Mashed Poll Uncovers The Fast Food Chain With The Best Ice Cream

As we all know, a fast food dinner just wouldn't be complete without some sort of ice cream for dessert. After all, what are fries without a Wendy's chocolate Frosty? A McDonald's McFlurry? A cup of Culver's frozen custard? Exactly.

We recently asked Mashed readers to share with us their favorite fast food chain for enjoying an ice cream treat. More than 21,000 people kindly responded to our poll, with a very interesting choice for their number one pick: Shake Shack. To be clear, we're all well aware that Shake Shack has, well, shakes, but was anyone expecting this burger-heavy chain to top out all others with 42% of the votes? McDonald's followed in second place, with a modest 32% of votes — justice served for the beloved McFlurry, though points were deducted for the ice cream machines always seemingly being broken. In third, Chick-fil-A claimed 15% of votes, tailed by Cookout and Burger King, with 7% and 4%, respectively.

Commenters weighed in to explain their votes, with one saying that "Shake Shack is one of the few places left where you can get a malt." Or claiming that — compared to Shake Shack — the "rest don't even qualify as ice cream." The most frequent comment, perhaps not surprisingly, involved the running joke about McDonald's broken machines, "I've never heard of a broken machine flavor, though, maybe it's a McDonald's exclusive?" Many people suggested their own regional and local favorites, as well, before settling for one of the better-known fast food joints.

As the commenters point out, Shake Shack is indeed among the few chain restaurants that serve real ice cream. The chain also uses real cane sugar and cage-free eggs to make its ice cream on-site each day. That's more than can be said for Dairy Queen and its soft serve "ice milk" — though, if you're looking for something with lower fat, that might be the way to go.

Ingredients aside, Shake Shack gets props from commenters for the options on its ice cream menu. In addition to frozen custard and floats, the chain offers six different milkshakes, arguably among the best milkshakes in the U.S. What's more, Shake Shack ice cream can be topped with whipped cream, caramel, chocolate chips – you name it. And best of all, the internet doesn't have an ongoing joke regarding the state of this chain's ice cream machines. (Chef's kiss.)

Of course, all of this just goes to show that many of us are probably sleeping on the ice cream at Shake Shack, considering that our first thought is of its burgers and fries. In the words of one commenter, "Never had Shake Shack, but I can't wait to try it."