I’ve always consider Hardees to be cardburgers.
My favorite burger is fresh shaped ground beef. That generally excludes all but local joints that make them that way. (Terry’s Turf Club near River Downs race Track and Amelia, Ohio is a good example)
If I had to pick a fast food burger, I’d go back to the early days at Wendy’s. They are now tiny caricatures of their old burgers, but the memory still lives.
Longhorn probably has the best burger on the chain market right now.
You should try Ruby Tuesdays burger. Angus, thick, great flavor, and they will cook it medium rare for you. I think they are way better than the boutique burger places like burger fi and Red Robin, and definitely superior to Texas Roadhouse (you’d think they would have a great burger, but no, IMHO).