Sometimes fast food is wonderful.

[dividend]

Right now I'm sitting at my desk at work eating a #7 from Wendy's: breaded chicken sandwich with cheese, fries, and a diet coke. I was out late last night and didn't pack my lunch when I got home. This morning I was on my way out the door before I noticed the empty spot in the fridge where my lunch normally resides overnight. Our office cafeteria closes early on Fridays, which I never remember. So suddenly it's 3:00, I'm hungry, and I have no accessible food in the building - even my drawer stash of peanut butter and crackers is empty. Wendy's is the closest restaurant to our office, and I don't even have to get on the highway for it. So I went. Total time, desk --> car --> Wendy's --> car --> desk: 18 minutes because I park far away. I had my food from the drive thru in literally the time it took to drive through. Pulling away, I sampled a french fry. It was piping hot and salty. Back at my desk, the food is tasty, tasting mainly of salt and savory. The chicken and fries are hot, the lettuce and tomato cold and crisp, the bun soft and inoffensive. For the investment of a short drive and swipe of my AMEX (for cash back, of course!), I'm fed, instead of spending the afternoon in a state of hunger-induced crankiness. It occurs to me that my experience is exactly the purpose of a fast food restaurant.

Would I be reflectively grateful for Wendy's filling this niche today if this was how I fed myself everyday? Of course not. But we all know many people who consider McDonald's, Burger King, and Taco Bell the three food groups, and when considered as the mainstay of someone's diet, fast food restaurants probably deserve much of the criticism they endure around here. In the context of an occasional repreive from cooking, or from packing a lunch, or even from having to sit down and interact with a waiter, sometimes you can't beat a brown bag passed through the window, a foil wrapped chicken sandwich eaten in front of a computer. I'm not a food purist by any stretch of the imagination, so I eat fast food probably once or twice a month. Sometimes because I forget my lunch, sometimes because a lazy weekend afternoon prompts a craving for a couple of effortless cheeseburgers (from McDonald's).

Another time when fast food exactly serves it's purpose is late on a Saturday night. The bars have closed, we've piled too many people in the designated driver's car, and we're fiending for snacks. If we end up at my apartment, we scrounge the last bits of good stuff from my fridge (or my roommate attempts to cook bacon). But I'm the only one in my circle of freinds with consistently edible bits in the fridge at any time. So if we end up somewhere else, we always hit the Taco Bell drivethrough. (If I'm not too inebriated I will inevitably make a joke about "fourth meal.") It's fast, and it's tasty in that excessively salty way that tastes good when you're drunk, and there's no risk of burning down the apartment by leaving the stove on.

Now I want you to tell me that I'm not alone in this. That sometimes, drunk or sober, you too find fast food wonderful.

[SuzySushi]

I'm not a burger and fries person, but I love, love, love Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad. There are copycat recipes online for the dressing, but who wants to be bothered when it calls for a gazillion ingredients and it's only me eating it?

[K8memphis]

I needed lunch fast and I've been hearing that Mcdonald's has some good salads so I found myself caught once again under the comforting canopy of the Golden Arches. It was all I could do to keep from getting an order of fries (hands were trembling, beads of sweat were beading) and they have a cinnamon something now too. The salad was good. Fries & cinnamon anything woulda been better.

But yeah, it was kinda cool.

How spoiled is real spoiled though, I hate to have to get my own drink.

[Malawry]

Sometimes, I'll be running errands and the baby falls asleep in his seat in the back of the car. If I get hungry, I'll get a grilled chicken sandwich and a diet lemonade from the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A, or a cappuccino from Starbucks drive-through. This gives me a meal or a snack without having to wake up the baby, wrestle him into a restaurant, juggle him and my food, etc etc. It can be a real lifesaver.

[Fat Guy]

Chick-fil-A and Starbuck's operate at a pretty high level of quality. I'd characterize them as fast food but not junk food. There are a few other fast-food chains that I think do relatively high quality: Baja Fresh, Quizno's, In-n-Out, Long John Silver's, Popeye's, Nathan's. Wendy's is borderline. It's an order of magnitude higher quality than McDonald's and Burger King, which in turn are not at the lowest rung of the ladder (that's reserved for Taco Bell).

Which is to say, I don't think you earn junk-food street cred unless you go in for the hardcore crap like Burger King and Taco Bell.

[LindsayAnn]

I like fast food too - not weekly - def not....but a few times here and there and yum yum yum...

I also like boston market (not at all fast food), but it sure is fast to get your food there! LOL

I love taco bell when I am drunk, or even the morning/afternoon/evening after being drunk....its a great "I need grease now" hangover cure....4 hard shell beef taco and a chicken soft shell taco - side order to nachos with cheese and I am set....no more hangover (just an overload of salt!)...but I sure do love salt...

[Fat Guy]

My most masochistic occasional indulgence is White Castle. I can't help going there a few times a year, because there's simply no other way to capture that particular flavor -- and I need that flavor.

[jende]

I caught about an hour of Supersize Me on TV the other day and, is this sick or what????, it actually made me CRAVE McDonalds!!!

Years ago I used to indulge in the cheeseburger value meal (I think it was the #3) at least once a week, but now I find myself mostly grossed out by fast food. Until I saw Supersize Me.

[Tess]

Jack in the Box tacos.

[K8memphis]

My most masochistic occasional indulgence is White Castle. I can't help going there a few times a year, because there's simply no other way to capture that particular flavor -- and I need that flavor.

←

We grew up on White Castles!!! Unfortunately, my sister (CA) and I (TN) live hundreds of miles from any. We have Krystal's here in Memphis which is a cruel alternate universe of wish-I-was-eating-White-Castle. I've eaten there twice in the over 20 years we've been here. There's White Castles in middle Tennessee but alas a four hour dirve. But one of my favorite past times is sending her White Castle coupons. More fun by far than the requisite dollar bill in her birthday card.

And don't even mention the frozen ones. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.

It's written in stone that when we all get togther up North for family reunions with the two brothers and various offspring we get those luggage size orders and pig our faces out. Sliders, mmmmm.

[Luckylies]

One day, when I come home, the love of my life will have brought home: Taco bell, White castle and Popeye's, and I'll know, deep down, that I'm ready to marry.

The culinary trifecta will be complete.

[dividend]

My most masochistic occasional indulgence is White Castle. I can't help going there a few times a year, because there's simply no other way to capture that particular flavor -- and I need that flavor.

←

Oh man, the one in Kansas City closed years ago, and there was much sadness. My little brother called me a few weeks ago:

Him: "Hey, you wanna go to St. Louis next weekend?"

Me: "Sure, I'm always up for a roadtrip!"

Him: "I just a want to go eat at White Castle."

Me: "Hell yeah!"

Of course, then we both came to our senses. Later that day I drove to my grandmother's house and raided her freezer for her stash of frozen sliders. In return she made me drink bourbon with her at four in the afternoon. I love my granny.

I don't think you earn junk-food street cred unless you go in for the hardcore crap like Burger King and Taco Bell.

My roommate eats at BK so much for lunch at work that he uses those loyalty punch cards, and like once a week his meal is free. That's some street cred right there.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I love taco trucks !!! ..they are quick ..close to work or home ..very cheap and really really greasy/salty good!!!

[rooftop1000]

We have a KFC/Taco hell combo store near my office. For $2.12 I can get a buffalo chicken snacker and an apple empanada and be back at work in 10 min...its evil and not done often

tracey

[ChefJohnny]

I completely agree. But, Im sure I catch waaaay more sh*t than others, being that Im a professional chef. Yet, after working 80 hours a week sometimes, and getting home anywhere between midnight and 3, cooking dinner is the absolute LAST thing on my mind. And at that hour, the only place open, besides the 7-11, is Taco Bell. I hit T.B. more than I should, but if it wasnt there, Id be one crabby chef, and no one likes that!

-Chef Johnny

[Fat Guy]

My roommate eats at BK so much for lunch at work that he uses those loyalty punch cards, and like once a week his meal is free.  That's some street cred right there. 

←

You know you have junk-food street cred when:

- When placing your Popeye's order, you make four separate trips to the counter so you get a separate "You got a deal!" offer each time.

- You order your Whopper "with cheese, light mayo, off the broiler, cut in half, on the bread from the Rick Bayless sandwich."

- You know what time your local McDonald's switches from breakfast to lunch and you time your visit so you can get a Big Mac with hash browns.

- You actually know the name of the little bits of fried stuff that act as infrastructure for the dishes at Long John Silver's.

- You walk through the KFC drive-thru in order to beat the inside lines.

- You're greeted by name at the local Taco Bell.

- You've been banned from the Pizza Hut lunch buffet.

- You've been arrested at White Castle.

[Mikeb19]

Wow....

Anyhow, as far as 'fast-food' goes, I'll usually get a donair or a vietnamese sub sandwich. I really can't stand the franchises...

When drunk and at bars or clubs, often there will be vendors selling hotdogs outside - nothing better than a hotdog at 2:30 a.m. when you're wasted.

If I'm drunk and in the neighborhood, usually I'll pick something up from a convenience store, or just order pizza. Theres never any fast-food joints open late around here...

Edited April 8, 2007 by Mikeb19 (log)

[Luckylies]

- You order your Whopper "with cheese, light mayo, off the broiler, cut in half, on the bread from the Rick Bayless sandwich."

- You actually know the name of the little bits of fried stuff that act as infrastructure for the dishes at Long John Silver's.

- You've been arrested at White Castle.

←

Off the broiler? what does this mean...is it like "smokin' hot"?

And what are these bit's called?

Arrested? do tell...

[Fat Guy]

Off the Broiler = broil it to order, don't get it from the warming drawer

Crunchy fried bits = "bits"

The White Castle incident had to do with an illegal border crossing

[ELA]

Nathan's -- I would think it's somewhat different than the traditional fast-food restaurant, I mean, it's a hotdog! LOL. I like Nathan's. There is one in a mall right near my office. The thick cut, almost wedge-like fries are good too, and I normally don't like that style.

I think the fast-food dilemna is always an issue of quality. The nutritional elements are what they are. I like Wendy's and while they don't offer breakfast, I've been there for lunch, and latenight coming home from a game or something of the like.

Eric

[markk]

My most masochistic occasional indulgence is White Castle. I can't help going there a few times a year, because there's simply no other way to capture that particular flavor -- and I need that flavor.

←

You beat me to it, Fat Guy !!!

I live not 5 minutes from a White Castle, and there are others that I pass on a daily basis. I indulge.

It's not fast food, you know, but convenient French Food. As I've said in other threads, it's a bit of "Pot au Feu Haché" on a bun, for which they even slice the cornichon and put it right on the bit size portion of chopped Pot au Feu.

By the way, how many do/can YOU eat?

I have a rule - I don't let myself order more than 8, though I've certainly eaten a dozen at a time.

And after all these years, I have found the secret to digestibility. I order them with the onions scraped off. I actually think it's the chemicals in which the onions come packed in water, diced, that creates the heartburn. If they scrape off the onions after they're cooked, you get all the delicious onion flavour, but none of the heartburn, no matter how many you eat. I discovered that about ten years ago. Of course, they can cool off during the de-onionizing process, so you have to ask to have them re-steamed.

(Wish I knew that back in 1968 when I started eating them!)

[Fat Guy]

I've never tested how many I can eat, but I typically order eight. I'm actually not sure I've ever had more or less than eight. Certainly, I could eat many more than eight. Whether I'd survive the experience is a different matter entirely.

[jbh]

> nothing better than a hotdog at 2:30 a.m. when you're wasted.

That's for sure. I have vague recollections of a hot dog from a street vendor after closing time in Key West...and then discovering that the tide had gone out and my boat's deck was about 15 feet below dock level. Obviously I made it down there somehow....

[ChefJohnny]

My roommate eats at BK so much for lunch at work that he uses those loyalty punch cards, and like once a week his meal is free.  That's some street cred right there.  

←

You know you have junk-food street cred when:

- When placing your Popeye's order, you make four separate trips to the counter so you get a separate "You got a deal!" offer each time.

- You order your Whopper "with cheese, light mayo, off the broiler, cut in half, on the bread from the Rick Bayless sandwich."

- You know what time your local McDonald's switches from breakfast to lunch and you time your visit so you can get a Big Mac with hash browns.

- You actually know the name of the little bits of fried stuff that act as infrastructure for the dishes at Long John Silver's.

- You walk through the KFC drive-thru in order to beat the inside lines.

- You're greeted by name at the local Taco Bell.

- You've been banned from the Pizza Hut lunch buffet.

- You've been arrested at White Castle.

←

HYSTERICAL!!! That totally made me cry a little.

-Chef Johnny

[HVRobinson]

One more... In Los Angeles... there's a place called OkiDog. Only get to do it now when I drive thru... but I used to go twice a week with a newspaper and my cell and pager turned OFF. Imagine a 24 inch flour tortilla, 2 footlong grilled hotdogs, 1/3 pound of grilled pastrami, shredded cheese, chili sans beans and some onions, done burrito style. Add in a small mountain of golden fries done in gen-u-wine MANTECA (that's LARD gringos) and served thermonuclear hot. By the time you hit the sports page you had need of 12 tums, a pepcid and a zantac. Worth every bite... and they had strawberry soda. Only took about 3 minutes from order to service and it was always a hoot to watch the gangbangers and cops and hookers and punks. My favorite comment about this place is that Chef Tony B. refused to eat there on one of his original shows. He just said it was "wrong". If he only knew.

Edited June 11, 2007 by HVRobinson (log)