+1 much better than the King & Clown.

What do you like on your Maid-Rite? :)

It's definitely a different approach to a burger. Not amazing, but not horrible, either.

If you had been in Corpus Christi, Texas in the 1950's then yes, you would have missed an exceptional burger.
The product today is probably not that much different than a lot of other burgers.

They're certainly better than the standard places. Nice big burger, but the standard patty isn't too thick. For years I loved their chicken sandwich. No ones close to me now.

Having grown up in South Texas, I'm completely biased towards Whataburger...but I've also lived in the Mid-Atlantic and in Cali, so can talk intelligently about all the burger chains previously mentioned. My criteria judges the burger + fries combo, because I never get one without the other. If we were talking about just the burger, my rankings would be different. I also always drink soda and never get shakes, so if you're one of those who ranks according to shakes, this ain't your survey. So for me...

1. Whataburger
2. Five Guys
3. In-N-Out
4. Checkers/Rallys
5. Hardees/Carls Jr
6. Smashburger
7. McDonalds
8. Wendys
9. Dairy Queen
10. Burger King

I think this is pretty close, although I'd switch the top 2, and put Burger King above DQ, Wendy's, and maybe McDonalds (only the fries requirement might keep McD's above).

The other one I'm surprised about is Hardee's (never had Carl's Jr.). In the 80's, Hardee's had great burgers. Then sometime in the 90's, I assume after Carl's bought them, the quality went downhill. I haven't been back to one since...20 years. Are they really middle of the pack now?

I'm not a fan of the burgers, but their fries are outstanding. Fortunately, a local Colorado chain has very similar ones.

CLO has American burger chains?

Sigh, a long list of thin, grey mystery meat.

These days if we're eating burgers in a burger joint, it's either Bobby's Burger Palace or The Counter. I like meat that actually looks and tastes like meat.

I suspect that this rating was goosed by the relative delectability of their fries. I don't always go for fries but theirs is tops of the fast food game in my opinion.

Five guys' burgers are good, no doubt, but if one gets fries and a drink, you can easily drop $14 for a fast food meal. Shake shack is similar. They're decent but definitely overhyped. In-n-out is not as expensive but they're overhyped as well.

Maybe I'm just too tough with my opinions but Nic's in OKC is about the best burger that I've had in the last 2 years.

I prefer thick patty burgers cooked to a MR so none of the major chains will ever get a strong thumbs up endorsement from me. That said I dig Checkers/Rally's burgers as I like the meat to other items on the bun ratio.

I've only had Whataburger a few times when I used to travel to Oklahoma for work and some locals insisted we go there. I recall the chocolate shake I had was good enough. The burgers and fries were alright - they don't really stand out as either horrible or spectacular in my memory so I'd say just a typical fast-food burger - decent to fill your stomach for lunch but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Yeah, I've had Whataburger in TX a couple of times and it wasn't bad... I recall they were typically tasty fast food burgers and it filled me up, but certainly not something I'd really crave or make my first stop upon returning to Whataburger country.

Even Tucker's, which is more closely related to the chains mentioned here, is good, but you have to like onion burgers.

I don't get all the comparisons to places that have 2-3 locations though, of course they're likely to be better than franchised chains. It's a different category from Whataburger in my opinion.

Agree - we have a separate thread with hundred's of posts regarding the world's best hamburger. Whataburger! and the other chains mentioned here are in a completely different class

When I was a kid I LOVED A&W Hamburgers and Fries (and of course the root beer floats) but that was 40+ years ago and I have not had one since then.
It was a weekly family outing for us and it was not only a fun dinner it was a fun experience.