I Tried Cheeseburgers From 6 Fast Food Chains—One Was Easily The Best

• Shake Shack took the top spot thanks to its flavorful beef, melted cheese, and ideal bun ratio.
• Five Guys came in second, while McDonald’s landed in last place.

There’s nothing like a good, juicy burger. Sometimes, they just hit the spot.

But fast food burgers can be hard to compare because every chain builds theirs differently. Some come loaded with pickles, onions, sauces, lettuce, and tomato, while others keep things much simpler.

So to truly discover which fast food chain is the ultimate burger king (pun intended), I stripped everything down and ordered a cheeseburger with just meat and cheese, no frills. For me, a good fast food burger comes down to three things: Juicy, flavorful meat; properly melted cheese; and a good meat-to-bun ratio.

If the bun overwhelms the patty or the beef is dry, no amount of toppings will save it. With that in mind, I got to eating—here’s how six of the most popular chains’ cheeseburgers fared.

• 6. McDonald’s

McDonald’s landed in last place: The patty was dry, and the cheese barely melted, which made the whole burger taste flat from the start. The beef tasted like meat and not much else, with so little seasoning or richness that it had no real personality.

I could also barely taste the cheese, which is kind of impressive considering there were no toppings competing with it. This one desperately needed something more.

• 5. Wendy’s

Wendy’s was a little more promising because the patty itself was juicy and the cheese was nicely melted. The problem here was the bun. It was so thick and bready compared with the patty's size that the ratio felt off.

After a few bites, I was left with a mouthful of bread, which somehow made the entire burger feel drier than it actually was. The meat and cheese were decent, but the bun overwhelmed everything else.

• 4. Sonic

There was nothing particularly wrong with Sonic’s cheeseburger. The cheese was melted, the meat-to-bun ratio was solid, and the patty was juicy enough. It was a perfectly fine burger.

The issue was that the meat just didn’t have as much flavor as the burgers that made it into the top three. Once you remove all the toppings, the beef really has to do most of the work, and Sonic’s didn’t stand out enough to move higher.

• 3. Burger King

Burger King genuinely surprised me. The cheese came through nicely, but the flame-grilled flavor of the meat was what really made this one stand out. It had a smoky, savory taste none of the other burgers had, which gave it more personality even without toppings.

This was one of the few burgers where stripping everything down actually made me appreciate the beef more.

• 2. Five Guys

Five Guys came very close to taking the top spot. The cheese was perfectly melted, the meat was juicy and flavorful, and the burger had a great meat-to-bun ratio.

Every bite felt balanced, with enough bun to hold everything together without taking attention away from the patty. This was exactly what I wanted from a simple cheeseburger.

It was rich, savory, and satisfying without needing anything else.

• 1. Shake Shack

Not to my surprise, Shake Shack came out on top. The cheese was perfectly melted, the meat was easily the most flavorful of the group, and the bun-to-meat ratio was basically perfect. The patty had a deep savory flavor and stayed juicy through every bite.

What really made it stand out was how complete it tasted with absolutely nothing else on it. When you strip a cheeseburger down that far, there is nowhere for a weak patty to hide—and Shake Shack didn’t need to hide anything.