Cook Out

This place had a line of cars around the building when I drove up however they serve quickly and have great food. The communication speaker is dated, hard to hear, and no screen to show your items ordered but prices and food are still fantastic.

I went through the drive through and the lady at the window was really friendly and the food was hot. I would definitely go back to this cook.

The tray can feed two people if you order smart. The shakes are a thickness that can be best enjoyed 10 mins later as it starts to melt and become a shake you would smack your momma for. The Barbecue sandwich is really NC smackdown style and since my dad says he is the king of tasting Barbecue sandwiches he gives this a 4 star.

One of the few cookout locations where you can sit down and eat, which certainly makes it a more positive experience than other locations.
The servers I’ve run into here are generally polite and patient, and the food is always hot.

This place can be hit or miss. One thing I look for with fast food is consistency and lately the food has been on a downward trend. The chicken strips are always very old and dried up. But the burgers are usually fresh. Fries are hit and miss. For the volume the staff keeps up pretty well.

I had the Cheddar Style Burger with Onion Rings, a Shake and a side of styrofoam.
Con: I can see why they say Cheddar «Style» in the name of this burger, because it’s not real cheddar cheese. The burger should be named Nacho Cheese Burger.
–The meat had a weird taste like it was on a propane grill. It has a very gas like taste.
–Holy styrofoam batman. Talk about NOT environmentally friendly. Everything you buy is placed in a styrofoam container. The trash is filled to the rafters with styrofoam containers. Get trays like all the other fast food places or get biodegradable containers.
Pro: What flavored shake do you want? They probably have it. The shakes are pretty incredible.
–The onion rings are a little over cooked, but I like them crispy.
–The service is pretty fast, but I guess that’s what you should expect from a fast food restaurant.
The shake is the only reason this place deserves a star. Otherwise I wish I could give it zero stars.

Cookout has always been my go to fast food place. So excited I finally have one close by. I went to this one last night with friends. It has very nice setting area unlike the other ones in the area. However the food kinda disappointed. The chicken nuggets and hush puppies were overcooked. The hamburger was not warm enough. I thought it might be just bc of the busy Saturday… Then we used the bathrooms before we left, OMG there is NO soap for anyone to use there at all. I meant no dispenser or bottle (both bathroom) … I don’t know what u think but I definitely DON’T want their employees not washing their hard after they use the bathroom and go back to the kitchen to make my food. SICK!!! I will not going back there again!

Very good burger, at a super price. Visiting from out of town and wanted inexpensive quick decent food. This exceeded our expectations. Plus the milk shakes were thick and rich and delicious.

One thing we are definitely not short on in North Carolina is fast food chains selling burgers and fried chicken. With that being said, I love Cookout. And I was especially impressed with this one in particular.
I am a very seasoned Cookout customer, having eaten it for many many years of my life. The best deal to get here without a doubt is their trays. One main menu item, two sides, and a drink all for about $ 6. If you’re a burger person, their burgers here have a pretty good flavor. They can be messy sometimes, unless you’re into that. They also have hot dogs, quesadillas, and more for your main menu item. My favorite side items are the chicken wraps and quasadillas. All the quesadillas come with meat (chicken or steak) and a really good sauce in the middle. But Vegetarians rejoice cuz you can get it without meat (I used to do this back when I was vegetarian). The fries are also seasoned with a special salt, which makes them an outstanding choice.
First time at Cookout? Get a milkshake. GET. A MILKSHAKE. The milkshakes here are life changing. They have fruity and sugary flavors, but the best part is that you can mix any amount of flavors in any quantity. My personal favorite is the blueberry watermelon mix milkshake, but watermelon is only a summer seasonal item, so I can only get it once a year.
This is one of the *cleanest* Cookouts I’ve ever been too. This is probably because it’s new, but they still do a great job of maintaining the place. It was built in the new style of Cookouts that the company is pushing, with a new look and indoor seating. Down points are the long line at the drive thru, which can be grueling, especially at night with cars loaded with drunk people. Also, at the drive thru, they’re really not that great at handling multiple orders, so sometimes it’s a gamble if you’re going to get the food you ordered or not.

Cookout is a staple for Carolinians, and there’s a good reason why — the best bang for your buck around. You can get a filling meal tray (entrée with two sides and a drink) for around $ 5 and add on a delicious milkshake for less than $ 3. Where else can you get these amazing deals? Sure, it’s not the healthiest, but everyone needs to indulge a little, right?
Being a vegetarian, I live off the milkshakes and fries. The cajun fries are THE BOMB. So tasty, flavorful, and crunchy. My friends love the chicken quesadilla and cajun chicken sandwich.
The milkshakes here are the real deal. I’ve brought a lot of out-​of-​state friends to Cookout for milkshakes, and I have yet to hear a bad review. I’ve tried many of the milkshakes, and my top favorites are the mint oreo, the banana pineapple (with real banana and pineapple chunks), and the peach cobbler (ALL SO DIVINE). The milkshakes here are unlike any other — they are so thick and creamy that you HAVE to use a spoon to eat it. Sure, they give you a straw, but it’s completely unnecessary in my opinion. So yes, it’s more like you’re eating a giant ice cream sundae rather than sipping on a milkshake, but it is just oh, soooo good. If you go to Cookout and aren’t horribly lactose intolerant (even if you are, just take some lactase — I promise it’s worth it), get a milkshake. One of the best things that $ 3 can buy.
A great thing about this location is that there’s actually indoor seating (most Cookout venues are solely drive through with a few seats, if any, outdoors). The ambiance has a lodge-​feel with a lot of wood composing of the seats and the walls. The service is still really fast, which is an awesome characteristic of all Cookouts.
TLDR: If you’re in the Carolinas and have never been to a Cookout, GO.

It must be a North Carolina thing. The food was alright, and you really can’t beat the price (~6 bucks for essentially three main food items and a drink). But the food quality is definitely subpar, so you’re getting what you pay for. The best way to describe Cookout is like a poor man’s Sonic.
I’ve found that the hype/​cult following is more to do with NC pride than actually being above-​average cuisine.

Can I start off by saying how incredibly clean this location is? Like, it could have been a museum of a fast food restaurant, it was that clean!
We are all about supporting local chains, and this restaurant is a pleasant one to throw money at. Everything comes from a freezer bag, but its deep fried well, you can’t beat the price, and the double chocolate milk shake was really thick and flavorful.
Staff here was on their game, it probably took our food 90 seconds to be ready. Can’t beat the price — happy to keep eating here.

Rude and uncaring service. Went back because shake had 0 toppings in it. Gave a cup afterwards to mix ourselves. What a joke, learn about customer service. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Went to the other location on hillsborough, same issue pretty much a vanilla milkshake. Just a terrible experience

Came here at about 3−4am. There are so many Cook Out locations!
1. Incredibly long line of aggressive drunk drivers = high potential for car accidents, especially because people will try to cut you in line. umm sorry people, but this is NOT the same as cutting in front of someone at the grocery store — we’re all in cars, it’s far more dangerous. Please be considerate.
2. You’re supposed to be able to add as many milkshake options as you’d like, but the lady taking my order was not having it. She repeated my order, but I assure you, I ordered far more than 4 ingredients! I corrected her, but she refused to repeat my order accurately. I have no idea what ended up being in the milkshake (M&Ms, peanut butter, and I guess chocolate with banana or something along those lines), but it was less than half of what I ordered. What an outrage!
3. On top of that, she started over with a «Welcome to Cook Out…(blah blah blah)» Excuse me, but our group is still here. We haven’t moved. And you got half our orders wrong. Rude.
Nonetheless, I’m giving at least 3 stars for the food because it still tasted good and was cheap, even though it wasn’t quite what I ordered. And any place that stays open so late and tolerates the crazy drunk crowd — props to Cookout!

What can I say. It’s cook out but you can sit down and use the restroom! Facilities are new and clean. What other fast food restaurant lets you get a side of nuggets and a corn dog with your entrée for $ 4.99. Carmel fudge milkshake was great.
Caveat: only five stars if you like cookout! If you don’t like greasy fried cheap mediocre food you won’t like this. Even in its new location.

My first visit to ‘Cookout’, did not disappoint, very impressed by the atmosphere, I could chill here all day.
The host was sweet and full of smiles. I’m glad she had a lot of patience with my family, they took forever to order their meals.
The prices on the menu are reasonable.
I ordered the cajun chicken burger, with cookout fries and onion rings, which was very good.
I would recommend this tasty fast food joint to hungry stomachs, you won’t regret it.

This particular Cookout is slow, because of the long lines, but I think it’s because it’s a new location and the next closest Cookout is across town. They had a friendly staff, and the food tasted more fresh… I wonder if that says something about the other Cookouts in the area. But it was great as usual!

Stopped in for lunch and got so frustrated with the ordering process that I left. I was going to order one of the trays and what was supposed to be $ 4.95 quickly added up to $ 7.95. What?! I asked if I could order any toppings on the hot dogs and the girl said yes, but didn’t say each thing was extra and apparently a lot! When I found out I said I wanted to cancel that order and order something else. Well they work so quickly there they were already in the process of making it. Nonetheless, she had someone come out to show her how to cancel the order. It was all so frustrating I just decided to leave and not reorder. Wouldn’t it be just as easy to say to the customer you can have any toppings you want, but this will cost «x» amount extra? It would have saved a lot of confusion and angst on my part.

Cookout has always been one of the greatest fast food concepts of all time, with the only thing really lacking (imo) being indoor seating and some self-​service fountain machines. So when I learned that there was a Cookout in Durham that had all the goodness I’ve come to love plus seating and 2 glorious fountain machines with both coke zero and cheerwine, I slapped myself just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. And I wasn’t! Since I first came across this miraculous concept in Charlotte, I will copy forward an edited summation of my Charlotte Cookout review for my triangle brethren.
For the uninitiated, for $ 4.79, you get an entrée (typical fast food fare and more — burgers, spicy chicken sandwich, pulled pork sandwich, chicken/​beef quesadilla), a soda, and the kicker — 2 sides from an incredible list of choices. We’re talking about a corn dog, a cajun chicken wrap, bacon wrap, more quesadilla, chicken nuggets, chili, and so much more. Of course you’ve got your standard fried fare like onion rings, fries, even hush puppies. It’s like 2 meals in one. For less than five frickin dollars. And for $ 1 more, you can switch out your drink for a milkshake, choosing from about 40 different flavors that they’re happy to mix and match for you. For instance, my recent personal creation was a delicious cappucino peanut butter fudge shake.
To drive things home, here’s an actual quote from my girlfriend: «I don’t understand how Cookout is able to give us that much food for that price. It just boggles my mind.» There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Couldn’t have said it better.

I hesitate giving 4 stars to any fast food place, but I think cookout is certainly a head above its competition.
What’s Awesome:
Milkshakes– something like 40 flavors! They start with a great base, and add pretty much any flavor you can think of. Seasonal ones are great, egg nog in winter, watermelon I summer with real watermelon! It’s an experience.
Trays– like combos, but so much more than fries and a drink. Wife loves hush puppies, I like the chicken wraps for sides. BBQ is NC style with coleslaw and pulled pork.
Cheerwine! Not many places serve this NC classic, much less in a drive-​thru. Special bonus: you can upgrade your tray beverage to a coke or my preference the cheer wine float. For FREE! $ 1 more for a shake.
This new location is especially awesome as it has indoor seating, so no need to eat and run. The staff here was helpful and accommodating, offering to take our waste and fill drinks.
We got there about two weeks after it opened and there was a line of cars around the road and a line inside. There were several people outside taking orders to expedite the flow as best as possible.
Not as awesome:
It is fast food, probably not the healthiest place to eat, especially on a regular basis. We splurge on the rare occasion and split a tray and get a milkshake when we can control our gluttonous desires.
Also the location is a bit secluded, next to VW dealership and near the SAMs and target off ¹⁵⁄₅₀₁.
I’m not in the habit of recommending fast food chains, but cook out for what it is, it’s definitely a win in our book!