Burgers don’t exactly spring to mind when we think of health food, but they’re a cheap and tasty staple at restaurants all over the U.S., so we can’t blame you for indulging every once in a while. But choose carefully, or you could be downing half your daily calories – or worse – in just one sitting. In honor of National Cheeseburger Day, we peeked at the menus of chains across the country to sound the alarm about some of the worst offenders, and ranked them from lowest to highest calorie counts.
Yelp / Hardee’sCalories: 1,020 At Hardee’s, the only thing more extreme than the racy commercials is the burgers. Case in point: the Double Bacon Cheeseburger, with two patties, two slices of bacon, and two slices of cheese. (Though there used to be a Triple Spicy Western Bacon Cheeseburger.)
Calories: 1,060At “just” a little over a thousand calories, the bacon cheeseburger at Five Guys almost seems like a good choice — but that’s the calorie count before you add anything to it.
Calories: 1,070 The Breakfast Burger isn’t quite the biggest calorie bomb on Perkins’ burger menu. But it may well be the hardest to resist at this morning mecca, since it’s topped with hash browns, maple bacon, cheddar cheese, and a fried egg.
Dwight W./YelpCalories: 1,190 We reckon you’ll need quite an appetite to plow through Red Robin’s Southern Charm Burger. It’s made with a half-pound of brown-sugar-glazed beef that’s slathered in honey barbecue sauce, then topped with candied bacon, caramelized onions, mayo, and extra-sharp cheddar.
Joe E./YelpCalories: 1,260A double-decker bun and a big dollop of tartar sauce crank up the calorie count on this otherwise simple half-pounder with cheese, lettuce, and pickles. Watch the sides at Frisch’s: Your two choices could easily add 500 calories or more to this already hefty plate.
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Applebee’s: Quesadilla Burger
Andy R./Yelp
Calories: 1,630If you’re “eatin’ good in the neighborhood” tonight, beware of this Mexican-American mashup. The Quesadilla Burger is served up on a tortilla stuffed with beef, pepper jack cheese, smoked bacon, pico de gallo, lettuce, and Mexi-ranch sauce.
BJ’s Brewhouse: Hickory Brisket and Bacon Burger
Jessyca C./YelpCalories: 1,700 As its name suggests, BJ’s Hickory Brisket and Bacon Burger features a heap of smoked brisket, barbecue sauce, and bacon atop the beef patty. But don’t forget the mayo and two types of cheese, pepper jack and cheddar, to round out your indulgence.
Beef O’Brady’s: OMG Burger
Doug S./YelpCalories: 1,790
Beef O’Brady’s OMG Burger keeps it simple, but in large quantities. You’ll get a ¾-pound Angus patty, four slices of American cheese, four slices of smoked bacon, lettuce, and tomato piled onto your bun.
Saundra Latham regularly exploits her grocery’s fuel-points program for free tanks of gas and skips the salon in favor of the $5.99 sales at Great Clips. She has made her home in areas with a low cost of living, such as Dayton, Ohio, and Knoxville, Tenn.
Before joining Cheapism as the site’s first staff writer, Saundra freelanced for websites including Business Insider, ConsumerSearch, The Simple Dollar, The Motley Fool, and About.com. She was previously an editor at The Columbus Dispatch, one of Ohio’s largest daily newspapers. She holds a master’s in communication from Ohio State University and a bachelor’s in journalism from American University.
