Here Are 14 Burgers You Can Only Find On Secret Menus

The good ol' American burger is no longer as simple as it was in decades past. While the meat, bread, and cheese components remain a constant, today it seems as if every fast food outlet is trying to outdo the others with the biggest, best, most complex combo possible — and the reality is that we eat it up, every single time.

But sometimes there are burger fantasies that even the biggest menus can't satisfy. That's where secret menus come in. Over the years, dedicated foodies have come up with their own clever customizations using ingredients and items already available to order. Some of these probably would've been better left to the imagination, but others are so tasty and popular that even fast food chains themselves acknowledge their fan-given names (shoutout to the In-N-Out approved Not-So-Secret Menu). Here are 14 of the best secret menu burgers — plus instructions on how to actually ask for them — to jazz up your next fast food order.

If you can't bring yourself to call this burger a McGangBang, you'll be pleased to know that it has another name: the Bababooey Burger. Both names are a little monstrous, but then again, so is the burger itself, given that it's a McDouble with a McChicken sandwiched in the middle.

It absolutely shouldn't work. That's two beef patties, a chicken burger, and a boatload of pickles, onions, ketchup, mustard, and cheese. It all comes out to a lot of flavor — perhaps too much flavor. Yet somehow, it's a meaty miracle. Plenty of McDonald's customers construct their own McGangBang burgers on a regular basis — because, yes, you will need to order the elements separately and build it yourself. Most of us just can't look a McDonald's worker in the eye and ask for a McGangBang. The depths of secret menu Reddit are extremely pro-Bababooey, with one diehard fan declaring, "It doesn't look good, doesn't smell good ... but man does it taste delicious!"

Big Macs earned their name because they're just that: big. The Monster Mac got its name for a similar reason. Taller, denser, and even meatier than a Big Mac, this is a truly gargantuan fast food burger designed for only the most ambitious of McDonald's customers.

To order a Monster Mac, all you need to do is ask for a Big Mac with eight beef patties (yes, eight) — or, if the McDonald's worker isn't down to fulfill that request, a Big Mac with three Double Cheeseburgers, or three extra Big Macs, either of which you can deconstruct to create your own monster. In the end, four patties sit atop the middle slice of bread while the other four sit beneath. Optionally, you can also ask for eight slices of cheese to break up each layer of meat.

It doesn't quite reach the towering heights of Wendy's T-Rex Burger, but some diners consider it superior anyway. "This is way better than Wendy's," food TikToker The Glass Sniper declared. "I applaud you, McDonald's!" The Monster Mac definitely requires an extra-large soda to wash it all down afterward. It also doesn't hurt to request extra Big Mac sauce to make sure your burger's flavorful enough to stop it from getting dry or boring.

If a place has "the meats," it's inevitable that someone will try and put them all together at some point. The same year Arby's came up with its carnivorous tagline, the concept of the Arby's Meat Mountain was created. Unlike most secret menu items, this was an inside job; when customers saw the restaurant's new posters featuring a stack of ham, pastrami, roast beef, turkey, chicken tenders, and bacon, they started asking for Arby's to make it a reality.

While it's technically never been added to the menu, plenty (but not all) of Arby's restaurants and employees are game to whip one up by request. Rumor has it there's even a specific option on the cash register, making this one of the more legitimate options on this list. If your server doesn't know it by name, you can instead try asking for a sandwich containing every type of meat (plus cheese) available 

Those who've climbed the mountain for themselves confirm that it's an endeavor in and of itself — one that will likely use up your salt intake for that day and maybe the next — but that the flavors blend together surprisingly well. In fact, food bloggers Freezy Boys proclaimed that "the glorious meats of this sandwich opened my third eye. I was in a state of ecstasy for 30 minutes." Top tip: request plenty of sauces as it can get pretty dry.

If there's one thing we can discern from these secret menu items, it's that fast food chains are often too cautious — or, dare we say, cowardly? — to commit to what the people want: multiple kinds of meat smushed together between two pieces of bread. Anyway, let's get to the Chicken Stuffed Super Star. Like the McGangBang and the Arby's Meat Mountain, this combines chicken and beef to create the perfect treat for anyone who's not just hungry but positively ravenous.

Ordering this secret menu is pretty straightforward. Next time you're at Hardee's (or Carl's Jr., depending on where you are), you just need to ask for a SuperStar Burger and a Spicy Chicken Sandwich. The latter is then slotted between the SuperStar's beef patties, bread and all. That leaves you with a total of three pieces of meat, four slices of bread, and heaps of cheese and mayo, also known as a complex carbohydrate dream.

As you might imagine from something nicknamed The Barnyard Burger, there's a whole load of different meats in this secret menu item. Beef, bacon, and spicy chicken are all stacked together between two slices of bread to quite literally give you the whole farm in a sandwich.

While it has a lot in common with the Arby's Meat Mountain and The Monster Mac, the spicy chicken puts The Barnyard Burger in a whole other ballpark. Flavorful, sweet, and with just the right amount of crunch, it hits every single time. To order it, ask for a Spicy Chicken Sandwich and a burger with bacon. Remove the chicken patty, put it in your burger, and you're done. If spice isn't for you, you can also make The Barnyard Burger with the Homestyle Chicken Burger, which will give you just as much flavor (just without the added kick).

The Big McChicken isn't, as the name suggests, a supersized McChicken (although that would also be pretty spectacular). Instead, it combines two of the chain's most iconic menu items (the McChicken and the Big Mac) to create one big, meaty feast. A Big McChicken is built like a regular Big Mac, just with McChicken patties in place of the sesame seed buns. This is no small bite.

Alternatively, some people interpret a Big McChicken as a Big Mac made with chicken, not beef — something that's available as an actual menu item in countries like the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar (and which is something that McDonald's has also trialled in the U.S. in the past). This is even easier to order than the other definition of a Big McChicken; just ask if you can swap your beef patties for chicken to make it happen. (As a side note, this is something you can actually do with any McDonald's burger).

Like the Patty Melt, this takes the best of the Five Guys Grilled Cheese and combines it with the chain's iconic Cheeseburger. The difference here is that the Double Grilled Cheeseburger goes bigger and tastes (if it's possible) even more luxurious.

This is the product of not one but two Grilled Cheeses, with the four slices of bread that have each been toasted in a light layer of mayonnaise. These are stacked with beef patties and any other Five Guys toppings you want to pile into this ooey, gooey collision of carbs. For a touch more flavor, former Five Guys employees recommend asking for a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning on the buns (preferably before they hit the grill, to develop the flavor even further). 

However, you may also want to note that employees have also complained that Grilled Cheeseburgers are irritating to make — especially if a restaurant is packed and you notice that the kitchen is a little hectic. If that's the case, be polite and save this particular order for a quieter time.