What is your opinion on Whataburger?

I’m in SC. I am pretty sure, I heard about one supposedly coming soon.
Have not seen one yet. I can’t really eat stuff like that, but I do once in awhile.

It seems to have a decent reputation…..

I’ve never eaten in one, but I know plenty of people who choose it over other fast food burger places. You have to try it just so you can say you did it.

I think Gus’s Fried Chicken is in Atlanta now. When I’m in Memphis that is my must have. The sides aren’t great, but the chicken is delicious.

Never heard of Gus’s – just looked them up. They appear to be pretty much in towards town, not out in the burbs where I am.

I’ve had a burger from them a few times. They were ok, but I didn’t think they were particularly great. If you like chain store burgers and think Wendy’s or McDonald’s aren’t poor, then I’d say they’re better than those, but to me, that’s not saying much.

My burger ratings (from memory – I try to avoid eating low-end industrial chain burgers, and have mostly succeeded for a long time now) are something like:

8. Excellent.
* Really notably good non-chain restaurant burgers that are trying and succeeding and doing something interesting that I don’t know how to do at home.

7. Really good.
* A good non-chain restaurant that makes a particularly good burger, at least somewhat interestingly prepared.
* Seasoned bison burgers I make at home. It’s not hard at all, but took some trying of recipes and amounts to tune to taste.

6. Good. A solid real burger.
* Competent non-fast-food restaurants, and solid non-chain burger restaurants.
* Many adults can produce this at home without much difficulty. Put a good amount of fresh good-quality unfrozen ground beef on a hot enough pan or grill for four minutes on each side, and use a decent bun.

5: Pretty good. Not the best, but better than those rated lower.
* Red Robin (quality varies – seems like they were better in years past than more recently)
* Many local non-chain restaurants that are making some effort to make a good burger.

4: Ok. Not bad, but not really very good, either.
* Whataburger
* Disappointing but not bad non-chain restaurant burgers.

3: Not very good, but not too bad.
* Wendy’s

2: Not the worst. Will eat if desperate.
* A&W
* Burger King

1: Borderline not-food. I prefer to starve, and hope never to eat again:
* McDonald’s

The one and only time I had a Whataburger was 17 years ago in Alabama. I liked it and would have gone back but I never passed another of their restaurants. I remember thinking it was tasty and larger than a McDonald’s and better value. Definitely worth a try.

Haven’t ever had one but now, am curious to try!

@Zaku I would put Five Guys on your scale at #5. I think they have a fairly pure flavored, decently prepared burger. Their fries are good too. For me, the small burger and the small fries are way more than enough. Their small fries feed about two or three easily.

Never heard about it.

In my area for years, and they aren’t anything special to me. Their breakfast items are pretty good and the coffee is good. Burgers are okay. I’ve never tried the chicken sandwiches. Lunch/dinner is usually a lot of food. I think my favorite thing about them is the spicy ketchup.

I’d also say better than Wendy’s. Worse than In-n-Out and Red Robin.

(The location in the movie Vengeance is five minutes from my office.)

These days it’s hard to find a fast food chain that doesn’t use actual slavery in its business model. Whataburger doesn’t appear to use American slavery, which is good. Gotta keep your eyes on those supply chains, I expect, especially with a Texas company.

@jca2 Interesting, thanks! (I’ve never actually tried Five Guys – I peeked in once and it seemed more expensive that my appetite’s enthusiasm for what it looked like, but it’s good to know it’s a viable option.)

@Zaku It’s been criticized lately in local Facebook groups because apparently if you get the regular sized burger and the regular sized fries (everything is sold separately), the total can be quite expensive. I think that the “small” burger, which is one decent sized patty, and the small fries, which as I said above can feed a few people, is more than enough. With the burger, it’s not like at other fast food where the lettuce might be one tiny limp piece of lettuce, it’s a good piece of lettuce and they have all kinds of condiments you can request to be put on the burger. Everything is made to order. The soda is free refills, too. The burger might be 8 dollars, the fries might be five, so it’s more than a regular fast food place.

I don’t go there too often because usually when I’m running around, I don’t want to take time out to sit down and eat, but if I’m with friends, maybe a few times a year we’ll go there and it’s quite a decent lunch.

@jca2 Solid tips, thanks! (It’s amazing to me how many businesses skimp on something like lettuce, when it can have such an impact on their customers’ relationships to their business. Ah well.)

Five Guys has great french fries. And they’ll pre-condimentize the burger – I order mine with grilled onions, mushrooms, and ketchup. Excellent.

Best part: they are less than 5 minutes from where I live. And they have peanuts….

I don’t understand the fascination with Five Guys. My husband likes it, and the fries are ok, so I’ll go along when he wants it, but I actually like McD’s better. We have a Five Guys 15 minutes from my house, and I am in that town square a lot, so it is very convenient for me, but I also have McD’s close by. I don’t go to either very much.

@JLeslie There are pros and cons to both. McD’s is cheaper and faster. In my opinion, a McD’s burger is not the same taste as if you had a burger at home. Five Guys tastes better, like one you might have at home, but it’s slower (as they cook it on the spot, not nuke it) and it’s more expensive.

@Zaku I think a burger with a good piece of tomato and a good piece of lettuce is more filling, so that’s a bonus. A regular fast food place with the tiny piece of lettuce, or little pile of shredded lettuce, is inferior, to me.

5 Guys doesn’t taste like a home burger to me. McD’s doesn’t either. I like a lot of lettuce too, I order double lettuce and ketchup for my burgers at a restaurant, some restaurants have crappy lettuce, I want iceberg crunch. At McD’s I get just ketchup usually, I don’t bother with trying to add lettuce.

I didn’t know we could talk about 5 Guys!
That’s your best of this spectrum of buger. To me.

ALL those different things you can get in your burger, for no extra charge, and you can watch them make it.

It’s like a hamburger place, with the choose your ingredients of a sub shop. Bad ass fries, too…