McDonald’s At the Bottom of Consumer Reports Burger Ratings

CR Oct '10 Cover YONKERS, NY — McDonald’s may have served billions of burgers, but according to a recent survey of 28,000 Consumer Reports’ subscribers, they fall at the bottom of the list among fast-food restaurants. Among the standouts were In-N-Out Burger and Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The full report and Ratings are available in the magazine’s October issue and on www.ConsumerReports.org.

“In this case, the bigger-name burger wasn’t better” said Tod Marks, senior project editor for Consumer Reports. “The Five Guys patty was more flavorful, juicy and meaty tasting.”

Consumer Reports recently polled 28,000 online subscribers and asked them to rate the burgers they had eaten on their last visit on a scale of 1 to 10 from least delicious burger ever eaten to most. We rated 18 fast-food restaurants across the country. Although other popular fast-food chains such as Wendy’s and Burger King fared better than McDonald’s, they scored far worse than the highest-rated chains. Other fast-food frontrunners noted for their delicious burgers included Fuddruckers, Burgerville and Back Yard Burgers.

In addition to conducting the survey, Consumer Reports sent a reporter to make an informal comparison of the fare at Five Guys and McDonald’s (he couldn’t get his hands on an In-N-Out Burger). Five Guys basic burger of two 3.3-ounce griddled patties on a lightly browned sesame seed bun was bigger and beefier came with a $5 price tag and offered 15 free topping choices. McDonald’s $1-burger – a 3.5 ounce patty with pickle slices, bits of raw onion, and a dab of ketchup and mustard on a lightly browned bun – tasted mild and more greasy than beefy with the major flavor coming from the toppings.

The full report and Ratings of burgers is available in the October issue of Consumer Reports available on newsstands September 7th wherever magazines are sold and on www.ConsumerReports.org.

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