The best burger?

We have had a long standing debate with some of our friends about where to get the best burger around here. We have several "fast-casual" hamburger joints that we like to frequent. These are not fast food, but not sit-down-order-with-a-waiter restaurant. There are 4 places that we all argue about what's best. We finally decided to put it to the test. We got 5 couples, and we decided to hit all 4 places in one night. Last night was that night.

Dave and another guy were super hungry, so they decided they'd split a burger at each place. The remaining 8 of us would split 2 burgers at each place, which would end in each of us eating 1 full burger by the end of the evening. We told each restaurant when we ordered what exactly we were doing so that they could have the opportunity to be on their A-game.

Each restaurant had 4 categories that we rated (Burger: bun, toppings, and meat. Fries. Atmosphere/Service. Overall Experience), with each getting rated 1 to 5. Each restaurant could get a total of 300 points. The best a burger could get would be 150.

This was our first stop for the evening. It was good, I have to say. The burger was good, but the bun was the highlight for most of us. It was buttered and toasted, which really made a huge difference.

 The burger had 3 categories to judge: bun, toppings, and meat. I felt like the meat was a little dry...too well done, and not a whole lot of seasonings.

The fries were a big part of the evaluation. Chapps did not impress me with their fries. They were crispy enough, and they were fresh...but too many of the fries had the skins on them. I felt like they were the "bottom of the barrel."

Burger score: 116

Overall Chapps score: 243

Our next stop was Mooyah

 The bun stole the show here. It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. They cook their buns on-site, and they're amazing. I will admit that it would have been even better if they'd buttered and toasted it, but it was still amazing nonetheless. The meat was fantastic. It was slightly pink in the middle, and the flavor/seasoning was scrumptious.

 The fries were also good. The nice thing about the fries at this place is that we ordered 1 large fry and it was enough for all 10 of us. It's great value, and they are super yummy.

Burger score: 118

Overall score: 229

Stop number 3 was Five Guys

 The burger here was good, but I have to say that the bun was not good. It was WAY too small for the meat/toppings. This made for messy burger, which isn't gonna get high ratings.

 The fries were fantastic...pretty comparable to the fries at Mooyah.

All 10 of us!

Burger score: 114

Overall score: 232

Our 4th and final stop was Kincaids, a Fort Worth original

 The meat was decent, the bun was despicable, and the toppings were average.

 The fries were on par with fast food.

It's kind of unfortunate because we all really wanted Kincaids to win. It's a fun place with picnic style seating, it's local and fantastic service.  It just didn't cut it this time. My friend Jason enthusiastically noted: "It's like a picnic in here!" To which Kyle replied: "Like a picnic with a crappy burger." That about sums it up.

Burger score: 89

Overall score: 179

So, while Chapps won the overall competition with 243 (5 Guys: 232, Mooyah: 229, Kincaids: 179), Mooyah won best burger with 118 (Chapps: 116, 5 Guys: 114, Kincaids: 89)

One comment was: "If you put a Mooyah bun on a 5 Guys burger, you've got yourself a winner."

We ended the evening back at my house with some Pioneer Woman's Milky Way cake (YUM, by the way). It was so much fun!!! We're looking forward to our next evaluation: pizza!