To Whom It May Concern

Reflections On Fast Food

There are a lot of topics that come and go during discussions while working 12 hour night shifts at the company operations center in Iraq. Tonite me and Rod’ were discussing great places to get a quick delicious meal. Of course this did little more than to enlighten each other as to what the other person likes to eat, and of course ended up leaving us both quite irritably hungry for any one of the mentioned franchise eateries we discussed.

The following is a collection of my top 10 franchise restaurants. This doesn’t go by merely taste, it also takes into consideration how often I have eaten there, along with taste. They are in no particular order.

Burger King:

Favorite Meal: Whopper w/ cheese, large fries, Pepsi (or substitute the Whopper
with a Frisco Burger).
History: I have eaten Burger King for as long as I can remember.
Comments: I have always preferred BK to McDonalds for some reason, even
though their fries are typically shitty. Hey, but they have Pepsi!!

Taco Bell:

Favorite Meal: (2) bean burritos, a Chilito (chili cheese burrito), and a LARGE
Pepsi.
History: I started eating there in high school when my best friend Marc got me
hooked on the Chilito.
Comments: The only place you can go to at 3 in the morning and get stuffed with food left over afterwards, all for 3 dollars and change. What list would be
complete without Taco Bell? I have diversified my menu, I get the chicken
quesadilla, soft shell tacos (which admittedly suck, Taco John’s have them beat),
and the gordita now and again. Ah my stomach hurts just thinking about it.

Dairy Queen:

Favorite Meal: Ultimate Burger, large fries, Pepsi (or substitute in a chicken
basket for the burger and fries). Then of course the Blizzard. Oh man though,
what flavor of Blizzard to get??? Oreo? Butterfinger? Snickers? Reeses Peanut
Butter Cup? I had even gotten into the Heath Bar, oh the choices, what to do??
History: I can remember eating Dilly Bar’s after little league baseball when I was like 10 years old.
Comments: The Ultimate Burger could possible be the best franchise burger out
there, dripping with grease, loaded with burger, cheese, toasted bun, lettuce,
tomato, onions, etc. It’s pure glutinous bliss!!! And a Blizzard with it? WOW!

Taco John’s:

Favorite Meal: the (2) soft shell taco meal, large potato olays (spicy tater tots),
Pepsi, and of course the cinnamon churro for dessert.
History: They had a Taco John’s in Wayne where I went to school for about 2
years, there was something really filling about that meal.
Comments: I would switch off sometimes, chicken to beef, beef to chicken. I can
remember Gub’s getting the “6 Pack N’ A Pound” meal (six soft/hard shell tacos
and a pound of potato olays) and I used to wonder, how the hell is he going to eat
all of that?? Well, he’s did it, but then he’s not exactly skinny anymore.

Subway:

Favorite Meal: 12” Value Spicy Italian meal on white bread, with nacho cheese
Doritos, and wouldn’t you know it, a Pepsi (or substitute in Seafood and Crab or
Roasted Chicken Breast sub).
History: I must have eaten 250 Subway sandwiches a year in my first 2 years of
college, back around 93’/94’.
Comments: Back then the meal deal was about $3.50, probably because most
people were not into healthy eating. Look at what a trend setter I was!! There
were some days where I ate Subway twice a day even. I loved those sandwiches.
Now the freaking bread choices are just annoying, too much stuff, and of course
the price of the meals has more than doubled. That sucks, but I still eat there, just
not as much.

Old Chicago:

Favorite Meal: Full order of regular nachos, with a beer.
History: Got into going to this place with my old college roommate Broderick,
and his brother.
Comments: My first time there, we ordered the nachos and I also ordered a
a burger and fries, with the beer of course. I regretted that. I was so freaking
stuffed, it was miserable, yet strangely satisfying haha. They have the best nachos
on the planet, without a doubt.

Great American Steal Buffet:

Favorite Meal: Well, it’s a buffet.
History: To be honest, I think when I went to this place with midas was the first
time I ever ate there.
Comments: Oh the mediocre food, but that’s just is, there is so much of it!
It’s all just barely above average but damn you can just mow down plate after
plate of it. One steak or chicken breast per trip to the grill, dammit, just one!! It’s
good American eating, 3 kinds of potatos, corn, rolls, stuffing, etc. OH YAH, and SHRIMP, sweet delicious golden fried shrimp! And coincidentally, I will be
going here with midas when I get back home, along with Old Chicago, and quite
likely:

Valentino’s Buffet:

Favorite Meal: Again, a buffet.
History: We used to eat here when we would go to state in high school in cross
country and track.
Comments: This is the best buffet on the planet in my opinion. The pizza isn’t
the greatest, but they have manicotti, lasagna, several kinds of noodles and sauces,
not so Italian choices like fried shrimp, polish sausage, a taco bar, an amazing
salad bar, and a delicious dessert bar. Yes, I will likely be going back here when I
get back, consider this an open invitation to all my friends, hell I’ll even pay.
We’ll get the party room again!!

McDonalds:

Favorite Meal: Double quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, Dr. Pepper.
(substitute a 10 piece chicken nugget for the burger sometimes).
History: Just a couple of years ago, McDonalds would have never made my list,
But for some reason, I think the fries drew me in, and then that damned double
quarter pounder…
Comments: I really ate there a lot when belly was at boot camp, probably one of
the main reasons I had to diet AGAIN before I went to see her, after having dieted
successfully the first month she was gone.

Papa Johns:

Favorite Meal: Their specialty pizza with all the toppings, large of course.
(sometimes sausage or hamburger with onions, belly loves pepperoni).
History: Really didn’t go there till belly and I moved to Omaha together. I would guess that we ate more Papa Johns than any other place, certainly by far the most popular pizza we ate.
Comments: For years I loved Pizza Hut pizza, but then they changed the way
they made their pizza and I really did not care much for the chunks of meat and
vegetables the size of your fist. I actually think I like Papa John’s pizza better
than I ever liked Pizza Hut in the first place. The garlic dipping sauce and
jalapeno peppers sure help (but not with my behind the next day, yikes).

So there you have it, if I was in any town in the nation that had all of these places, I don’t think I would have a problem living there. Of course the Valentino’s Buffet isn’t exactly a nationwide franchise, some of the others aren’t either. But if you are on I-80 traveling past Omaha you should stop in at Valentino’s, it’s worth it. There were some other places that food wise could have made the list, China Buffet at 114th and Dodge comes to mind, but that’s not really a franchise at all, and just how many places call themselves “China Buffet” in the United States anyway, a bunch of them.

I LOVE STEAK, but we eat at a lot of different steak places, and I wasn’t going to try and pick one over another. The Nebraska Beef Company was darn good though. Oh, and another thing. I didn’t include any of the ‘clone’ restaurants because they really have no way of distinguishing themselves from the others. When I say clone I mean Applebees, Outback, Ruby Tuesdays, TGIF, and others, who are all the same in that they have the same type of overpriced atmosphere, and the menus are all somewhat identical. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating at these places, but any one of them can substitute for another.

I’m sure belly and midas will likely remind me of other places we used to eat at. I know I’m forgetting a few. I do love food, thank goodness I enjoy running too or I’d be a real fatbody!! PUT OUT THAT CIGARETTE YOU DISGUSTING FAT BODY!

Current Lyrical Ramblings

Someone said my words are out of balance
Nothing to say, you've got nothing to say
Dying words I bury everyday
Nothing to say, I've got nothing to say

Nothing To Say – Soundgarden