16 Burger Chains Where You Can DIY Chili Cheeseburgers

Whether you like yours with meat, beans, or both, chili is a warm, hearty, protein-rich comfort food that's been enjoyed for a long time (the dish dates back to the 1500s). While there are all kinds of chili mistakes you can make, slathering the hot, meaty stew onto a burger isn't one of them. Truly, if there's anything better than an all-American cheeseburger, it's a cheeseburger dripping with delicious, savory chili.

While it's easy enough to crack open a can of chili and pour it over homemade burgers, grabbing a chili cheeseburger at the drive-thru is a little trickier, since fast-food chains that sell chili burgers are few and far between. If you're willing to do a little DIY, though, a surprising number of burger franchises have everything you need to create a meat-on-meat masterpiece.

But before you head out to any of these restaurants to get your chili burger on, remember the rule for ordering fast-food secret menu items: If your order is going to require special accommodations from the kitchen staff, don't place it during busy restaurant times — you should ideally hit the drive-thru or counter during non-peak hours. Some of these chili burgers don't require special requests, though, so feel free to order those any time you like.

Wendy's is famous for its chili, with the chain's restaurants doling out 83 million servings of the warm, meaty, veggie-laden creation every year in the United States, not to mention its popularity at various international locations (including the U.K.). Adding spoonfuls of this hearty goodness to any Wendy's sandwich is easy to do: Simply order a side of the dish, pop the top bun off your burger, and pour it on — no special ordering or employee requests required ... and, while we have your attention, might we suggest trying a chili-topped Baconator?

Culver's is another fast-food chain where you can DIY a chili burger without any special requests — just order your favorite ButterBurger and a side of George's Chili, and you're good to go. Pro tip: If you want to shake things up even more in the flavor department, make it a George's Chili Supreme, which comes topped with cheese, onions, and sour cream, which you can also spread on your burger for added decadence.

Over at Fatburger, if you want to make your sandwich even fatter, you can order it loaded with chili, which is offered as a topping option on the menu (for an upcharge), so the kitchen will pile it on for you. If you want to take this burger experiment to the limit, though, you can order a side of Chili Cheese Fries (featuring Skinny Fries or Fat Fries — your choice) and add them to your burger for extra crunch and meltiness, along with the meaty chili.

Over at Steak 'n Shake, customers love the chain's chili, whether served on fries, tots, or even spaghetti. This is another super-easy DIY — just order your favorite Steakburger and a side of chili, combine them, and enjoy a hearty, meaty feast. For a filling upgrade, consider swapping the cup of chili for Chili Cheese Tots and smash those fried, smothered grated spuds onto your beef patty.

Besides Blizzards, DQ serves Chili Cheese Dogs, and some locations also offer Chili Cheese Fries (if yours doesn't, you can reportedly still get them as a secret menu item). All of which is to say that the restaurants have chili on-site even though it isn't offered as a standalone side item. Don't let that deter you, though — you can either ask your server to top your burger with chili, order the chili fries and pile everything on yourself, or request a cup of the chili and pour it on your burger.

If you have a Wayback Burgers nearby, Chili Cheese Hot Dogs and Chili Cheese Fries are offered on the chain's franchise-wide menu, so you can DIY a chili mashup for any burger by piling on the fries or requesting a side cup of the chili to pour on your sandwich. At select locations, Wayback also offers a Carolina Burger that comes with American cheese, slaw, onions, mustard, and (you guessed it!) chili, so if your local franchise happens to be one of the locations offering it as a regional special, you don't even need to DIY to get a chili-topped sandwich.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers is another chain that offers Chili Cheese Dogs and Chili Cheese Fries for your munching pleasure, so adding all of that glorious chili goodness to your fave Freddy's burger is as simple as politely asking your server to spoon some over your patty. You can also go further and pile an order of those melty, meaty fries right onto your Steakburger or Patty Melt.

If Smashburger is your jam, a chili cheeseburger is just a DIY away when you order your favorite sandwich and a cup of the chain's Homestyle Chili. The beanless chili is an all-beef variety, giving you an uber-meaty topping to pour over one of the chain's signature sandwiches.

From the Baconzilla! to the Big Buford, your favorite Checkers & Rally's sandwiches can easily become a chili burger with the addition of the meaty in-house stew used on the chains' Cheese Chili Cheese Fries. Create an irresistible bite by layering those cheese-laden chili fries directly onto your burger, or ask the kitchen to ladle some chili onto the sandwich for you — either way, you're in for a mighty, meaty treat.

At Sonic, the leading drive-in chain in the United States, you can quickly turn any item from the brand's abundant array of cheeseburgers into a chili-topped creation. Just ask your server to pour the same meaty mixture used for the Chili Cheese Tots, Chili Cheese Groovy Fries, and Chili Cheese Coney onto your burger. (You can also ask for a side cup of the chili topping to pour on yourself, or pile those saucy tots or Groovy Fries right onto your sandwich.)

Along with the chain's signature root beer and frozen root beer treats, A&W restaurants have all the fixins you need for a tasty chili cheeseburger. Just ask for the patty to come topped with Coney Sauce, which is the house chili used on the chain's Coney Dog, Coney Cheese Dog, and Chili Cheese Fries, or ask for a cup of the sauce to add to your burger yourself.

Fuddruckers offers fully customizable gourmet hamburgers with numerous topping options for its beefy sandwiches, including chili. You can easily select the meat-rich add-on right in the online ordering interface, and the chain serves up chili cheese fries as well if you want to manually stack them on for extra crunch.

Though the word "burger" isn't in the restaurant name, Del Taco is noted for its hamburgers and has been selling them since the very first Del location opened in 1964 — and guess what else Del offers? Chili Cheddar Fries! You guessed the rest — to make a delicious chili-and-burger mashup, you just need a Double Del Cheeseburger and an order of those cheesy, beefy french fries, or you can opt for Deluxe Chili Cheddar Fries with sour cream, onions, and tomatoes for even more topping variety.

Multistate fast-food chain Krystal offers various chili-bearing menu items, including Chili Cheese Pups, various versions of loaded chili fries and tots, and bowls of chili (piled with extra toppings or not). Paired with the brand's burgers, these plentiful options create so many delicious DIY possibilities that you may not know where to start.

Western U.S. chain Farmer Boys was built on the founders' love of burgers, and its menu still features a mouthwatering lineup of cheeseburgers — along with bowls of All-Beef Chili and meaty, gooey Chili Cheese Fries. So, it follows that any Farmer Boys burger creation can be made even yummier when piled with that scratch-made chili or those melty fries.

Though they're not available at all locations, some Hardee's restaurants serve Jumbo Chili Dogs slathered with spicy beef chili. If your local Hardee's is one of them, a simple ordering request can transform any of the chain's charbroiled burgers into a chili lover's dream — complete with the other available chili dog toppings, like onions, Swiss cheese, pickles, and honey mustard, if you want them — all you have to do is ask.