McDonald's may have served billions of burgers, but according to a recent survey of 28,000 Consumer Reports' subscribers, they fall at the bottom of the list among fast-food restaurants. Among the standouts were In-N-Out Burger and Five Guys Burgers and Fries.
"In this case, the bigger-name burger wasn't better" said Tod Marks, Senior Project Editor for CR. "The Five Guys patty was more flavorful, juicy and meaty tasting."
The magazine recently polled 28,000 online subscribers and asked them to rate the burgers they had eaten on their last visit on a scale of 1 to 10 -- from least delicious burger ever eaten to most. Eighteen fast-food restaurants across the country were rated.
Although other popular fast-food chains such as Wendy's and Burger King fared better than McDonald's, they scored far worse than the highest-rated chains. Other fast-food frontrunners noted for their delicious burgers included Fuddruckers, Burgerville and Back Yard Burgers.
On-scene ratings
In addition to conducting the survey, Consumer Reports sent a reporter to make an informal comparison of the fare at Five Guys and McDonald's (he couldn't get his hands on an In-N-Out Burger).
Five Guys basic burger of two 3.3-ounce griddled patties on a lightly browned sesame seed bun was bigger and beefier came with a $5 price tag and offered 15 free toppings choices. McDonald's $1-burger -- a 3.5 ounce patty with pickle slices, bits of raw onion, and a dab of ketchup and mustard on a lightly browned bun -- tasted mild and more greasy than beefy with the major flavor coming from the toppings, in the opinion of the CR reporter.Attitude
It isn't just the quality of the food that can have an effect on the consumer. Corrine of Spring Hill, FL, tells ConsumerAffairs.com of an interesting incident involving a local McDonald's.
"I waited in line in their lobby for about a minute and a-half and was very impressed with their speed of service. I placed my order and got it all in about thirty seconds. The crewmember was very polite and I didn't have any complaints what-so-ever. I was shocked, I thought I would offer some compliments, and I asked the crewmember if I could speak to a manager." Then, she says, things started to go downhill.
"The manager comes up to me and says, 'What?' -- but with the tone as if I were a piece of scum. I told her that her employee was polite and that I was very impressed with the store and the manager said, 'Yep and I suppose you want something for free, don't you?' "
The result, says Corrine, "I bypass this McDonald's now because several times after this happened, I will come in and hear the manager say, 'Here comes that *****' or she'll say something snide."
