Yahoo Movies There are 54,000 possible combos at Cook Out. We’ll show you how to order.
In central North Carolina, Cook Out (yes, it’s two words) is about as homegrown as it gets when it comes to fast food, save maybe for Char-Grill, a Raleigh staple since 1959.
Cook Out was founded in Greensboro in 1989, and stayed a North Carolina-only chain for more than 20 years, opening 73 locations in the state before expanding to South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia in 2010. The chain now operates restaurants in six additional states, primarily in the Southeast.
At Char-Grill, which operates nine locations around the Triangle, the motto is “Simpler Times, Simpler Choices.”
But at Cook Out, the attraction is a large menu with lots of choices.
The menu itself is big, but the Cook Out holy grail — the Cook Out Tray — opens up a world of possibilities with options so massive that it’s almost overwhelming.
Don’t believe us? Bit & Grain, a North Carolina-based digital documentary project, wrote in 2016 that there are more than 54,000 different possible combinations you can make when ordering a Cook Out Tray.
So, for any newbies — and for anyone who’s ever been too intimidated by the menu’s seemingly endless combo options — we’ve tried to make your next trip to Cook Out as seamless as possible.
Here’s how to order at Cook Out.
The Cook Out menu
First, let’s go over the Cook Out menu.
You’ll be able to find the Cook Out menu wherever you order at a Cook Out restaurant — whether it’s at the drive-thru, a walk-up window or inside a dine-in Cook Out.
You can order menu items a la carte or, of course, in a Cook Out Tray.
We’ll get to the Tray soon, but for now, the expansive menu can be broken down into several categories:
▪ Burgers: Get one of Cook Out’s fresh, never frozen burgers with your choice of toppings, or choose one of Cook Out’s four burger styles with predetermined toppings. There are multiple sizes of burgers, too: small, regular, huge and the Big Double (the last one is trademarked, so you know it has to be special).
▪ Chicken: Choose from chargrilled chicken breast sandwiches, a spicy chicken filet sandwich, chicken strips, chicken wraps or chicken nuggets.
▪ Barbecue: You can get barbecue sandwiches and barbecue plates.
▪ Hot dogs: Choose from various hot dog and topping options, including a corn dog.
▪ Quesadillas: Yes, Cook Out has quesadillas. Choose from cheese, chicken or beef.
▪ Bacon: Bacon is the star of two menu items: the classic BLT sandwich and the bacon ranch wrap.
▪ Sides: Add to your meal with various side options, including fries (top them with cheese, chili or both, if you want), cajun fries, hushpuppies, onion rings and white cheddar cheese bites. (Of course, as we’ll soon show you, almost anything on the Cook Out menu can be a side if you order a Tray.)
▪ Milkshakes: The Cook Out menu features more than 40 milkshake flavors, ranging from plain vanilla and chocolate to banana pudding and Oreo mint. Seasonal flavors fresh watermelon (July-August) and eggnog (December) are also crowd favorites. Tip: You can also combine milkshake flavors. Want a cappuccino and Orange Push-Up combo shake? We’re not sure why you would, but go for it.
▪ Floats: Vanilla soft serve with your choice of Coke or North Carolina’s signature Cheerwine.
▪ Cheesecake: Just when you think the menu can’t get bigger, you’ll see that Cook Out also offers New York-style cheesecake.
▪ Drinks: Don’t forget a drink to wash down all that food. Cook Out serves Coke products, Cheerwine and sweet tea, plus water.
Can’t decide what to order? Then go for a Tray, which will allow you to pick several items from the menu.
How to order a Cook Out tray
The Tray option is hard to miss on the Cook Out menu.
Tray options are typically highlighted in red at the top of the display, usually with the words “The Best Combo In (insert town here).”
Why is it the Tray the best combo?
Well, you’re getting a lot of food. And you’re getting it for not a lot of money — typically $5.99 at most locations. (A “junior” tray will cost you a bit less, but you’ll get less food.)
But how do you order a tray? Follow these steps:
Decide whether you want a “junior” Tray or a regular Tray. Both trays will offer you the same side and drink options, but a junior tray will give you less food, or a smaller portion, as your main course.
Choose your main food item. Whether you picked a junior or regular Tray, the first step is to pick your main food item. These are listed under the tray portion of the menu, and include choices like burgers, chicken strips, hot dogs, barbecue, chicken sandwiches and more, depending on the size of Tray you picked. If you want toppings on your sandwich, this is where you’ll include those in your order.
Choose your sides. Both Tray sizes offer the same side options, and you get to pick two side items. You can pick two different sides, or if there’s one you really like, you can “double up” and get two portions of one side. Side options include fries (regular or Cajun style), quesadillas, bacon wraps, corn dogs, chicken wraps, hushpuppies, onion rings and more. Yes, all of those are considered sides. It’s Cook Out.
Choose your drink. Of course, you’ll need something to wash all of that food down. The last step in ordering a Cook Out Tray is to pick your drink. The default drink size for a Tray is a large, or you can order a “huge” size sweet tea. Cheerwine or Coke floats are also drink options. Or, if you want the ultimate Cook Out Tray experience, you can upgrade your Tray to include a milkshake instead of a drink. The shake will cost you more (probably $1), but it’s worth doing at least once.
Maybe all of that sounds complicated. Don’t overthink it.
Try ordering like this: “I’d like a tray with a Cook Out Style burger, fries, onion rings and a Cheerwine float.”
That’s our order at least. You’ll fill in with your own preferences.
Perhaps a Big Double burger served Out West style, a corn dog, a quesadilla and a strawberry-Snickers shake is more your speed.
Or maybe a barbecue sandwich, a bacon wrap, a chicken wrap and a huge tea.
If you want, you could even get four quesadillas — two as your main dish and two as your sides when you double up, plus whatever drink you’d like.
The possibilities are (almost) endless.
And, of course, the last step in ordering a tray is to enjoy all of that fried goodness.
Have a go-to Cook Out order you’d like to share with us? Tell us what you’re ordering in our poll below.
More information about Cook Out
Cook Out was founded in Greensboro in 1989, and has since expanded to nine other states: South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia, Mississippi and Alabama.
▪ Cook Out is primarily known as a drive-thru-only restaurant, but there are also several dine-in locations. The first dine-in Cook Out opened in High Point in 1996. Many locations also offer a walk-up window for ordering.
▪ Some Cook Outs have a double drive-thru, meaning you can order from the driver’s side or passenger side of your car, depending on which lane you choose.
▪ Most Cook Out locations are open late, often until 4 or 5 a.m.
▪ According to the Cook Out website, all of the chain’s burger meat is ground, made into patties and delivered fresh to every location every day. That makes the burgers “always fresh, never frozen.”
▪ As of January 2020, the chain now operates more than 270 restaurant locations.
▪ The restaurant is so synonymous with North Carolina that President Joe Biden even made a stop at a Durham Cook Out while campaigning in the state in 2020.
Finding a Cook Out near you
Find a Cook Out location near you at cookout.com/locations.
