Nancy: As a New York City kid, fast food meant a slice of pizza or a deli sandwich. The first time I ate Kentucky Fried Chicken, I was 15 and driving through West Virginia with my dad. “Why haven’t we always been eating this?” I asked, about the deliciousness. No other KFC experience has measured up. Need I go into the Jack-in-the-Box egg-rolls with dipping sauce I used to scarf down when the bars closed in Hollywood which, when sober, tasted like unidentifiable crunch in cough syrup?
Sarah: In-N-Out Burger with a McDonald’s Diet Coke. Chik-Fil-A spicy chicken sandwich with waffle fries and honey roasted BBQ sauce. Taco Cabana fresh tortillas with queso. KFC FTW.
Well, let's see. As a Texpatriate living in Brooklyn who owns two Whataburger t-shirts, a Whataburger car shade, a collection of Whataburger table numbers and whose infant daughter had 3 Whataburger onesies, I have a clear cut answer.
Popeye's Chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Big Mac and fries...love that thousand island dressing. Those little festive potatoes with cheese sauce at Taco Bell.
If you're 20-something and drunk at 2am in Philly... Pat's and Geno's for cheese fries or a cheesesteak.
When I was a kid in the 80s there used to be Hardee's and Roy Rogers. Hardees has the best breakfasts, a couple of time a year my dad would do "take your daughter to work day" and the best part was getting Hardee's breakfast sandwiches and hash browns in downtown DC after we got out of the Metro station. One of the last Roy Rogers location was in Silver Spring, MD near my high school and we would get this weird sandwich with chicken breast, bacon and some sort of hickory BBQ sauce on it... with a HOLSTER of fries. Yes this was a holster with thick-cute (almost steak-style) fries that you could theoretically wear on your belt.
Where can we discuss the VICE feminism podcast? I was the one who sent it to Sarah and I was thrilled to get an anonymous shout out. I'm so glad they liked it.
It's boring, but I have to go with McDonalds. I was about four months pregnant with my first child when my husband and I drove across two states to get to Pittsburgh. We were moving there so he could start his first big job, and I never went anywhere without a barf bag. When I wasn't nauseated, I was so hungry.
We ended up stopping at a McDonalds around 10:00 pm, and I was standing in line when a fresh batch of fries came out of the fryer. I started to cry because it smelled so good. I was a wreck by the time I made it up to the cashier, laughing and crying.
When I was growing up in Birmingham, Alabama Milo’s was the place to go. Great hamburgers and the fries were crispy and thick with a seasoning I have never had anywhere else. A lot of people love their iced tea. You can get it in a lot of places. I can buy it in Iowa!
Worked at a Jack in the box when I was 19 for a few months it was disgusting but it was free so I ate it. I also made all the food, there was a lot of multitasking going on. Gained about 10 pounds.
No fast food is good!! But in a pinch a McDonald’s cheeseburger and fries still tastes great.
I recall a French class in college, this would have been in the late '70s. A student asked if the French had a term for "junk food". Before the instructor could answer, someone piped up, "La cuisine américaine". Needless to say it brought down the house.
This reminds me of many decades ago (okay, 60s), before there were fast food joints on every other block, of my family driving many miles to go get a bucket of KFC. That sure tasted good. Today, I'd likely be picking Five Guys.
Sarah, does Taco Cabana still exist in Texas? The one in my Indiana hometown closed a long time ago. I used to frequent one in San Antonio. The tortillas were the best!
McDonalds fries dipped in their chocolate shakes - in the 80s. I tried one of their shakes several years ago for nostalgia and they suck now.
In Indiana, there was Penguin Point - their big crinkly fries were/are the best I’ve ever had. And they have always had used the old push button drive through intercoms of old. Until recently when they finally closed the restaurant I was still dropping by as recently as this past summer.
The only fast food I regularly eat now - usually just on my road trips - is Wendy’s. The best fast food burgers and fries, though their quality too has been diminished over the decades.
My best friend loves Jack-in-the-Box tacos. So gross! Who puts a cheese slice in a taco?!
There's a type of generic apple cake you can get in Australia, just sweet pastry on the bottom, a dome of pastry over a filling of sweet US apple pie-type apple with plain white icing on the top. Nothing special at all, the kinda thing you can get at a gas station, or a nicer version at almost every bakery. I used to eat them occasionally in Oz, but yeah, nothing special. They're pure fat and simple carbs, though, so my body is fixated on them for some weird reason whenever I cut out refined sugar and simple carbs for whole grains and vegetables. Like now. Can't stop my body somehow making me daydream about them constantly, almost like an intrusive thought, and they're just not available in Korea.
What is, though, is No Brand Burger. One of the owners/heirs of the family that owns Sinsaegae, the huge Korean company, is young and hip and started No Brand. It's like a no frills shop with no real branded goods, filled with OEM noodles, sauces, frozen goods, chocolate etc. Some of it much better quality than branded and much more costly Korean equivalents. Still, there is now a No Brand burger chain and it's completely legitimate. Cheap burgers that are better than McDonalds, on par with those mid range regional US burger chains I guess (whose names I would recognize from films etc but that I can't think of right now. No Brand Burger is kinda amazing in terms of quality vs. price.
The Filet-o-Fish rules! Sweet tartar sauce plastic-y cheese on a squishy bun. Yum!
Since the the discussion is about food, maybe Sarah and Nancy could discuss the film, The Menu, if they have seen it. Interesting satire on exclusive, expensive, 3 Michelin restaurants and the movie is being blamed as the cause for the best restaurant in the world closing. https://uproxx.com/movies/noma-closing-the-menu/
Del Taco (red) bean burrito. Taco Bell Mexican Pizza. McDonalds Big Mac & apple pie & fries. In N Out Animal Style. Granted, most appreciated after 11pm and/or hungover.
As a current Brooklyn resident who went to school in north Alabama, I miss the barbeque from roadside stands, gas stations, and often fly-filled restaurants, preferably pulled pork with white sauce.
On a number of different metrics, Chick-fil-A is the clear winner. (Low cal options, allergy friendly options, service, cleanliness, and of course, the food). For a drive through burger and fries, Wendy’s is my pick. For breakfast, Dunkin Donuts is underrated - great breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. Despite growing up with it locally, never was a fan of Popeyes. If I want fried chicken, definitely KFC. Most overrated fast food ever: In N Out.
Idk how my sister and I did it as kids, but we loved McDonald's Big Mac and fries...Haven't had McDonalds in probably 23 years, after my last Quarter Pounder with Cheese (that I ate while driving) made my entrance to 1-year-old's bday party an embarrassing bolt to the host's loo, where I stayed for over a half hour with pain (lower intestinal) worse than childbirth. I have never had KFC (nor Popeyes). (And I don't think I ever will...) On a happier note, 5 Guys fries=nirvanna.
Well, let's see. As a Texpatriate living in Brooklyn who owns two Whataburger t-shirts, a Whataburger car shade, a collection of Whataburger table numbers and whose infant daughter had 3 Whataburger onesies, I have a clear cut answer.
McDonalds Filet-o-Fish!!!
Popeye's Chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Big Mac and fries...love that thousand island dressing. Those little festive potatoes with cheese sauce at Taco Bell.
If you're 20-something and drunk at 2am in Philly... Pat's and Geno's for cheese fries or a cheesesteak.
When I was a kid in the 80s there used to be Hardee's and Roy Rogers. Hardees has the best breakfasts, a couple of time a year my dad would do "take your daughter to work day" and the best part was getting Hardee's breakfast sandwiches and hash browns in downtown DC after we got out of the Metro station. One of the last Roy Rogers location was in Silver Spring, MD near my high school and we would get this weird sandwich with chicken breast, bacon and some sort of hickory BBQ sauce on it... with a HOLSTER of fries. Yes this was a holster with thick-cute (almost steak-style) fries that you could theoretically wear on your belt.
Where can we discuss the VICE feminism podcast? I was the one who sent it to Sarah and I was thrilled to get an anonymous shout out. I'm so glad they liked it.
It's boring, but I have to go with McDonalds. I was about four months pregnant with my first child when my husband and I drove across two states to get to Pittsburgh. We were moving there so he could start his first big job, and I never went anywhere without a barf bag. When I wasn't nauseated, I was so hungry.
We ended up stopping at a McDonalds around 10:00 pm, and I was standing in line when a fresh batch of fries came out of the fryer. I started to cry because it smelled so good. I was a wreck by the time I made it up to the cashier, laughing and crying.
Five Guys
When I was growing up in Birmingham, Alabama Milo’s was the place to go. Great hamburgers and the fries were crispy and thick with a seasoning I have never had anywhere else. A lot of people love their iced tea. You can get it in a lot of places. I can buy it in Iowa!
My family and I all love Steak and Shake.
Worked at a Jack in the box when I was 19 for a few months it was disgusting but it was free so I ate it. I also made all the food, there was a lot of multitasking going on. Gained about 10 pounds.
No fast food is good!! But in a pinch a McDonald’s cheeseburger and fries still tastes great.
Whataburger with 3 ketchup cartridges.
I recall a French class in college, this would have been in the late '70s. A student asked if the French had a term for "junk food". Before the instructor could answer, someone piped up, "La cuisine américaine". Needless to say it brought down the house.
This reminds me of many decades ago (okay, 60s), before there were fast food joints on every other block, of my family driving many miles to go get a bucket of KFC. That sure tasted good. Today, I'd likely be picking Five Guys.
Sarah, does Taco Cabana still exist in Texas? The one in my Indiana hometown closed a long time ago. I used to frequent one in San Antonio. The tortillas were the best!
McDonalds fries dipped in their chocolate shakes - in the 80s. I tried one of their shakes several years ago for nostalgia and they suck now.
In Indiana, there was Penguin Point - their big crinkly fries were/are the best I’ve ever had. And they have always had used the old push button drive through intercoms of old. Until recently when they finally closed the restaurant I was still dropping by as recently as this past summer.
The only fast food I regularly eat now - usually just on my road trips - is Wendy’s. The best fast food burgers and fries, though their quality too has been diminished over the decades.
My best friend loves Jack-in-the-Box tacos. So gross! Who puts a cheese slice in a taco?!
Oh man, I had a White Castle on the corner growing up. Sorry but those slimy burgers can’t be beat.
The best KFC is when it’s 10 PM and you’re on the highway in a small town and everything else local is closed.
There's a type of generic apple cake you can get in Australia, just sweet pastry on the bottom, a dome of pastry over a filling of sweet US apple pie-type apple with plain white icing on the top. Nothing special at all, the kinda thing you can get at a gas station, or a nicer version at almost every bakery. I used to eat them occasionally in Oz, but yeah, nothing special. They're pure fat and simple carbs, though, so my body is fixated on them for some weird reason whenever I cut out refined sugar and simple carbs for whole grains and vegetables. Like now. Can't stop my body somehow making me daydream about them constantly, almost like an intrusive thought, and they're just not available in Korea.
What is, though, is No Brand Burger. One of the owners/heirs of the family that owns Sinsaegae, the huge Korean company, is young and hip and started No Brand. It's like a no frills shop with no real branded goods, filled with OEM noodles, sauces, frozen goods, chocolate etc. Some of it much better quality than branded and much more costly Korean equivalents. Still, there is now a No Brand burger chain and it's completely legitimate. Cheap burgers that are better than McDonalds, on par with those mid range regional US burger chains I guess (whose names I would recognize from films etc but that I can't think of right now. No Brand Burger is kinda amazing in terms of quality vs. price.
The Filet-o-Fish rules! Sweet tartar sauce plastic-y cheese on a squishy bun. Yum!
Since the the discussion is about food, maybe Sarah and Nancy could discuss the film, The Menu, if they have seen it. Interesting satire on exclusive, expensive, 3 Michelin restaurants and the movie is being blamed as the cause for the best restaurant in the world closing. https://uproxx.com/movies/noma-closing-the-menu/
Mission Barbeque here in Berks County PA is good.
There is a Popeye's in the PA turnpike rest stop at Sideling Hill (halfway for our trip to Pittsburgh to visit kids and grandkids)
Del Taco (red) bean burrito. Taco Bell Mexican Pizza. McDonalds Big Mac & apple pie & fries. In N Out Animal Style. Granted, most appreciated after 11pm and/or hungover.
As a current Brooklyn resident who went to school in north Alabama, I miss the barbeque from roadside stands, gas stations, and often fly-filled restaurants, preferably pulled pork with white sauce.
On a number of different metrics, Chick-fil-A is the clear winner. (Low cal options, allergy friendly options, service, cleanliness, and of course, the food). For a drive through burger and fries, Wendy’s is my pick. For breakfast, Dunkin Donuts is underrated - great breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. Despite growing up with it locally, never was a fan of Popeyes. If I want fried chicken, definitely KFC. Most overrated fast food ever: In N Out.
Man. Hot dogs were alao a fast food thing, though we were rarely allowed to eat them.
Five Guys is SO good. The fries are out of this world.
Idk how my sister and I did it as kids, but we loved McDonald's Big Mac and fries...Haven't had McDonalds in probably 23 years, after my last Quarter Pounder with Cheese (that I ate while driving) made my entrance to 1-year-old's bday party an embarrassing bolt to the host's loo, where I stayed for over a half hour with pain (lower intestinal) worse than childbirth. I have never had KFC (nor Popeyes). (And I don't think I ever will...) On a happier note, 5 Guys fries=nirvanna.
Has anyone else tried mixing that Tenneyson ginger drink Sarah recommended? It's kinda intense for me just straight up.
Quarter pounder with cheese and fries from McDonald’s was my jam. I am embarrassed
to confess I also loved their “apple pie” which was basically a flat egg roll stuffed with amazing processed filling.