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2011 Top Fast Food Chains

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ph33nix said:
It's a shame Raising Canes isn't in more places. Because oh my god I wish I could express truly how delicious this box is:

(And if you hate cole slaw like I do you can get more toast)

raising-canes-box-lg.jpg
overrated and the cane sauce isn't even good.
 

cajunator

Banned
AbsoluteZero said:
Huh, Chipotle sounds good, we don't have those around here.

We do have Izzo's, which for all intents and purposes seems to be the same thing.

http://izzos.com/
Oh my God this place is the fucking best. Seriously.

ph33nix said:
It's a shame Raising Canes isn't in more places. Because oh my god I wish I could express truly how delicious this box is:

(And if you hate cole slaw like I do you can get more toast)

raising-canes-box-lg.jpg

On the other hand, There is one of these by where I work (and two more in the city), and I fucking hate the place.
 

Souljiro

Member
Smision said:
Panera is the poor man's Corner Bakery.

Panera's hot sandwiches are sloppy and gross.

Really now I love panera we shall see how good this Corner Bakery is! I see a few of them in DC and chipotle should be number 1.
 

ChiTownBuffalo

Either I made up lies about the Boston Bomber or I fell for someone else's crap. Either way, I have absolutely no credibility and you should never pay any attention to anything I say, no matter what the context. Perm me if I claim to be an insider
Burger King fries are shit.
 

Esch

Banned
as a relatively neutral midwesterner let me speak on the five guys/in-n-out rivalry..

five guys. In-n-out's drywall fries are major points off, though the burgers are better than FG
 

MIMIC

Banned
Wendy's Sweet Wildberry tea is ORGASMIC.

But I have to go to the one in the suburbs. The ones in the ghetto make it taste like shit.
 

soldat7

Member
Sanjuro Tsubaki said:
Wendy's can have the best fries. They are the most variable of the major three.

Ever since I found a piece of latex glove in my fries, I haven't been able to eat at Wendy's.
 

MIMIC

Banned
ph33nix said:
It's a shame Raising Canes isn't in more places. Because oh my god I wish I could express truly how delicious this box is:

(And if you hate cole slaw like I do you can get more toast)

raising-canes-box-lg.jpg

Overpriced, but DELICIOUS.

I miss college >_<
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
I'm not sure how many of them there are but near my house I have a Smash Burger and Five guys.

Smash Burger wins. The burgers have a simple S&P flavor, they have some garlic parm fries... mmmm..

Maybe I'm just burnt on five guys since I've been eating there for so many years and Smash Burger is relatively new to me. I'd love to be able to try In n Out.
 
LOL I am out of this thread yes Canes is overpriced like hell and they could use more than one item but to say it tastes bad shows the direction humanity is in
 

JGS

Banned
MIMIC said:
Overpriced, but DELICIOUS.

I miss college >_<
I pay the same price for their combo as I do a Wendy's combo.

Cane's major plus is that their tenders are always cooked perfectly to me- even better than restaurant tenders. The lack of variety kills me though & I'm surprised they are so popular because of it.
RbBrdMan said:
I'm not sure how many of them there are but near my house I have a Smash Burger and Five guys.

Smash Burger wins. The burgers have a simple S&P flavor, they have some garlic parm fries... mmmm..

Maybe I'm just burnt on five guys since I've been eating there for so many years and Smash Burger is relatively new to me. I'd love to be able to try In n Out.
They are down the street from each other here and 5 Guys wins. Smash Burger is great and fancier, but 5 Guys bun seals it for me. both are too expensive for normal lunch though.
 
Wendy's is pretty quality. I like most of their menu items outside of their burgers (I just never seem to get them)

Chipotle is also great.

Pizza Hut on the other hand, man they are the most hit or miss pizza chain. It's literally great or awful depending on which store you go to.

KFC > Popeyes
 

Kusagari

Member
Pizza Hut blows. After Domino's decided not to suck anymore last year and improved their recipe, Pizza Hut's easily the worst of the big 3.
 

NewFresh

Member
Do people get anything at Wendy's besides frosty and fires

I haven't eaten there in years but I still remember how disgusting their hamburgers were
 
EmmanuelMunoz said:
Do people get anything at Wendy's besides frosty and fires

I haven't eaten there in years but I still remember how disgusting their hamburgers were

Their burgers are decent if you get them fresh.

That's a big fucking if, though.
 

unomas

Banned
Fox318 said:
Good Wendy's is the best Fast Food.

Agreed, Wendy's is very good, and I definitely prefer it to any other fast food chain. Unfortunately I don't have one within 15 miles of me so I haven't had it in years.
 
Azuran said:
Wendy's sells the Baconator. It's pretty obvious they would be first.

Yup. That burger is unbelievable.

VPhys said:
And there the survey lost all credibility.

Not really. Popeye's is regional. KFC is national. Not really surprising. I had never eaten at a Popeye's until I visited my sister in Virginia (and TBH....it was good but not spectacular)
 

JGS

Banned
Kusagari said:
Pizza Hut blows. After Domino's decided not to suck anymore last year and improved their recipe, Pizza Hut's easily the worst of the big 3.
Domino's still stinks. I can't tell the difference.

Deep Dish Pizza Hut eaten in restaurant is fabulous.

Delivery for the big 3 stink

Donatos rules the pizza chain wars.

Mom & pops rule overall.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Maybe I need to retake my stats course, but how the fuck you can get any kind of reliable metric with that many places and only a little over 6k of responses seems not plausible.

Maybe if it was 60k I could see, but 6k is laughably small for a survey like this.
 
AstroLad said:
do there exist any american who don't eat entirely at "chain" restaurants? even for nice family meals it seems that americans simply go to these types of places.

very odd to me....

I think a lot depends on where you live. A lot of places don't have very many restaurants outside of chains and just a few mom and pop places. I'd say my eating out is split between chains and non-chains because the places closest to my apartment are chains. Picking up from TGIFriday's two blocks down the street is the easiest way for me to get a cheap steak dinner without creating dishes for me to do.
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
JGS said:
They are down the street from each other here and 5 Guys wins. Smash Burger is great and fancier, but 5 Guys bun seals it for me. both are too expensive for normal lunch though.

I feel the exact opposite regarding the bun. We got 5 guys last Friday and the bun was really hard and stale but they tried to cover that up with the way they toast them. It made the hamburger taste really dry and nearly inedible. I ended up taking the top bun off completely and that made the burger at least edible.

It was likely just an off day for them, since they are usually pretty good. Smash burger still wins IMO for their variety.
 

JGS

Banned
RbBrdMan said:
I feel the exact opposite regarding the bun. We got 5 guys last Friday and the bun was really hard and stale but they tried to cover that up with the way they toast them. It made the hamburger taste really dry and nearly inedible. I ended up taking the top bun off completely and that made the burger at least edible.

It was likely just an off day for them, since they are usually pretty good. Smash burger still wins IMO for their variety.
That sounded like a bad bun. 5 Guys here has buns that are soft and sweet almost like a dinner roll. With something spicy and bacon, it's near pefect if not for the sloppiness.

It's hard to argue against either of them though
 

hemtae

Member
RbBrdMan said:
I'm not sure how many of them there are but near my house I have a Smash Burger and Five guys.

Smash Burger wins. The burgers have a simple S&P flavor, they have some garlic parm fries... mmmm..

Maybe I'm just burnt on five guys since I've been eating there for so many years and Smash Burger is relatively new to me. I'd love to be able to try In n Out.

I fucking love smash burger. Its a shame that the only one close to me is like 30 minutes away while five guys is like 5.
 

DrFunk

not licensed in your state
KFC better than Popeyes? Spindashing am justified

I can't dispute my irrational love for Chick-fil-A, but that's because they're everywhere in GA
 

scosher

Member
Terrible list.

Five Guys as best burger? Not enough people have tried Shake Shack.

KFC over Popeyes for best fried chicken?

Arby's has the best fries (and best sauces if that were a category), but they're nowhere on that list.

Only thing I agree with on their list about McD's are their breakfast sandwiches. McGriddles or even just a bacon/sausage egg mcmuffin > all.
 
Meh. I'm here in the Midwest and I would've put Culver's at number one. Since I'm a West Coast transplant, In n Out is still the best to me, but Culver's makes the best fast food burger outside of them. The Culver's Deluxe is damned good and heads and shoulders above the other chain's offerings. And Double Meh at KFC> Popeye's. I'd put Lee's over both, but this is just wrong. Seems like the Spindashing effect has tainted the results.
 
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri said:
Meh. I'm here in the Midwest and I would've put Culver's at number one. Since I'm a West Coast transplant, In n Out is still the best to me, but Culver's makes the best fast food burger outside of them. The Culver's Deluxe is damned good and heads and shoulders above the other chain's offerings. And Double Meh at KFC> Popeye's. I'd put Lee's over both, but this is just wrong. Seems like the Spindashing effect has tainted the results.

You know how some people work at restaurants for a while and can no longer stomach the food? I worked at Culver's for a year. It only made me love it more.
 

Bigfoot

Member
I think Five Guys makes awesome burgers! I guess it depends on how you like your burger, but I could see not thinking it was that great if you just go for the typical fast food toppings. I myself get Five Guys with hot sauce and peppers, so it makes it different and tastier than a normal fast food burger. Sure, it is sloppy, but it is delicious.

As for chicken, I love Wendy's Spicy Chicken burger. I'm not much for fries and usually skip them so I can't comment on those.
 
cajunator said:
On the other hand, There is one of these by where I work (and two more in the city), and I fucking hate the place.

Canes is okay when eaten infrequently. I'd rather eat there than pretty much any fast food place, but that means that if I have the time I'd rather eat at much better places.

When we go the girlfriend and I usually split their largest combo (6 pieces of chicken) evenly between the two of us, so a little less than $10 gets us both full and the food's okay if you haven't had it in a while...

Edit: Arby's is definitely the most under-appreciated fast food joint in my opinion. Consistently good food without feeling like you're about to have a heart attack afterwards.

Unfortunately they shut down one around here recently, so it only leaves one left--in an area I don't frequent often.
 
JGS said:
Domino's still stinks. I can't tell the difference.

Deep Dish Pizza Hut eaten in restaurant is fabulous.

Delivery for the big 3 stink

Donatos rules the pizza chain wars.

Mom & pops rule overall.

I prefer Papa John's of all the chains, but would rather go to Reginellis or Rotolos any day.

Papa John's usually wins out on convenience and coupons, however.

Edit: Oh hey double post, sorry about that.
 

marrec

Banned
Porthos said:
I think Five Guys makes awesome burgers! I guess it depends on how you like your burger, but I could see not thinking it was that great if you just go for the typical fast food toppings. I myself get Five Guys with hot sauce and peppers, so it makes it different and tastier than a normal fast food burger. Sure, it is sloppy, but it is delicious.

As for chicken, I love Wendy's Spicy Chicken burger. I'm not much for fries and usually skip them so I can't comment on those.

Man what is it with Five Guys and people liking their burgers? They're mediocre at best, Sonic beats them hands down. This is speaking as an east coaster. Also their fries are soggy and gross.

Edit: You know what, there is a serious lack of Sonic Love in this thread... best Fast Food.

Edit 2: And P.F. Changs is terrible.
 
acheron_xl said:
You know how some people work at restaurants for a while and can no longer stomach the food? I worked at Culver's for a year. It only made me love it more.
highfive.png


I'm pretty sure you were the guy who told me to give them another chance in an old burger thread too.

And Sonic? Seriously? They have great drinks but that's all I'd ever go there for.
 
If we're talking burger joints, my favorite place is Phil's Grill

I mean look at this shit:

RXre8.jpg


100% Angus burger on a Jalapeno bun topped grilled pineapple ketchup and a slice of pineapple? Yes fucking please.
 
B!TCH said:
I've never even heard of some of the full service chains.

Red Robin? Bonefish Grill? Carrabba's Italian Grill? Steak 'n Shake?

I feel like almost all of these chains are localized entirely in the south. Or I don't watch enough TV to see their ads...

Red Robins are all over the North, they're a NW chain I believe but they're expanded out to the North East coast as well. But save for some in Southern California they're not in the south at all.

Bonefish Grill is an East Coast thing, mostly situated around higher-end cities but you can find them dotted around in the sub-burbs. Florida had a ton of em when I lived there and they're also all over New Jersey.

The only Steak 'n Shakes I know of are in Florida but they kick ass, I'm sure they're other places to though.

Never heard of Carrabba's myself in either Florida, New York, or anywhere in between.
 
marrec said:
Man what is it with Five Guys and people liking their burgers? They're mediocre at best, Sonic beats them hands down. This is speaking as an east coaster. Also their fries are soggy and gross.

Edit: You know what, there is a serious lack of Sonic Love in this thread... best Fast Food.

Sonic is okay but you're forced to either eat in your car (Where I don't like to...always afraid of messes.) or outside (Which is miserable in the Louisiana heat.)
 

marrec

Banned
AbsoluteZero said:
Sonic is okay but you're forced to either eat in your car (Where I don't like to...always afraid of messes.) or outside (Which is miserable in the Louisiana heat.)

I hear that, but you can't deny that those burgers are delicious. Also they have the best Green-Chili Cheese spread in the nation.

And they have the best Frito-Pie Burrito in the nation.
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
Houston3000 said:
Red Robins are all over the North, they're a NE chain I believe but they're expanded out to the West coast as well. But save for some in Southern California they're not in the south at all.

Bonefish Grill is an East Coast thing, mostly situated around higher-end cities but you can find them dotted around in the sub-burbs. Florida had a ton of em when I lived there and they're also all over New Jersey.

The only Steak 'n Shakes I know of are in Florida but they kick ass, I'm sure they're other places to though.

Never heard of Carrabba's myself in either Florida, New York, or anywhere in between.
carabba's and bonefish are part of the same chain organization under red lobster i think. there are some in kentucky/ohio.
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
AstroLad said:
do there exist any american who don't eat entirely at "chain" restaurants? even for nice family meals it seems that americans simply go to these types of places.

very odd to me....

I was going to respond then I saw who you were. Well done.
 
marrec said:
Man what is it with Five Guys and people liking their burgers? They're mediocre at best, Sonic beats them hands down. This is speaking as an east coaster. Also their fries are soggy and gross.

Edit: You know what, there is a serious lack of Sonic Love in this thread... best Fast Food.

Edit 2: And P.F. Changs is terrible.
This post is all kinds of backwards.
 

Bigfoot

Member
marrec said:
Man what is it with Five Guys and people liking their burgers? They're mediocre at best, Sonic beats them hands down.

I've never had Sonic so I can't comment but if Five Guys was "mediocre at best", you wouldn't have so many people liking them and they wouldn't always be winning these best burger polls. Maybe you just had some unlucky experiences at Five Guys.
 
marrec said:
I hear that, but you can't deny that those burgers are delicious. Also they have the best Green-Chili Cheese spread in the nation.

And they have the best Frito-Pie Burrito in the nation.

I've been meaning to try their new hot dogs. The chicago dog looks good.

sonic_all_beef_hotdogs.jpg
 
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