jhlurie

Going from eating Taco Bell to Chick-Fil-A is a jump equivalent to going from drinking "Milwaukee's Best" Beer to Heineken. It's like watching a Paulie Shore movie then switching over to an Albert Brooks movie. You aren't climbing to some kind of artisitic pinnacle, but you are going from pure crap to something filling, and essentially decent. Chick-Fil-A even has the best calendar ever sold by a fast food chain (I mean unless some fast food chain somewhere is selling a swimsuit calendar). Cows in humorous poses, and monthly coupons (sometimes two) which outweigh the five dollar cost of the calendar by a fairly large factor, even if you only use three or four of the fourteen or fifteen provided.

Well, that's full of sh@t!

Fat Guy had a more complex explanation I think, but to me the issue was that chocolate, containing sugar, isn't actually all that smooth. Sugar adds some kind of barely perceptible graininess, I think, which I suppose many of us are used to. The overwhelming complaint I got from anybody who tried the low-carb chocolate were charges that it seemed "waxy". To me, the better stuff resembled the Luker unsweetened stuff I've got sitting in a closet which I will probably never use in anything, but that doesn't really make it suitable for a snack. That said, the Z-Carb didn't disgust me. It simply won't be my choice unless I'm forced onto some law-carb/low-sugar routine at some point in my life (I've got diabetes in my family, so its possible).

no time ago or else a life sitting in the lard i met bacon not canadian)my heart flopped over and lay still while it passed(as close as i'm to you yes closer made of nothing except pig foshizzle. e.e. cummings

How could we miss "Bringing Home The Bacon"?

Love both those supraspinatus and deep pectoral muscles...

In honor of NeroW, here's another idea: Write a food related paragraph in Rex Stout's style (in other words, Archie Goodwin describing Nero Wolfe describing it). Obviously this has already been done here to some extent by Maggie and Dave, but it could be opened up to the general membership, and judged by these two experts. I wouldn't even claim ownership of this idea, since of course these two actually came up with it and I'm simply pointing out that it might also work as a "Smackdown." Of course the success of this would TOTALLY depend on how many Stout readers we actually have here. Also: If we want crazier than the "Food TV pitch" idea I gave before, how about a movie pitch which somehow has to involve food as a central point? Examples? A horror movie where a giant zucchini attacks Manhattan, a romantic comedy set inside a Starbucks, a time travel story where somebody goes back in time and stops the first ox from being domesticated, etc.

John Candy, who once stared in a film called "Canadian Bacon" was in "JFK" with... Kevin Bacon. Alan Alda, also in "Canadian Bacon", was in "Sweet Liberty" with Lynne Thigpen, who was in "Novocaine" with Kevin Bacon. John Candy also occasionally ate Bacon for Breakfast. ad infinitum Bacon makes the world go round.

By the way, has it been pointed out that Uzay, The Captain in the restaurant, is ANOTHER actor? http://www.uzaytumer.com/ Watched Episode 2 tonight on tape. Uzay claims on his website that nothing was faked, but I'm certainly continuing to have doubts. For one thing, I can't even comprehend how some of that wait staff would remain employed for five minutes, muchless several weeks. And Big Loudmouthed Italian Guy & his "Family"? Gotta' be actors--being paid to be actors, I mean. Sure, tons of these guys really exist, and I originally thought he was just a real guy playing to the cameras ("Am I a Clown Here For Your Amusement?"), but the more I watched it the more ridiculous it seems. Did that Gideon guy really break his arm? Yeah, I think so. Did he originally, perhaps, plan on merely taking a dramatic spin in front of a camera crew to get more screen time? I'm thinking maybe... I'm wondering if the REAL point of this show is that actors are stupid or something.

Suggest that a group of people compete to help come up with new Smackdown topics. Wait... sorry that's been done! Wait, seriously... Create a pitch for a food related TV show. Ham it up as much as possible.

carbless, the Z Carb is indeed the best--I know everyone didn't agree with me, but I thought I was clear about my own view. Still, the specific criticism was also on target: texture. The texture wasn't satisfying, even if the smell and to a degree the taste was. And if texture wasn't vital, we'd all be drinking our food.

On sale, no less... This is the kind of stuff all of these places sell now (GNC being another example). I just wanted a stupid bottle of multivitamins. I found them.

Nah... most of the DQs everywhere are like that. Up north the economics are even weirder, 'cause some DQs CLOSE FOR THE WINTER! My local DQ lot used to get taken over every fall by a Christmas Tree lot. Then it would sit fallow for a few months and the DQ would re-open. Until one summer, when the DQ never re-opened.

Navy Grog? Just pretend you're a pirate.

One new thing of note is that if you do the Han Ah Reum/Foodmart run, there is also a Warehouse Retail location of "The Vitamin Shoppe" down the hill and across the railroad tracks on 91st street, where it turns off Tonnelle Ave. Its their corporate HQ and main Warehouse as well, so they've got access to pretty much anything the chain sells. Also, because its an Enterprise Zone, the Sales Tax is only 3%, which adds up eventually I guess. Then again these "Health" stores are kind of anti-food stores to some extent, so maybe you should just stay away! I just needed some bloody multivitams and saw the sign, I don't need no stinkin' Wheat Grass.

I'm assuming the "vending machine smoothie" was a recreation of the thing he did for those lame DeeJays.

Yeah, but despite the extra things on that list, its not bad. Jinmyo certainly wouldn't touch it 'cause of the sugar, but I'm still thinking it beats horseradish for many things. Mind you I LIKE horseradish better on others. On another topic, Kris... Olive Oil Ice Cream. Done right its yum, and not at all what you expect.

Note to self: Must investigate franchise possibilities...

Doesn't everyone do unlimited fountain sodas? Or is that a regional thing? Not creamsicle sodas and real vanilla cokes. I think he means fountain in a handmade sense. True, but even if he was talking about unlimited refills out of a cheap generic soda fountain... its far from a univeral practice in the New York region. A number of fast food chains do it, but not all, and certainly very few "real" restaurants. I'm getting deja vu. This must have been discussed on eG before.

I honestly don't think she's joking... It sounds like it will be a lot of fun too. Even though its out of Chef's hands, preparation-wise, I wonder if some Katz's pastrami can't be airlifted as some kind of control or contrast for the experiment. ed. for bad spelking...

I actually agree with Jason about "Rockets". Most of the other food sucks, but the burgers are interesting becuase they get this kind of crunchy texture I find interesting. Not burnt though--it doesn't have that burnt taste. And the cocktail-like sauce they put on the "number 5" burger just works in an odd way. They aren't excellent, but its different and not at all offensive.

Well obviously a lot of REALLY small local chains won't make the list. NYC has a tiny chain called "Burger Heaven", for example, with I believe 3 locations. Is that even a chain? 3 locations?

Well... that was interesting. Now I agree that "Reality TV Sucks", for the most part, but don't you come off as a real poser if you sit out all night to get on a Reality TV show and then complain about "my feeling of ridiculousness about the popularity of Reality TV stars"?

best: most of NYC worst: Staten Island. Last time I was there I was in a diner where our water had white swirly stuff in it which took about 5 minutes to spin down and dissolve, and it tasted like raw sewage. When we complained they shrugged and said "well that's what all the water around here is like".

Only 10, although I've driven by 2 others, plus the unmentioned Checkers. And I've been to the also unmentioned "Steak and Shake", so that sort of makes 11. But maybe I should subtract A&W, since I've never had a burger from them but been to the locations many times. Fuddruckers went downhill ten years ago. When they first appeared, a few years before that, they were pretty good. Then the quality control slipped ridiculously. Hardees and Carl Jr.'s are the same ownership now, aren't they? Do we count them twice? Is the food significantly different?