What's The Messiest Fast Food Burger? - Exclusive Mashed Survey

The word "messy" usually carries a negative connotation — a messy house is something we're embarrassed to have guests see, and "hot mess" isn't a good look on anyone. When it describes something like a burger, though, is it a good thing or a bad thing? Messiness, after all, may be the result of many delicious toppings, all piled on top but poised to slide into your lap at first bite.

A recent Mashed survey did not delve into the question of whether messiness was or was not a desirable trait in a burger (it probably depends on what color pants you're wearing), but we did, er, grill, 582 people about their opinion on which fast food restaurant serves up the messiest ones. We gave them a choice of six different restaurants, these being (in alphabetical order) Burger King, In-N-Out, McDonald's, Rally's (aka Checkers), Shake Shack, and Wendy's. 

The results (cue the dramatic music) ... probably will not shock you because the chains that came out on top have received dubious accolades in several of our previous surveys, as well.

Yes, the messiest burger title goes to Burger King, crowned by 29.9% of our survey respondents. This is the same chain where, according to Mashed readers, you'll also find the worst fish sandwiches and ickiest restrooms in all of fast food (messiness, in the latter case, being a decidedly undesirable trait). Second place in the messy burger category, with 20.62% of the vote goes to McDonald's, a chain that, despite the "billions and billions" sold, was found by our readers to have the worst burgers. (Burger King came in second in that poll).

In-N-Out, with 16.49% of the messy burger vote, took a solid third place, although their numbers would likely have risen had we specified their not-so-secret menu's animal-style burgers, which are super-sloppy. Wendy's and Shake Shack were a close fourth and fifth, with 11.68% and 11.51% respectively, while Rally's and Checkers trailed the pack with a mere 9.79%. This makes them, by default, the neat burger champion, which is good to know in case you need to do some drive-thru dining while wearing an ensemble that's dry-clean only.