- Cook Out is a growing fast-food chain with locations primarily in the South.
- When I visited North Carolina, I knew I had to make a stop at Cook Out.
- Now I'm back in New York City desperately craving hushpuppies.
The South is known for its fast-food chains — Raising Cane's, Chick-fil-A, and Zaxby's, to name a few — but many have started to expand across the US.
Cook Out, the North Carolina-based barbecue and burger joint, is not one of them — at least, not yet.
The chain was founded in 1989 in Greensboro, North Carolina. In the 36 years since, over 300 locations have opened across both Carolinas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
When I took a trip down to Wilmington this spring, I heard from many friends and coworkers that I needed to try Cook Out. So, I did — and boy, am I glad I did.
Here's what my first Cook Out experience was like, from an overwhelming menu to a culinary innovation every state needs to adopt.
I had my first Cook Out experience this spring when I visited Wilmington, North Carolina.
I've heard nothing but good things about Cook Out from friends and colleagues, so I knew I had to try the famed North Carolina-based chain when I visited this year.
I immediately noticed the sign on the door advertising the perks of working at Cook Out.
As a New Yorker, I thought $12 an hour for a cashier seemed a bit low — NYC's minimum wage is $16.50, per January 1 — but in North Carolina, Cook Out's pay is higher than the minimum. Per the state's Department of Labor, its minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
Thankfully, the place was empty, so I wasn't holding up a line.
The option to dine in is relatively rare for Cook Out. Most locations are just a drive-thru or a walk-up window, so I wasn't that surprised by the lack of customers inside. I had already noted that our location had a line going around the building for its drive-thru.
This location was clean, nicely decorated, and had a lot of seating.
Since I was in North Carolina, I had to try barbecue. I got a BBQ Plate for $6.69.
My BBQ Plate came with a generous serving of pulled pork topped with hot sauce, and sides of coleslaw, fries, and hushpuppies.
I couldn't believe I got all that for less than $7. A similar meal from Raising Cane's, for example, would cost $15.49 for four chicken fingers, fries, toast, coleslaw, and a drink.
A McDonald's value meal might be cheaper, at around $5 for a burger, nuggets, fries, and a drink, but I found that Cook Out's food seemed a lot fresher than McDonald's and other fast food I've tried.
The pulled pork was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
I'm a big barbecue fan from my time living in Louisiana during college, but the New York barbecue scene doesn't compare to what's going on in the South.
So it's been a while since I've had some truly delicious Southern barbecue. Even at a fast-food joint like Cook Out, the pulled pork did not disappoint. It was moist, not chewy at all, and well-seasoned.
My side of coleslaw was perfect.
As a rule, I will always prefer a creamier slaw to a more vinegary one, so I was a fan of Cook Out's slaw, which is homemade and more mayo-forward than the recipe at other places.
But the real stars of the show were the hushpuppies.
An order of hushpuppies on their own is $1.99, and I seriously considered buying another serving after quickly inhaling the ones that came with my meal.
If you don't know what hushpuppies are, they're a staple of Southern cooking with only a few ingredients. They're essentially delicious, deep-fried cornmeal.
Cook Out's hushpuppies were not heavy at all. Instead, they were light and savory. I couldn't get enough.
One of Cook Out's other draws is the large number of sauces.
I tried to get as many sauces as I could to dip my fries into. Seen here are Cook Out's Buffalo sauce, Polynesian sauce, barbecue sauce, honey mustard, and ranch.
My favorite was the Polynesian sauce.
This was a huge hit with everyone at my table. It was tangy, slightly sweet, and had the slightest bit of spice. It paired well with my fries and my hushpuppies.
My least favorite sauce was the Cook Out Special Sauce.
Usually, I'm a sucker for special sauces — if I could drink Cane's sauce or Chick-fil-A sauce, I would. But I wasn't a fan of Cook Out's offering.
I was immediately put off by the bright-orange color.
Maybe it's because everything else at Cook Out seemed so homemade, but the second I tore the wrapper off the Special Sauce, I got the ick.
In terms of taste, I couldn't really get a handle on what this was supposed to be. I thought it would be similar to Russian dressing (ketchup and mayo mixed together), but it reminded me more of nacho sauce than anything else.
Of course, I couldn't leave Cook Out without trying a shake, so I got an Oreo shake for $3.99.
I consider myself to be an Oreo/cookies-and-cream milkshake connoisseur. I've tried it at any fast food establishment that offers it. Until this day, I would've said that Chick-fil-A's cookies-and-cream shake was the gold standard.
But now there's BCO and ACO: Before Cook Out and After Cook Out. This was the creamiest, thickest milkshake I've ever gotten at a fast-food joint. The chunks of Oreo weren't overwhelmingly big, and the vanilla ice cream was perfect.
At $3.99, that's $2.50 cheaper than the comparable cookies and cream shake at Shake Shack.
I noticed my milkshake cup had a Bible verse on it: Psalm 118:24.
This reminds me of In-N-Out, another fast-food chain that has Bible verses across its packaging.
The verse on Cook Out's milkshake cups is "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
I'm not religious, but I was certainly rejoicing in my shake.
Here's what the rest of my crew got at Cook Out. My family friend who moved to North Carolina introduced me to the Walkin' Taco.
A Walkin' Taco, which costs $3.69, is a bag of Doritos topped with chili, cheese, lettuce, and sour cream. For 55 cents, you can add fresh jalapeños.
It's exactly what it sounds like.
I'm not trying to be dramatic, but the Walkin' Taco — a culinary delight popularized in the Midwest and found across the South — is pure innovation and needs to come to New York City. What a game changer! I would love to walk around Central Park while munching (mess-free, might I add) on a taco in a bag.
My brother got a Burger Tray for $8.59, after add-ons.
Anecdotally, the trays seem to be Cook Out's most popular offerings. You can choose from any manner of main dish (including burgers, chicken, quesadillas, or barbecue), two sides, and a drink (or a shake for an extra $1.60).
The base is $7.99, but adding toppings has small upcharges. My brother got a burger with cheese (an additional 50 cents) and tomatoes (an additional 10 cents), along with an order of chicken nuggets and hushpuppies.
He was generous enough to let me try a bite of his burger and a nugget, and I liked them too.
I can't speak to what a plain burger is like, but I quite enjoyed the cheeseburger. It wasn't too thin like some other fast food burgers can be, and I thought it was well-seasoned. It was also quite juicy.
The nuggets, in my opinion, were average. They weren't too bland, but they didn't have any strong flavoring to them, either.
I wish they'd open a Cook Out for those of us further north.
New York may have a lot of things, but we are missing Cook Out, and I desperately wish that would change. The closest thing we have is Mighty Quinn's, which has a more limited menu and is more expensive.
In total, for my family of three, we paid $34 for two burger trays, a barbecue plate, and two shakes. There's nothing in New York that compares, not even McDonald's or Wendy's.
Now that I've tried Cook Out, I'm already hoping to plan another trip to a state with a location nearby — so don't be surprised if you see me popping up in Tennessee or Virginia sooner rather than later.
