Posted on 07/03/2014 4:09:55 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The Habit Burger and In-N-Out lead the pack. Chick-fil-A also has lots to squawk about. Turns out nobody’s loving it.
The standard McDonald’s hamburger — the one that claims to satisfy “billions and billions” — finished dead last in a new Consumer Reports taste test.
The Hamburglar’s favorite meal earned a score of just 5.8 out of 10 from the magazine’s readers, putting it far behind West Coast chains The Habit Burger Grill and In-N-Out Burger, which scored 8.1 out of 10 and 8 out of 10, respectively.
The top fast food burger available locally was Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which got a 7.9 score from the 32,405 readers surveyed by the magazine.
McDonald’s said in a statement that it’s “proud to serve 27 million customers a day” — but the chain has suffered declining sales for six consecutive months. And Consumer Reports thinks it knows why.
“More and more, food quality - not just low price - is emerging as a deciding-factor for many Americans when choosing where to spend their dining dollars,” said Tod Marks, senior projects editor for the magazine.
By quality, Marks said his readers mean “the food’s flavor and fresh-tasting character.”
Even Micky D’s fans couldn’t really defend their daily bread (and frozen patty).
“The food (quality) depends on what McDonald’s location you’re at,” said Aravid Murali, an 18-year-old Brooklynite who dines with Mayor McCheese once a month.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers are waiting in line for the burger at Five Guys, despite a meal that costs several dollars more.
“I like that you can see them cooking at Five Guys as opposed to McDonald’s,” said Sean Daniels, 26, of Crown Heights.
McDonald’s did get a measure of revenge — its McGriddle breakfast sandwich beat Taco Bell’s Waffle Taco in a mouth-to-mouth test.
Still hungry for more? Breakfast and burgers weren’t the only thing on Consumer Reports’ menu. Midwest-based Portillo’s Hot Dogs was the best tasting fast-food chain with a score of 8.5 out of 10. And Chick-fil-A’s signature poultry sandwich earned a score of 8.
That's when they had the sign XXX hundred million burgers sold. The XXX were in light digits that could be updated.
IIRC, there were Whoppers in the mid-1960s.
That’s about the same time I had my first McDonalds. The fries were the best. Not any more. I remember how good Arbys was at first. All they served were roast beef sandwiches, two toppings,drinks and chips. The roast beef was so good not like now. They were sixty-nine cents which was a lot in 1965.
Correction: XXX million burgers sold.
It was in the mid hundreds of millions of burgers sold by 1960 (cumulative).
I can remember when Arby’s was good too. Several years ago I was shopping and in the same block was an Arby’s. They had a sign with some kind of deal which sounded pretty good.
I stopped and got 3 roast beef sandwiches and some of the take out packs of their sauces.
Now part of the problem may have been that I took them home before eating and that was maybe a half hour later. I stuck them in the microwave to heat them back up.
They were not so bad they were inedible but they sure weren’t very good either. I basically no longer eat at fast food places and from my last few experiences probably never will again.
Bob’s Big Boy burgers are tasty. Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Bobs was everywhere in Southern California, but today, I believe the only remaining Bob’s are in Calimesa, Toluca Lake and Diamond Bar.
My favorite green chile burger can be found at the Owl Cafe in San Antonio, NM.
But, the fries are no where near as good and the burgers are not quite the same
Fast food fries stopped tasting good when they quit using beef tallow.
Using different suppliers is common practice in a high volume manufacturing environment. That’s why when you’re buying brake pads for your Toyota there are two or three different choices of OEM manufacturer. I’d be surprised if McDonalds were any different.
High volume means not being reliant on a single source for your compontents. That would be insane.
compontents = components
A couple of times a month won’t kill me.
Life is short...gotta enjoy some of the time we have on earth.
Two all beef patties special sauce pickles onions on a sesame seed bun.
How could we forget how good those big macs use to be or was it just naïveté?
I still remember that. It was:
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.
Beat me back to it must be getting old¿
Thanks
I had a Portilllo’s beef yesterday. Amazing.
Coachella Valley....unfortunately, we only have two In-N-Out locations
It had been years since I visited an in-n-out. Went to the one off hwy 10 recently (thousand palms?) and was really disappointed. It was radically different in taste and size than I remember from a few years ago.
‘Way back in the late 40’s, we had a drive-in called Donnelly’s in LA/Glendale area. They had the best hamburgers, malts and fries we ever tasted. Absolutely the best, but we have never found or tasted anything like them since. Here In the High Desert, McD’s hamburgers and most everything else they serve are terrible, followed closely by Burger King, Wendy’s. Artic Circle, 5 Guys, Arby’s, Habit, Jack in the Box, a new one-Culvers and other lesser efforts. The best tasting burgers hereabouts are at Smash Burgers and In and Out, but the best of all is found at a golf course retaurant called Ledges. Their only problem is they are huge, full of tasty add-ons plus fine steak fries and a fruit bowl but we can never quite finish them. Tacos? All so-called gringo-made tacos are terrible.
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