TheFoodTutor

Yes, it is my attempt at humor, anyway. There's nothing wrong with the chicken sandwiches, but somehow I find that I only crave them on Sundays. And I'm somewhat troubled that those cows haven't learned to spell better by now. And I think you can include the Moon Pie, but only if you wash it down with an RC.

Yes! Redemption! I am kind of a Golden Flake freak. I have issues with Golden Flake, but not with the chips themselves, which are just fine, but not exceptional. I don't really like their slogan, "The crispiest chip in the South." Firstly, I don't like the word "crispy," but that's a personal issue. If something is crispy, it's not any crisper than if it were just crisp, so the word is superfluous, in my mind, and I've been on a personal crusade to abolish its use for a number of years. Feel free to either accuse me of being insane or join in my fight. Secondly, "The crispiest chip in the South" implies that, if I want a crispier chip, I must go outside of the South to get one. Why do they have crispier chips outside the South? Can't they learn to make them any crispier down here, too? Why would Golden Flake be proud to state that, while they do have crispier chips elsewhere in the country, these here chips are about as crispy as you're gonna' get in these parts. By the way, I'm new to posting here. I am a Yankee transplant, living in the South for over 10 years. Feel free to tell me to go away, as I am very annoying. And yes to pickles on Chic-Fil-A, but I only eat there on Sundays, no to sweet pickles in tuna salad, and if you are compiling a tasting menu of southern flavors, you must include a Goo Goo Cluster.

I have heard that the Ru San's in Charlotte is particularly good, and my boyfriend liked it a lot when he lived there. However, the one by my apartment serves what I'd describe as cat food on rice. One day, after a workout, I was desperate for a protein meal and I sat at their sushi bar, choosing a combo from their list of post-workout specials. Every piece of sushi in this assortment was not only poor-quality, slightly off-tasting fish, but it was topped with a very mayonnaise-y sauce or some other kind of goop. It's just really unappetizing. The really funny thing is that I must have completely forgotten about how awful it was, because another day, also post-workout, I found myself starving again and I ordered the very same dish. I didn't realize until it came out and I saw all the little piles of goop, just like before, that I'd made the same horrendous mistake twice. The service is pretty nice, though, and they remembered me when I came in after the first time. I wish that I'd told them how much I didn't like it, so they could have warned me not to get the same thing again.

I'm adding my 2 cents as a long-time restaurant worker, because there does happen to be a refrigeration issue with ketchup, and it's not exactly as you'd think if you're not familiar with it. Every restaurant that serves ketchup must have a "ketchup policy" believe it or not, and it must be rigorously followed. If you keep glass bottles of ketchup and you "marry" ketchup bottles - re-fill bottles with other, partially-full bottles by draining one into another or through a "marrying" machine - you should probably keep ketchup in the refrigerator overnight, then bring them out for service the next day. This also entails going around and wiping condensation off the bottles a half-hour after they're removed from the fridge. Or, you can use plastic squeeze bottles, which don't need to be, and can't easily be refilled. Or, you can refill from a plastic bag dispenser on the wall, dumping ketchup once a week - possibly for use in making cocktail sauce - washing the bottles and then refilling with brand-new ketchup. Why such detail? Because marrying ketchup and keeping it at room temperature allows the sugars in the ketchup to ferment. Glass bottles can't expand, so occasionally bottles of ketchup literally explode on unsuspecting customers, which is, needless to say, a lawsuit waiting to happen. So, if you have an old, glass bottle of ketchup and you're not keeping it in the refrigerator, you might want to re-think that. Other than that, most of the condiments you mentioned don't have enough sugar to make them an issue.