June 11, 2008
Fatburger is on its Way to the D.C. Metro Area
Fine, fine news from the Associated Press. A Fatburger will soon be opening in Columbia, Md., with another slated for a location near Howard University after that.
For those of you who have never had a Fatburger, allow me to educate you. Fatburger is a chain burger joint that's incredibly popular in the western half of the United States. I wouldn't exactly call it fast food, because they don't have drive-up windows and they don't start making your burger until you order it, so it can often take a good ten or fifteen to minutes before you get your food. But boy, can you taste the difference. It's not even in the same league with In-N-Out, and if I do say so myself, can give Five Guys a real serious run for their money.
Fatburgers are served with your choice of mustard, relish, pickles, onions, tomato, lettuce and mayo, and you can choose to add other toppings such as cheese, bacon, chili, or, best of all, a fried egg. Their fries are also stellar, but don't bother with the Skinny Fries option. The Fat Fries, which are thick cut steak-style fries, are the only way to go. Each Fatburger location also has a pretty decent juke box that plays a lot of soul and R&B selections, and their milkshakes are made with real ice cream.
The D.C. and Baltimore area locations are helmed by former Baltimore Ravens player Orlando Brown. Brown plans to open ten more Fatburger locations in the Baltimore-Washington area over the next six years. The second location will be in the Shaw neighborhood near Howard University Medical Center, and a third location looks to be heading to College Park.
UPDATE: Jamie Liu reminds me that another Fatburger is slated to open in Fairfax in July, around the same time as the Columbia, Md. location.
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just what we need, more fat people. i have to admit though, the fried egg option is fatacular.
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Fatburger's alright. Tried it in Clearwater, but the burgers at MOST Five Guys are still better. Maybe the competition will give some of the slacker Five Guys stores the motivation to get their act together. Anyway, when will DC get its Counter Burger? Now that's the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast.
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In-N-Out...the double entendre you want dripping down your face!
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ok, if i must...
what do Michael Jackson and that burger have in common?
45 year old meat between 10 year old buns.
badoom-tsh!
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Way to go DC, just what we need, more fat. Maybe this afternoon two huge people will cram in the metro seat with me.
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I don't know about Fatburger but after my first In-N-Out I was sold.
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100x100 please? Thanks, I'll eat it here. Send the ambulance bill to the missus.
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If In-N-Out ever comes to DC I'll be dead of a heart attack within a week.
It'll be worth it though.
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What happened to the Five Guys near Howard University? I went there to grab a burger the other weekend and it was closed.
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just what we need, more fat people.
Um, what do you think goes in the Fatburgers?
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Looking at the numbers the Fatburger really isn't that bad...only 520 calories...hell their strawberry shake is 700 and that Chipotle burrito you are about to eat is about 1000.
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Don't confuse the burger joint with these guys.
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http://dcist.com/2005/11/07/in_search_of_bo.php
That picture reminds me of Elevation Burger.
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it's days like these that i begin to regret being a vegetarian....that does look tempting.
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Now that I've actually had a Five Guys burger that DIDN'T taste like a collection of old shoe and grease (curse you both Gaithersburg and Chinatown locations). . . I get the hype.
I don't get the hype of In-N-Out, because I've never been to one. Note that my girlfriend is from California, and is apparently one of the like 3 non-vegetarians who don't think it's all that. She actually likes Five Guys (the good locations) better.
I've never had Fatburger, but I've seen one in Vegas. The name kind of scared me a little, but I'll be sure to try one eventually when it gets here. It wouldn't hurt the local chain to have a little competition.
Now, what I want to see is something to beat the stranglehold McDonald's has on this area. . .
Wake me when we get any of the following:
-- Jack in the Box (E. Coli just makes it tastier)
-- Carl's Jr. (Hardee's cooler cousin)
-- Whataburger (I don't even remember if they're good, but I haven't seen one since being a small kid)
Also, a Sonic closer than Fredericksburg wouldn't be half bad. If you're going to plague me with commercials, then actually putting one a little closer to town wouldn't hurt. You know that shit would fill up faster than my arteries if you put one in Columbia.
~EEE~
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DC can has cheezburger?
You know 50 years from now there will be one Full Yum left dishing out mambo sauce, and people will talk about how it represents a period of DC history and needs to be preserved ala Ben's Chili Bowl.
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In N Out really isnt anything special - to me it's just fast food with better service because they treat their employees well.
Five Guys is MUCH better
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I wonder if they will be competition for 5 Brothers or the new Z-Burger?
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I can't believe no one has mentioned Ollie's Trolley! Ollie's trumps In-n-Out, Fatburger and Five Guys combined!
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In N Out makes Five Guys look like Burger King. I've never had Fatburger, but if it's endorsed by people who like Five Guys, then it is safe for me to assume that it also is an overrated piece of poo.
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TripleE: I ate at whataburger a couple weeks ago and it was meh at best. Nothing special.
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There is more to In N Out than their tasty burgers....its nostalgia thing...well at least for me. Before they opened their restaurants (early 90's) they were mainly drive thru only. So growing up in SoCal it was an extra special treat to get In N Out because the mom was willing to wait in the car line (which usually took forever) instead of heading to McDonalds or Jack in the Box which would be 10x faster. Also In N Out, holds a special place in my heart because they were the first place open (like 4 hrs after) after the Northridge quake, since their where no freezers they didn’t need electricity and they kept the books by hand. Even though I was living in a tent for a few days, at least I knew I could count on In N Out to get me through.
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Seems only fair since 5 Guys is heading out to CA: http://laist.com/2008/05/28/better_than_inn.php
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@bone: Thank you! That saves me a stop when I'm visiting Phoenix later this year.
Just because something was good when I was 6, doesn't make it that way now.
~EEE~
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Secrets to un-Fat your fast food:
Get your In-N-Out "protein style" (wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun), and think twice about the cheese, mayo, or "Animal Style" sauce. A good compromise: the 4X2 protein style with ketchup & mustard. But anytime you get to use the In-N-Out secret codewords, it's a good time.
And fill your Chipotle bols with chicken...ask for lettuce instead of rice, and avoid cheese and sour cream. Load up on the salsa(s) and fajitas (what they call their veggies), and go black if you get beans. That'll take the calories down to the 300-500 range, depending on how generous they are with the meat. And even a little guac on top is still pretty good from time to time, thanks to all the omegas.
That and getting Quiznos or even Subway with double meat, no cheese or mayo-based sauces, and whole grain bread can help most people stick to a decent diet without having to brownbag it for lunch. They helped me lose 120 lbs in a year and a half. Although maybe it was just living in Cali that provided exercise for the soul.
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This is really a Southwest thing -- LA, Arizona, some in Colorado. You won't find them in NorCal and you wont find them in the Northwest. But Los Angelenos loves them some concept restaurants: Pinkberry, Chicken and Waffles, In N' Out, CPK. As DC continues to turn in to LA, this new addition does not surprise me. But it does make long for the relatively safety from SF.
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Wow. As a former SoCal'er I really appreciate seeing that In-n-Out gets the props it so rightly deserves. It's really a fast food joint with a decent sense of aesthetics and hygiene, but that makes is all the yummier.
Not quite as many DCist commenters at church parking in Logan Circle or dogparks, but everything in its right place...
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yay, a san francisco reference!
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Wake me when DC gets a Del Taco.
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I miss Friendly's. I grew up with them up north. There aren't as many down here (the one on Lee Highway closed years ago). They had pretty good burgers. And that Reeses Pieces Sundae was literally heaven on Earth.
So where are the "good" Five Guys within the District?
And Ollie's burgers are alright. It's their fries that kick ass.
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triple e: i spent 2 years outside phoenix and reading that list of fast food joints was like a trip down memory lane.
please pleeeeeeeeeeease we need a jack in the box! wouldnt mind a sonic either. especially since their commercials are ALWAYS on the teevee.
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I'd be happy if Taco Bell would just bring back the Chillito.
And by "happy" I mean "crappy."
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If In-N-Out came to DC, Five Guys would be put out of business. Not only would I-N-O walk over them in terms of quality, but they would destroy them when it came to the flexibility of preparing your burgers and fries. Five Guys burgers are just mounds of greasy beef and cheese, no finesse. The I-N-O burger is juicy without being greasy, and the fact you can get it wrapped in lettuce to prevent yourself from becoming sassy-sized is a bonus. I asked the Five Guys in Georgetown to prepare my burger sans buns, wrapped in lettuce, and the lady just looked at me confused and blinked -- "I don't think we can does that." Of course you can't, Five Guys. Of course you can't.
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fatburger isnt so bad but it will get trumped by in-n-out when im way out west. i didn't know [i]anyone[/i] liked steak fries better than shoestring. steak fries are all big and potatoey.
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@miss bee: Amen. I moved from Phoenix to Michigan halfway through my youth, so I started missing those places long ago, savoring them when I'd visit my old man.
On the flip side, there's some stuff I miss from Michigan, but fast food isn't one of them. Nothing interesting there that I remember, except. . .
@monkey: Holy hell! The Chillito?! Now there's something I miss from my days in the Midwest. And by miss, I mean like to scare my insides with when they're out of line. They tasted alright, but then you might as well have eaten greased lightning and washed it down with box wine.
Now what I really wanna know is, if we're surrounded by McDonald's on all sides, why can't I get a damn McRib up in here?
~EEE~
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Whataburger?
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Sonic?
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White Castle?
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I can't help it, I'm hungry!
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God bless 'em for truth in advertising.
I have no sympathy for anyone who actually subjects their body to that kind of saturated fat intake; it's not like we don't KNOW this stuff is seriously bad for you. Seriously, as in YEARS off your lifespan.
Enjoy your obesity, cancer, stroke, and/or heart attack!