The Random Thoughts Thread

Garrett said:
OK, this may cause a commotion: In N Out is officially better than Five Guys Burgers, in my opinion. I had my first Five Guys on Sunday and while it was good and satisfying, it was not a burger that creates a desire like In N Out.
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I can't even describe how I feel about this statement. So I'm going to try In N Out one more time. I'm in Texas at the moment and there's an In N Out nearby. I'm going to hit it up for lunch today and see if, perhaps, trying it for a 4th time will sway my opinion. Is there something specific I should order...perhaps that's what I'm doing wrong?

For Five Guys it's got to be a Bacon Cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, raw onions, ketchup, mayo, Bar-B-Que sauce and...if you can get them to do it...a dash of their cajun seasoning on the burger. Some of their locations won't do it (because they've figured out the seasoning stays on the grill and angers the next person who gets a burger) so they'll give you a small container of the seasoning to sprinkle on yourself.

I will say I've found many Texans have a strong dislike for In N Out as they claim Whataburger is better. I still contend that 5 Guys makes the best semi-fast food burger. My opinion going into this is that McDonalds and Burger King both make a better burger than In N Out.

Now if you're willing to wait longer than that semi-fast food timeframe I will say that as a chain, Habit Burger makes a pretty darn good burger. brgr (all lowercase, not the uppercase one) is probably the top of my burger list, but they only have two locations...both in Manhattan. That's a specialized trip in order to get my brgr fix.
 
Aww... this is worth re-entering military service for:

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Gallowbraid said:
I can't even describe how I feel about this statement. So I'm going to try In N Out one more time. I'm in Texas at the moment and there's an In N Out nearby. I'm going to hit it up for lunch today and see if, perhaps, trying it for a 4th time will sway my opinion. Is there something specific I should order...perhaps that's what I'm doing wrong?

For Five Guys it's got to be a Bacon Cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, raw onions, ketchup, mayo, Bar-B-Que sauce and...if you can get them to do it...a dash of their cajun seasoning on the burger. Some of their locations won't do it (because they've figured out the seasoning stays on the grill and angers the next person who gets a burger) so they'll give you a small container of the seasoning to sprinkle on yourself.

I will say I've found many Texans have a strong dislike for In N Out as they claim Whataburger is better. I still contend that 5 Guys makes the best semi-fast food burger. My opinion going into this is that McDonalds and Burger King both make a better burger than In N Out.

Now if you're willing to wait longer than that semi-fast food timeframe I will say that as a chain, Habit Burger makes a pretty darn good burger. brgr (all lowercase, not the uppercase one) is probably the top of my burger list, but they only have two locations...both in Manhattan. That's a specialized trip in order to get my brgr fix.
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Yes, order your cheeseburger "animal style". You'll get extra sauce ("spread"), grilled onions and they fry the patty in mustard, includes pickles, but I don't like pickles. It's just a very different burger. The one from Five Guys was gooey and delicious. Nothing at all wrong with it. I'd order one again!
Oh, you can also get your fries as "fries well" if you prefer them a bit more crispy. In N Out has better (thinner) natural fries which I prefer.
 
Garrett said:
Yes, order your cheeseburger "animal style". You'll get extra sauce ("spread"), grilled onions and they fry the patty in mustard, includes pickles, but I don't like pickles. It's just a very different burger. The one from Five Guys was gooey and delicious. Nothing at all wrong with it. I'd order one again!
Oh, you can also get your fries as "fries well" if you prefer them a bit more crispy. In N Out has better (thinner) natural fries which I prefer.
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You can also ask for the grilled onion slice instead of chopped up onions. They'll flat grill a full slice of onion.
 
Gallowbraid said:
... My opinion going into this is that McDonalds and Burger King both make a better burger than In N Out.

...
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There is something really wrong with you. Were you dropped on your head as a child? Or an adult?

I get the In-N-Out thing. They are good, and there a few good contenders. But, if you grew up SoCal - the coming of age, cars, driving, etc. - you would fully understand the "cult" of In-N-Out.

Good or bad, it's strong. And damn, I sure do miss it.....
 
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Double Double Animal style it was. I have to say the other times I've tried In N Out (all in California) I've not been impressed. Not only did I not understand the appeal, but it typically wasn't even good...

This was pretty darn good though. Animal style certainly makes a difference, I don't think I've ordered it like that before, although I'd heard of it. In N Out has now progressed up my list to somewhere below a 5 Guys Burger but certainly above McDonalds and Burger King.

Bottom of the list is absolutely still the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger from Native Foods Cafe. Go ahead and Google it @TangoBlue , you and @Haggis will be very disappointed to have associated with me, even electronically, after reading the ingredients and knowing that I've tried it. I may even get banned from the forum. You know what...I'll save you the trouble of Googling it, here you go:

(Apparently they no longer offer the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger, this is the current renamed burger)

Our savory made-with-plants burger patty with seitan bacon, melted
Follow Your Heart® American cheese, crispy shallots, tangy BBQ sauce,
creamy ranch, lettuce and mayo. Served on a whole wheat bun.

Let me go ahead and define a couple of those ingredients:

Seitan Bacon ingredients: Water, vital wheat gluten, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), whole wheat flour, natural hickory smoke concentrate, paprika, sea salt, onion.

Follow Your Heart® American cheese: Filtered Water, Coconut Oil, Modified Food Starch, Potato Starch, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor (Plant Sources), Olive Extract, Paprika Extract and Beta Carotene for Color.

Keep in mind that the "Creamy Ranch, Mayo and bun" contain no dairy products or egg to keep this thing Vegan and hippie approved.

I can still taste the disappointment and shame from biting into that thing...

Scott B. said:
There is something really wrong with you. Were you dropped on your head as a child? Or an adult?
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There are a number of things wrong with me...many of which befuddle and scare the most hardened of professionals. And to answer those two questions, yes and yes...multiple times. :D

Scott B. said:
But, if you grew up SoCal - the coming of age, cars, driving, etc. - you would fully understand the "cult" of In-N-Out. Good or bad, it's strong. And damn, I sure do miss it.....
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Ah, see...it's never been described to me that way before. That makes a little more sense. I could see how it would be a coming of age teenage hangout destination and that those rose colored glasses of nostalgia would add some flavor to the mix. Now the cult of In N Out makes sense to me.
 
Nothing beats a US Navy issue, sea stores slider. Cooked while still frozen, a slice of orange processed american cheese food between a wonder bread like bun, cold fries, semi wilted lettuce, onion and rock hard tomato on the side.
 
Scott B. said:
But, if you grew up SoCal - the coming of age, cars, driving, etc. - you would fully understand the "cult" of In-N-Out.

Good or bad, it's strong. And damn, I sure do miss it.....
Click to expand...

Gallowbraid said:
View attachment 40099Ah, see...it's never been described to me that way before. That makes a little more sense. I could see how it would be a coming of age teenage hangout destination and that those rose colored glasses of nostalgia would add some flavor to the mix. Now the cult of In N Out makes sense to me.
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Oh yes, in high school we'd get to go get lunch off campus if you had a car. So you were king if you showed 5 or 10 minutes late to class with a bag of In N Out. Women swooned. Gasps abounded. Even the teacher didn't say anything.
 
I had the good fortune of managing programs for the Marine Corps and Navy while assigned in the DC area out in California. I routinely made a pilgrimage to In-N-Out Burger, Rubio's for delicious fish tacos, and Surfin' Donuts (San Clemente).

While living in Northern California for so many years we didn't have the good fortune of those 2 establishments (now they have expanded their franchises up north), however we had plenty of other good places to go in "The BAY-AIR-ia".
 
For half the price - In n Out no question. For the full on loaded burger - 5 Guys bacon cheeseburger ordered 'All the Way'. I like both fries, but given the choice - 5 Guys. The Habit - last time they must have lost the top to the salt/seasoning as it was all but uneatable. Whataburger had once in San Antonio - ok as I recall. Smashburger is pretty good as well.
 
I think Five Guys is terrible. I mean, I really tried to like them since I like a good griddle fried burger patty and have tried different places around the country, thinking maybe I just hit a bad franchisee. Regrettably, they're consistent in their ability to replicate burgers dripping with grease, served with a shit-ton of over-cooked limp greasy fries that are more unappealing than a plate of Poutine. Seriously, the foil they're wrapped in, with the collected fat, reminds me of freshly rendered lard. I'd take an expired ARA food service vending machine "cheese burger" from an infrequently used basement breakroom from a closed Chrysler plant over a Five Guys burger
 
Smash burger is a pretty solid offering... definitely would not turn that down.

One of the best McDonald's burgers I've had was in Japan. Three young smiling waitresses together presented my 2 Double Cheeseburgers, fries, and drink on a tray, bowing with great pride. They were amazing - fresh and hot applied to both burger and potato. Anything in Japan is like that... they derive great satisfaction from a job well done... even slinging burgers.
 
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