If you mean at Chick Fil A, I always get their Signature Sauce. It’s terrific for both the strips and fries. I always either get their vanilla shake or lemonade too (pending whim of the day). Chick Fil A is probably the most common of our fast food visits, esp since it’s the favorite of my two younger boys - why we met there last night.
Today I ended up doing lunch on the road at Popeyes (none near us). They were quite busy at 11am too. They have my favorite fried chicken - and I believe I’ve tried all mentioned on this thread at one point or another. It’s good that we don’t have one near us. Wendy’s was next door to Popeyes and had all of one car at it - possibly a worker?
I’ve never eaten at an In & Out, but will be looking for them on future travels. Where are they located besides CA?
Yes, at Chick Fil A. It took me about a year ago to finally try the Chick Fil A sauce and I’ve been in love with it ever since. I had always gotten their barbecue sauce.
Sugar on french-fries was just used as an example. I am aware there are hidden sugars in many things that we have.
What I’m trying to say is that it is so easy to go off track because there is so many hidden things in prepared food that most of us are not aware of, making it harder to make smart choices. Ex. Coke is bad but now Diet Coke is also bad. Cut down on white sugar but now the sugar substitutes are also bad for you. I don’t watch Dr. Oz anymore but if you watched his show everyday the consumer is in utter confusion. I read this book called, "Eat this and Not That."So yes I do go out once in a while but try to eat in moderation. As I get older I just finding myself having to watch my eating habits more closely. Self discipline is sometimes difficult so I find myself completely cutting true fast food as if it is no longer an option. If I start, for me it would become addictive.
@Nrdsb4 The frustration is when I think I’m eating something healthy and then find out it is not. It feels like a no win situation. I do enjoy anything cooked on a grill. That seems quite healthy and flavorful. I do like French-fries but have resorted to cutting up sweet potato, sprinkling a bit of seasoning and olive oil and baking it in the oven. I have a weakness for pizza so I try to make it at home with a bunch of vegetable toppings and less cheese. The other day I saw a recipe for broccoli tatertots. But it is always nice to go out for a change especially with family and friends.
@Niquii77 Thank you for that link. Unfortunately, we don’t get to those states all that often, so it will be a while before I get to try them. Middle son is in CA now, but I doubt any “care package” he might send would be a worthy trial!
Most of our usual travels now are east of the Mississippi or in Ont or Que, Canada.
A few years back when we made trips covering the Western states we never noticed them.
Went to one of my favorite restaurants and ordered the braised purple cabbage. I began to suspect it had sugar in it, and sure enough, when I asked the waiter about it, he confirmed it had brown sugar in it.
Sugar in particular is something many people are trying to get away from, and diabetics really have to watch it. It’s beyond annoying that restaurants and the food industry just saturates everything with it. There is just no reason why sugar needs to be in every kind of food we eat. I expect desserts to have sugar in them, but I should not be expected to assume it will be in a cabbage dish!
@nrdsb4 I guess the foodservice or healthcare industry has no interest in its consumers being healthy. There is lots of money to be made. Imagine if chips or cookies or the soda section of a grocery store were eliminated and no longer available. There would be a public outcry.
I don’t think I really indicated a desire for restaurants or food industry to eliminate non healthy items. People are free to choose to eat chips or cookies if they so desire. I simply object to the notion that sugar has to be added to everything, even things like a side of braised cabbage.
I just had to come back to this thread and report on my Panera experience today. I know Panera was talked about a lot upthread.
I haven’t been there a lot lately because they closed the one in our neighborhood (isn’t that weird? Close a Panera?!) The last few experiences at other ones were just “ok”.
Today my S and I took my mom to Panera for lunch. I had the watermelon feta w/almonds and some type of whole wheat grain thingys salad - quite good! Also tried Chicken Lemon Orzo soup for the first time - delicous! - even a slice of fresh lemon in it.
Chickfila is good, but not good enough to deserve the cult following it has attained here in the South. McDonalds also doesn’t deserve to be the most hated. They have free WiFi and good food that isn’t absolutely horrible for you, just slightly horrible.
What I hate about these fast food places, particularly McDonald’s and Wendy’s, is that they quit selling hamburgers. To get a hamburger you now have to pay the huge cheese upcharge and then have them take the cheese off, which I hate to do because I feel I’m being cheated. By definition you can’t put cheese on a hamburger.
Back in the 1980s I absolutely loved Wendy’s. They had a board by the cash register listing eight toppings (I think chili was one, which I doubt anybody ever got), and you could choose which toppings you wanted. If you wanted cheese, you paid an extra 40 or 50 cents. Now Wendy’s has secret “default” toppings, so if you order a hamburger with mustard, pickle, and onion (the traditional, pre-McDonald’s hamburger toppings) they will put other things on there like ketchup and lettuce. They can’t grasp that I want only the things I ask for and nothing else.
I now avoid Wendy’s like the plague, because even when I’ve forced myself to pay extra for a cheeseburger and then carefully and repeatedly told them “no cheese,” they put cheese on there anyway. And it’s not a high-quality, super-sharp cheddar (yum!), but a slimy piece of American cheese that tastes awful. And Wendy’s now only puts a tiny splat of mustard on a hamburger, hardly enough to taste.
I do like Backyard Burgers, but there localtion isn’t convenient to me. And the fact is I rarely darken the doors of any of these places, although I would go to Wendy’s if they would make it like it used to be.
I’ve heard mustard worship is a regional (or state-level?) phenomenon – for instance, that mustard is especially popular in Texas. (sure, some people like it everywhere, but it’s more popular in some places than in others). I know first-hand of the hostility Chicagolanders feel for ketchup in terms of their beloved hot dogs, though i wouldn’t say they all “love” mustard; they just prefer it to ketchup on their dogs.
I don’t hate mustard as much as I used to, but I still prefer the vinegar-tomato sweetness of ketchup to the sourness of mustard. Just yesterday I asked for a double-cheeseburger at Freddy’s and asked them to hold the mustard and put ketchup on instead.
The traditional double-cheeseburger at Freddy’s comes with pickle, onion and mustard. I kept the onion and pickles on mine to go along with the “no mustard/ketchup instead” request.
They put a tiny squirt of ketchup on the burger – and i do not like a dry sandwich or burger – so I got up and got more from their gallon-sized Heinz pumps. I also procured a few tablespoons, in a cup, of their outstanding “fry sauce”, which I think is a mixture of ketchup and mayo with some spices mixed in. Once I tore into that beauty I had the ketchup bubbling out the sides as I poured fry sauce on each delectable bite. Mmmm.
@EarlVanDorn, that’s interesting. I’ve been staying away from fast food places, so it’s been quite a while since I went to Wendy’s, but in my experience this is how you ordered:
“Hi, I’ll have a single with cheese please.”
Wendy’s: “Would you like anything on that?”
“Yes, tomatoes, ketchup and pickles only please.”
Wendy’s: “Okay, that’s a single with cheese, ketchup, and pickles. Anything else?”
If you just wanted a hamburger, you only had to order the single. Not so, anymore, huh?
The only fast food I will eat is Boston Market and Chipoltle. And that is because they have actual veggies. Chipoltle has some pretty decent guacamole for a chain restaurant…fresh with no MSG
I went to the mall to meet a friend today and wasn’t really hungry. I just picked up a small size entrée from Panda express. I hadn’t been there in so long noticed that they now display the calorie count of each item on the menu. Do other fastfood places do that? I think I would be more hesitant to order an item with high calorie count displayed next to it. I’d rather not know and enjoy the food guilt free.
