FAST FOOD- Best and Worst
 

As it is vacation travel season, I thought I'd resurrect an oldie and a goodie- name the best and worst fast food places in America. Specifically bad places to eat would be welcomed as information.

Go back to work.

Fast food can never be "best" loaded with fat, starch, carbs and cholesterol.

"loaded with fat, starch, carbs, and cholesterol." Um, Richard, did you know that the only calorie sources in foods are fat, carbs and protein? So if you want to eat food without fat and carbs, you're pretty much limited to skinless roast turkey. Enjoy!

My children agree with me that McDonald's food is lousy. They prefer the chicken nuggets at Burger King if they have to eat out. But suddenly they've acquired the taste for Subzone or Subway sandwiches. Fortunately that fits right in with my tastes. They also really like Taco Bell which I find so-so.

Best-1) Popeye's (great spicy chicken, great onion rings and great fries) 2) Long John Silver's (only get the Fish and Chips and wait for a fresh cooking) 3) Arby's (delicious roast beef) 4) Dairy Queen (closet burgers to what you would cook in your back yard, great shakes, good fries) 5) Tastee Freeze (ditto)<BR>Worst- 1) McDonald's (low quality all around, only redeming quality is the changing stations and playlands) 2) KFC (once they betrayed the Colonel, you know they were going to Hell) 3) Hardee's (almost as bad as McDonald's) 4) Subway (trash subs) 5) Wendy's (hamburgers are only redeeming feature; sorry Dave).

Long John Silver has too much grease for my tastes. I have found that Dairy Queen varies GREATLY by location. Some aren't worth stopping at even for their ice cream - which is lousy to begin with. Wendy's - the one just up the street is adjacent to a research park - they've won numerous company awards for their food and service - and it is obvious why! Elsewhere, Wendy's can be so-so.

I prefer Sizzler.

<BR><BR>Yes, Sizzler can be very good, and a lot of them have a very nice salad bar.<BR><BR>

Chipotle. Everything else is fat-laden garbage.

I second the Chipotle vote! Great food, good prices!

I think Roger is a fast food counesseur (sorry about spelling) and needs to lay off the junk food.

Try In&Out Burgers. Better than McD's, BK, or JITB by far.

Chipotle and In-n-Out rule!<BR>Yummyummyummy<BR><BR>Unfortunately, they don't exist in the NYC area :-P

try www.foodtv.com

I'd say McDonalds worse!!!<BR>I guess I don't have a particular favorite. Probably ribs. Love Chicken Shack!!! That's the best!!!

In-n-Out Burger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chipotle is one of the worst. High priced, bad service and lousy burritos. Give me Baja Fresh any day over Chipotle. I actually much prefer my local hole in the wall taco shack that's been in business 30+ years.

We all have our local favorite Mexican Place, Burger Joint, etc. No matter where you live, local is better.<BR><BR>As far as the chains, I usually will pull over for a:<BR>1. Arby's<BR>2. Chipotle<BR>3. Boston Market

In LA, I like Poquito Mas over Baja Fresh.

All of your opinions of McDonalds are completely wrong. They have the best french fries in America and the fact that everyone goes there proves that!

Tater tots and shakes at Sonic Drive-In are the best.

My personal favorite is Fat Burger. If only there were locations on the east coast!

I noticed on my last trip to manhattan this weekend that a Yoshinoya beef bowl opened up on 42th street and 8th ave. They are a popular chain in southern california and really quite good and inexpensive. The one in New York was packed. I hope this is the start of the chain spreading throughout the eastcoast. <BR>

Chipotle is over-priced slop thrown on a tortilla. <BR><BR>In N Out rules!

The dressing at Boston Market is damn tasty.<BR>Arby's RB and cheddars make the list<BR>Whoppers are still king<BR>Wendy's fries make me want to grab them by the fistfull<BR>Belgian Chocolate-Chocolate milkshakes from Haagen-Daz would be my last requset if I was getting the chair tomorrow.<BR>WORST...<BR>Egg McMuffins...dry, tasteless McHockey Pucks is more like it<BR>Special Sauce<BR>That damn shrek burger that had the meat patty floating on all of the mayo<BR>Hardees entire menu<BR>White castle<BR>I'm hungry...

in n out is a good burger place, but the fries suck. for the best fries i have found that there are a few individual carls jr and burger kings that are really good, but not every one of them is good. i like the chicken sandwiches and chicken tenders at burger king. if you are in the mood for meat and cheese you can go to jack in the box for the ultimate cheeseburger. for sandwiches i pick subway and togo's, but togo's is more expensive. arbys is good for roast beef. and if you want hot dogs, gotta go to wienerschnitzl (sp?), they have the best chili cheese fries. you can trust me on all of these picks, i am a college student and live off of this stuff. i go fast food on average of 1.5 times per day, out of 2 meals.

if you go to mcdonalds the only reasons are A) its the only thing close, since they are on every other corner or B) you have very little money and are real hungry so you are going for 39 cent cheeseburgers. <BR><BR>i also forgot about the mexican food places. del taco is good for quesidillas only. go to taco bell for everything else.

Yoshinoya Beef Bowl is a horrible fast food joint. Even Jack In the Box has better teriyaki bowls. <BR><BR>I'd have to agree that Chipotle is way too expensive for burritos. And I've found that the service staff tends to be cranky and under managed. Del Taco has better food for the money. There's no canned food at Del Taco and they make their beans fresh throughout the day.<BR><BR>Togo's is worth the extra money for a good sub sandwich. Subway's uses inferior products.

I too like Togos. Do not eat hamburgers at all anywhere, even my own backyard. Will not eat anything at Micky D's. Frosties and French fries at Wendys are edible. Kids like Taco Bell. Fast food, if you never eat it, has a really bad smell about it. Try the experiment yourself. Stop eating fast food for a good long while and then try to sit in a closed car with a hamburger and fries in a bag. When my kids want this it makes me gag.<BR><BR>Good Fast food is the chinese food counter at Bel Air, rice bowl with almond chicken yummmmmmm.

Best:<BR>Steak -n- Shake is the place!<BR>White Castles is no hassle!<BR>Kentucky -Best for the Buckey!<BR><BR>Worst:<BR>McDonalds- Make ya gargle (blah!)<BR>Taco Bell- go to he?%<BR>Burger King- Bunch of Bling!<BR><BR>

I never tire of Subway. There are so many varieties and it is mostly healthy fare.<BR>

Another vote for Yoshinoya. They serve real gyudon like in Japan, not those icky Americanized teriyaki bowls.

One word: Culver's! Not sure if these are a midwest thing or what, but boy they know how to make a good hamburger. Also their custard is fabulous!

frankie...i am not a cooker so i occasionally tend to be a fast food junkie, but i've found that that new chicken bacon salad at wendy's is wonderful...i haven't seen a nutrition listing for it, but it's gotta be better than a burger and fries

I don't have a best and worst, but if you want to learn more about the fast food industry, read FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser. A great book about how the industry started and how it works today.

ttt

I like A Cracker Barrel chains up and down I-95 - you get a wholesome meal at a reasonable price. Only problem is, no beer.<BR><BR>Negatives - crowd is generally dull retirees (of which I will not be one) and you have to get through the gift shop before heading into the dining area. Also I think the conglomerate that owns it is some fascist southern baptist, but I haven't done my homework on that one so can't comment.

Nobody goes to Mc Donald's anymore, it's too crowded.

Good one, Yogi.