So, I am wondering what people think of various fast food joints. WHat are your favorites, local and national.
As far as I am concerned, the three places I get fast food are taco bell (so very, very unhealthy, but worth it), burger king, and a NW chain called Burgerville (which is the best fast food burger I have ever had, and their shakes are divine!).
I will eat the ocasional Jack in the Box or Wendy's or Taco Time. I have a boycott of Mcdonalds (unless I am going for breakfast on a road trip, or I'm in a nother country).
And btw, what the Hell is a white castle?

White Castle sells two-bite little square burgers that are cooked in fat and chopped onions on a grill and served on a tiny bun with pickle slices and ketchup. Generally you order 4 to 8 of them at a time. I occasionally get The Crave and find my car driving itself to our local WC despite my best intentions.

I also like Taco Bell, Wendy's and Burger King when I don't have time for real food.

Its a rare day that the idea of fast food doesn't make me wrinkle my nose. But I'll eat it, particularly when I have no other choice. I worked at Subway in high school, and I'm still willing to eat that, although it hasn't seemed as good lately.
I'll eat Taco Bell, sometimes it sounds good. And I like the ceasar salad at Wendy's. I don't usually "do" fast food though, if I'm not travelling.

What I do like is the restaurants that are a step above fast food -- like panera and qudoba, for example. And local joints. I don't mind a gregor-dog from time to time. And Pizza! But not pizza hut. I don't like theirs.

Me neither ... though I have developed a liking for 'Za Hut's new "four for all" pizza that allows you to order four square mini-pizzas of varying toppings (I just typed "topics" by mistake!).

My girlfriend and I were discussing the "four for all" and why we liked it so much, espec. considering my usual disdain for 'Za Hut pizza. It just doesn't have that usual 'Za Hut "twang" to it (can't think of a better description!), but also, and most importantly: Every piece of pizza is a corner piece! And the crust is nice 'n' crispy!

: )

Anyhoo, one of my favorite fast-food places is Boston Market. LOVE the chicken carver samwich. I'm also a big fan of Jimmy John's, a sub place.

shite!

I eat fast food like it's my job.

Healthy?

No.

Tasty?

Not really.

So why?

I. don't. know.





please somebody save me.

Dude! Go to a grocery store... it's cheaper, better, NICER. Cook. Brown bag. Enjoy... learn how to make meals better than any you've had.

There. You're saved.

NO CHARGE.

Well I go to McDonalds for the toys!, I go to Burger king for the play tubes! Wendy's has nothing
But Ice Cream/ Ben&Gerry's or Brewsters at least twice a week!

My two favorite trashy fast food places are Burger King (home of the Whopper Jr.) and Wendy's (best 99 cent menu around). One summer in high school, I practically lived off Wendy's 99 cent menu while I was doing theater. Yum. But I'm also quite the Subway fan, especially since there's a Subway five minutes from my mom's house.

McDonald's food never fails to give me a stomachache (I suspect from all the grease), and Taco Bell ... no. I used to eat there all the time, even knowing they used grade D meat in their tacos, because it was so cheap. But then I learned that their primary tomato supplier mistreats the migrant workers who pick those tomatoes (many of them right here in Florida), so I joined the Taco Bell boycott. And I think I'm living healthier because of it.

As for the "step up" from fast food, I'm guilty of loving Panera, and I adore Steak 'n' Shake. Nothing like a cup of greasy, mediocre chili on a cold night.

Damn, now I have to boycott taco bell or sound like a hypocrite. Oh well. Subway is better for me anyway.

[hj]
eh, I like to cook -- and used to quite frequently.

I've been on a eat out kick here the last couple of months (I think I've cooked thrice, maybe.)

I just need to get back into the habit of preparring meals -- it sucks when you live alone.

[/hj]

i have a secret addiction to burger king's new tender crisp chicken sandwhich.

shhhh!

Hey does Burger king have Spidy toys? we have not been in awhile.
Still working with the last set of paper crowns!

They still have those? Good. That was the best part of burger king.
I just threw some out last week that I had saved for some sentimental reason, but I have since forgotten the significance. Into the garbage, formerly significant cardboard crown!

Me TOO! My dad and I used to go there on sunday mornings for breakfast...chili for breakfast...mmmmm. He sent me a can of steak 'n' shake chili in my last package. It's sad.

They have a KFC here (it's the only fast food...all other restaurant food takes at least 2 hours)...but I won't go near the place.

Otherwise
- McDonalds - for McNuggets only (especially since they are now all white meat!)
- Taco Bell - 3 hard shell tacos...wha'?...a BOYcott? wha????
- Quiznos - a pizza-sub.

I don't like fast food and usually find the times I am eating it are moments of hunger verging on desperation. I think the last time I had fast food was in the back seat of Kylie's car with she and Becky on our way to Canal St. Tavern from the hotel. We were running late, we hadn't eaten and it was on the way (aka: hunger verging on desperation) - enter "drive-thru". I have no clue what fast food place it was. I may eat Subway 5-7x a year, rough guess.

has anyone heard of this documentary? its pretty interesting.....

http://www.supersizeme.com/

YES IT IS VERY COOL
Strange how McDonalds took notice?

Has anyone else read fast food nation?

Well yes it was filled with stuff I already knew and feared!
The steroid stuff! among a few! i still have the copy if any one wants it?

I went in to Taco Bell today. Because of Becky's comments, I ordered my food "without tomatoes" and they obliged. Power to teh people, one burrito at a time.
Now, how do we get them to use a better grade of meat?

Taco Bell sucks, plain and simple. I can't believe they stay in business, especially in this part of the world.

Here's a suggestion for you, Aaron. Head across the river into Vancouver and find the Del Taco there. It's not great food, but IMHO it's what Taco Bell would be if Taco Bell actually had palatable food.

Good fast food is hard to come by... Chipotle wins in my book, though... even if it is a wholy-owned subsidiary of McDonalds (where I'll only eat a "egg-n-chee mcclogwich" if no other b-fast place is around). Quiznos & Subway are also good fast food alternatives.

All of the above are the "healthier" (heavy quotes) of most fast food options, but even the Veggie burritos and bigger Veggie subs (12" for Subway and "Regular" for Quiznos) are upwards of 1,000 calories each with all of the toppings. Get the Veggie Bol at Chipotle and you drop 400 calories... but the tortillas are so damn tasty; so it's a big trade-off for me...

I generally don't do fast food (vegetarian options are always limited)... the above are the exceptions when I might do fastfood versus something yummier (like Ethiopian, Indian, veggie sushi, Thai, other ethnic).

Give me Inari over McSteak anyday.

dieting,
~fafs

Bring your own?

Aaron, I don't wanna lay a massive guilt trip on you, especially if this is one of your main food sources. But the national (albeit quiet) boycott of Taco Bell is in motion to hurt Taco Bell's finances. Leaving the tomatoes off your burrito is fine on principle, but Taco Bell still gets your money and goes ahead doing business as usual.

I'm gonna have to agree with Dan about Chipotle. I hate putting cash into the McCorporation, but that food is darn tasty. And the meat makes the stuff Taco Bell puts in Gorditas look like dog food. (Which it probably could be used for.)

if i had a nickel for every time i heard THAT... !

it was mcdonald's, mich. i can't believe you forgot. *tear*

i don't eat too much fast food. when i do, it's pizza or breadsticks. sometimes i go to Arby's. ok ok... i eat a lot of pizza, but we're working on that.

steak 'n shake is AWESOME. i even used to wait tables there, and still loved the food. (that's sayin' somethin', imho.)

i heart steak 'n shake: chili, hamburgers, and 100% hand-dipped chocolate shakes.

i buy the chili when i go home and bring it back to LA.

i like to eat at burger king every 1-2 months. that satisfies me. their double cheeseburgers are the best!

i remember hearing once that western new yorkers rate burger king higher than mcdonald's, which isn't the norm of the country. (though i'm sure there are other pockets in the country where bk reigns.) yes, i'm from western new york. and i have no idea where i heard that. i think it might've been in the buffalo news many years ago.

i hate, hate, hate taco bell. as for chipotle, i like it, but to me it is so american. not a lot of flavor. but i'm american, and i like it. i almost always get their vegetarian burrito. there's a chain in nyc called burritoville, and they're like a better chipotle. i want to go there again, when i visit nyc! (it's on my list of restaurants to go to, and the only fast food place.)

yeah, chipotle ain't mexican... it's amerixan...

as for Cincinnati burritos... take Chipotle's rice, La Salsa's salsas, Haberno's olives & chips, The Comet's beans & tortilla siza, and Kaldi's jerk tofu... and then you've got the perfect burrito.

but that's too much work. and, yeah, still not Mexican. I'll go to San Berdo and my old taco haunts for that... :-)

~fafs

I like Taco Tico's sancho smothered in cheese and a beef taco.

Chipotle and Burritoville...

I live on Long Island and have never seen or even heard of either of these places. The closest ones to me are apparently in Manhattan 40 miles away, I guess I'll have to check them out.

When I got back to the states, one of the first things I had was 'taco bell'.

I'm not sure I'll crave that again for years to come.

Bleh.

I had a dream about taco bell last night. It was a pretty evil dream too.

You wretched fools!
Allow me to save you all from further gastronomical horrors!

In 'N' Out Burgers. It's the only fast food chain you need ever frequent.

Unfortunately they only have locations in California and I think Nevada.

All their beef comes from one high-quality supplier, it's ground on the premises so every patty comes from just one cow rather than 140 seperate ones from 3 countries. Their fries are cut and prepared from the potato when you order them, no added chemicals. And the best part is the Secret Menu. The menu posted at the stores only has I think 2 variations on the burger, but there is a word-of-mouth menu that each location honors, including Animal style (burger and buns fried in mustard. Popular, but I personally can't stand mustard), and the 2x4: 2 patties, 4 slices of cheese. There's more, but that's all I remember (a google search quickly locates the secret menu).
And it's all cheaper than the major fast food chains.
AND! The wages and benefits for their employees are far better than any other chain.

/shill.

To be honest, I go there maybe once a year. It's the only fast food I'll eat after reading 'Fast Food Nation' 3 years ago.
And yes it's got just as much fat and grease as any other place, but I don't feel so guilty about eating there.

McDonalds is evil. Taco Bell is worse than dog food. Pizza Hut gives me diarrh-- uh, nevermind.

Wait...does Krispy Kreme count as fast food?

Yeah, In 'N Out is indeed legendary around here and the secret menu is real. The Animal-style thing has never appealed to me, but I know people who get their double-doubles that way each and every time. I understand you can even get animal-style fries, if you can believe it.

And as far as the 2x4 is concerned, you're not limited to that. As I understand it, you can pick pretty much whatever number of patties and slices of cheese you want. I once read about someone ordering a 16x16.

I must admit...I've never actually eaten White Castle. And I think my life exepectancy might be longer because of it.

I have however consumed a fair bit of Wendys.

I used to like McNuggets, then they started in with these "new" McNuggets that have absolutely no flavor at all, they're really bad. WTF?

I remember when chicken Mcnuggets first came out. I think I was like 6. We were playing cowboys and indians, and for some perverted reason we believed that the cowboys and indians ate eachother. So we went around saying depending on what side we were on, yelling "Chicken Mcnuggtts and Indians (or Cowboys) too."
Thank you McDonalds for encouraging canibalism in a bunch of iimpressionable first graders, lol.

http://www.meatshake.com/menu.html

So is this place for real?

real or not, that's funny.

Grade "D" meat? Oh you silly, silly girl.

That's a rumor.

I always heard it was Grade "E" meat. So, one time, I mocked up a poster of the lil'TacoBellDog sitting in front of a psychadelic background and had him saying, "Taco Bell... It's E-licious!".

I actually submitted it to Taco Bell's marketing department as a suggestion. Got no reply. None.

Peasants.

I think the whole uncooked bass in one shake is the give away....or could it be real?

I like my bass fretless.

I bumped this thread because of the following article:
Taco bell appears to be trying to come to an agreement with the tomato farmers. Honestly, I will believe it when I see it.
http://www.ciw-online.org/we%20won.html

I need to eat at a Steak 'n Shake this weekend. Someone remember to bring me there.

Aaron, considering this article is on the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' website, I think the agreement is probably legit.

Oh yeah, didn't notice that. I followed a link from Sojourners actually.