Monday, April 03, 2006

In & Out Burger vs Fatburger vs Jack in the Box Part TWO!!!

OVERVIEW

As I wrote in a blog last week, I was in California for a work trip. The west coast amazes me in that they have the best hamburger joints in the country.

Whenever I am on the west coast, I am sure to eat hamburgers at these places. On this trip, I was alone so it was easier for me to stop in and munch away on these delectable delicacies...

When you pull into a fast food joint in Jersey, you expect to order, pay at the next window, grab your food and be back on the road in 4-5 minutes... TOPS.

At these places, the minimum wait is 10-15 minutes as they are literally preparing each burger as you order and to the order.

Fat Burger

As you know, the first place I went to was Fat Burger. My camera was still in the bag and I didn't get any pictures of the burger. I ordered a Fat Burger with cheese and tomatoes. It came out grilled to perfection with cheese. The "skinny" fries that I ordered with it were a bit disappointing, but still. My wait in the line was 20 minutes. It was alright as I was listening to Florida's second round game in the NCAA tourney.

In & Out Burger

The second place I visited the next day was In & Out Burger. This is a favorite of Sharico's and I not surprised. The location is fun and the staff is the nicest of the three places.

As you pull up, you will see that the menu isn't that difficult. You also don't have to talk through the microphone. What you actually see here is the line in front of me and we have already ordered our meals. I didn't want to take her picture, but since the weather is so mild, there was a person outside wearing a keyboard around her neck taking everyone's order. Freaky.



So... I waited the 14 minutes and I got my burger.



My Double Double with cheese was pretty tasty and I wouldn't complain at all but I have to absolutely honest with you. It wasn't nearly as good as a Fat Burger. Yeup... that's right... in head to head competition, Fat Burger has won over In & Out Burger...

Side note. Why do all the burger joints out there not fully wrap their burgers. They leave it so you can eat them right away... much like anything you order from the infamous Rutgers Grease Trucks...

Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box has been mentioned in a variety of television shows over the years and I have never really eaten there until last year. Muh wife and I got some quick food before we continued on our volcano trip on the Big Island in Hawaii.



Jack in the Box has two distinct features to its menu. They serve breakfast sandwiches all the time and their burgers, aside from the regular buns, can be served on Sourdough bread. That is key. I really liked the Sourdough bread experiment that Burger King had a few years ago and I was sad that the experiment didn't work out here.

So... I ordered a Sourdough Burger...



It was delicious. What looks like mustard in the picture was actually a type of cheese as there were two types of cheese on the burger.

In a head to head battle with In & Out Burger, the Jack in the Box burger won... primarilly to the mucho amounts of cheese and since it was sourdough.

When I compared it to Fat Burger though... ummmm... it still didn't compare... Fat Burger would remain the ultimate burger champion.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I am suddenly starving and contemplating looking up flights to California. Your In N Out experience may have been different had you ordered it "animal style." Regardless, I may need to drive to Rockaway and give Fatburger a shot.
-Shari

Smelmooo said...

Animal style had onions... :)

Oh well... maybe next time...

;-)

steakbellie said...

'Animal Style'?
I havent eaten at any of these places but I'd be willing to travel for anything that is Animal Style.

If this were a Kung Fu movie, and I knew animal Style, The Shao Lin Temple never would have burned down in the first place.....

Anonymous said...

Heh. Animal style is on the "secret menu" at In-N-Out. I thought my friends were playing a joke on me and trying to get me to embarass myself. Not so much.
-Shari

http://www.in-n-out.com/secretmenu.asp

steakbellie said...

damn a secret menu toboot....

that rocks....

kneel said...

In N Out is very much a native Cal thing. Those born and bred there will swear by them and their 20 minute waits. Even after 10 years, they did nothing for me. But the best burgers in the West are at Farmer Boys or Carl's Jr.

Smart Packaging said...
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