I Tried Cheeseburgers From 8 Fast Food Chains And Ranked Them

Cheeseburgers are a familiar and comforting option when you're perusing the never-ending menu at a fast food restaurant. Menus can be long, confusing, and often have such a tiny font that you need a telescope to read through them all. For the most part, you know what you're going to get with a cheeseburger. At its most basic, you know your order will include a burger patty, cheese, and a bun, but some eateries have more accoutrements that add flavor, texture, and even color to the dish.

I set out on a mission to try a selection of fast food restaurant cheeseburgers to see which one really makes the best. You very likely have all of these near you, except for one that's slightly more regional (more on that later). I judged these burgers primarily on flavor, but the heartiness, presentation, and value also came into play. Come with me on a jaunt throughout my city to test out the eight fast food chain cheeseburgers. Together, we'll discover which makes the most bun-believable burger and which you can just leave on the grill.

Wendy's Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe comes with the sandwich bun, Jr. Hamburger patty, American cheese, sweet onion, tomato, lettuce, pickles, ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard. I like the addition of the mayo, which, paired with ketchup and mustard, makes a super flavorful condiment base. Plus, it has a solid topping list for a fast food burger, but the burger patty itself is tasteless compared to others on this list. I ate it along with the Burger King option purely because the restaurants are located nearby, and Burger King's taste was clearly superior when eaten side-by-side. 

Wendy's iteration became overshadowed by the condiments and even the potent onion pieces. Additionally, Wendy's bun felt cold, and the cheese was completely unmelted, as if both had been pulled directly from the fridge, which made a strange combination of hot and cold — and not in a refreshing crisp lettuce type of way. If the burger had been more flavorful, this would've ranked sixth because of the toppings and heartiness, but as it is, it gets the last-place spot. It's not a bad burger at all, and I might be inclined to give it a second chance, but for the sake of comparison, there are better burgers on this list.

The Carl's Jr. Big Cheeseburger is a bit of a misnomer. It was so surprisingly small that I double-checked my receipt and wrapper. After confirming that I received the correct order, I felt a bit disappointed. The cheeseburger is flat, like someone accidentally sat on the bag or perhaps slammed it against the wall, and the bun appears deflated. I suppose the width is bigger than some of the others on this list (perhaps that's the big part of the name), rather than the overall height of the cheeseburger. But it just seemed a little smaller, less filled, and flatter than I anticipated. 

The burger is relatively standard, with a burger patty, sesame bun, American cheese, onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. The mild char flavor of the charbroiled burger adds needed depth, but I had to really think about it as I chewed to detect it. It brings a smidge of added flavor compared to Wendy's, but other than that flavor kick, the cheeseburger isn't especially interesting. Plus, the texture was a little rubbery. The onion and pickles are sparse and don't add enough flavor to make them worth being added as toppings. Carl's Jr.'s Big Cheeseburger is filling enough, but I'd pick some others over it.

Next up, we have the Burger King cheeseburger, which comes with American cheese, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. It's a no-fuss, minimal burger, but at least it looks really nice and photo-friendly. I even said out loud that the burger bun looked absolutely perfect, so the presentation alone gives it a lead over Carl's Jr.'s smashed burger (not to be confused with a smash burger), despite almost the same ingredients – BK's doesn't have onions, though, and given that Carl's Jr. was so minimal in its onion, that ingredient didn't make much of a difference. 

Plus, you can add some to your BK burger at no charge. Next time, I'd go that route. You could also add BBQ sauce or mayo if desired. I appreciate the flame-grilled flavor as an added flavor enhancer, and the burger is a couple of dollars cheaper than Carl's, which is always welcome in this economy. The partially melted cheese could use a bit more melting, but it's not too egregious. So, the overall appearance, flavor, and value give BK a higher position than Carl's Jr.

Sonic's Sonic Cheeseburger is pretty loaded with its burger patty, a slice of American cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, a toasted bun, ketchup, and mayo. You can even get mustard or one of the chain's condiment packets, such as ranch dressing or Groovy Sauce, added on the side. The burger is pretty large and satisfying, with enough condiments to make it flavorful. The cheese is nicely melted with an appropriate amount of mayo and ketchup to offer flavor throughout the entire sandwich. 

I like the addition of the toasted bun, which adds another level of elevation that none of the burgers so far have offered. The chain notes that the burger is seasoned but doesn't specify with what; it doesn't stand out as the most complex burger, but at least it's tasty on its own, and the toppings add a touch of dimension and texture. I'm not a fan of shredded lettuce in this application, but at least the burger is more filling and captivating than Burger King's. Sonic's smashburger topped out in a Tasting Table ranking as the best out of seven chains, so that might be a worthy purchase, too.

I can't help but enjoy a McDonald's cheeseburger. I have to assume it's the nostalgia factor, because it's a pretty bare-bones burger when you look at it, and the non-melted cheese isn't too pleasant. It actually looks like a whole lot of nothing, but it has a bun, a 100% beef patty, a slice of pasteurized processed American cheese, diced onions, sliced pickles, and a bit of ketchup and mustard. I like to get extra pickles, but that's just me. Of course, the burger itself isn't the best, but the fast food chain really has the proportions down; the small patty and small bun work together, so it doesn't feel too bready. 

At the same time, it's smashed and flat in appearance (this isn't a one-time thing, either; that's just how they look). It's not too filling, but it's a reliable burger. I think the mustard and ketchup ratio helps to set it apart by adding flavor to every bite, while the pickles provide added tanginess. These all bring added flavor to the entire burger. McDonald's certainly has the convenience factor, considering how many global locations it has, but is it the best, most flavorful, filling cheeseburger I've tried? No. Perhaps the triple cheeseburger would be a better option, as it came up as the No. 2 pick in a McDonald's burger ranking. Still, Mickey D's tops Sonic's thanks to the flavor proportions.

I'm a somewhat new Del Taco fan; I've come to love it after trying a selection of popular Del Taco items for a ranking. For that ranking, I tried the Bacon Double Del Cheeseburger, which ranked fairly low because the bacon felt lacking. At least for the sake of a cheeseburger ranking, the regular Double Del cheeseburger fared well enough. It looks quite nice and is filling thanks to the patties, lettuce, tomatoes, and sesame bun. The patties are very thin, and they're stacked right on top of each other with a delicate, nearly invisible layer of melted cheese. 

The lettuce is shredded, which makes it inconvenient and messy to eat — pieces fall out with nearly every bite. There's a smidge of burger sauce, which brings a lightly tangy taste thanks to vinegar, pickle relish, tomato paste, and spices. The flavor and all the elements inside this burger are good and pleasant enough but not crave-worthy. While it's the best burger so far, I wasn't as impressed with this Del Taco menu item as I was with the next two on this list. Additionally, my burger needed more cheese (there's supposed to be two pieces, but it felt like half a piece, if that). But overall, it gets third place over McDonald's thanks to the presentation and how filling it is. 

The Jumbo Jack Cheeseburger creation features a split top bun, jumbo burger patty, American cheese, tomato, lettuce, sliced onion, mayo, ketchup, and the signature buttery sauce. When I tried the Jr. Cheeseburger from Jack in the Box for my roundup of the best fast food kids' meals for adults, I noted that the burger was good, but the bun was dry. To my surprise, the bun on the Jumbo Jack Cheeseburger was my second favorite among the eight options I tried. Here we have a split top buttery bun that sets itself leagues apart from standard or sesame buns. It's denser and more durable, featuring a rich buttery taste. Every time I took a bite, I was happy to do so. 

The burger itself is good enough, nothing too spectacular, but it didn't have any major flaws either. The signature buttery sauce offers more dimension, which helps shoot it up in the ranking. Whoever made my sandwich positively loaded it with a thick wedge of lettuce; it was like I got a free salad with my burger. The onion pieces add a hint of sharpness, enhancing the flavor. That, and the sheer thickness of the bun, made the cheeseburger hefty and filling. The bun, toppings, condiments, and overall heartiness give it a second-place position, even if the patty wasn't as flavorful as some of the charbroiled options. Maybe this is an isolated experience, though, since apparently Jack in the Box is deemed the worst U.S. burger chain according to reviews. Whoever made my burger did a good job then.

I've lived in California for over three decades but only started frequenting In-N-Out Burger in the last decade or so. It simply wasn't something I grew up eating. It was once a regional eatery founded in California, and it still has the bulk of its locations in the state, but now you can find the chain in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. I typically get a Double Double, so I was interested in eating a cheeseburger, which comes with a toasted bun, American cheese, sliced onions, lettuce, tomato, a beef patty, and the company's signature spread. I mean, there's really no competition here. The bun offers an incredible textural dimension, with a slightly soft exterior and a crunchy interior, thanks to the very obvious toasting. The burger patty is flavorful and juicy on its own, while the spread and the toppings only enhance the experience.

I got grilled onion on my cheeseburger, which brings a rich, caramelized flavor. Everything else on this list, while tasty, still has that quick, fast food flavor, whereas In-N-Out is like something you'd get at your friend's house whose parent is known for being great at the grill. The burger is hefty, I mean, look at this thing! The only other burger that could compete with the heartiness is Jack in the Box, which is a big reason why that burger ranked so high. The value is another alluring factor, since In-N-Out's cheeseburger is more affordable than half the options on this list: Del Taco, Sonic, Carl's Jr., and Jack in the Box. Everything about In-N-Out's option is superior, making it the clear fast food cheeseburger winner.

Many of these fast food chains have more than one cheeseburger option. Therefore, for those with multiple cheeseburgers, I tried to select the one that was most similar to the other fast food chains on my list. This usually involved basics like lettuce, tomato, and pickles. For example, Carl's Jr. has several cheeseburgers, one of which has onion rings and bacon. This option would be too much of an outlier, so I didn't pick that one. The taste of the cheeseburger as a whole was the most important factor in this ranking; heartiness was the next most critical. 

While the taste of the burger patty was a factor, I wanted every element to have flavor, including anything from the bun to condiments and any other add-ons. The burger's presentation and value also factor into the ranking. Not every criterion shows up exactly the same for all burgers. Items that were filling, delicious, flavorful, and well-presented ranked higher than those that were lackluster, tiny, or sad in appearance. 

I visited each chain and ate the burger right away to enjoy it at its best; waiting to try them until I gathered all eight burgers would have compromised some of the criteria (taste and presentation). As I ate, I wrote notes on key elements to remember my thoughts at the time of consumption. If you prefer more of a dining experience, you may be interested in finding out which sit-down chain restaurant cheeseburger is the best.