Looking for a burger with a bit of char, but don't have the time, space, or equipment to make it yourself? These fast food restaurants use real flames to cook their meat, giving their beef patties delicious tastes and textures that a griddle or heating tray could never match.
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00:00Looking for a burger with a bit of char but don't have the time,
00:03space, or equipment to make it yourself? These fast food restaurants use real flames to cook
00:08their meat, giving their beef patties delicious tastes and textures that a griddle or heating tray
00:12could never match. Burger King, the second largest fast food burger chain in the world,
00:17has long been known for its iconic flame-grilled burgers. As the company states on its website,
00:22At Burger King, we have been flame grilling since the day we started in 1954. That's right since
00:27We only use real fire to give you the beef patty you deserve. Burger King's burgers are made using
00:32100 percent beef, with no fillers, preservatives, or additives. The most popular burger sold at
00:38Burger King is, of course, the Whopper, which features a flame-grilled beef patty on a sesame
00:42seed bun topped with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion.
00:47You're sitting at home, nice and comfy, and suddenly you're hungry for a great big juicy
00:52Whopper. Burger King wasn't always called Burger King. When the company began in the 1950s,
00:57it was known as Insta-Burger King, named after the oven it used to make burgers,
01:01the Insta-Broiler. Today, the Insta-Broiler is gone, replaced by the Flame-Broiler,
01:05which led to the chain changing its name in 1961. By the 1970s, Burger King was established
01:11as the second largest burger joint behind McDonald's. Nowadays, Burger King burgers
01:15are cooked on a conveyor belt over fire, and dropped into a tray when they are taken out
01:19and assembled. This gives the burgers a distinct flame-grilled flavor, making them stand apart from
01:23competitors. Wilbur Hardy opened the first Hardys in 1960 in Greenville, North Carolina. After seeing
01:29the success of a recently opened McDonald's in the area, he decided to take advantage of
01:33Americans' newfound love of fast food hamburgers. However, Hardy wanted to give his customers a
01:38slightly different burger than McDonald's offered. He installed chargrills in his restaurants and
01:42sold a simple menu consisting of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, apple pies,
01:47milkshakes, and sodas.
01:49"...McDonald's."
01:49"...McDonald's is right next door, but they don't have a burger like this."
01:52"...No way."
01:53"...They don't even know what sourdough bread is."
01:55The grilled burgers hit the spot, and the company went public in 1963. However,
01:59Hardy sold his company for only $20,000 that same year after losing controlling
02:03shares to his business partners during an alleged night of heavy drinking.
02:07Today, there are Hardys restaurants in 31 states, with most located in the southeast.
02:11North Carolina, the state where it all began, has the most with 214 restaurants as of 2024.
02:17Although Hardy stopped charbroiling burgers for a time, the restaurant returned to cooking the
02:21patties over an open flame beginning in 2003, using Wilbur Hardy's original recipe.
02:26The current menu has expanded quite a bit since its original days and now offers a
02:30variety of choices such as the Frisco Burger, Philly Cheesesteak Burger, and many others.
02:34Fans of Hardy's really seem to enjoy the charbroiled difference.
02:38Carl's Jr. has been offering burgers grilled on an open flame since 1941,
02:42when Carl Karcher opened the first Carl's Jr. as a push cart hot dog stand.
02:46For years, Karcher and his wife expanded by opening a full-service restaurant,
02:50which they named Carl's Drive-In Barbecue. On the menu in that first restaurant were the now
02:55iconic charbroiled burgers. By the 1950s, the Karchers moved into the fast food business with
02:59two quick-serve restaurants that still offered the same charbroiled burgers but at a speedier pace.
03:04Carl's Jr. may appear similar to Hardy's, which makes sense,
03:07since the two are owned by the same parent company.
03:09While Hardy's is popular in the South, Midwest, and East, Carl's Jr. is West Coast-based.
03:15In recent years, both chains have made efforts to distinguish themselves from the other.
03:19Today, Carl's Jr. has grown over to 1,000 locations across 15 states. The chain offers
03:24a wide variety of charbroiled burgers, including options such as a Teriyaki Burger,
03:28Western Bacon Cheeseburger, and Spicy El Diablo. The burgers are known to be massive
03:32and pile-tie with a variety of toppings. It's also the only restaurant that can
03:36sell a Western Bacon Cheeseburger, which it trademarked in the 1980s.
03:40The Western Bacon Cheeseburger, sold as a single or double,
03:43is a large, charbroiled burger with bacon and melted cheese,
03:46pile-tie with onion rings, and smothered in barbecue sauce.
03:49The quick-service restaurant known as Backyard Burgers is a smaller chain than some of the
03:53others on this list. The chain began when Lattimore Lattie Michael started selling
03:57his premium-quality burgers out of a grocery store in Mississippi in 1987.
04:01Michael quickly expanded his burger joint into a fast food drive-thru restaurant chain,
04:05known for its burgers grilled over an open flame.
04:08Now that's a great burger.
04:09Business was once booming at Backyard Burgers with nearly 200 restaurants in the 2000s,
04:14until the struggling chain filed for bankruptcy in 2012. In June of 2023,
04:18Backyard Burgers filed for bankruptcy for a second time and has closed more
04:22restaurants since that date. Nevertheless, the burgers are always flame-grilled,
04:26made with 100 percent black Angus beef, and topped with onions, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.
04:31Beyond burgers, the restaurant also serves seasoned fries, milkshakes,
04:34hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches. Unfortunately for fans of one of the few flame-grilled fast
04:39food burger options left, though, Memphis Business Journal reports that Backyard Burgers
04:43is facing possible liquidation in the future. One former employee lamented on Reddit,
04:47As a former GM, it's sad to see such a good brand and concept slowly fall apart. I left in 2008 when
04:53Lattimore Michael sold the company, because the changes that crippled the business were literally
04:58instant. The Habit Burger Grill has over 300 locations across 13 states. Founded in 1969 in
05:04Santa Barbara County, California, it's famous for char-grilled burgers cooked over an open flame.
05:09Adam Baird, food and beverage vice president of the Habit Burger Grill,
05:12told QSR Magazine that the food is cooked using high heat because,
05:15"...it caramelizes the product and marks it very well, so it gets this smoky,
05:19fresh-grilled meat effect."
05:20Aside from burgers, the restaurant offers options you don't often see at other burger restaurants,
05:25such as sushi-grade ahi tuna. The Habit Burger Grill prides itself on serving fresh burger patties
05:30made with 100 percent ground beef without fillers or preservatives. Regular customers were once
05:35familiar with the secret menu, but the company made it public about 10 years ago. One of the most
05:39popular off-menu options was the Santa Barbara-style char burger. Now on the regular menu,
05:44it's a double cheeseburger with avocado, caramelized onions, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes,
05:49pickles, and mayo on grilled sourdough bread. Although In-N-Out Burger reigns supreme as the
05:54top burger joint on the West Coast, the Habit Grill recently took the top title with its
05:58double char burger as USA Today's Best Fast Food Burger in its Reader's Choice Awards.
06:03Portillo's is a Chicago-based quick-service restaurant chain famous for its Italian beef
06:07sandwiches and Chicago-style hot dogs. That said, an underrated menu item is definitely
06:12the char-grilled burger. Fans of the burger seem to love the grilled taste,
06:16such as one Redditor who stated,
06:17"...I love the char-broiled flavor that they get on the meat. So delicious.
06:21Adding bacon on it is always a great option."
06:23Another remarked,
06:24"...1,000 times better than In-N-Out. In my opinion,
06:27they have the best fast food burger you can get anywhere."
06:30"...things I'm not mad about. Smelling like a char-broiled cheeseburger from Portillo's."
06:34The classic Portillo's burger is served on a corn-dusted bun topped with mayonnaise,
06:39lettuce, tomato, sliced red onions, pickles, and ketchup. You can top it with bacon,
06:43or instead have the massive Rodeo Burger, served as a single or double on a brioche bun,
06:48topped with sliced onion, onion rings, bacon, cheese, and barbecue sauce.
06:52Portillo's got its start in Chicago as a hot dog stand in 1963, when Dick Portillo invested
06:58$1,100 to open the doghouse in the suburb of Villa Park. Today, the fast food chain
07:02has over 70 locations across 10 states and continues to expand.
07:07Grilled is in the name of Burger's Grilled Right, also known as BGR,
07:10so you know what you're getting when you order a smoky-flavored burger here.
07:14This smaller chain has locations in Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Utah, and Virginia.
07:19Along with regular ground beef, BGR has nine meat options on its menu,
07:22with gourmet choices such as Wagyu truffle and bison chipotle. Once you choose your meat,
07:27the next difficult decision is how to have it prepared. You can get the works,
07:30which is a cheeseburger pile-tie with lettuce, tomato, onions, and pickles. Or maybe you want
07:35the pretzel-bacon cheeseburger, topped with applewood bacon, cheddar cheese,
07:39and bacon-onion marmalade on a pretzel bun.
07:41BGR may not be the most well-known burger restaurant, but the company has its fans.
07:46When a Redditor asked where to find a good burger in Salt Lake City, one person responded,
07:50"[Burger's Grilled Right, BGR & Sugar House, is one of the best I've had.
07:54It's kind of hidden in a back street, so I don't think many people know about it,
07:57but it competes with all of the other burgers mentioned here, and better than most of them."
08:01Meanwhile, a Yelp reviewer commented,
08:03"[BGR never fails. Love the burgers, and they're always cooked right."
08:08Dairy Queen opened its first store in 1940 along the historic Route 66 in Joliet,
08:13Illinois. The original menu included ice cream cones,
08:16sundaes, and ice cream sold by the pint and quart. In those days,
08:19you could get a soft-serve cone for five cents. In 1949, shakes and malts appeared on the menu,
08:24and by the 1950s, the chain began selling hot food options such as burgers, fries, and hot dogs.
08:30Today, Dairy Queen offers a wide variety of ice cream treats and a full fast food menu of burgers,
08:35fried chicken, and french fries. Not every Dairy Queen still cooks burgers on a grill,
08:39but you may be lucky enough to find a location that does.
08:42An employee of Dairy Queen on Reddit explained that while some stores continue to use flat-top
08:46grills to make burgers, others use Neko grills, which are a type of kitchen equipment that cooks
08:50burgers over an open flame on a conveyor belt. Another employee commented,
08:54"[We are still cooking ours on a flame grill. Nothing changed.]