Culvers vs. In-N-Out

[Polarbear777]

All other common burger chains<Smash burger<<<five guys<Culver’s<shake shack.

[STEbbq]

I was waiting for Shake Shack to pop up. Now I have only been once, but it did not strike as as anything special. I am not sure what I am missing.

[Dan Deter]

I was never that impressed with In-and-Out, seemed meh compared to Raleigh's Char-Grill (not outside this area, sorry y'all). Tried Culver's for the first time last spring driving to Texas, we thought they were pretty good, but we were still looking forward to Texas and Whataburger.

[CandySueQ]

Never been to In-and-Out. I do know where the Culvers are when I drive north.

[Murdy]

Culver's are ubiquitous in the Midwest; In-N-Out is non existent. So, I've only had the former. Culver's is good but I don't go there much. If I want a burger, I tend to go to a few local taverns that make good ones.

10+ years ago, I might have put Steak and Shake on the list, but they seem to have gone downhill imho.

[Joey877]

I am 100% convinced that each individual's thoughts on these questions come back to whether the location that person frequented was a "good" representation or not. In other words, I have had excellent In-n-Out and had average. I've been to three different California In-n-Outs and left disappointed each time. Been to the same one in Vegas about ten times and loved it every time, then they built one on the strip and it is hit or miss. Been to a Culver's dozens of times because I had to travel in IA and Wisconsin a lot for work, and 90% of the time it was overpriced grease. 10% of the time it was quite good. My all time favorite fast food cheeseburger came from Shake Shack in the Mall of America. Been there twice, was just as good the second time. Went to two different Shake Shack locations here in Ohio and both were overpriced grease and left me VERY disappointed.

At the end of the day these joints are chains, and sometimes corners are cut. Lots of fast foodies will drive to the Wendy's a couple of miles further away because "everybody" knows the closer one isn't as good (or clean, or well managed, etc.).

This isn't to say that you shouldn't have an opinion on the question, just that your opinion is likely based on frequenting a small number of locations. My answer would absolutely be In-n-Out because overall I've had better food there than Culver's, but I've also had a couple of Culver's experiences that were way better than some mediocre In-n-Out orders.

[Jfrosty27]

I think you are absolutely right. We have three Culver’s very near our home and about equidistant. They may even be owned by the same franchisee but one is "avoid at all cost" and two are terrific.

[TripleB]

Never had a burger from Culver's, but In-n-Out is nothing special. There are other burger joints in the area that I would go to first. In-n-Out is priced really well, but I'm not going to wait in a long car line to get it. And their fries are terrible (give me McD's fries any day).

[latenight71]

Cali kid here so been munching on In-N-Out most my days. Never heard of or been to Culvers. I used to travel for work so surprised I never ran across it. I did enjoy many burgers at Wimpy Burger, WhatABurger, Lotaburger, Crown Burger, Camillia Grill, and more. Did I mention I like cheeseburgers?

[Troutman]

They opened the first In N Out in Houston here in our suburb of Katy to great fanfare. You would have thought the circus was coming to town. Parades, clowns, balloons, floats, the Mayor giving away the key to the city, babies being kissed, babies crying, I even think Trump had a parking lot pep rally. The lines were literally around the block and then around the block again. The police had three full time traffic cops on patrol. It was, to say the least, a grand event !!!

So I'm anticipating the best culinary experience of my life, even better than Chef Gordon Ramsey waving as he drove by here on I-10. So eventually when it all died down I went over and tried their fare. Please, its a friggin' burger. No better than 5 Guys or What-A-Burger down the block. My favorite is still Freddy's, why you say? My son manages one and brings me FREE burgers and Concrete whenever I want. Now THAT'S a tasty burger, it's FREEEEEE!!!

[glitchy]

I like Culver's, but probably more for all the other things like cheese curds, their crinkle fries, soups, and just more overall options for sandwiches and dinners than only the typical burgers and chicken sandwiches at other places. If I eat a burger there, it's usually the patty melt and not a regular butter burger. However, the absolute best part is the frozen custard As much as I like Culver's, I try to avoid it because their nutritional values seem to stink more than even most other fast food and then you cannot leave without the custard to wash it down.

Never had an In and Out burger to compare, but I've really never had a fast food burger that was all that amazing anyway. I've had some that are pretty good, and maybe a few I thought were really good if I was super hungry.

[mgaretz]

We don't have Culver's here but I have eaten my share of them when I used to travel for work. I would rate the burger as Ok but nothing I am going to go out of my way for. We have InNOuts and they are OK, but I don't eat there much, maybe once or twice a year. I do have a soft spot for them as they are the only burger chain I know of that if you order a combo without the cheese, they actually take the price of the cheese off! If you order a Big Mac without cheese, you still get charged the same. Same deal at Burger King, Carls' Jr etc.

I do like the fries at InNOut but you have to eat them fresh. Take them home and they are gross.

[rickgregory]

Completely agree with Joey877 above. Plus, fast food is fast food. In my experience, if you exclude the really crappy locations they all operate in a pretty narrow band of quality. If I'm nearby the location, I'll hit up a local place, Red Mill, which is more what I think the industry would term 'fast casual'. That is, they do things to order and fresh, but it's not a high end, pub etc place. I still need to try the Shake Shack near the university, but honestly, I prefer the fried chicken sandwiches at another local place if I'm that way just because there are very few fried chicken places around there that aren't full on restaurants or things like KFC.

[Joey877]

For what it's worth, my wife loves the fried chicken sandwich at Shake Shack. Just to give you more incentive to try it...

[tstalafuse]

We have both here in S. Colorado, and I am not really a fan of either. Culver's is kinda under the radar and out performs, In/Out is over the radar and under performs. We are getting our first Whataburger in a couple of months, which for the money out performs Culvers or In/Out. I actually prefer Five Guys, but they are way more expensive.

[RickyBobby]

Being intimately familiar with both, this is tough for me to answer. I am a HUGE In n out fan. I have extensive family in, and presently live in the Midwest and absolutely adore Culver’s. As mentioned in previous posts, it’s kind of apples to oranges. INO has a super basic no-frills menu. (Unless you’re in the know and are familiar with the secret menu! I will crush several orders of animal style burgers and fries!!!) Culver’s has a much larger menu with several QUALITY options. Aside from the butter burgers, I highly recommend the cheese curds and their custard. (Don’t forget the scoopy tokens on the bags of kids meals!)

if you’re expecting a high end culinary experience from a Michelin chef, you may as well pass on both. We are talking fast food burgers and fries here. If you had either of these two lined up against a McDonalds/Burger King/Wendy’s/Rally’s/Dairy Queen/WhatABurger/Whatever, I would choose Culver’s or INO every time. Full stop. In my opinion, quality wise, they are fairly equal, but they do things quite a bit differently.

…..now I want Culver’s. So thanks for that. 🤣🤣

[RickyBobby]

For the record, I lived in Texas for many years and was severely disappointed in WhatABurger. Completely understanding that it is nothing more that a fast food joint, I can honestly say that I choose Burger King or McDonalds over it every time. ….ok Texas brothers and sisters, I await your arrows. WhatABurger just didn’t/doesn’t do it for me. Lol!

[SheilaAnn]

RickyBobby for me whataburger is that 2am thing. Like white castles back in Chicago. And now I want a Culver’s.