So 4 stars is not because the food is SO good but it is based-upon: solid food, great prices, quick service and late hours. Their bbq sandwich, hush puppies, walking taco and cheerwine is the best order IMHO. A soft bun with pork bbq topped with coleslaw sandwich, crisp and pillowy insides with a sweet and mild onion flavored hush puppies, and a bag of Doritos topped with a chili with little kick, cheese, lettuce and sour cream plus the best cherry coke you will every have for under 10 dollars? Again, is this the BEST you will ever have? No. Is the variety, the quantity and speed the best fast food you will ever have? Yes. read more

My go to spot when I worked late. Their prices are really good and they have an extensive menu. You can get almost everything you're craving in one spot lol. The food is decent, customer service is always great! Very fast service. I like going through the drive thru. Plenty of parking at this area. Very very good prices if you're on a budget. read more

My daughter's a fan, but me not so much. They have pros and cons so a solid 3 star seems correct. First the good. They are fast, reasonable and have like a million shake flavors. The dining room was clean and staff efficient, but no smile and no friendly demeanor. Now the not so good. The food is totally average at best. I had a cheeseburger, fries and strawberry shake. I do not like that you cannot drink from a straw. There shakes are all extra thick!!! Staff meh! After several Cookout visits they are not for me. This location is a major UVA hangout for late night bites. read more

Cook Out - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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We have always enjoyed stopping at Cook Out when traveling but this time we were disappointed at our stop in Charlottesville, VA. We started with a stop in the restroom. There are two stalls. One was locked for some reason with no one in it. ‍ The other stall had paper towels in the commode and I was afraid to use it but was desperate. Then I realized why the paper towels were in there..... no toilet paper!! So I go out and ask to speak to the manager. A guy that looked to be about 16 with a nose ring came out and looked at me. I told him about the situation in the bathroom. He blinked a couple times and walked away. Sooo, we order our burgers, corn dogs, onion rings and milkshakes. They came out quickly, but when I asked for ketchup, the young lady taking the orders explained that they were out of ketchup!! Really?? A burger place with no ketchup?? As we looked at our food we were wondering why we were not told this before we ordered. About that time another customer came over and gave us some ketchup that he went next door to Zaxby's to get! Pretty pitiful! The place was also pretty dirty, tables and floor pretty bad. The napkin dispenser didn't work either. Really, the only positive part was the milkshake. Nice and thick and delicious!! This place needs a manager that knows how to manage! read more

they were fast but maybe too fast... we got to the front and they rushed my orderrr! but but but it's okay because at the end of the day it was 10 dollars for a burger, fries, cheese curds, and a milkshake. purrrrrr. good cheese curds but eat them fast read more

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Really good inexpensive food! Giving 5 stars for what you get for the price and the service is always great! For some reason the burgers are always slightly overcooked, but the hushpuppies are amazing! The milkshakes are great too! read more

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parked and went inside since they can never get my order right. was in a hurry and made the mistake of not checking. asked for hot dog with CHILI, CHEESE, and COLESLAW. no chilli, lots of cheese sauce and literally a dry sprinkle of coleslaw. pathetic you can't even assemble a fast food oder. it's been years since I have been , and NEVER again, total disappointmen! read more

Cook Out - My CHILLI, CHEESE, AND COLESLAW - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

The food for the price is impeccable. But for some reason this place has always drawn a strange crowd. Why do all these high schoolers with there Carolina squatted trucks hang out here? Personally seems like a pretty lame spot to hang out but I'm not in high school anymore. Oh back to the review. Cookout tray with chicken quesadillas, Cajun fries, and a chicken ranch wrap is simply unmatched. (Little secret for those that don't know.... You should order the quesadilla sauce on the side to getcha mind blown) read more

Boyfriend had the burger, Cajun fries and onion rings. He said it was the best banana milkshake he's ever had in his life! I had the chocolate peanut butter milkshake and I second that! Super yummy The inside of this place was super old/nostalgic looking. I've never been to a cookout before. Service was super quick and the prices were crazy cheap compared to everything else in this expensive world read more

This was all about the shakes for us! Our bike group stopped here and we all got one and i have to say that they might have the best in the biz. Anything banana is the way to go! read more

The standouts the night my husband and I came by were Courtney (who took the order) and Rodney (who handed me the order). You could literally hear Courtney's smile through the intercom when I was ordering. She was so cheerful and pleasant. She quickly answered my questions and was very helpful. Overall, her attitude was positive, and was so extremely refreshing! I didn't feel like I was bothering her by asking a question too. When we pulled up to the window to get our food, Rodney greeted us with a huge smile as well! He made sure to let us know about a special that they were going to be having on Wednesday, and he seemed to love his job! Courtney smiled through the window when I asked what her name was. Cookout is one of the few and only options for late-night food. We were famished after a long day of travel! Those two employees are the very reason why we will be back when we are back in Cville in a few weeks! 9/6/24 order ID AAA5QMF8AGEV read more

Food&Service is great!!! Great place in the winter o grab your burgers and hotdogs. Best hush puppies around!!!

I was disappointed today during my visit. I ordered a Tray with a regular burger, onion rings and slaw, and a drink. Upon opening my tray of food, I counted four onion rings. This is unacceptable. I immediately approach a counter person. He lied to my face stating four onion rings were standard. A family member ordered a Jr. tray and she had nine onion rings. SMH. If lying and cheating is their business model I don't need their food and their beverage cup with the scripture from the Holy Bible printed on it. I regret not taking pictures. read more

Heard about this place and was intrigued and definitely wanted to check it out. Corn dogs as a side? Same with quesadilla , whaaat?!? Burger was thin but very tasty as was the walking taco with Doritos - chili had good flavor . Coleslaw was decent and made me feel good cuz it's veggies and I right ?!? (Lol) Usually eating food like this leaves me feeling lousy later but this didn't , nothing was greasy. Bonus they have good nugget ice! Gentleman working the counter was very nice and patient with this newbie while I ordered. Good food at a low price , get cheese curds so tasty read more

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The Great Fast Food Fried Chicken Taste Test Testing the fried chicken sandwiches at C'ville fast food chains. Scoring for looks, bun, juiciness, sauce, flavour, and texture! Me - 10/30 fast food chains are in a tough spot. Get your food too slow and it misses the point but get it too fast and it's sketchy. And Cookout, with an instantaneously ready fried chicken sandwich within a minute of ordering two minutes after opening fell into the latter category. Not a great look. And neither was the sandwich. Small, flat, no flavour, not juicy, too much mayo, a tomato that felt like an old sponge, it was like the free food we'd take home when closing the McDonald's at 1 am on a hot summer Saturday - always excited for it but always disappointed by it. Kid #1 - 17/30 "wonder bread" he wrote, which was accurate but also weird because later he also dismissed the Zaxby's potato bun which was measurably better. Go figure. He scored Cookout high on flavour and texture and thought the mayo level just perfect but really I think he could tell me and kid 2 were not impressed. This kid just likes to root for the underdog. Kid #2 - 12/30 in a weird way, the nine year old's ratings were the most telling - a broad swath of 2s across each category with no commentary or notes for any of the categories. And that's pretty much a good summary of this sandwich - immemorable. Special note: I should give them credit for being a burger and shake place, no? And those Styrofoam drink cups take you right back to 1989. Did they have Cheerwine on top or was that Pibb and I was just dreaming? Final ranking 1. Raising Cane's 2. Bojangles 3. Zaxby's 4. Cookout 5. Chik-Fil-A We have Popeye's and Wendy's and KFC at home so didn't test those. Popeye's sandwich would be tied for first and KFC's and Wendy's somewhere in between Cookout and Zaxby's. read more

If I could give Cookout more than 5 stars I would. Highly recommend this as a tourist spot for those in the area. The selection is great and the prices for a cookout tray are so reasonable. The Wisconsin cheese bites (aka cheese curds) are better than the ones I would get back at home in Wisconsin and the chicken quesadillas are amazing for a fast food joint. Make sure to grab extra cookout sauce with your order and their seasonal milkshakes. The watermelon is surprisingly so good in the summer. read more

My classmate and I drove here based on reviews online for best burger places in town. Unfortunately, we didn't realize the inside was completely closed for dining-in. We took a few minutes to check out the menu in front of the building next to a take-out window prior to going to the drive-thru. We were both glad we did, as when we pulled up close enough to see the screen to order, the person taking our order seemed frustrated and impatient with us. The speaker for the drive-thru seemed like it was stuck in the 80s or 90s. Lots of static, which made it difficult to hear the person on the other end, so I had to ask to repeat what was said a few times. My classmate ordered the Nacho Chili burger with Cajun fries and a Chocolate Cherry milkshake. I ordered the Steak Style burger and added Cheddar cheese, along with Cajun fries and a Strawberry Cheesecake milkshake. Both my classmate and I were very happy with the size and quality of the shake and fries. However, the burger was smaller than I expected, and the added cheese was only on half my burger. My classmate learned that he would have had to ask for lettuce and tomato, since his doesn't come standard with that style of burger. Next time, I'll try a chicken sandwich with the Cheddar curds. Those sounded good, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. read more

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I came in drunk on new years eve and the guy working the register was literally like, so awesome. He deserves a raise, how he managed to wrangle a bunch of drunk people and have a good time with it was really refreshing. Foods cookout, so good as always. I haven't been here since 2023 and I was shocked that the price was the same. Love cookout. Great staff, above average take out imo, and super accessible. read more

Got a banana pudding milkshake. 10/10. Chunks of fresh banana and nilla wafers! Hard to suck though the straw (they provided spoons) but wish they had bigger straws. read more

Cook Out - two cups of coffee in a car - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Do better. No good,Shutdown plz .My food should not look like this if I payed more than $30 dollars unbelievable.. the taste not even good . The service was 10/10. But the food nasty so everybody a -0/10 read more

Cook Out - "Chicken"Wrap- - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

It's cookout...cheap, decent late night food. Not much to it :) although their fries are always pretty good read more

Cook Out - ....cookout? - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

The need for milkshakes is very prevalent in my mind at all moments, come summertime. I hadn't had cookout in years but finally wised up today and remembered how good their milkshakes were once upon a time. I had never been to this cville location of cookout before, always assuming it would be teaming with students, but today we took the drive thru and had an easy and pleasant experience. We got nuggets for our toddler who was past his lunchtime, my husband and I shared some cheeky onion rings, and everyone got shakes. I went for fresh banana, husband got mocha, and toddler got orange push-up. All delicious and THICK! I see some complaints about how thick the milkshakes are but I find that to be a pro; more ice cream, more bang for your buck. They only come in one size so for the toddler we just waited until we were home and he'd eaten his nuggets etc and then scooped some into a bowl for him, this milkshake will easily last 5 servings for him, if not more. The onion rings were delicious dipped in the cook out sauce, can't go wrong. Friendly and quick service. When I need another shake (in a week or so) I know where I'll go. read more

Delicious burgers and chicken sandwiches with fried sides and so many shake options! I love their Cajun seasoning and hush puppies. I'm from the west coast where we don't have hush puppies but who doesn't love a good lightly sweetened fried dough? Cook out has a massive variety of milk shake flavors (and you can combine them!) and a good size portion of food for reasonable prices. Definitely not a healthy food, but a great treat. Note: we did the drive thru, so I have no review of the restaurant itself, but the window service was fast, polite, and accurate with our order! 10/10 read more

Cartman's mother is opening one of these, but instead of Cook Out, she's naming it Chef In. The Cook Out chain is absolutely wonderful and probably my favorite fast food in the country. It's up there with Swensons as one of the best regional chains there is. You must try the burger and the Cajun chicken sandwich (extra cajun) - and a banana milkshake - and the sweet tea. This location was pretty good for all of the above but I wouldn't quite give five stars because it is a franchise, and I have tried better locations. read more

Cook Out - Out where? They do all the cooking inside. - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Came through drive thru late night around 2am. The guy in the window I repeated my order 3 times and still did not get it correct and then when I check my food it's all cold. I go back through the drive thru to get it replaced. The other guy at the window literally putting the boxes in bags was texting with a line of cars around the building and yet again my food was cold. The customer service team sucks!! read more

Cook Out - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Still don't see the hype....the milkshakes are probably the only thing here worth the line ( IF THAT ) Try the peach cobbler! read more

Clearly the staff does not care about the customer experience. I ordered a sandwich and the buns were burnt beyond recognition. I can't imagine anyone calling themselves a cook and sending that to a customer. Never again! read more

Cook Out - Burnt buns - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

It's a great place for a late night milkshake of your choosing. But don't expect five star dining. Because it is just what the name suggests. read more

There was a very long dark female hair in my cajun fries. Got into my mouth manager didn't care, he apologized but didn't seem sincere. He replaced the fries but there was no seasoning. Bad experienc. read more

The boy taking orders screamed at me because the speaker was cutting out and I didn't hear them ask me anything "ju JUST WHAT CAN WE GET FOR YOU" absolutely not I left. Get better workers read more

This review is for the "milkshakes" only. Cookout gets 4 stars for the value of the ice cream and the variety of flavors. Each shake is only 3.99; however, I've yet to be able to drink one. I always end up eating it with a spoon or taking it home and adding milk to it. Favorite flavors include Oreo peanut butter and the seasonal peppermint chip. read more

Went to the Farmville drive thru and ordered the barbeque plate. Price was $6.73 with tax, gave "Jalen" $11.75 since I had a pocket full of change and didn't want more. He responded with "you gave me too much money" and I said "you need to give me change". Jalen: "I don't know how to do that". Me: It's $5.02" ... then when I get home I open my barbeque plate to find that all I have is a serving of barbeque and a cup of cold slaw ... no fries or hushpuppies. You seriously need to consider who you hire. Me? I took a picture of the plate and saved the receipt and will be stopping by for a refund the next time I'm in town, but have no plans to order food from you again. read more

They messed up my order this is the 3rd time they've done this. Maybe if they fixed that speaker they would be able to understand your order. I wont be coming back I wouldn't recommend unless you like to have a different order read more

No local phone number and the corporate office is completely useless for help Can't imagine a worse set up They neglected to return my credit card and when I called to inquire the corporate office, only number they list on their website for all stores, gabe me a number that someone picks up and then hangs up on you When I tried to call the corporate office back I got put on hold for 15 minutes then they hung up and then didn't answer when I called back Tried the "store number" they gave me and when I did get through some just kept picking up and hanging up Worst customer service ever Halfway decent milkshake but the rest of their food was complete crap Zero customer service read more

omg cookout what!!! The styrofoam boxes were literally melted. It looked like a rat had chewed into our food. Waited in the drive through just to not have dinner :/ read more

Cook Out - Melted styrofoam on my chicken??? Wtf cookout - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

The drive thru is always busy with returning customers. This place has some of the best food in Charlottesville. They have a list of a variety of many different types of foods. You name it they most likely have it. And the milkshakes are to die for. They selection of all the different flavors will blow your mind. Last year we lived to Culpeper and drive to Charlottesville just to get COOK OUT. ‍‍ read more

Cook Out - Empty clean chicken strip box from a ****SUPER SATISFIED customer**** - Burgers Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Technically, Cook Out is a chain. In reality, it is a time machine. They've set the date to 1959. And that means REAL MILKSHAKES are back! Hip Hip Hooray !!! * * * Cook Out is the shake shop of Archie and Jughead. And no we are not talking about the fake retro diners Designed by food concept engineers out of bogus nostalgia. The places with Elvis Presley LPs glued to the wall. (In 1959 who would have glued an LP to the wall?) The Cook Out has a real 50's look rather than a tourist antique shop 50's look. Gold knotty pine, running left to right rather than up and down. Walls made to look like they are made of logs. Masonry in long flat rectangles of different sizes, none of which line up. Stonework that would have once been called "contemporary". The room is warm, yellow and inviting. These guys could give a lesson to McDonalds in how to make a burger room a nice place to be. * * * The crowd is entirely collegiate. The food is what Dobie Gillis and Maynard G. Krebs would have eaten. Hamburgers made of fresh ground beef and not frozen patties - Served Unpretentiously. No mile-high bun. No stacking the burger and the trimmings to make a pseudo-skyscraper. Things are squashed low and flat on an econo-bun. What made my chili burger good? The Onion. A whole thick slice of good middle-of-the-road strength yellow onion. You don't see that much nowadays and it sang in perfect harmony with the chili and the cheese. Onion rings were fine. Hush puppie servings were generous. (Six rather than the normal three.) Anyone who serves hush puppies with burgers is my friend. * * * Now for the main act. The milk shakes. This is not a fake milk shake place with industrial mix serving as the dairy ingredient. This is not a yuppie milk shake place with super-premium ice cream and just three flavors. REAL milkshakes are based on two key principles. 1) Vast amounts of ice cream. You want that baby thick. Middle of the road ice cream is perfect. Too downscale and the flavors are fake. Too upscale and the super-premium butterfat is lost in the milk and the flavorings. 2) Real milkshakes are about SYRUP. You want lots of flavor. You want strong flavor. You want lots and lots of choices of flavor. Modern yuppies are afraid of syrup so they make wimpy milkshakes. Cook Out gets it right. They have forty different flavors of milkshakes. Yuppie places give you three flavors. Fancier yuppie places give you six. Forty flavors of milkshake? NOW WE'RE TALKING! It is the holiday season as I write this, So I got an eggnog milkshake. There was none of the awful taste of synthetic eggnog flavoring. (That last line is for you, Starbucks - And it is also for you - cheap supermarket eggnog.) This had the rich creamy intoxicating flavor of the eggnogs of the 1950s and 1960s. The flavor was not of imitation booze. The flavors were egg, cream and sugar, Over the top and in your pleasure center. But there were thirty nine other flavors for the having as well. Cappuccino, Banana Pudding, Peanut Butter Fudge, Orange Push Up... The list went on and on. * * * And if that ain't enough ... Because it is a fast food chain, it is cheap, cheap, cheap. I had one of my best meals in a month's worth of Yelp reviewing, For just a little over eight bucks. Great shakes, solid burgers and practically giveaway prices? Life is a Cappuccino-Banana Pudding-Peanut Butter Fudge-Orange Push Up dream. read more

Cookout is some of the best and worst food you'll have. Absolutely filled with grease, the cookout tray is the perfect answer to your late night hunger! The tray comes with a main, two sides, and a drink. I always get the cheese quesadilla with a side of a cheese quesadilla and Cajun fries. Honorable mentions go to the onion rings and cookout rounds. And a soda or milkshake as a drink. The milkshakes (more so ice cream) can be made of as many combinations of flavors and toppings as you want. The best part however is their sauces: Texas Pete hot sauce, cookout house sauce, and Buffalo sauce. On top of the food every trip to cookout is always memorable and honestly became the home of so many of my college memories! read more

Messed up my order. Went and asked for my correct order and refused to give it to me. Would not recommend staff is rude

Wow. Wow, wow, wow! This place is amazing. I am unsurprised that the drive-thru line was so long at dinner time, because after eating here once I am happy to say that it is worth the wait. The food was fresh, hot and delicious but somehow also not greasy?!? My cheese bites were hot and gooey, the fries were soft and perfectly cooked, and the sweet tea is SPOT ON for this Southern girl. My only teensy critique (and this may come down to personal preference) was that the spicy crispy chicken didn't seem spicy at all. However, it was still delicious and I would 100% get it again. I can't wait to come back and try the other menu items!! read more