Krystal is pretty close, but yeah, nothing beats a White Castle. Except, maybe, for a Bacon-Cheese Whataburger at 4:30 in the morning after partying all night. Too bad I’ve got to drive out to Texas to get one now.
Others of note:
-KFC, original (extra crispy never really clicked with me. Popeye’s is mearly a pale shadow of either IMO, albit spicer and with dirty rice)
-Chick-Fil-A is damn good, though I couldn’t eat it every day
Jack in the Box hamburgers are okay if you like hamburgers. They use real meat, real vegetables, and everything is whole and identifiable.
Sit-down dinner with food made to order = not fast food. They are good burgers, though.
I’ve actually given up most fast food, with the very infrequent breakfast sandwich at McDonalds. Which is funny, because aside from the breakfast sandwiches (especially the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit), I absolutely loathe McDonalds. I do eat at Dibella’s relatively often (it’s a local sub shop, with some of the best subs I’ve ever had; they make their own bread throughout the day), though I’m not sure if that counts as fast food, either. If nothing else, it’s a little too healthful to be fast food.
There was a place in Vermont that I used to like a lot, though–Al’s French Fries. Sort of a retro burger joint. Tasty.
A slice of Amato pizza with a can of Limonata is perfection (if you don’t get a soggy slice!)
The best fast food in Vegas is a place down on Charleston near Torrey Pines. I think it’s called Scooters. Best goddamn hamburgers in the city.
The best fast food in Sacramento is Del Taco breakfast. An egg and cheese burrito and a bacon, egg, and cheese quesadilla? Oh yeah baby. Oh yeah.
Oh come on, White Castle? Someone going to suggest Jack in the Box next?
— Alan
I already did. What’s wrong with Jack in the Box?
Lion’s Choice.
Best roast beef sandwich on the entire planet. I would kill for them to go national.
Runner-up: Damn I miss Steak n Shake.
While I used to have a thing for Jack in the Box’s Ultimate Cheeseburger, I haven’t been able to eat fast food with any regularity in years. It’s just too greasy and doesn’t taste good to me anymore. However, In-N-Out is simply on a different level than all the other fast food chains, and I’ll have a Double-Double maybe once a month if I happen to find one of those sparkly white buildings nearby.
If pizza counts, the best pizza I’ve ever eaten in my life is from Village Host Pizza, a local chain on the San Francisco peninsula that I ate for lunch at my grandma’s every Sunday when I was growing up. Obviously that must color my opinion of it a bit, but it really is unlike any other pizza I’ve had, and is the biggest culinary disadvantage of living in Los Angeles. Outside of Mulberry Street Pizzeria (which is great, but NY style, which is not my preferred type), the pizza I’ve had here sucks.
Sorry, with me its Taco Bell>*
However Quzinos is pretty dang close.
I don’t get it. Not being 'merican, I’ve only eaten at an In ‘n’ Out once in Sunnyvale. I was underwhelmed. What’s the big deal? Did I just get a dud In ‘n’ Out?
Another vote for Chipotle. My god those burritos are good and the price is decent I get them here for 5.50. Sure thats not as cheap as real fast food places but its big enough that its all you need plus a drink.
Has anyone ever ordered a Gargoyle at In’n’Out?
Popeyes has the best chicken by far. For burgers, I prefer BK.
And Quizno’s makes good subs.
Troy
No. What’s that?
I got food poisoning from the seafood pasta once at Red Robin. I miss the great shakes, but can’t bring myself to go back.
Quiznos is great, and the few times I’ve gone to In-n-Out where really good. My favorites other than that are a couple of local places, Crown Burger and Pace’s.
I likes me a Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger (x2) w/ super-big fries and small frosty.
Burger King Double Whopper with Cheese (not a big fan of the fries, but some onion rings are okay).
KFC Extra Crispy. Mmmmm.
McDonalds 20 pc nunggets.
White Castle crave case, sack of fries and sack of onion chips (shared with a pal).
Jimmy John’s #10 on Wheat.
Not a big subway fan because you get so little meat (which may have changed with the grilled chicken options).
Had In-N-Out in Vegas (the cabbie came in with us. Good times). Not world ending, but good.
Taco Bell soft taco deluxes for a quick pseudo-mexican fix.
There are no chains that are very good. I suppose of the big name chains I prefer KFC because they serve food which is identifiable as to origin and ingredients, unlike say McDonalds, Burger King, or Taco Bell, for the most part.
The best fast food comes from non-chain pizzerias, preferably from a hole in the wall actually operated by Neapolitans, not Greeks (who inexplicably operate almost all the pizza places in the Boston area – not that I have anything against Greek food…) using steel ovens leased by the Mafia. None of this gourmet brick or stone oven crap, with weird ingredients and asymmetrical pies. None of this so-called “deep dish” pizza, which isn’t really pizza at all, even if it is edible, which it often isn’t due to not being cooked all the way through. Oh yeah, the pies have to be twirled in the air after being rolled out. It probably doesn’t really help the flavor or the consistency of the dough all that much compared to just being rolled out and stretched on a board, but the showmanship indicates that the cook knows what he is doing in the other phases of the making of the pie.
Sadly, I haven’t found a single restaurant that even approximates this ideal in Massachusetts. The best pizza I’ve had in my area is ironically enough from a chain – Papa Gino’s. But it doesn’t compare to a good hole in the wall.
KFC is inedible. Boston Market is the only chicken place worth eating at.
Quiznos, Quiznos, Quiznos. Right now they have a salad and soup for $5.89 deal that literally cannot be beat, and their subs are consistently top of the line. Subway tastes like soggy garbage after a real sub from Quiznos.
Chipotle is pretty good, but they keep raising the prices by a quarter a month around here.
Baja Fresh is dying out, but man, they serve some frightfully tasty stuff.
I miss Carl’s Jr. even though In-n-Out was clearly superior food. Don’t know why.
Baja Fresh is dying out? I know of at least 2 or 3 that have recently (within the last 2-3 years) opened in the Central Jersey area, and one of those just opened about 6 months ago. Maybe it’s not dying out, but more relocating to friendlier locales?