This Midwest-Based Chain Holds The Title For Best Fast Food Chocolate Milkshake

While Wendy's, McDonald's, and Burger King offer some goodies that are hard to improve on, some of the tastiest fast food items in America come from smaller, more regional chains. Consider the chocolate milkshake, for instance. While a Frosty won't do you wrong, the pinnacle of shake perfection arguably comes from Midwest-based chain Culver's. In fact, we tasted and ranked 10 fast food chocolate milkshakes to find the best of the best, so we're not making this bold statement lightly.

Culver's cleverly takes advantage of the high-quality dairy from its home state of Wisconsin. Not only are Culver's signature (and brilliant) burgers called ButterBurgers, but every restaurant also serves frozen custard, which is essentially a richer, denser, fattier form of ice cream made with extra egg yolks. This is a big contributor to the awesomeness of the chain's chocolate shake. Our taste tester loved the ultra-thick and creamy texture that beats the pants off of inferior drinks with watery, icy consistencies.

Culver's shake also delivers on chocolate flavor, but it's not overly sweet. It's sure to please kids who want a simple, classic chocolate treat, as well as adults who would like a quality dessert that doesn't come off as artificial and cloying. Fast food opinions die hard, though, and there's no accounting for personal taste. Some find Culver's chocolate shake to be too mild in flavor, even if the texture is spot-on. To fix this, you may be able to pull off an ordering hack that really ups the chocolate ante.

We think Culver's chocolate shake is one of the best fast food milkshakes ever, but it's not as cocoa-loaded as some customers would like. While the chain sells a chocolate frozen custard, all of its shakes start with a vanilla base, and flavorings like chocolate syrup are blended in. If you want the most chocolatey shake possible, the staff at your local Culver's may accommodate a popular ordering trick: asking for chocolate custard instead of vanilla.

As with any "secret menu" item, you should be as specific as possible when ordering your modified Culver's shake. One Reddit user explained what to ask for and how to tell if the staff understood your request. "Ask for a chocolate shake made with chocolate custard and chocolate syrup," said the Redditor. "If they ring it in and [the receipt] does not read 'sub choc,' they are ringing it in wrong." Many Culver's fans report consistent success with this trick, but it may present presents some challenges.

Culver's milkshake machines are only stocked with the regular vanilla base, so if you ask to sub in chocolate, workers usually make the shake by mixing milk freehand into chocolate custard. If you don't want to trouble the staff at a busy store, kick up your shake by asking for a second add-in. Hot fudge is an obvious choice to make your drink chocolicious, but peanut butter, strawberry, and salted caramel would also be divine combined with the chocolate syrup.