Who makes the best fast food double cheeseburger? It’s a question we’ve asked ourselves over and over again, and we’ve done all sorts of tests, from comparing them — from ranking nearly 20 to breaking the burger down to just the patty. After various attempts to answer that question, we’ve accepted that our number one is always changing.
New burgers come and go and quality control varies from restaurant to restaurant. And while it isn’t easy to crown a single burger as the absolute best, we’ve got a shortlist of amazing cheeseburgers that we could recommend depending on what exactly you want from a burger (are you a decadent and indulgent burger lover, do you want something simple but delicious, or are you looking for something more creative and elevated?)
With that said, we were surprised when USA Today published a burger ranking as part of its annual Readers’ Choice 10 Best, and named The Habit’s Double Charburger as the “Best Fast Food Burger,” of 2024. Maybe we needed to give this growing chain’s burger a second look. So we put it up against the double cheeseburger from our current favorite chain (Shake Shack) and the most hyped/ debated chain on earth In-N-Out.
Here’s how the three double cheeseburgers fared in a blind battle.
Methodology:
In 2023, we named Shake Shack’s Double Shack burger as the best basic (meat, cheese, sauce, lettuce, tomato) double cheeseburger in all of fast food. While I think the Shake Shack burger is the best tasting, In-N-Out (USA Today’s #2 pick) is my go-to since it’s cheap, high quality, and delicious.
Because all three burgers have similar builds this feels like a fair battle, so we rounded up all three, took photos (including a center cut for those that are into that), shuffled ‘em up, and I tasted each under cover of a blindfold.
The results took me by surprise. Let’s get into the details.
Part 1: The Blind Double Cheeseburger Taste Test
Taste 1:
Even though I’m only dealing with a half of a burger here, this thing is seriously hefty. The meat is a bit dry but has a wonderful smokey and beefy flavor, with thick slices of caramelized onion providing a lot of aromatics and upping the savory quality.
If I had one gripe it’s the lettuce. It’s a bit too watery and adds a slightly bitter flavor to the finish.
Taste 2:
The meat on this burger really puts into perspective how dry Taste 1 was. This stuff practically melts in your mouth. It’s juicy, savory, beefy, and has salty and crispy bits on the edge of the patty that taste pretty damn addicting. I love the produce here too, the tomato is juicy, the lettuce is mellow and slightly floral, and the onions provide a sharp finish.
My only gripe here is that the onions are raw, but they don’t seem overbearing or intrusive to the overall flavor profile.
Taste 3:
Very bready, salty, and onion-forward. What I can taste of the beef is very good, but most of the flavor is brought by the cheese, caramelized onions, and wonderfully tangy burger sauce. I got a major gripe here though, the bun is over-toasted to the point that it crunches. If you like that in a burger, you’ll love this, but for me that makes this one the clear loser of this blind taste test.
Part 2: The Double Cheeseburger Ranking
3. In-N-Out — Double Double
This was the big shocker for me. I love In-N-Out but now after this they might come and revoke my California residency. What held this burger back was the bun, it was toasted to the point of being toast — I feel buns that are lightly grilled to the point of still being spongey help to compliment the savory flavor of a cheeseburger better.
This didn’t deliver that for me.
The Bottom Line:
A great burger, but we have to rank these things, and this one, unfortunately, offered the least enjoyable experience.
2. The Habit — Double Char Burger
I have to hand it to the readers of USA Today, this was a great cheeseburger and I’m genuinely shocked I enjoyed it better than my beloved In-N-Out. But for a full meal with fries and a drink, it’s a bit more expensive than what In-N-Out offers ($13 vs $10) so while I liked this, I don’t know how often I would choose it.
Still, I’ve yet to find a fast food chain that does charbroiled burgers better than the Habit, so if you’re looking for that flavor specifically, it’s certainly worth picking up.
The Bottom Line:
There is some significant hype behind this burger right now, and it lives up to it. If you love charbroiled burgers specifically, you can’t go wrong here.
1. Shake Shack — Double Shack
Let me just say — if for some reason it wasn’t clear — that every burger we tasted today was amazing. You really can’t go wrong with any of these, but if you’re looking for the clear and absolute best, it’s Shake Shack’s Double Shack, and the other burgers don’t even come close.
Everything from the texture and flavor of the meat to the veggies and bread is better here. It’s the only burger in today’s lineup that I would describe as mouth-watering, the only burger that melted in my mouth, and the only burger that made me instantly want to eat the other half.
It’s also the most expensive burger in the line-up, so if that’s a deal-breaker for you, you might want to dry our number two pick.
The Bottom Line:
Our clear winner. This burger is truly next level, and although it sells for a premium price ($10.49 just for the sandwich in Los Angeles), it’s worth every penny. It doesn’t come as a complete surprise that Shake Shack took the number one spot for us, but what took us aback was just how far ahead of the other two this one was.
If you’re looking for the best fast food double cheeseburger your money could buy, this is the one.
