Another vote for Fuddruckers. There used to be one in Columbus but its been closed for years. Now I stop at the one in Janesville on my way to visit my son and his family in Madison.

Just returned from the nearest RR to us. Burgers were very good. I recalled the posting here about slow french fry refills so I ordered one when my burger arrived. Worked out well. Good service. No issues at all.

Five Guys nearest us is very good as well. Fuddruckers closed also.

RR is terrible, just terrible. I've never had a good meal there and I've been there probably a dozen times with friends or clients (not my choice).

Fuddruckers is great and I'm fortunate that a new one opened less than a year ago about 10 minutes from me. Place has always been busy when I've been there.

RR is another one of the "food Nazis" that won't cook a burger to order. Even when you order one with "some pink" (what kind of shit is that?) it comes out grey all the way through. Thin patties, you have to order extra pickles and onions just to get enough to cover the patties, slow service and overpriced.

Chilis, 5 Brothers and Smashburger are no better. If you won't cook my burger to order then your food isn't safe.

My current favorites are Zinburger, The Counter, Flemings and a local bar and grill.

Either half the forum has no clue what a good burger tastes like or RR is wildly inconsistent.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Either half the forum has no clue what a good burger tastes like or RR is wildly inconsistent.

I'll go with choice # 2 as the more likely one.

RR out here is excellent, maybe because it was founded here? I love that place.

I thought it was a French fry place

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
I thought it was a lousy French fry place

Fixed it for you (in bold).

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Either half the forum has no clue what a good burger tastes like or RR is wildly inconsistent.

You might be right about half the forum not having a clue what a good burger tastes like if they only tried them at Red Robin.

We had one here in the mid/late 90's. Over rated, over priced, loud and boisterious. They only lasted about 5 years.

Closed and left and I have not missed them at all.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Either half the forum has no clue what a good burger tastes like or RR is wildly inconsistent.

I'll go with choice # 2 as the more likely one.

That happens with chains. There's a Chik-fil-A near us that we stopped going to, because the service was so bad. As in, had words with the manager about in on the way out bad, never to return.

As to RR, we have 3 of them near us. We eat at the one with the best service- always good food good service never had a problem. One of the 3 we had lousy service. It's also the busiest of the 3. I can't explain it.

When we lived back east I enjoyed Fuddruckers but they were borderline too greasy (they soaked the buns in faux butter). Then they all went out of business.

Five Guys... Been to about half a dozen of them now in two different states. Fantastic fries and enormous portions, but dry leathery burgers.

Fatburger, Smashburger, etc. Serviceable but not worth the markup for a fast food-ish experience.

Culver's I feel the same way about as Fuddruckers. Delicious and filling (extra emphasis on FILLING) but bordering on too greasy because they soak everything in something butter-like.

Freddy's makes a great fast food burger. One near us we go to regularly.

Steak and Shake is kind of like Freddy's but with everything made from much cheaper ingredients (yes, you can tell) to sell more cheaply. Still not *bad*, just cheap.

They're having serious financial issues as a chain read in news recently..

Just ate at a new Freddy's that opened in the area yesterday.

Burger was OK but a bit salty and the thin style fries were good.
The custard had small ice chips in it which detracted from the creamy texture.

Being a new location, they were obviously suffering from poorly trained and/or mismanaged employees.
I'll give them another shot in a few weeks but at this time they got nothing on Culver's other than being about 10~15 miles closer to home.
Will also need to try their Vienna Hot Dogs, one the the few things that I miss from the Shitcago, Hellinois area.

That stated, the food at Freddy's was still better than at Red Robin and was much less expensive as well.

quote:

Originally posted by GregY:
[Five Guys... Been to about half a dozen of them now in two different states. Fantastic fries and enormous portions, but dry leathery burgers.

Exactly. Some of the best fries and worst burgers that I have had. Burgers overcooked and 100% flavor free.

quote:

Just ate at a new Freddy's that opened in the area yesterday.

The custard aside, I don't think they're much different than Steak N Shake but at a higher price.

I like RR. I love the endless broccoli. Judge away, but it is delicious.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

quote:

Just ate at a new Freddy's that opened in the area yesterday.

The custard aside, I don't think they're much different than Steak N Shake but at a higher price.

I was thinking it was more of a cross between In & Out burger and Steak N Shake, with extremely SLOW service.

quote:

Originally posted by Revolution37:
I like RR. I love the endless broccoli. Judge away, but it is delicious.

There's more than one of them!

We have a friend who swears by the endless broccoli, with fry seasoning. She always says something like 'I know this is crazy, but it's GOOD'.

Never really had a bad experience at red robin except the one they built right by my house is designed horribly and the seats are WAY too close to each other so I drive the 15 miles to a better designed red robin...Fuddruckers does have a pretty good burger too.... Surprisingly Denny's has really improved their burger a lot