So Carls Jr

[Drop Bear]

A lot more American & Canadian Chains are making their way down under, on the South-side of Brisbane (may be outside the city in one of the surrounding shires) we had a Carl JR open a bit over a year ago, more recently we had one open on the northside about 20-30 minuets from where I live, if you don't count traffic, about an hour or so if you do.

I tried it the first time on Friday

And it was Good, I'd give it around a B grade for taste, it kicks MacDonald's But. though we ate most of our food in store what we took away stayed warm and held its flavor till we finished it over 15 minuets after it was served as we traveled. Portion sizes for Chips & Drinks where smaller than expected, but nothing wrong with that given the Burger was more filling than what you get from the big two burger chains, now I know I'll likely go large next time.

Unfortunately it's too far to go just to get a Burger, but you would be mad not to grab one if your in the area.

Supposedly there is a Tim Hortorns opening up  around the same area as my nearest Carls Jr. any other chains I should keep an eye out for, We've bean promised an invasion of North American chains for 3-5 years now but they seam to be taking their good sweet time in materializing.

[Sharpnel]

Just about every burger chain in America is better than McDonald's (A&W burgers are worse due to their crappy buns). Carl's is one of my favorites right after Smashburger and Five Guys (neither of which will be Down Under anytime soon) and I've been known to go to Carl's just for the onion rings.

[Ruger]

I love Hardee’s (the version of Carl Jr’s in my neck of the woods), particularly their Frisco and mushroom and Swiss thickburgers, chicken sandwich and hot dogs. I also love their low carb options for their sandwiches (can’t do that to the Frisco one though...by personal choice). They also have a decent smoked sausage and egg breakfast biscuit.

I’d probably top them in my fast food burger charts (love Five Guys too but are expensive) if I want a good size burger (although I prefer a local chain called Pal’s for a smaller burger). For chicken sandwiches they come in behind Wendy’s (second place for their spicy Asiago each chicken sandwich) and Chick-fil-a (first place). Hot dogs, I rank them behind Sonic’s chili cheese coney. Chicken tenders? They are behind McDonald’s chicken strips (at second) and Chick-fil-a is at first.

Like all fast food though, they can be very high in sodium.

Ruger

[Bedwyr]

Yeah, McD's is largely trash unless you just want a small cheeseburger now, no arguments. CJ is a step up, but still lower-middle quality. I don't know what to make of it since it merged with Hardees a number of years back. I don't know if its DNA is more CJ or Hardees. I liked the former as a kid, not so much the latter (very very salty).

Hot US chains:
- In 'n Out (big, flat, sloppy, and fun)
- Culver's (Wisconsin chain, so lots of kinds of cheese varieties with a fairly crispy hand-flattened patty)
- Five Guys (cleanest taste, best ingredients stacked super high)
- Shake Shack (halfway between Five Guys and Culver's, but with NYC flair)
- Whataburger (dunno, but the south swears by it)

[Orin J.]

As an american i deeply apologize that you were led to think mcdonalds is representative of our burgers.

Carls jr is alright, but honestly lost a lot of their quality after hardees bought 'em. the fries are certainly worse than they were before and the burgers can be hit or miss depending on the location.

[Ruger]

Hot US chains:
- In 'n Out (big, flat, sloppy, and fun)
- Culver's (Wisconsin chain, so lots of kinds of cheese varieties with a fairly crispy hand-flattened patty)
- Five Guys (cleanest taste, best ingredients stacked super high)
- Shake Shack (halfway between Five Guys and Culver's, but with NYC flair)
- Whataburger (dunno, but the south swears by it)

East Tennessee also has Pal’s (most are drive around only, and only a very limited menu, but famous for their quality and employee training, and are even known to let people pay later if they left their wallet at home).

Freddy’s, which has an old malt-shop type atmosphere. Cheap and not too bad food (but not too good either).

Steak and Shake: been a while since I’ve been to one. IIRC, different sandwiches and cups o’ fries.

Cook-out: lots of menu options but food is mediocre.

Arby’s: mostly roast beef and other sliced meat sandwiches (mostly ok, but love their Italian sandwich...but sodium very high...one other thing they have going for them most don’t, marinara dipping sauce).

Burger King: ugh. Very little to recommend them. Infamous for their original cardboard...erm, chicken sandwich (at least to me).

Zaxby’s: decent chicken options, large salads, decent fried mushrooms, marinara dipping sauce.

Ruger

[Tai Dai Cultist]

While I was still in the military I had friends who swore by Steak and Shake, Sonic, or Jack in the Box; all of which seem to have regional rather than national appeal. I had never heard of any of them growing up in the northeast. Our "regional" quirky burgers seems to have been White Castle (see a Harold and Kumar movie about what they're like).

I'd have to agree that if I wanted to show off what a fast food burger can be, I'd take someone to Five Guys.  But they straddle the line with sit-down and fast food (it would be a total disaster if you try to eat in your car).  For conventional drive-thru friendly burgers, my go-to would be Wendy's.

[NeonKnight]

Just about every burger chain in America is better than McDonald's (A&W burgers are worse due to their crappy buns). Carl's is one of my favorites right after Smashburger and Five Guys (neither of which will be Down Under anytime soon) and I've been known to go to Carl's just for the onion rings.

You do NOT SLAM A&W!

OK, joking aside, with regards to A&W, I don;t know what their US MENU is like, but on the Canadian Side, they have hands down, the BEST breakfast menu. I can go to A&W and Have Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Toast and Hashbrowns with coffee for under $10. Also, the restaurant is not to blame for buns, as that is contracted locally with bakeries.

How do I know? 34 years I work at ... *ahem* ... Burger King, and often, the bun delivery would give us McDonalds BIG MAC buns by accident. We'd use them for the hamburgers/cheeseburgers but we would need to toss away the middle bun portion.

Wifey is not a burger FAN, but is a FAN of FIVE GUYS.

[Easy]

cleanup

[Kidd]

I don't know why anyone in Australia would go for fast food burgers rather than something out of a local cafe or Grilld at least. You guys make great burgers, although I note that even the local "Macca's" tastes better because of the quality of the beef used in the patties.

Also, A&W has I think the best budget root beer in existence. Somehow they just got the taste right. The waffles are great too.

[idea weenie]

For McDonald's, go for the Egg McMuffin.  Buy them when you get a BOGO coupon for them.  You then get a receipt, and on the receipt is a survey.  Fill out the survey within a couple days, and you get a code you write on the survey receipt.

With the survey receipt and code, you go to McD's again (within a month because the code expires then) ordering BOGO Egg McMuffins again.  You get another receipt, with the same survey site listed.  Repeat as desired.  Even better, Egg McMuffins use a real egg.


But for quality burgers, the Red Robin Royale is great

[Orin J.]

You do NOT SLAM A&W!

OK, joking aside, with regards to A&W, I don;t know what their US MENU is like, but on the Canadian Side, they have hands down, the BEST breakfast menu. I can go to A&W and Have Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Toast and Hashbrowns with coffee for under $10. Also, the restaurant is not to blame for buns, as that is contracted locally with bakeries.

my experience on the west coast- A&W has some seriously loose franchise rules, which leads to there being a "good" and "bad" A&W nearby. the good one is probably the best of the cheapo burger places near here, the bad one......the bad one is frequented only by the truckers while their hauls are waiting to be unloaded. close to inedible.

[garhkal]

As an american i deeply apologize that you were led to think mcdonalds is representative of our burgers.

Carls jr is alright, but honestly lost a lot of their quality after hardees bought 'em. the fries are certainly worse than they were before and the burgers can be hit or miss depending on the location.

Agreed. I used to love their western bacon burgers, but after Hardees bought them out, they started losing some of their flavor.

While I was still in the military I had friends who swore by Steak and Shake, Sonic, or Jack in the Box; all of which seem to have regional rather than national appeal. I had never heard of any of them growing up in the northeast. Our "regional" quirky burgers seems to have been White Castle (see a Harold and Kumar movie about what they're like).

I love Jack in the Box's fahita pita, and their sour dough ultimate burger..

[glitterboy2098]

I don't know why anyone in Australia would go for fast food burgers rather than something out of a local cafe or Grilld at least. You guys make great burgers, although I note that even the local "Macca's" tastes better because of the quality of the beef used in the patties.

mostly because in most places we don't have local cafe's or grills anymore. the big chains tend to run them out of business (especially mcdonalds, which because the food is low quality, is also super cheap)

generally if a local business survives it is because it sells something the major chain's don't, like chinese, or because they offer a better experience for the type of food involved (like chinese, mexican, pizza)

here in america too, most of the chains allow private ownership of the places.. so while it might be a carl's Jr, it isn't owned by the hardees/CJ corporate, but rather the owner is paying to get access to the name and supply network. this is one reason why i've avoided Carl's Jr's.. i've had a lot of really bad experiences with CJ's that were just utterly filthy, run down, or made inedible food. i think this was mostly before the hardee's buyout, and i've not had too many issues with hardee's (though they are uninspiring in general), but i'm not in any hurry to learn if things have actually changed.

[NeonKnight]

my experience on the west coast- A&W has some seriously loose franchise rules, which leads to there being a "good" and "bad" A&W nearby. the good one is probably the best of the cheapo burger places near here, the bad one......the bad one is frequented only by the truckers while their hauls are waiting to be unloaded. close to inedible.

True, but I'm also starting to think there is a huge difference between the US and Canada versions of A&W. I'm West Coast Canada, and the A&W's here have THE Best breakfast of any fast food outlet, hands down:

https://web.aw.ca/en/our-menu/breakfast/all-canadian-special

Looking at the US website - nuttin' for breakfast.

https://www.awrestaurants.com/menu

[CrossfirePilot]

Give me Smashburger any day.  last year they had a promo 100 days of Smash for $100.  I almost bought in but figured I would be 80 pounds overweight and dying of heart disease 60 days in and I would really tick me off to not be able to use the full value of the promotion.

[Ruger]

True, but I'm also starting to think there is a huge difference between the US and Canada versions of A&W. I'm West Coast Canada, and the A&W's here have THE Best breakfast of any fast food outlet, hands down:

https://web.aw.ca/en/our-menu/breakfast/all-canadian-special

Looking at the US website - nuttin' for breakfast.

https://www.awrestaurants.com/menu

I’ve only been to them in Canada, but from what I’m told by those who have been to both, the Canada ones are far superior, especially for breakfast.

I wasn’t that fond of the burger I had at one, but the breakfast was very good.

Ruger

[Daryk]

A&W burgers aren't that great in my experience, but the root bear floats are to die for... :smitten:

Never had their breakfast... I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter...  ;D

[dgorsman]

Not many left,  but there's a few A&Ws that still sell the root beer in frosted mugs.

They also used to have a decent cream soda.

[Daryk]

They still sell it in stores, when you can find it.  I usually pick up 4-5 2 liters when it's on the shelves.  Heck, I'm drinking some of it right now... :)

[rebs]

We have a Wahlburgers in downtown Detroit.  It's pretty good, but Five Guys is better.

[Ogra_Chief]

Central Texas here.

Whataburger is a local chain, fairly solid and well run. The burgers are decent, back in the day they use to grill the meat fresh, good stuff. Now you get good value for what you pay, always filling, menu is standard fare, but they do offer seasonal burgers which are really good. A good breakfast menu as well. Local secret, their burgers and fries can be microwaved, and will strangely taste better... no idea why... can't do that with other chains.

Sonic is also a solid choice, large menu, known for their cheap slushies and footlongs.

Culver's an out-of-state import, has a small footprint, well run, large menu, made fresh, very good. Known for their custard.

Usual national chains, quality dependent on local ownership. Hit and miss. Nothing to add.

Not a burger...

If you get a chance grab some Bill Miller's BBQ if pass through, best fast food bbq you'll ever taste. Also, good menu choices for a fast food joint.

Chick-fil-A... they will rule the World one day. Best to get on board now.

[Drop Bear]

Quite frankly I want more options than Burgers so give me all you got.

We've had "Burger King" down hear just as long as Maccas, but we call it Hungry Jacks, since we had a number of local fast food shops in different states already using the name Burger King. Hungry's actually came to the Suburbs and Regional areas before Maccas. HJ's for many years was my Burger place of choice, now days I have trouble choking it down, and when I can it gives me the runs.

[Kidd]

KFC in Australia is the pits.

Pizza... what pizza chains dyou have?

Even better, Egg McMuffins use a real egg.

Aren't they all real eggs?

Not many left,  but there's a few A&Ws that still sell the root beer in frosted mugs.

They also used to have a decent cream soda.

Yeah they still do here in SE Asia. I'm thinking of picking up a souvenir mug.

They don't sell the cream soda instore here though, only find them in cans, but I find the taste rather strange.

[rebs]

Not a burger...

If you get a chance grab some Bill Miller's BBQ if pass through, best fast food bbq you'll ever taste. Also, good menu choices for a fast food joint.

Billy Sims BBQ in Detroit is the equivalent of that.  Best brisket sandwiches around here.

[garhkal]

Now all this chatter, makes me wanna look to see where the nearest Jack in the Box is, to me, here in Columbus...

[glitterboy2098]

Aren't they all real eggs?

a lot of the chains use egg-products, heavily processed stuff that was once real eggs, before it was removed from the shell, blended together with hundreds of other eggs, had preservatives added, and then repackaged.
for all McDonalds issues, they do use actual fresh eggs

[Drop Bear]

US Pizza chains we have are Pizza Hut and Dominoes.

Dominoes used to use American recipes and was losing money hand over fist, they bought out a local chain that dueled Pizza Hut for top sales slot and went over to the local recopies for decades, a few years back they started to use American Recipes again and razed their prices this hurt sales, they started to introduce lots of new menu options since over the last decade when they had a downturn in sales zinging up the menu helped get them over rough patches, though it helped sales figures a bit the underlying costs have bean killing their bottom line, around six months back they switched from Coke to Pepsi and sales have tanked on Drinks lines and overall sales have had a down turn. inversely around Christmas time Pizza Hut went from Pepsi to Coke and this has helped bolster softening sales.

[deathfrombeyond]

Jack in the box used to be awesome because you could get breakfast all day...until McDonald’s started doing the same thing.

Still maintain that the best thing at jack is breakfast at all hours.

[Drop Bear]

Got Americans that come over hear and you can't keep them out of Maccas, they say it tastes sooo much better, they go on about how "Clean" and "Fresh" it tastes compared to the American version and the stores don't reek of grease. Take them to a fairly average Pub for a Counter Meal and they lose their mind having a Flavor Overload.