Quick Tips

If you had to guess America’s favorite fast food burger, you might start with the obvious choices: the big guys, like McDonald’s or Wendy’s. If you’re a real burger aficionado, you might guess In-N-Out Burger, the regional chain with a national appeal. Whatever your assumption, you’d probably guess wrong. That’s because the country’s best burger comes from a chain you’ve probably never heard of, unless you’re from California, in which case you’d better have heard of it. According to Consumer Reports, the best fast food burger in America is from The Habit Burger Grill.

The what?! The Habit Burger Grill is a California-based burger chain that started in Santa Barbara in 1969. It has locations all over the Golden State, six locations in Arizona, five in Utah, and that’s it. According to the website, New Jersey will soon be home to the only Habit Burger Grill on the East Coast. When Consumer Reports conducted its latest fast-food survey, this CA-based burger restaurant came in first place.

The survey included 65 chains, from which Consumer Reports readers ate a sum of 96,208 meals to weigh in on not only their favorite burger, but also their favorite burrito, chicken, and sandwiches and subs. The question posed to participants was simple: “On a scale of  1 to 10, from least delicious to most delicious you’ve ever eaten, how would you rate the taste?” In the burger category, Consumer Reports rated about 53,745 answers. Not surprisingly, In-N-Out Burger placed high, coming in second. It didn’t, however, beat the mystery chain that East Coasters will be scratching their heads about for years to come.

Almost as surprising as The Habit Burger Grill’s victory is McDonald’s ranking: dead last. The chain that put fast food on the international map fell behind 20 competitors, earning a score of 5.8, when The Habit Burger Grill earned an 8.1. With 75 McD’s burgers sold every second, you’d think they might rank higher in taste. McDonald’s announced this January that it has committed to buying “verified sustainable beef.” Whatever that commitment really means and however it pans over the next few years, consumers have made clear that they aren’t lovin’ McDonald’s burgers. They’re loving The Habit Burger Grill’s burgers, so get yourself to California stat.

See Consumer Reports for the full list of the country’s best fast food burgers.

Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr.

It has been well-documented how disgusting beer pong balls can get. But now, there is a new solution.

In one of the most college-friendly Kickstarters to date, Tyler Dobush has invented the “Clean Cup,” the world’s first portable and automatic beer po…

That new 4,000-square-foot factory is finally paying off. Thanks to the increased production space near Union Market, Dolcezza will be able to expand its reach beyond the region and start shipping its gelato to individuals throughout the continental U.S. The local gelateria launches a new e-commerce site on Aug. 1. The service isn’t exactly cheap: […]

Parenting advice comes from all over. From your own parents, the books, everyone who has ever had a baby… And now, a cereal box?

In a new commercial for Peanut Butter Cheerios by Tribal Worldwide in Toronto, a fast-talking, do-it-all father shows y…

Jodie Ostrovsky, owner of What’s The Scoop? ice cream shop in Portland, Oregon, had worked with Planned Parenthood before. “Nothing happened,” she told The Huffington Post. “This year, honestly, I didn’t even think about it.”

She’s thinking about it now.

Anti-abortion supporters got wind of the ice cream shop’s Planned Parenthood fundraiser, and they let their disapproval be known.

Abortion ice cream???
#PRAY for this sick, twisted organization and the souls that are lost in it.
#PRAY that… http://t.co/qX8WhAVUTW

— Erica Burton (@EBurton4Life) July 19, 2014

“I was surprised,” Ostrovsky told HuffPost.

As it does regularly with local groups, What’s The Scoop? partnered with Planned Parenthood to create a new flavor — in this case, a mix of honey vanilla and rose petal called Rose City Revolution.

The shop arranged for the organization to sell the ice cream, as well as a few other flavors, for a period of time and keep 50 percent of the profit. On July 17, What’s The Scoop? hosted a three-hour party for the organization to invite guests. During that time, the parlor donated 10 percent of all sales to the group.

However, the store’s community-mindedness hit a rocky road just before the event kicked off.

Ostrovsky said the backlash appears to have begun with a posting on an anti-abortion blog, which called the flavor “Blood and Scream!“

Another comment from elsewhere, Ostrovsky said, compared her to Josef Mengele, the Nazi who performed human experiments and picked concentration camp inmates to be killed.

“Some of them have been scary,” Ostrovsky told Willamette Week of the reactions. “Some of them are bizarre and odd. We don’t know why they’re telling us that we have problems when they’re saying terrible, threatening things.”

However, the shop’s Facebook page, where some of the negative comments appeared, has received a deluge of support.

“Keep on the good work with making wonderful flavors and supporting health care facilities that need it!” one visitor wrote. “As for all the other commenters: you should all be absolutely ashamed of yourselves.”

Despite the controversy, Ostrovsky explained to Eater Portland that she’s grateful for a “wonderful outpouring of support.”

h/t Mediaite

Not many airport restaurants warrant a ribbon cutting, but Ben’s Chili Bowl is going all out for the debut of its new location at Reagan National. No, Bill Cosby will not be on-site, as he was several months ago for the opening of the half-smoke shop’s Rosslyn location. (Presumably, though, he still eats for free.) […]