They're bad for you and usually terrible excuses for restaurants. But it is summer and most Americans take at least one long road trip somewhere. Thus, most of us are forced to eat at fast food joints. Which slop house franchise is best and which is worst? Any specific bad fast food joints? My favorite two fast food places are Long John Silver's and Popeye's (though a disturbing amount of Popeye's are ditching onion rings). My worst favorites are McDonald's and Hardees. As for worst specific fast food restaurant, I'd have to give it to the McDonald's in Emporia, Virginia. Grudging service, lousy food.

I like Wendy's salads.

I'm a sucker for Popeye's, but a current fast-food fave is In-'n'-Out, here in California. Fantastic juicy burgers (although the fries can be hit-and-miss, depending on the place), worth the drive. Since my road trips now consist of exclusively southern California jaunts (otherwise I'll fly), I never have a problem finding one.

Also great is a fish taco and Baja goodies chain called Rubio's, as well as La Salsa and Baja Fresh, two other Mexican food joints that leave Taco Bell in the dust in every way. In a pinch, Del Taco is fine too-- nowhere near as good as these others, but sometimes you need fries with your burrito!

Hardee's is owned by CKE Corp, the people behind Carl's Jr. here in the Southwest. Are Hardee's commercials as nauseating as the Carl's Jr. ones ("Don't bother me-- I'm eating", with scenes of people smackingly choking down burgers, sauce dripping noisily everywhere)? That, and Carl Karcher's reprehensible employment practices, keep me away from that chain.

I agree that Mickey D's is nasty, but I do get a "McDonald's Fries" jones now and then, and I need my fix...!

Chick-fil-A is the best.

We use Subway a lot when we travel. On a veggie sandwich the caloric intake is around 350 which is great!!! And that Long John Silver is full of fat HuwMorgan! We also stop at supermarkets for frest fruit and if they have it, sushie.

"Quarter Cheese Plate on two. Scattered, smothererd and covered. Hold the garden"

"Waffle on two, double eggs, scattered and smothered with wheat"

Keith

For breakfast, I prefer Waffle House. You don't see many of these north of the Potomac River. I can recommend the Waffle House just off Route 95 between Dale City and Woodridge. Great hash browns!

Oh God I watched a waitress cut her blue painted fingernails behind the counter at the last Waffle House I ate at, she had a date after work! The DQ's are what we hunt for because there are none in our town.

Gotta hand it to Subway -- good, fresh food that can be good for you if you know what to order. Call it corny, but I actually did the "Jared Diet" and lost about 20 pounds, plus I managed to get my triglyceride levels to drop from around 350 (imminent diabetes, much wailing and gnashing of teeth), to about 115 (have some ice cream to celebrate) by chowing down daily on their seafood and crab sandwiches on wheat bread.

Gotta love that Subway... although as I learned on a recent trip to Arkansas, uniform quality is not guaranteed. The Subway on Four Seasons Blvd. in Hendersonville, NC, where I work, is consistently excellent, and I eat lunch there every day I work, and usually on my off days too. However, the Subways I dined at while on vacation sucked, especially the one in Cabot, AR, where the seafood and crab mix tasted freshly caught -- so fresh, in fact, that there was grit that could have only been sand in it.

They aren't big enough yet to be on every other off ramp, but I do love Quizno's. Giving Subway a real run for their money -- already see an improvement in Subway's breads. But I have a real problem everytime I see the Subway guy pull a chicken filet up out of a water bath. Yuck. Quizno's smoked turkey with guac, yeh!

Spouse loves Cracker Barrel. I go along for peace in the car, but always nibble a few of the fries.

Yuck--that sand would have me concerned! But I'll third the Subway anyway. (Boat food, cd) I don't think ours has the seafood and crab though??? Sometimes these trends take a while to reach backwater Florida.

Hasn't Jarred made a fortune on his weight loss though, and the best part is...he either has to maintain the loss now, or lose the fame and fortune.

A big second vote to Quizno's. Great food, but hard to find if you're interstate traveling. Wonder if they put out a map of locations, like Cracker Barrel?

I don't eat fast food any more. It usually makes me fart against the vinyl seats of my car. Then I have to roll the windows down or get a lot of complaints from the passengers about the smell.

I'll agree that Quizno's subs are SO much better than Subway! I wish there were more locations, too.

Jack In The Box has these new Ultimate Salads that are really good. There's an Asian, Chef, and my favorite, the Southwest.

I like Inn 'N Out Burger. The one drawback is that the burgers are real greaassssy, but very tasty. The lettuce and tomato are fresh and they peel their own potatos for the french fries. Carl's Jr. is also very good. 8-)

I'm not "most" of us. We don't eat fast food on vacation. We can go 4 weeks and not eat out once.

We cook our own meals in our RV and have done so for the last 27 years.

Even if you don't have an RV you don't have to eat out at every meal & fast food would be my last resort!

Utahtea

We have a conversion van and when we travel we pack a cooler with cheese, fruit, baby carrots, sandwiches, soft drinks/water etc. and stop at a roadside rest or find a picnic area.

We usually do the cooler-picnic routine for lunch, but if we fast-food it for dinner, we'll do subway or quiznos.

However, my faves right now:
Mickey's Crispy Chicken Caesar Salad and Burger Barf's...ummm....King's Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies! They're almost better than mine! Yum yum!

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind breaking wind in the car. Actually, I kind of like it. It's the complaining that comes immediately afterwards that tends to become tiresome.

And don't think you're above it all, Ellen Griswald, Buckeye, and Utah Tea, with your baby carrots and mesculum greens. I see you in your upholstered captain's chair in your plush RVs, secretly breaking wind to your heart's content as you nibble on your fennel slaw! You fool no one!

Oh dear, Bombed again!