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Shake Shack is kind of weird to me, I really don't get their branding/positioning.  The buildings themselves are modern and sort of upscale, but the food is much more fast food or fast casual.  They're overly pricey for the category their food puts them in, it's like they're trying to compete with boutique/upscale joints but the food experience is closer to an ordinary fast food burger.

I'll stay away

I've never been to Smashburger so can't comment.

Shake Shack is more like a Five Guys than a McDonald's so that's where they should be competing, but the exterior and interior design plus pricing would put them up another level beyond that, but the food itself doesn't justify it.  It's a Five Guys burger in a more upscale/trendier-looking setting, which is why I just don't really get their branding/ID.

All that said, I just looked up their price for a basic burger and they're actually less than Five Guys by several dollars.  A Five Guys burger is now $10.29, apparently?  Wow.  Sounds like I should be calling out Five Guys instead.

I haven't been to either in years because there are just too many great options that are either less expensive for similar food, or a much better food experience for more money.

Shake Shack is more like a Five Guys than a McDonald's so that's where they should be competing, but the exterior and interior design plus pricing would put them up another level beyond that, but the food itself doesn't justify it.  It's a Five Guys burger in a more upscale/trendier-looking setting, which is why I just don't really get their branding/ID.

All that said, I just looked up their price for a basic burger and they're actually less than Five Guys by several dollars.  A Five Guys burger is now $10.29, apparently?  Wow.  Sounds like I should be calling out Five Guys instead.

Got it. That's good context. 

Oh and I agree In n Out should be considered in the straight bottom-rung fast food category alongside McDonald's and Wendy's and BK, and it's superior to all of those.  I don't love it the way the InO Cultists worship it, but it's definitely better than most of its mainstream competitors.

Yeah, a long time ago in some thread here I posted my treatise on In n Out. The cultists who make it out to be the best burger ever are misguided. And those who compare it to something like Five Guys are misgueded. 

In n Out is IMHO the best "fast food" burger on the market. But it's a fast food burger. It's priced as a fast food burger. It's sized as a fast food burger. If you hear the In n Out cultists and are expecting a life-changing experience, you're gonna be disappointed. 

That said, as a Texan, I'm going to ask you... In n Out vs Whataburger? I've only had the latter once, and barely remember it. What's your opinion, and why? 

I guess In-n-Out is the tallest midget, but does that negate that it has the worst fries in the history of mankind? 

Yeah, the fries are terrible. 

I actually like Whoppers, but like many here, I rarely eat fast food.  We stop when driving somewhere is about it.  My wife doesn't like Cracker Barrel or Waffle House or IHOP but curiously likes McDs, I think mostly because they have them in France.  We will go there for breakfast, I'm not a fan otherwise.  I used to stop at BK some nights when returning from the wine bar because of grease.

I don't know how widely spread Farm Burger is, they have a few around here, same with Killer Burger.  Both serve beer which sort of makes them not fast food.  Farm Burger has a deal for $10 a pretty good burger and a beer (Narragansette).

That said, as a Texan, I'm going to ask you... In n Out vs Whataburger? I've only had the latter once, and barely remember it. What's your opinion, and why?

Oh I definitely prefer Whataburger but this is an unfair competition for InO because the Whataburger menu is just so much larger, with so many more options.  They're really not competing in the same category.

On my Whataburger, I can get the usual lettuce and tomato plus bacon, raw or grilled onions, raw, grilled, or pickled jalapenos, New Mexican green chile, avocado, and any number of condiments including mustard, mayo, ketchup, spicy ketchup, BBQ sauce, sweet-hot-sauce.  You can get that on a standard bun, a brioche bun, or Texas toast.  If you like cheese you can add slices of American cheese, slices of Monterrey jack cheese, or shredded cheddar cheese.  Or any combination of the three.

And if you don't want a burger you can get a plain chicken sandwich, a fried chicken sandwich, a chicken strip sandwich, all dressed with any of the options above.

During Lent you can get a fried fish sandwich.

And if you don't want sandwiches you can get just straight up chicken strips.

And if you want breakfast you can get that too, from 11 PM to 11 AM (they're open 24 hours).  You can get pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage patties, hash brown sticks, taquitos, biscuits and gravy, biscuit sandwiches with eggs and sausage patties or eggs and bacon, with either a standard biscuit of a jalapeno cheddar biscuit. 

And because they short-order everything, you can get any combination of any of the above.  For example, if you're there after 11 PM, you can get a jalapeno cheeseburger topped with eggs, bacon, hash brown sticks, and a sausage patty.  I'm not saying you should do this, I'm not saying it's wise, but it can be done, and it has been done.

All that aside, just comparing the burgers themselves, my go-to order at Whataburger (at least when I was younger and had some semblance of a metabolism) is the double bacon cheeseburger with one slice of American cheese, one slice of Monterrey jack cheese, grilled onions, grilled jalapenos, and mustard.

And that beats anything and everything InO can do.  I don't like Thousand Island dressing so I don't like anything "animal style" and last time I was there InO only has what they call "sport peppers" which I think are okay on a sub but absolutely do not want them on my burger.

The fries aren't great at either place, I guess Whateburger's hold out a little longer though.