for a long time (although I can still ask my butcher for them).

As for the warning, just ignore them.

 

[mpeirce]

I've always like McDonalds.

When I was a kid it was the only "going out to dinner" we got to do - except to the "exotic" Italian place we liked for birthdays.

Still like their Big Mac and Quarter Pounder w/ cheese. And they till make the best fries.

To each his own.

 

[Koogie]

When I was younger I could often find beef kidneys, sweetbreads, and brains in the supermarket meat counter. Loved that stuff! I thought it was offal good.

But I haven't seen those things for a long time (although I can still ask my butcher for them).

As for the warning, just ignore them.

You should be pun-ished.

I still have liver once a week or so. Kidneys less often, usually in meat pies.

Ethnic grocers have most of this stuff all the time. Best liver in our area comes from the Cantonese grocery chain.

 

[CardsFan]

+1 But I love pork, chicken, and fish just as much.

When I was younger I could often find beef kidneys, sweetbreads, and brains in the supermarket meat counter. Loved that stuff! I thought it was offal good.

But I haven't seen those things for a long time (although I can still ask my butcher for them).

As for the warning, just ignore them.

The bolded comment really belongs in the pun thread.

 

[audreyh1]

I like every kind and every cut of beef. Don't have to be Kobe or Wagyu either. Not just meat, but also liver and bone marrow. Roasted bone marrow on toast, anyone?

Would eat a lot more beef, if they quit scaring me with all the health hazards, from cardiovascular problem to cancer.

I love any of the cuts of beef with bone, including the marrow. I like the connective tissues.

Osso bucco is (veal) to die for.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not had offals like cow brain, sweetbread, or kidney. Only liver, tendon (in stew) recently, and a long time ago, cow tongue, and tripe.

Saw that some parts of the US serve fried cow brain sandwiches, but they now switch to pig brain due to mad cow disease.

From Wikipedia:

A fried brain sandwich is a sandwich that is generally served as sliced calves' brains on sliced bread.

Thinly sliced fried slabs on white toast became widespread on menus in St. Louis, Missouri, after the rise of the city's stockyards in the late 1880s, although demand there has so dwindled that only a handful of restaurants still offer them. They remain popular in the Ohio River valley, where they are served heavily battered on hamburger buns. In Evansville, Indiana, they are still offered at several "mom and pop" eateries, specifically the Hilltop Inn, and remain a favorite dish, featured at the city's annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. Kissner's, a traditional workman's taproom in Defiance, Ohio, has offered a brain sandwich since 1928...

 

[audreyh1]

Sweatbreads are common around here. Usually served as part of a parillada - a traditional mixed grill along with beef, chicken and sausage and grilled onions, peppers, jalapeños, etc.

 

[NYEXPAT]

I remember Al Dowd's "Beefalo Burgers" and steaks that came from his ranch upstate NY. I used to eat them back when everybody was into health food back in the 70's-80's. I always thought they were ok, but preferred All American Burger in Massapequa NY. When I go back to NYC, my goto is a "Cozy burger"!

 

[Fedup]

+1 But I love pork, chicken, and fish just as much.

When I was younger I could often find beef kidneys, sweetbreads, and brains in the supermarket meat counter. Loved that stuff! I thought it was offal good.

But I haven't seen those things for a long time (although I can still ask my butcher for them).

As for the warning, just ignore them.

We finally found out what sweetbreads was when we were in France this year. Next time I might try it, the French guy sat next to us in a French restaurant made it sound yummy. I thought it was brain, my recollection from one of Julia Child French cooking episodes, but it’s not.

 

[W2R]

[…]last Friday I had a delicious burger at home - - thoroughly grilled to my idea of perfection, with no fries, no bun, no cheese, no additions or condiments other than mustard. I don't miss all those extras any more.

Next time I need to photograph it. I just searched Google images for "plain hamburger pattie with mustard" and all the photos show burgers with buns and cheese and who knows what all. I could not find even one single photo of a plain cooked hamburger pattie with mustard. I could probably find a million photos of every disgusting thing in the universe, but not THAT ; too repulsive, I suppose. Is this America, or what?

OK - - This is not a very good photo, but recall that it is the ONLY photo on the web showing a plain hamburger pattie with mustard!!!
Woo hoo, history is being made here on the ER Forum right this minute!

Here are my two 1/4 lb grilled hamburger patties, one on top of the other, made with grass fed beef hamburger, with lots of mustard on top, 580 calories.