Top 10 fast-food restaurants, ranked by a Cincinnati food writer

Like most Americans, my relationship with fast food is complicated. On the positive side, there are the birthday parties I celebrated at McDonald’s as a kid – the excitement I felt when the first Wendy's opened in my hometown of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in the 1970s. The late-night visits my friends and I made to the Anderson Township McDonald’s and Burger King when I was in high school in the 1980s.

But those memories aren't just limited to childhood.

I remember my 33-year-old self waiting in line for more than an hour to try my first burger at Danny Meyer's first Shake Shack location at New York's Madison Park (the chain opened a Liberty Center location this month). I remember the night my stepfather died in 2011 and how the woman I was dating brought me an orange Hi-C from McDonald's because she knew it would make me feel better.

I married her.

Nostalgia aside, I know the quality, cleanliness and working conditions of fast-food locations vary from location to location (in a sense, every fast-food restaurant is a local restaurant). So keep in mind that this is my own list, drawn from my personal experiences. I have stuck to places that offer drive-thru service.

No. 1: McDonald’s

Of course McDonald’s ranks No. 1. That's partly because when we think of fast food, the first place that comes to mind is McDonald’s. Even if you've sworn off the golden arches for health, ethical or gastronomic reasons, there’s no doubt you’ve had some good times at McDonald's (though Gen Z might be the exception).

While the Quarter Pounder with Cheese has the most burger-like qualities of all the menu offerings, it’s the Big Mac I find myself craving whenever I’m on a road trip or looking for a soothing dose of two-all-beef-patty nostalgia.

Those public-school-like patties are stacked with cool, shredded lettuce, pickles, sauteed onions, gooey cheese and a sweet Thousand Island-ish dressing. Each bite reminds me of a childhood when the Big Mac was strictly for Dad and I was relegated to the deflated cheeseburger that came with my Happy Meal. I would also argue that the Filet-O-Fish, invented here in Cincinnati, is one of the best fast-food sandwiches in the world. That – aside from the egg sandwiches Tony Ferrari and his family sling out locally at Mom 'n 'Em – the Egg McMuffin is the ultimate breakfast sandwich. And that McDonald's serves the best hash browns I've ever tasted.

Another reason why McDonald’s tops my list is the fries, which have remained consistently golden and delicious throughout my lifetime. Some boomers and my fellow Gen Xers might disagree with that assertion, since many thought they went downhill in the 1990s when the company started frying them in vegetable oil instead of beef tallow (Malcolm Gladwell did a deep dive into this on his podcast Revisionist History). But they’re still the gold standard.

No. 2: Wendy’s

If you start comparing the big three burger chains (McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s), Wendy’s burgers are by far the best. When done right, the tomato, pickles and lettuce are crisp, the burgers fresh and beefy, and the buns soft and squishy.

I usually stick to the classic Dave's Single, which, when I first tried it as a kid, forever changed my idea of how good a fast-food burger could be. Wendy's Midwestern-style chili might still place at a competitive cook-off, and a recent rehab of their french fry recipe turned them from soggy and boring to crisp and golden. Perhaps Wendy’s biggest accomplishment was introducing us to the concept of salty-sweet thanks to that whole dipping fries in a Frosty phenomenon. They also made the baked potato cool again and introduced the salad bar (sadly gone now) to the fast-food world.

No. 3: Steak ‘n Shake

Yes, Steak 'n Shake. The thing people overlook about this Indianapolis-based chain is that they pretty much codified the smash burger long before Shake Shack and Smashburger arrived on the scene. With its crisp caramelized edges, gooey cheese and butter-grilled buns, it's no wonder these burgers (a combo of ground sirloin, T-bone and round steak) have garnered so many die-hard fans, including Indiana native David Letterman, who was known for placing orders on air at Ed Sullivan Theater.

No. 4: Dairy Queen Grill & Chill

I don’t recall what a Dairy Queen burger tastes like. I have no recollection of their fries, either. But I do know that every time I drive by the (very rare) Dairy Queen in Greater Cincinnati, I crave it like no other fast-food joint. There’s an old-fashioned burger stand vibe that can verge on the romantic. Case in point, my 79-year-old mother had her “meet cute” with her 91-year-old boyfriend at the Dairy Queen in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. And on a recent visit to Tucson, my family and I fought the desert heat with DQ Blizzards, perhaps the finest ice cream treat in the fast-food universe. The chicken tenders are also legendary.

No. 5: Taco Bell

I’ve always had mixed feelings toward Taco Bell since A.) it took over one of my favorite local chains, Zantigo, in the 1980s, and B.) it is a shameless purveyor of “stunt food,” wherein a company tries to stay relevant by introducing such atrocities as the Flaming Dorito Crunchwrap (or whatever it's called) and other such nonsense.

But here’s why this chain – which was founded in California by Glen Bell in 1962 − will always win me over. For decades after Zantigo closed, Taco Bell was the only taco I knew. Was it authentic? Hell no. But in our glorious era when authentic Mexican tacos can be found at dozens of food trucks and restaurants throughout Greater Cincinnati, I still find myself popping by the drive-thru at Taco Bell every so often, just to try and relive that first crunchy (or sometimes soggy) taco all over again.

No. 6: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

I don’t eat too much fried chicken these days. That’s not because I don’t like it, it’s because as soon as I’m finished devouring my last drumstick, I start to feel what can best be described as “pukey.” My face goes back to its teenage Clearasil-ad form, my belly gets bloated and the blood stops running to my appendages. Not fun.

And yet, despite the discomfort it brings, I still find myself craving Popeye’s from time to time, specifically the fried chicken sandwich they introduced in 2019, which remains the best fast-food chicken sandwich I've ever tasted.

No. 7: KFC

Personally, I think the chicken at Kentucky Fried Chicken – which was founded in Corbin, Kentucky, by Harlan J. Sanders in the 1930s – has gone downhill over the years. Each order I make is just another reminder of how unrecognizable it is from the buckets my family used to hover over while watching "The Love Boat" or "Dallas" in the 1980s. Still, like Thanksgiving dinner, it’s the sides that make eating KFC worthwhile. The peppery whipped potatoes are legendary, as are the creamy coleslaw and buttery biscuits.

No. 8: Chick-fil-A

The juicy chicken sandwich, with its buttered bun and what I think is the best dill pickle chips in the business, seldom disappoints. But the waffle fries are what I crave the most from this fast-food giant, which opened its first location in an Atlanta mall in 1967. The quality of the service and consistency of Chick-fil-A's food can't be denied, either.

No. 9: White Castle

Do I want to love White Castle? Not really. It is the stuff of drunken nights, bad decisions and dire consequences. But damn does this place earn my respect. After all, White Castle founder Walter Anderson, who opened his first White Castle in 1921, is credited with inventing the slider − made by grilling small hamburger patties on a bed of onions, placing the buns directly on top until they become pillowy, then topping it with American cheese and pickles.

According to my former Serious Eats colleague Kenji Lopez-Alt, "it's the cheeseburger in one of its purest, most noble forms and as a genre, is completely unimprovable."

No. 10: Burger King

The flame-broiled Whopper. To me, that is the one and only reason to visit a Burger King. And yet it's worth it. This is a masterpiece of a burger that tastes like the ones your dad made on his backyard grill. They’re served on toasted buns that are sweet and squishy and soft. If only Burger King could come up with a good french fry recipe.

Seriously, if you could order a Whopper with McDonald’s french fries on the side, you would have a perfect pairing.

New menu offerings have been lackluster lately, which is a shame given this is the same chain that gave us the immensely popular BK Broiler (the Popeye's Chicken Sandwich of its time) in the 1990s, and was the first of the big three chains to introduce a vegetarian burger.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 10 best fast-food chain restaurants, according to a food critic