This Fast Food Chain's Bacon Cheeseburger Is Easily The Best Of The Best

A bacon cheeseburger is the ultimate American classic, and every major fast food burger chain offers one. We were more than happy to taste bacon cheeseburgers from 8 different fast food restaurants to find the very best, and Five Guys' Little Bacon Cheeseburger found its way to the very top. Five Guys certainly spares no expense (and neither do you) on its high-quality ingredients, but the Little Bacon Cheeseburger is worth its weight in gold. You can taste the quality of the rich beef patties, made with Five Guys' superior 80/20 ratio of lean beef to fat for an especially beefy umami.

The smash method Five Guys uses creates a juicy, tender burger with crispy, smashed edges. Where the superiority of ingredients really beats the competition is with the applewood-smoked bacon. While we tended to temper our expectations for fast food bacon, Five Guys bacon is good enough to compete with sit-down restaurants. It was perfectly crispy and crackly with a decadent fat content that made it melt in our mouths after the initial crunch.

The American-style cheese was the literal icing on the cake, coating the burger and bacon in a creamy, gooey blanket. The sesame bun was soft and fluffy yet sturdy enough to hold the hearty patty, bacon, and fresh toppings. Speaking of toppings, Five Guys wins even more points for variety. While we kept things simple with lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo, you can customize your burger with as many of their 15 toppings as your heart desires.

Online reviews of the Little Bacon Cheeseburger echoed our elevation of this Five Guys burger to the top, praising the freshness of the toppings, the assembly of the burger, and how the toppings being spread on the top and bottom of the burger patty offered a more balanced and satisfying bite. For some, the little burger is the perfect size, as two patties could be too much. One YouTube reviewer recommended ordering the meal "all the way" for customers who are too overwhelmed by the wealth of different toppings. It comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mushrooms, mayo, mustard, and ketchup. The onion and mushroom pack an aromatic and umami kick that really complements the umami of the beef and bacon.

While naysayers on Reddit criticized the high prices of the regular burgers, the little burgers and fries combos are significantly more affordable. And, based on additional reviews, the burger is more than satisfying for adult appetites, and the fries are plentiful to the point of overflowing. Five Guys fries are some of our favorite fast food fries as well, perhaps because they're fried in peanut oil. If you're avoiding the bun, you can always go for the complex secret menu hack that loads your fries with a patty, cheese, and bacon, not to mention any combination of toppings and condiments. Round out your bacon cheeseburger and fries meal with one of Five Guys' handspun milkshakes.