Cookout is a chain burger joint with stores on the Southeast US seaboard, with the most stores in North Carolina, where it was founded in 1989. It is a legendary store and one of the best fast-food places I know of. In addition to burgers they have chicken sandwiches, quesadillas, hot dogs, wraps, barbeque, fries, cheese curds and 40+ flavors of milkshakes. For reviews of these milkshake flavors by themselves you should visit cookoutmilkshakereviews.com. From their website:

It’s the hot glow of electric freedom. It’s a blazing sentry of liberty. It’s the neon sign across the street that reads COOK OUT — and those are tears in your eyes.
To dine at Cook Out is to be presented a dazzling, dizzying array of choices. There are endless meal combinations — including the option to order a quesadilla or chicken wrap as a side — because this truly is the land of the free, the home of the tray.

Cookout is best enjoyed on the hood of a car or in the bed of a truck. Some institutions have outdoor seating which is great, but newer ones (at least the new one near me) lack outdoor seating. Indoor seating should be avoided at all costs.

The Menu and Min-maxing

The menu triptych is daunting. The bravest people I know freeze up like Microsoft Windows ME under memory pressure when they see it. Don't worry, it's actually easy to order at a Cookout.

You're going to want to get the Cookout Tray. This means you are following the red strip at the top, left to right, starting where it says CHOOSE 1 FOR TRAY. So, pick something from under that heading. The regular hamburger, big double burger1, and regular barbeque burger are all good choices. You can get the burger with any of the sides listed on the left triptych where it says CHOICE OF or you can select one of the styles to make it easier. They're all pretty good.

Then, continuing along the top, you can select any 2 of the sides listed under CHOOSE 2 SIDES or DOUBLE UP. Don't get the walkin' taco. I think they ran out of space because you can also order from the sides listed in the middle panel under QUESADILLAS AND SIDES.

Finally, for the drink you can get anything, or a milkshake for an extra $1.60. And when it comes to milkshakes, you can order any of the 40+ flavors and optionally combine as many as you want. I know a guy who gets a mint snickers cherry and peanut butter shake. Incomprehensible behavior. But accepted as a valid order.

There is an art to discovering your perfect order. It is trial-and-error. It is fluid over time. For instance, I only recently was informed that regular hamburger trays and Big Double trays have the same amount of meat on the burger. This affected my order and consequently the course of my life to come.

Classic:

• Big double tray cheddar style
• Ranch wrap and cajun fries
• Huge tea

My Go-to:

• Regular burger tray with grilled onions and jalapenos
• Cajun fries and okra2
• Either an unsweet tea or a snickers cobbler3 milkshake #eatbigtogetbig

Forbidden "Quesadilla Boy" Tray:

• 2 chicken quesadilla tray
• 2 chicken quesadillas as sides
• Cheerwine