Burger Battle: In-N-Out Vs Five Guys (Incomplete analysis on an serious matter)

Pajama's Media ^ | July 3, 2012 | Bryan Preston

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

That was a good question, but I didn’t have an answer. I could only shrug. I grew up on Whataburgers so I could authoritatively rule them great but Five Guys better. Ditto for Sonic, despite its unstoppable cherry limeade. We all have our local haunts that can’t be topped. Around Austin, that’s Mighty Fine. Up in Baltimore, Burger Bros. is amazing and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Every town has its own best burger. But among the big chains that inspire fanatic loyalty, which is the best?

Overall Taste. Let me note for the record that both In-N-Out and Five Guys offer exceptionally great burgers and both deserve their cult status. Having tasted both, I understand the fierce loyalty that both inspire. In-N-Out is a fine homestyle burger that can be augmented with sauces and veggies and stacked a zillion ways to make it your burger. Five Guys can bring the heat or whatever taste suits you. In-N-Out is the cleaner burger and its wrap makes it the obvious choice if you’re eating on the go. But Five Guys brings a burger that is juicy to the extreme, so much so that you need half a dozen napkins at hand just to keep yourself clean as you bite through it. I prefer the juicier approach, so for me, the east coast approach is the way to go and Five Guys wins on taste. Its burger is simply juicer and tastier than In-N-Out.

[RandallFlagg]

I miss In-N-Out.
I miss Fuddruckers.
I miss Whattaburger.
These days if I want a good burger, I have to fire up the grill.
Home made burger buns. Red Robin seasoning...

NOMS!

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

I’m concerned about size also with 3 5 Guy’s coming to our market. I’ll give them one, maybe 2 chances.

[twister881]

Moochelle's favorite: The-Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do-Hypocrite-Burger

[whitedog57]

Agreed. Five Guys is TERRIBLE! Just a big glob of fat.

I like whataburger far better than Five Guys. In ‘n out is tremendous.

[tet68]

Don’t have I&O here in Ga. Had a 5g for lunch.
A good burger but pricy very pricy.
The best I ever had was Seven Steers but
they are no more.

[Little Ray]

Fudruckers. There is NOT a better hamburger - unless I make it.
And I use seasonings that some might not appreciate.

[elkfersupper]

Oddly enough, I had the best burger of my last 60 years last night, cooked in somebody's back yard.

The cook was a 70-year-old man who recently had both hips replaced. He was standing at the grill over his walker. He ran a smoked barbecue joint out of a metal building for the last 25 years. I asked him what his secret was and he said "1/2 lb. apiece. Grill them fast to medium rare, flipping them once. Don't put anything on or in them until they get to the table and take big bites."

I ate 3 of them.

Beef was fresh generic 85% lean.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

She eats that with a knife and a fork? No class. No wonder her ankles look like hams.

She probably has the new At Home Do It Yourself Liposuction Master.

[Paladin2]

Coors tasted great at the Brewery in the 70’s, and it was free.

[SeaHawkFan]

Fudruckers is horrible and way overpriced.

Would rather eat two BK double cheeseburgers, for a total of $2.98.

[SeaHawkFan]

Fudruckers is horrible and way overpriced.

Would rather eat two BK double cheeseburgers, for a total of $2.98.

[MrKatykelly]

Never had 5 guys so can’t comment. I love Whataburger for a fast food burger, for a more expensive and less fast I absolutely think “Smashburger” is the best I’ve ever had but they are pretty rare in our area.

[mass55th]

I've never eaten at an In-N-Out. There's none around here. In fact we're limited on chain restaurants. All we have is an Applebee's, a Denny's, two McDonald's, two Burger King, and one Arby's. The closest Red Robin is about an hour west of us, so we don't get there very often. We did get a Five Guys, and up until recently, I hadn't even known it was here. My son and I went last week to try it, but neither one of us was impressed. To me, the burger was too greasy, as were the fries. I ended up dipping them in apple cider vinegar to make them palatable. They were too soggy for my liking. If anything, they gave you too many fries. I threw out 3/4's of them.

My son's favorite burgers come from a chain in the Rochester, NY area...Bill Gray's. Their hotdogs, both red and white are excellent too. We only get them when we're back that way. In my opinion, I can make a better tasting burger at home than what I got from Five Guys. Won't be going back there.

[OneWingedShark]

I miss Whattaburger.

Last time -- I think it was last time -- I was in Las Cruces (NM) I had one.
There's also a Blake's Lottabuger which has excellent beef and a burger topped w/ delicious green chile.

[Fledermaus]

No In-N-Out here in the south but I LOVE their burgers when I’m out west.

Five Guys can can be tough sometimes. But they do give you half of Idaho when you order a small fry!

[american_ranger]

My wife and I loved Ike’s Korner Grill in Spartanburg, SC.

[Little Ray]

Yes, it costs too much. But you can’t get a medium rare burger at BK - though the charbroiling is nice...

[struggle]

I’d say the best chains here and internationally:

1. In and Out
2. Tommy’s Burger
3. Mos Burger
4. Whataburger
5. Umami Burger

[j.argese]

But 5 Guys used peanut oil for it’s fries not that sh*tty canola oil.

[Fiji Hill]

Fuddrucker’s is hard to beeat. Unfortunately, they’re almost gone from California—the only one I know of is in Buena Park.