- Cook Out is the fast-food king of North Carolina.
- The chain only has locations in 10 states but has developed a cult following in the South.
- We visited a Richmond, Virginia, location and saw why customers adore Cook Out.
New Yorkers love Shake Shack. The West Coast swears by In-N-Out.
But North Carolinians say that there's one burger chain that trumps them all.
Cook Out is a North Carolina-based fast-food chain serving up burgers, barbecue, and milkshakes, and it's renowned in the South for its low prices and high quality.
But if you don't live in one of the 10 states the chain is in, you might have never heard of this cult restaurant and its fervent following.
So we went to Richmond, Virginia, to sample the much-hyped chain and see how it measured up to the coastal titans of the burger business.
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While Cook Out is known for its classic drive-thru locations with outdoor seating, the chain has recently been opening more sit-down restaurants.
As we walked into the rustic restaurant, gentle strains of Christian rock piped over the speakers — the kind of songs where you can't quite tell whether the lyrics are describing a romantic love or a more spiritual suitor.
The menu is wide-ranging, and the best way to sample it is by ordering a Cook Out Tray. The food is outrageously inexpensive when compared with what we typically see in New York City, and where else can you get a quesadilla and a corn dog as sides in addition to your entree?
See the rest of the story at Business Insider