Second the Jimmy Johns post, that shit is addictive. One just opened in my hometown with a drivethru, which makes it that much quicker when I want to eat the ambrosia they call the Italian Night Club. Add hot peppers, of course.
I need to travel to Southern California every three months for business. I can never leave without going to Tommys for a chili cheese burger. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.originaltommys.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.originaltommys.com/</a> It is no where near the quality of an In n Out burger but it is like Heroin to me. My city got a an In n Out burger about 6 years ago now. The secret to their food is the quality of the ingrediants. The buns are fresh without preservatives and only last for a couple of days before they go bad. The meat is fresh as well as the vegies. The Milkshakes are made with real ice cream and the fries are made from fresh potatos right in front of you. I think they really do deserve their reputation, but I crave what I cannot get Tommys.
Cookout is better then Five Guys. I miss the shakes from Cookout. I don't really miss much from Five Guys, especially now that I'm in DC/NoVa (where 5 Guys originated from, if I recall correctly.) I might be headed to Cali this summer for a conference, so if I am on the left coast, I'll make it a point to try In and Out so I can give a detailed comparison of all three.
I'm in the minority here because I know people who love Harvey's, but I just can't stand their burgers. I hated it as a child and have tried it a handful of times since just to make sure that I wasn't just getting a sub-par quality burger but no. I have honestly never been able to swallow more than 2 bites of a Harvey's burger. Now, I'm not a giant fatso or anything but to say that I love burgers is a huge understatement. And It's not that I won't eat their food it's that I honestly can't eat it and I've finished some shitty-ass burgers before. It could very well just be me, but maybe Harvey's isn't for everybody.
I don't think I've seen a post about Chik-fil-a. What the fuck? I know Tucker praised Chik-fil-a quite a bit, but there is so much more to that. What do I want from fast food, good cheap fast food. But Chik-fil-a takes it so much further. Everytime I go in there, there is some cute brainwashed 16 year old girl who is one of the politest people I have ever met. Not to mention everything you get there is delicious, chicken nuggets? Fuck yeah, sandwhiches? FUCK YEAH! In fact I went there this morning and just casually mentioned that a chicken biscuit sounded delicious, but unfortunately I had just missed breakfast. What did she do for me? When I got my Chicken sandwich without pickles what else was in the bag??? A fucking chicken biscuit with a little sticker on it thanking me for stopping by for breakfast! Hell yeah, I've loved that place since I was sixteen and they still haven't let me down 7 years later. One more thing, anybody here like sweet tea? I do, I drink that shit like its water. Chik-fil-a by far has some of the best sweat tea I have EVER had, of course it isn't as good as home brewed, but I don't give a fuck. Damnit, now I am hungry. EDIT: Oh yeah and I had a double down the first day they were out. Not terrible, and honestly I didn't feel like I was going to have a heart attack afterwards, if anything I vote that it is one of the best hangover foods ever invented. But that is just me.
You know why Chick-fil-a isn't listed as a great place? Two reasons: 1) They are closed Sundays. MOVE INTO THE GODDAM 21st CENTURY, IDIOTS! You were talking about good hangover food? Chick-fil-a is out of the running because you can't show up there after getting trashed the previous Saturday night. Really, isn't hangover food supposed to be available for 24 hours? When I think of "Hangover food," I think of something I eat before I pass out that will settle my stomach and digestive tract as I sleep so I DON'T wake up with a hangover. 2) They don't have onions there. NONE. NADA. EL ZILCHO. How the hell am I supposed to enjoy a sandwich if there aren't any onions in it? I'm sure that for Jesus freaks with weak palates that place is the shit, but not for this Texas atheist.
I disqualify them as well because I have to spend $20 to fill myself up there, otherwise I'm eating like a pussy and hungry ten minutes later. The way I see it, one of the points of fast food is to get full cheap. For the price of a combo with a lame ass (though tasty) chicken breast on a cheap ass bun AND A COKE, I can get a whole equally tasty chickens worth of plump pieces at Popeyes.
No mention of Taco Bell yet? I cried a little bit when they stopped making the Chili Cheese Burrito. I know that they can still make it for you, supposedly, but I haven't had any luck with that yet. That and the Spicy Chicken Burrito. I'd definitely try the double down in a heartbeat, but there are only like two KFC's in DC...I guess we're more of a Popeye's town.
You people that are speaking blasphemy against my beloved Chic-fil-a have no soul. Regular chicken sandwich, wheat bun (much better) and extra pickles. Lots of ketchup on the waffle fries. MMMmmmm. The chicken biscuits are yummy too. And as for the closed on Sunday thing... hell people, this is the Bible Belt, you expected something different? Taco Bell here burned about 18 months ago and just reopened. THERE IS A 45 MINUTE GOD DAMN WAIT FOR THAT SHIT. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!
Jimmy John's might be better than Subway, Quiznos, etc., but they still make shitty sandwiches. One of my first meals when I get out of the Midwest in a couple weeks will be a proper Italian hoagie. I don't eat legit fast food that often, but when I do, Wendy's has always been my go-to. I even prefer the spicy chicken sandwich there to Chik-fil-a. I've also never ordered anything off Wendy's menu apart from a spicy chicken combo. And I'm definitely in for all the In-n-out/five guys love. Both places make superior burgers, although I prefer In-n-out's fries to five guys.
Speaking as a lifelong Cali resident who has never had the misfortune of being deprived of an in-n-out, you just cant understand it until you try it. Its not like a fuckin' religious experience or anything, but think about how a burger would taste, if you had all the fresh natural ingredients, the proper equipment, and the skill to make it just perfect. Then imagine you didn't have to do any of that shit and could just sit in your car and have it handed to you. My only bitch is that they don't offer bacon. “(Lisa) “I’m going to become a vegetarian” (Homer) “Does that mean you’re not going to eat any pork?” “Yes” “Bacon?” “Yes Dad” Ham?” “Dad all those meats come from the same animal” “Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!”"
The Doner Kebab has made it across the pond to my little town. And I could not be more excited. This was my favorite quick lunch or drunk food when I was studying abroad, and for $5 it's all the quick meal you can ask for. Spicy, full of meat, edible while driving, and you don't hate your life after eating it like normal fast food. Best part: it's sold out of a trailer by a guy who looks like he consumes 7 of them at a time. I can barely finish one.
There is a Smashburger here, and while it is good, I don't think it really fits into the "fast food" category. There are gourmet burger joints popping up all over and you can't really expect the same from a McDonalds or Hardees. Maybe it is the same for Five Guys, which is my favorite burger. Probably if they don't have a drive through, they can't be considered "true" fast food. In that category, I like Chick Fil-a. I don't get what the big deal is about In and Out either. Perhaps it was because it was oversold to me to the point that I expected instant orgasm with the first bite. My first visit was in Vegas and my friends insisted we go so we took a fucking cab to get there. If the pull is an inexpensive burger, then I think taking a $20 cab ride kind of defeats the purpose. It was alright, but didn't meet my expectations. Overall, I kind of felt like the big city California girl wanted to feel like she was letting us unsophisticated country bumpkins in on how the other side lives. And the way that people rave about it does nothing to dispel that impression for me. I have tried it several times since to see if maybe I got a bum burger and.... same thing... just OK. Or maybe it is because I can't get that passionate about a burger and don't understand the folks who do.