The best cheeseburger: taste test in 4 fast food chains

Are you in for a taste test?

How about the best cheeseburger!

Do you often eat at a fast food chain?

We quite enjoy a burger and fries from time to time.

Especially when we travel.

Airport restaurants and food can be quite expensive. And what to grab when you are in a rush?

A simple burger on the go is often the fastest choice.

Fast food.

Here in Antwerp the choice between fast food burger chains is quite limited.

Last time we were in US for example, there was practically one on every corner so to speak.

With names we hadn’t even heard of.

Fast food burger chains

McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Five Guys, Shake Shack.

Yes.

But Jack in the Box, In-N-Out Burger, Whataburger, Hardee’s, Culver’s, Jack’s, Smashburger?

No.

In other words, way more options for an ultimate best cheeseburger taste test!

It was in fact Mark Wiens who did a similar taste test in the USA in one of his YouTube videos that gave us the idea to do something similar.

Back to Antwerp, Belgium.

Gourmet burger restaurants have been popping up here and there. Our favorite: De Burgerij. And Ellis Gourmet Burger, Sticky Fingers and Manhattn’s Burgers.

We might do a gourmet burger taste test later on.

But let’s stick to the fast food for now.

Which fast food burger chains do we have here?

McDonald’s, Burger King, Five Guys and Quick.

Quick Belgium

Quick might not ring a bell.

It is a Belgian burger chain that was founded in 1971 and it was sold to Burger King in 2016.

Quick restaurants only exist in Belgium, France, Luxembourg and a couple of former French African colonies. We thought long and hard whether we would include them here in our best cheeseburger taste test or not.

Since there is a Quick restaurant right opposite the Five Guys here in Antwerp and Luc felt like he could eat one more cheeseburger, we decided on the spot that we would give it a try as well.

Enough talk, let’s kick this best cheeseburger taste test off!

To give all 4 fast food chains the same chance to complete for the title of best cheeseburger, we decided to go for a burger that is more or less the same everywhere.

We didn’t order any extra toppings, fries or drinks.

Just double cheeseburgers.

Best cheeseburger taste test

1) Burger King Double Cheese

Their description: “Two flame-grilled beef patties topped with a simple layer of melted cheese, pickles, yellow mustard, and ketchup on a toasted sesame seed bun.”

We can immediately taste smokiness of the patties. Other than that the meat is barely seasoned and it lacks texture. Even though we can see 2 patties in this cheeseburger, the meat almost has the same texture as the bun. Not a lot to chew on. The cheese and sauces are also quite tasteless. The sesame bun has a nice and bouncy texture though.

Overall quite smokey and bland.

Price: €3,25

(Address: Meir 1, Antwerp)

2) McDonald’s Double Cheese

Their description: “A flavourful classic: 2 100% beef patties, 2 slices of melted cheddar, 2 slices of pickle, 2 sauces, ketchup, and mustard… Twice the pleasure!”

We could actually just copy and paste the same review we gave to the previous cheeseburger. Again, quite bland. The 2 beef patties are there for sure but again lack in texture, seasoning and flavor. The bun is grilled on the inside and a little crunchy but that is the only texture you get, together with the sliced pickle.

Price: €2,50

(Address: De Keyserlei 58/60, Antwerp)

3) Five Guys Cheeseburger

Their description: “Two slices of American-style cheese melted between two freshly grilled patties on a soft toasted bun.”

We ordered this cheeseburger with sliced pickle, mustard and ketchup as a topping to match the 2 other cheeseburgers.

This cheeseburger weighs heavy. The patties are irregular in shape but quite thick and nicely seared. Way more cheese, sauces and toppings. The bun keeps it all together. The meat is well seasoned, quite coarse in texture which doesn’t give it a processed and cheap mouth feel. Tastes more like a homemade burger patty. The mustard is strong, the ketchup sweet and plentiful. The cheese isn’t very flavorful but gives this burger a lovely creaminess.

Price: €10,00

(Address: De Keyserlei 11, Antwerp)

4) Quick Double Cheese

Their description: “A soft bun, 2 patties, 2 slices of pickle, chopped raw onion and above all: 2 slices of melted cheddar cheese for a doubly irresistible burger!”

This is the greasiest cheeseburger of them all. The bun is a bit oily. The toppings are as expected, OK but nothing more. The cheese is alright, not a lot of flavor but nicely creamy. Even though the burger patties look very thin, they have a little bit of a seared and caramelised texture to them. The meat is well seasoned . The chopped raw onion gives it another interesting fresh texture. The bun is very thin though, it looks more like a sandwich.

Price: €3,00

(Address: De Keyserlei 22, Antwerp)

And the award for best cheeseburger goes to…

So what is the best cheeseburger?

Drum roll…

Five Guys!

Yes, and it is also the most expensive of them all but definitely worth it.

The Five Guys cheeseburger is really good. Like we said before, it looks and tastes more like a cheeseburger you would make at home from scratch. It is a heavy burger, and contains a generous amount of meat. Especially the ratio meat, bread, cheese and toppings is the best.

This cheeseburger great lunch bite that will make you feel full for much longer.

For the price of one of Five Guys’ best cheeseburger, you can you easily all 3 other cheeseburgers. However next time we definitely would go for Five Guys again. That cheeseburger was really good, satisfying and filling.

Five Guys serves the best cheeseburger here in Antwerp if you ask us!

In second place: Quick.

Followed by Burger King and McDonald’s.

How about you?

So what is according to you the best cheeseburger?

Have you tried Five Guys before?

What did you think?

Let us know in the comments below.

We’d love to hear from you!