Customers can rely on major burger chains such as McDonald’s or Burger King to serve a quick, consistent, and relatively affordable meal pretty much whenever they stop by. But even though the food at these restaurants can surely be tasty and satisfying, these chains aren’t necessarily the place to go when you’re craving a gourmet burger experience complete with super high-quality beef, ultra-fresh toppings, interesting flavors, and thoughtful preparation methods.
Luckily, America is also home to many other fast-food chains that aren’t quite as large or famous as the Golden Arches, but have earned a reputation for serving better-quality burgers than their fast-food peers. So, to determine which of these gourmet chains serves the most delicious fast-food burger right now, I tried the burgers from every chain in my area known for superior quality meat: Five Guys, Shake Shack, Smashburger, and the Habit Burger Grill (home of America’s new favorite fast-food burger in 2024).
I picked up a classic cheeseburger from each of these chains to see how their most basic offerings stack up. And because most of these fast-food companies also sell burgers with unique (and sometimes over-the-top) flavor combinations and toppings, I tried and reviewed one of the more outrageous burger options at each chain as well.
While I enjoyed elements of all of the burgers, one chain truly blew me away in terms of taste, appearance, and overall quality. Read on for my thoughts on each chain, starting with my least favorite chain and ending with my absolute favorite!
Five Guys
- Nutrition:
- Cheeseburger (Per Item)
- Calories: 980
- Fat: 55 g (Saturated Fat: 9 g)
- Sodium: 1,050 mg
- Carbs: 40 g (Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 9 g)
- Protein: 47 g
Five Guys’ commitment to quality can be seen in its emphasis on only using fresh, never-frozen ground beef. In fact, the chain’s restaurants don’t even have their own freezers. Five Guys’ classic cheeseburger comes with two fresh beef patties and American-style cheese on a toasted sesame bun, plus the customer’s choice of toppings (I opted for lettuce, pickles, ketchup, and mayo). Five Guys doesn’t have any of the unique or outrageous burgers available at the other chains included in this taste test, so as my second option, I customized my ideal gourmet burger with bacon, grilled onions, pickles, lettuce, ketchup, mayo, and cheese. The regular cheeseburger cost me $11.39, while the bacon cheeseburger cost me $12.59.
The look: If there’s one thing I can rely on every time I visit a Five Guys, it’s the absolutely massive portions. The chain’s burgers come with two beef patties by default, so my two sandwiches ended up being quite tall thanks to all the neatly assembled protein and toppings. They both looked fresh, melty, and craveable.
The taste: I’ve always known Five Guys to serve a consistently good, filling burger, and that held true during this taste test. The cheese was melty, the buns were soft, the toppings were fresh-tasting, and the beef patties on both burgers were extremely juicy and meaty with slightly crispy edges. Despite their various positive qualities, both sandwiches lacked the oomph of flavor I crave in a gourmet burger. The classic cheeseburger was a little bland and would have benefitted greatly from more salt. And while the bacon added a nice smoky, savory touch to the second burger, the two small strips I received weren’t enough to make a whole lot of difference in the flavor.
Ultimately, I still enjoyed these burgers and consider them to be a step above what most other fast-food chains serve. However, the three higher-ranking burger chains brought more to the table in terms of taste and interesting flavor options.
Smashburger
- Nutrition:
- Classic Smash Burger (Per Item)
- Calories: 630
- Fat: 37 g (Saturated Fat: 15 g, Trans Fat: 2 g)
- Sodium: 1,630 mg
- Carbs: 41 g (Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 9 g)
- Protein: 30 g
All of Smashburger’s burgers feature Certified Angus Beef-brand meat, which must meet super high standards for size, marbling, and uniformity. The chain’s Classic Smash Burger comes with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles, ketchup, and Smash Sauce (a creamy, slightly tangy spread) on a toasted bun. The other burger I sampled, the Smoked Bacon Brisket Burger, comes with aged cheddar cheese, brisket, applewood-smoked bacon, pickles, and barbecue sauce on a toasted brioche bun. I paid $7.19 and $12.19 for the burgers, respectively.
The look: Smashburger’s burgers weren’t nearly as hefty and towering as Five Guys’, but they still looked mighty enticing. The thin, caramelized patty on the Classic Smash was covered in a melty layer of cheese and piled high with colorful veggies and sauces. Meanwhile, I almost could have mistaken the Smoked Bacon Brisket Burger for a legit barbecue sandwich due to the generous portion of brisket.
The taste: The flavor of the Classic Smash reminded me strongly of a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder because they feature many of the same toppings: ketchup, American cheese, pickles, and onions. However, Smashburger’s iteration was more elevated and delicious because the beef patty was juicier and the lettuce and tomatoes were fresher-tasting than anything I’ve ever gotten from Mickey D’s.
Meanwhile, the Smoked Bacon Brisket Burger was packed with tender, smoky, slightly fatty brisket that paired perfectly with the tangy pickles. I particularly enjoyed the smoky and slightly sweet barbecue sauce, and loved that my local Smashburger only added enough to accent the other flavors rather than globbing on an overwhelming amount of sauce.
My main critique about both burgers—and the reason I ranked them in third place—is that the actual beef was nearly overwhelmed by all of the ultra-flavorful toppings. I still got plenty of enjoyment out of the Smashburger experience, but I found the two higher-ranking chains to have a much better balance between the beef and burger accoutrements.
The Habit Burger Grill
- Nutrition:
- Charburger with Cheese (Per Item)
- Calories: 570
- Fat: 37 g (Saturated Fat: 12.5 g)
- Sodium: 1,580 mg
- Carbs: 33 g (Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 4 g)
- Protein: 24 g
The Habit Burger Grill makes its burger patties with never-frozen, 100% pure ground beef that contain no fillers, additives, or preservatives of any kind. Its classic Charburger with Cheese it topped with caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo and cheese. As my second burger, I opted for its Teriyaki Char with Cheese, which is topped with grilled pineapple, teriyaki sauce, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo and cheese. The burgers cost me $6.49 and $7.39, respectively, making them the most affordable out of the four chains.
The look: Massive, juicy, and loaded with fresh toppings, which unfortunately had already started to saturate the soft toasted buns with moisture by the time I got home. While they still looked quite enticing, they had a smooshed, messy appearance that slightly took away from their visual appeal.
The taste: I wasn’t sure what to expect during my visit to Habit—my first-ever—so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The beef is undoubtedly the star of these burgers, boasting a deep, delicious smoky flavor and juicy consistency from the chargrilled cooking style. On the Charburger with Cheese, all of the toppings enhanced rather than masked the flavor of the meat, from the juicy tomatoes to the melty cheese and those savory, slightly sweet caramelized onions.
As for the Teriyaki Char, I was disappointed to find that it tasted surprisingly close to the classic Charburger. The pineapple didn’t add much in terms of flavor, and there wasn’t nearly enough teriyaki flavor to allow the burger to live up to its name. My one other complaint is that the juicy beef, toppings, and sauces made for two very wet sandwiches without much structural integrity.
Still, the impressive flavors and stellar quality I experienced at Habit made for an overall great experience. There was only one chain that blew me away more in terms of taste, texture, and quality.
Shake Shack
- Nutrition:
- Single Shackburger (Per Item)
- Calories: 500
- Fat: 30 g (Saturated Fat: 12 g, Trans Fat: 1 g)
- Sodium: 1,250 mg
- Carbs: 26 g (Sugar: 6 g)
- Protein: 29 g
Shake Shack’s high-quality burger patties feature 100% Angus beef that’s completely free of hormones and antibiotics. Its classic ShackBurger features lettuce, tomato, and ShackSauce (a creamy, tangy burger spread) on a toasted potato bun. As my second burger, I opted for a limited-edition Carolina BBQ Burger with pepper jack cheese, applewood smoked bacon, fried pickles, and a tangy and sweet Carolina-style barbecue sauce on a toasted potato bun. The ShackBurger cost me $6.99, while the Carolina BBQ Burger cost me $9.49.
The look: While all of the gourmet burgers I sampled in this experiment had a craveable, enticing appearance, none looked quite as pristine and beautiful as Shake Shack’s. The patties were smashed super thin and boasted a caramelized, golden brown exterior that made my mouth water just by looking at it. The buns were also shiny and soft, the cheeses were perfectly melted, the fried pickles on the Carolina BBQ Burger were a lovely golden brown, and the lettuce on the ShackBurger was so green and picturesque it almost looked fake. Everything was also very neatly assembled.
The taste: Heavenly from the very first bite. The “smashed” style in which Shake Shack prepares its burgers makes for an exceptionally flavorful patty with an almost crispy, golden brown exterior and juicy interior. The fresh lettuce, tomato, cheese, ShackSauce and salt levels were all in perfect balance with the beef on the ShackBurger, which ended up being my favorite option by far in this tasting experiment.
Trying the Carolina BBQ Burger was also a tasty and unique experience thanks to the sweet and tangy sauce, piquant pepper jack cheese, and crispy, tangy, and salty fried pickles. I wouldn’t necessarily choose it over the classic ShackBurger (one of my go-tos at the chain), but it’s still a great limited-time addition to Shake Shack’s burger lineup and proof that the chain knows how to create tantalizing, intriguing flavor combinations.
I honestly couldn’t find anything to fault about these burgers, and the fact that they were one of the most affordable options from the whole taste test makes them all the more enticing.
