Best Fast Food

[jammindude]

I often go to panda express and I’ve never once had the orange chicken. General Zau’s chicken…broccoli beef…sweet and sour chicken. Those are my go to’s.

[cramx3]

This is more of a rant, but figured why not do it here...

I haven't had Subway in a very long time.  I'm a Jersey Mikes guy when it comes to getting a cold cut sandwich these days.  Anyway, I got sheet of coupons in the mail for Subway and figured, let me go use one at the Subway near work.  The coupon is $9 for a footlong meal.  I go to the Subway and ask before ordering to the sandwich maker if they take the coupon (coupon states "at participating subways") and he says let me ask, goes into the back and comes out saying yes.  He then makes my Italian BMT sandwich.  I go to pay, and the guy who he asked in the back is now out front and ringing me up.  He says they don't take the coupon, but will give me a deal and charge me $10.  I say well the coupon says 9, he then says he can't take the coupon but its the same thing because 9 with tax is 10 (although the register still showed 10, plus tax was 10.65  ) So one last time I ask, so are you going to honor the coupon or not?  He says yes but he can't do it at 9 and then shows me how much it costs without "his deal" which was like 14... (who tf is paying 14 for a subway sandwich?).  I call him an asshole and left him with my sandwich. 

Now this was on top of another dollar incident last night.  Before the Nemophila show, I had to pee really badly and the doors weren't open yet.  Figured, let me go to the bar down the street.  I'll grab a drink while I wait for doors and use the bathroom.  Get a beer, its 8 dollars.  I give him a 10, he takes it and goes to the register.  Doesn't come back.  The bar is mostly empty. He just then chills waiting for the next customer.  After a few minutes, just to make sure it's not a "me" thing, I ask him for my change.  He only gives me 1 dollar.  I took my piss and left.  Why must everyone be so petty to me about a dollar.  I would have given the guy a dollar tip for serving me a drink anyway.

[Stadler]

I'm with you, Marc.  I would've walked out of that Subway too (not for nothing, a waitress at a local bar/restaurant I used to go to got fired for running a scan along those lines), and as for the bartender, that's MY call whether I tip or not and how much. 

I don't care if it's only a dollar, it's the principle of it. 

[axeman90210]

All this Panda Express talk had me flashing back to high school when some friends and I would walk to the mall to get Sarku Japan once a week. Chicken Teriyaki over noodles, double meat, and ask them to hit it with an extra ladle of the sauce.

[ReaperKK]

All this Panda Express talk had me flashing back to high school when some friends and I would walk to the mall to get Sarku Japan once a week. Chicken Teriyaki over noodles, double meat, and ask them to hit it with an extra ladle of the sauce.

Oh man that sounds so amazing right now

[cramx3]

Forgot about Sarku, do those still even exist?  I really enjoyed going there when I lived in my old apartment near one.

[dparrott]

Del Taco garlic parmesan fries 

[faizoff]

While not really fast food, I grilled some Nathan's hot dogs last night and man did those taste good. I know at this point hot dogs are basically recycled garbage but ignorance is bliss 

[lonestar]

The ... closer to Stockton, the better.

Something which is almost never true in any other context.   

Ain't that the fucking truth 

[faizoff]

Made some smash burgers the other day and this time I cooked the pattie with a little mustard, which apparently In N Out does for their animal burger. Have to say it came out quite good that way, might keep cooking it that way.
The French burger buns that Publix makes in their bakery daily make this all a very tasty burger. I saw a video of a chef who put the toppings at the bottom ("Bottomings") of the buns because it apparently holds the burger better and I think he was right.

[Stadler]

Looks good!  We smoked some ribs this weekend and used mustard as the binder for the dry rub.  They were - literally - the best ribs I've ever eaten (I'm giving credit to my step son, not bragging on myself).


I like the roll choice there a lot.  I made smash burgers Monday night, no mustard though.

[El Barto]

I've always put mustard on the bottom bun specifically to commingle with the juice from the burger. Works best that way. As for toppings on the bottom, it depends on the toppings. O/L/T will work better that way simply because they'll stay cool while the patty will stay hot. For my part, when I make a burger I've usually got hot toppings, so on top makes the most sense.

[faizoff]

I do have to try out more toppings other than the usual suspects.

I triple stacked it yesterday and used Munster cheese this time. I overcooked the patties a bit, came out a bit dry but still tasted good.

[orcus116]

For the CT folks out there I've been finding myself at Nardelli's during my work travels. Something about the Italian with Everything on it just hits the spot. I think it's the diced pickles.

YES!!!!!!!!

That's my exact order when I go; I used to eat there more often when my daughter was at school in Wallingford.  I will still sometimes stop on my way to Ridgefield to see a show.

Hell yeah, glad to see I'm in good company. Which one do you stop at? I'm guessing like most places there may be some locations better than others. I've only been to the Newtown Road one in Danbury and the Main Avenue one in Norwalk.

I've been to the Danbury one; but usually I go to the one in Wallingford (I think it's Wallingford; it's on Rte. 5) and the one right off I-84 in Waterbury.

So I tried the Danbury location and not the best Italian with everything I've had there but it was still good. I need to try the others you mentioned but that Norwalk one nails the ratio of ingredients every time.

[Stadler]

For the CT folks out there I've been finding myself at Nardelli's during my work travels. Something about the Italian with Everything on it just hits the spot. I think it's the diced pickles.

YES!!!!!!!!

That's my exact order when I go; I used to eat there more often when my daughter was at school in Wallingford.  I will still sometimes stop on my way to Ridgefield to see a show.

Hell yeah, glad to see I'm in good company. Which one do you stop at? I'm guessing like most places there may be some locations better than others. I've only been to the Newtown Road one in Danbury and the Main Avenue one in Norwalk.

I've been to the Danbury one; but usually I go to the one in Wallingford (I think it's Wallingford; it's on Rte. 5) and the one right off I-84 in Waterbury.

So I tried the Danbury location and not the best Italian with everything I've had there but it was still good. I need to try the others you mentioned but that Norwalk one nails the ratio of ingredients every time.

They're opening a new one in Enfield (northernmost town on I-91 before you enter Massachusetts). 

[jammindude]

I’m still in Florida visiting my granddaughter, and last night I was invited to Culver’s for the first time. My wife had raved about their fries when she ate there in Texas.  I had a classic “butter burger”.  It was really good! I give them a big thumbs up!

[El Barto]

Since fast food is on topic in the pissed off thread it got me thinking. My thoughts on Panera haven't really changed. A little underwhelming for what they charge. On the road I'll go into one if I want a quick breakfast--a muffin, coffee, and free internet to plan for the day. I ducked into one on the road late at night, however, when I needed a salad to go with leftover pizza. Decent enough Greek salad, but I got a side of mac and cheese, and damn, they do that very well. Easily the best sandwich shop M&C I've come across. Most just taste like slightly better Kraft. This actually tasted like the real deal. Went back in for a quick sandwich while covering some ground, and reverted back to my original stance. The M&C was quite good, the sandwich wasn't bad at all, and with a drink I was out nearly $20. For fast food. 

[cramx3]

My gf has been telling me the Panera mac and cheese is great, but Panera is just never a spot I have much interest in going to, and it's not because I dislike it, it's just not good enough for the price of a soup and sandwich. I'd be more open to going there for lunch every once in awhile to change it up regardless but my coworker hates it.

[Metro]

Someone (maybe someone here) described Panera as “overpriced hospital food” and I think that’s very accurate.

[Jamesman42]

Arby's is the best. The smokehouse brisket sandwich is 10/10.

Taco Bell is consistently good.

And you can't go wrong with old reliable with McD's.

Burger King can be so hit or miss, if they were more consistent, they would rival TB.

[lonestar]

I don't know who here suggested it, but doing the Big Mac with extra meat is a fucking stroke of genius and my go to now.

[Jamesman42]

On Panera, their food is quite good but way to expensive. I do all my tutoring there so I sometimes will try something.

Barto is correct, their mac and cheese is a tier above the rest. Their Kitchen Sink Cookie is also stellar.

[cramx3]

I don't know who here suggested it, but doing the Big Mac with extra meat is a fucking stroke of genius and my go to now.

hmm never thought of doing that before...

Taco Bell is consistently good.

TB just can't be beat as my favorite fast food and they opened one near work making it the closest food spot to my desk and I go there more than I'd like to admit.  Finally signed up for their app to earn points since I go there enough to warrant it these days.

[Jamesman42]

I don't know who here suggested it, but doing the Big Mac with extra meat is a fucking stroke of genius and my go to now.

I like a lot of sauce on my burger, I feel like this would mess up the ratio.

[El Barto]

Arby's is the best. The smokehouse brisket sandwich is 10/10.

I've long maintained that their chicken sandwich mops the floor with CFA. And since they're not a cult you can get in and out with one in a couple of minutes. Down here you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a respectable brisket sandwich, though, so Arby's would never fill that need for me.

[pg1067]

Someone (maybe someone here) described Panera as “overpriced hospital food” and I think that’s very accurate.

I'll buy that.  My daughter likes the grilled cheese/tomato soup combo, though.  I also found an unused Panera gift card lying around recently, so the next one's free!

Arby's is the best. The smokehouse brisket sandwich is 10/10.

Taco Bell is consistently good.

I think the Arby's commercials make everything look good.  However, and no offense intended, I'm not sure I can give a lot of credibility to someone who uses "consistently good" and "Taco Bell" in the same sentence!     What's odd is that, for all the commercials they run, I can't think of a single Arby's location near me...checking Google Maps...closest one to my house is over 7 miles away, but it looks like there's one only a few miles from my office.

[Anguyen92]

TB just can't be beat as my favorite fast food and they opened one near work making it the closest food spot to my desk and I go there more than I'd like to admit.  Finally signed up for their app to earn points since I go there enough to warrant it these days.

If you get to the Fire tier on the Taco Bell app, after ordering enough through the app, they just give you a lot of options to pick for a free item every time you hit the 250 pt. mark and it seems very effortless to get those points.

As for Arby's, I want to go there often, but the closest one near me doesn't accept online orders and I'm not one to drive there to ask for a order and risk having them to scan my phone for the coupon and then they tell me they won't accept the deal.

[lonestar]

I don't know who here suggested it, but doing the Big Mac with extra meat is a fucking stroke of genius and my go to now.

I like a lot of sauce on my burger, I feel like this would mess up the ratio.

If you order through the kiosk you can adjust ratios of everything, sauce, meat, pickles, etc... The meat is 1.60 extra per patty. I usually do 3 total, 4 seems overkill.

[King Postwhore]

I haven't had on in a long, long time.

[pg1067]

I don't know who here suggested it, but doing the Big Mac with extra meat is a fucking stroke of genius and my go to now.

I like a lot of sauce on my burger, I feel like this would mess up the ratio.

If you order through the kiosk you can adjust ratios of everything, sauce, meat, pickles, etc... The meat is 1.60 extra per patty. I usually do 3 total, 4 seems overkill.

Three patties probably gets you to 1/4 pound after cooking and four would get you to about 1/3 pound.  Each patty is 1/10 pound before cooking.

[TAC]

I don't know who here suggested it, but doing the Big Mac with extra meat is a fucking stroke of genius and my go to now.

I like a lot of sauce on my burger, I feel like this would mess up the ratio.

If you order through the kiosk you can adjust ratios of everything, sauce, meat, pickles, etc... The meat is 1.60 extra per patty. I usually do 3 total, 4 seems overkill.

Three patties probably gets you to 1/4 pound after cooking and four would get you to about 1/3 pound.  Each patty is 1/10 pound before cooking.

That's right!

I remember getting sent to the freezer to get the 10:1 meat.

[Jamesman42]

I think the Arby's commercials make everything look good.  However, and no offense intended, I'm not sure I can give a lot of credibility to someone who uses "consistently good" and "Taco Bell" in the same sentence!   

I am deeply offended. I meant that they are reliable for what they are.

@Barto: I bet you can find much better brisket, but for fast food, that sandwich hits all the right notes for me.

[Cool Chris]

Someone (maybe someone here) described Panera as “overpriced hospital food” and I think that’s very accurate.

That's hilarious, and I cannot remember the last time I've had their food. My mom loves it there, a Panera gift card is my default gift for her. She worked in a hospital for decades, so maybe there is something to that description.

[jammindude]

Absolutely true Arby’s story from a few months ago:

[pulls into the drive thru]


Kid over speaker: “Before you order I need to inform you that we are out of roast beef.”

Me: “….”

Kid: “….”

Me: “….so in fact, you DON’T have ‘the meat’”.

[ReaperKK]

I don't know who here suggested it, but doing the Big Mac with extra meat is a fucking stroke of genius and my go to now.

They have a double big mac in Canada that is so good, has the extra meat.