7 Fast Food Bacon Cheeseburgers, Ranked

Cheeseburgers are the ultimate comfort food for me. They've been a fixture of nearly every stage of my life: from sacks of White Castle sliders on busy weeknights in my childhood, to late-night burger runs in college, to drive-through Happy Meals with my three kids. And, of course, adding bacon to just about anything makes it better. I don't mean to oversell the bacon cheeseburger, but there's just something Platonically perfect about the combination of hot beef, melty cheese, and fluffy bread. In fact, the worst cheeseburger I ever had (a puck of charcoal that was once, probably, beef, topped with individually-wrapped American cheese and a rock-hard bun) was still enough like a cheeseburger that it was somewhat fine.

So I jumped at the opportunity to try the bacon cheeseburgers at seven fast food restaurants near me, to see which was the best. As expected, the worst of them was not great by any means, but it was still a cheeseburger, and therefore kind of okay. But to be truly excellent, a bacon cheeseburger has to be flavorful through and through, with plenty of crunchy bacon and just the right combination of condiments and toppings. And the winner of my taste test exemplified those qualities more than any fast-food burger I'd had before.

My favorite childhood restaurant was McDonald's, and while my own kids still ask for it often, I almost always steer them to another restaurant instead, so it's been a while since I've had a cheeseburger there. And let's just say that this taste test made me realize that I haven't been missing much.

I got the Bacon Quarter Pounder with cheese. I'm not a fan of the patty. It doesn't taste beefy at all, and the consistency gives off a "made with textured vegetable protein" vibe, despite being, according to McDonald's, 100% beef.  And I didn't even know it was possible for bacon to have so little flavor. If someone handed me this cheeseburger with zero prompting, I probably wouldn't recognize it as bacon at all.

If given the choice, I usually avoid ketchup on my burgers, but this is the only time I've actually been thankful for it, because without it, it was totally bland. The sesame seed bun is cute — in my younger years, it would have fooled me into thinking this burger was "fancy" — but the untoasted seeds, like the rest of the burger, are practically flavorless. It was the least expensive of all the burgers, but not by enough to justify the low quality. I will continue to avoid McDonald's.

I haven't been to Hardee's very often, so I'm not terribly familiar with its menu, but I admit that I didn't have very high hopes for its bacon cheeseburger. I recently had the opportunity to sample chain-restaurant chocolate milkshakes, including one from Hardee's, and it was the worst one I tried. And sadly, the bacon cheeseburger wasn't much better.

It's a hefty burger, to be sure, with plenty of meat and cheese, two slices of bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo — my go-to topping combo. But the lettuce looks sad and wilted, and they burned the heck out of my bun. Oddly enough, the sandwich as a whole didn't taste burnt, just bland. The burger patty has a flavor that reminds me of Burger King, which is my least favorite fast food burger, but if you are a fan of BK, the flavor of Hardee's bacon cheeseburger might work for you.

But none of the ingredients stand out at all (not even the bacon!), and everything blends together in a disappointing mush of ... meh. Adding insult to injury, the Hardee's bacon cheeseburger was the most expensive of all the burgers I tried at almost $8. To pay that much for a burger that sad is a little insulting.

Of all the fast food restaurants in my area, Wendy's is the one I go to the most frequently, especially when my kids ask for McDonald's. We always get Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger Biggie Bags, but on this excursion, I went for a full-sized sandwich: The Son of Baconator.

It's the downsized version of the ginormous Baconator. Both have two beef patties, but the Baconator totals a half-pound while the Son of Baconator weighs in at a quarter, with four bacon strips compared to its namesake's six. And that's it — no veggies, just meat, cheese, more meat, and condiments.

It's a tasty burger, no question. Wendy's beef is good quality, and the bacon is thin but crisp, but the sandwich as a whole is very one-note. There's nothing bright or fresh about it, and no interesting flavor contrast. For my money, I'd much rather get the Big Bacon Classic Double, a full-sized version of the JBC, for a few pennies more. Though I didn't try it for this article, I've had it before, and I have a hunch it would have ranked a little higher on this list than the Son of Baconator.

Though I visit Rally's pretty regularly, the Baconzilla is my first experience with a regular menu burger there. I usually go for the limited-time meal deals, like the recent Glo's BBQ Jacked Burger with pepperjack cheese, barbecue sauce, and grilled onions. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the ingredients in the Baconzilla held up on their own without any specialty toppings to hide behind.

At $7.49, it's one of the most expensive burgers I tried for this article, which caught me off guard compared to the $4 combos I typically get there, but I have to admit that it's worth the price. With two patties, two slices of bacon, and two slices of cheese, it's a good-sized burger, but there are no veggie toppings — just ketchup and mayo.

It's very similar to the Son of Baconator, but a little bit bigger and, interestingly, the flavor isn't quite as flat, though I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I'm happy with the flavor and the thickness of the patties, and I also appreciate how Rally's tucks the ends of the bacon back into the sandwich instead of leaving them flapping in the breeze like other restaurants, ensuring bacon in every bite. It's a very satisfying sandwich.

I'm a big fan of just about all the burgers at Steak 'n Shake, so I'm not at all surprised that it's so close to the top spot on this list. I got the Bacon 'n Cheese Single Steakburger, and my only regret is that I didn't go for the double. The Steakburgers at Steak 'n Shake are smashed flat, thin, and crispy, so a single patty all but disappears in the bun.

Still, Steak 'n Shake's patties are rich and tasty, and the crisp bacon holds up well in every bite. It's easily one of the most flavorful of all the burgers I tried. You pick your toppings when you order, so I got my favorite burger combination — lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and mayo, all of which are free — and loved every bite. When the only complaint I can think of is that I wish I had more, I know it's a good burger.

It's a great value for the price, too. The single bacon cheeseburger was under $6, but even if I'd sprung for the double, it would still be just over $7, roughly at the mid-point of all the burgers I tried. That's a sweet deal for a delicious burger.

Culver's Bacon Deluxe Butterburger is a perfect example of how ingredients beyond beef and bacon can make a bacon cheeseburger stand out. Yes, the fresh, never-frozen beef patties are delicious, and the bacon is rich and crispy, but what really sets Culver's bacon cheeseburger apart from others is all the extras.

The buttery, toasted kaiser bun is huge, pillowy, and holds up to the mountain of toppings that comes with the burger — shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, and thick-cut rings of red onion. It's slathered with mayo, but no ketchup, which I like. The bite of the raw red onion is sharp enough to cut through the richness of the meat and the cheese, and the sandwich as a whole feels fresh and super satisfying. Plus, it's in the middle of the pack on price, so it's a really good value, too. It was a very close call between Culver's bacon cheeseburger and the fast food chain that took the top spot, but a couple of small details made all the difference.

A&W claims to have invented the bacon cheeseburger in 1963, though I have my doubts that no one had put bacon on a burger before then. It's a combination that seems so obvious now, it's hard to imagine it ever not existing. Regardless, it's a very tasty burger, and it doesn't bother me a bit to think that this is the one that started it all.

Like the other high-ranking burgers on this list, the entire sandwich is exploding with flavor — the beef, the bacon, and the toppings. But one tiny little detail sent A&W straight to the top of the list for me. Personally, I think bacon should be just a little bit overdone on a burger. It should crack and crumble when you bite into it, so you don't have to tear your bite off the rest of the strip, and the A&W bacon is perfectly done.

Another surprising factor that sends A&W's bacon cheeseburger to the top of this list is the pickles. Most of the bacon cheeseburgers I tried had a couple of pickle slices on them — after all, pickles are a fast-food staple — but A&W's had three thick, juicy pickle chips that covered the entire burger. It's not a factor that I ever would have thought would make such a huge difference, but the tang of the extra pickles cuts right through the richness of the beef, bacon, and cheese in a delightfully complementary way. There's not a dry bite in this burger, and that makes my mouth indescribably happy. And, at $5.99, it was one of the least expensive burgers I tried. Wins all around.

I chose seven fast-food burger restaurants near me. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger off their regular menu — no limited-time items, and no specialty burgers, just the classic beef, bacon, and cheese, plus whatever toppings come on it normally (except for Steak 'n Shake, where you choose your toppings when you order). Though the definition of "fast food" can be a little fuzzy, I decided to draw the line at the drive-through — no drive-through, no burger. Then I ranked them all based on overall sandwich quality, quality of the individual ingredients, and value for the price.