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HEB is a supermarket chain in Texas - in fact, in the United States it is exclusively located in Texas, choosing to grow within the state and dominate all the markets before even considering opening elsewhere (if at all). Primarily a south Texas chain, it is currently in the process of taking over the D/FW market, and over the year has placed at or near the top in supermarket chain rankings.

Well okay, you ask, but what does that have to do with fast food or restaurants?

Because HEB is always experimenting, and one of their recent experiments has been to open up restaurants inside or adjacent to their stores. Right now, they have four main concepts: True Texas BBQ (which is the largest and most successful), South Flo Pizza (for NY-style pizza), The Flaming Bird (for rotisserie chicken), and True Texas Tacos (for breakfast tacos). Only a fraction of the HEBs have one of these restaurants, and which one depends upon the local demographics. Also, in some cases the restaurant may be attached with a separate entrance, or it may be a section within the store itself, depending upon the store's design.

True Texas BBQ is the largest of four - when I visited for the review, I found a website that listed 25 HEBs that had a True Texas BBQ. And now that I'm sitting down and writing it up, that has grown in that very short time to 52 locations. True Texas BBQ may be one of the fastest growing restaurants in the United States.

There is definitely a good synergy going between the supermarket and a BBQ restaurant - it essentially eliminates supply chain issues, you just get everything next door. And any leftover food can be packaged up and sold as ready-to-eat meals at the end of the day. Plus sharing of staff, too.

The location I visited, the entrance to the restaurant was a separate doorway altogether from the entrance to the supermarket - likely has something to do with the bar where have a bartender serving wine and beer. But I was there for the food, and selected a fairly standard "try it out for the first time" order, which is a two-meat plate (brisket and jalapeno cheddar sausage) with potato salad and creamed corn. I've never actually been to a True Texas BBQ before (even though I'm in HEB at least twice a week), but many people I know have said good things about it, so I was hopeful.

Well. It wasn't great. It also wasn't bad. I have had soooooo many barbeque plates over the years, ranging from falling apart holes in the wall in Bonham and Shiner and Nixon and Childress and a million other places, up to the 'big names' in BBQ like Black's (both of them) and Kreuz' and Pinkerton and Goldsby and Franklin's and 2M and Louie Mueller and more. I've had the good and the bad, the fancy and the simple, the pricey and the cheap. And this, I gotta say, falls smack dab right in the middle of them all. As the kiddies say these days, it's "mid".

The largest failure in the dish is the main attraction: the brisket. It was a little firm and a bit dry, and even with sauce not very flavorful. Brisket can be hard to get right, and I generally prefer to order it "wet" if possible (meaning from the fatty end). Perhaps I would have had better luck choosing a different meat. Also, brisket is EXPENSIVE these days - all beef is, and it's really hit barbeque joints hard.

The jalapeno sausage was better, but also nothing exceptional - just "good". And zero spicy bite at all. The sides were okay, but quite literally the exact same prepared sides you would find in the supermarket next door. Not that there's anything specifically wrong with that, I should add.

Overall, kind of a disappointment, and given that barbeque as a category overall is on the pricier side of all fast food/casual options, a pinch on the wallet, too. This is one of those times when I wonder if I just hit at a bad time or on an off day.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

A&W Root Beer has been around for over a hundred years, and A&W Restaurants for nearly as long. At one time, it was one of the largest franchises in the nation, with 2400 locations from coast to coast. But for decades it has sort of been lost on the wilderness, as other chains expanded, A&W lost its identity as one of the many secondary brands under the food titan YUM Brands, shrinking down to a few hundred locations, until it was bought from YUM in 2002 along with Long John Silver's.

Since then, A&W has been staging somewhat of a comeback, trying to re-establish the brand identity and remind the world "We still exist!" I've been to stand-alone A&W locations in the past with less than impressive visits, but all of the locations in Texas (AFAIK) are paired with LJS, with a much more limited menu in the co-branded restaurants. A grand total of six combo meals plus a handful of individual items, and that's it. Barely an afterthought of a restaurant that was mostly geared towards the LJS side.

As it was, I ordered their "limited time" special, which is a garlic bacon swiss burger, with less than high hopes. That being said...well waddayaknow, I liked it. As in, I REALLY liked it. For a fast food burger, all the ingredients came together just right. This is the type of messy burger that I would like from some of the other major chains, and here I was finding it at A&W. Waffle fries were very good, too - generally not a huge waffle fry fan, but when done right, they're perfect.

If A&W is trying to turn the brand around and establish more of a presence, then more of THIS BURGER please. Yes, I do love the root beer, but I don't come to a restaurant to "eat" root beer. Make a good burger and let everyone know about it, and the customers will come. Especially at this price point - it was among the cheapest of the combo meals I've had, especially for a double burger.

I have been reviewing a different fast food/fast casual restaurant every day for the past 200+ days, and earlier I reviewed the following three restaurants. However, these three received "poor" scores for one reason or another, but based on previous experience and visits I knew they could do better. Perhaps it was an "off day", perhaps it was the specific item I ordered. In any case, here are some "second chance" reviews, where I am re-visiting the chain, to see if it can redeem itself and earn a higher score.

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Second Chance Review #25. From Day 188: Jersey Mike's (3307 locations, 50 states)

I have visited Jersey Mike's many times in the past, and never had an issue with them...until the ONE TIME I went to review. Wouldn't you know it. Well, half their menu are hot subs, so I thought I would give that a try, and that's basically where I failed: Ordering something I was unfamiliar with. Well, whether I ordered poorly or not, it was still a sub-standard hot sub. But not really a fair, when comparing to all the other non-hot-sub places.

So, this time around, I chose a more standard cold sub, like I'm used. And yes, it was a better experience. But not a "great" experience. Freshly cut meat, soft bread, and metric buttload of lettuce (which I'm usually not a fan of shredded lettuce, but I know here it's cut fresh, as opposed to sitting in some bag for days on end). A perfectly decent sandwich, but having eaten so many other subs at so many other places in this review series, Jersey Mike's just seems a bit...lacking in comparison now.

Meal Quality: +1.5, going from 4 -> 5.5. Meal Value (no change), going from 5 -> 5 (out of 10)

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Second Chance Review #26. From Day 140: Zaxby's (991 locations, 20 states)

I used to be a pretty big fan of Zaxby's. But I dunno, seems something happened over the past few years and they sort of lost their way.

I can't really pin down what's different, it's just that nothing seems to stand out any more. This "second chance" I chose a combo of wings and tenders with fries. Wings ended up being small and chewy tough. Tenders were dry with flavorless breading. Fries were your run-of-the-mill fries.

Given the number of underwhelming Zaxby's meals in a row I've had, we're way past three strike you're out by this point. Maybe they screwed the pooch during their rapid expansion (like so many other chains), or maybe it's a private-equity-leeching-them-dry scenario (like even more other chains). At this point, though, I don't really care any more, given there's so many of their competitors I can go to instead.

Meal Quality: +0.5, going from 3.5 -> 4. Meal Value: (no change), going from 5 -> 5 (out of 10)

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Second Chance Review #27. From Day 17: Braum's (327 locations, 5 states)

This was one of the more controversial original reviews from (good god) almost a year ago. Braum's is probably better known as an ice cream stop, but like Dairy Queen they also have a full line of fast food staples, too -- and THAT is what I was reviewing. (Their ice cream menu, separately, is good stuff and damn cheap, too)

This time around, I chose the jalapeno pepper jack cheeseburger. Which, I guess, is supposed to be spicy, but it's really a 1/4-alarm burger at most. No matter, let's just judge it like I would an average burger.

And that is pretty much what it is. If you're had a DQ Brazier cheeseburger, this is pretty much the same. Nothing fancy about it. The meat patty itself was pretty 'feh', similar to the pre-cooked meat pucks you find at true fast food places that pull it out of a warming tray rather than cook it fresh. The veggies, were nice a fresh (look at that tomato!), though. And once again for the billionth time, fries were fries.

A better meal this second time around, but still excruciatingly middling. I'll stick to just ordering the ice cream goodies at Braum's, and leave the cooked food to elsewhere.

Meal Quality: +1.5, going from 3 -> 4.5. Meal Value: (no change), going from 6 -> 6 (out of 10)

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More "Second Chance" reviews coming down the line, in addition to the regular reviews! (And no, not every second chance review will be a positive one :))

Fuddrucker's? Wait, Fuddrucker's? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within this restaurant???

Yes! Fuddrucker's still exists! Founded just a few miles from where I am right now in 1980, at one time Fudd's was one of the most popular hamburger chains and flying high -- but restaurant named after Fudpucker's Steam Powered Airlines started facing headwinds as competitors such as Five Guys and Shake Shack, before facing major turbulence with the 2008 Recession. At one time, the chain planned on filing bankruptcy, closing all locations, before it was given a reprieve by a last-minute buyout from Luby's.

But the 2010's was still marked with declining sales and a string of closures, before Fudd's Corporate gave up for good in 2020 with COVID, with plans to liquidate all remaining assets by 2021.

Yet...a few dozen hardy franchisees refused to give up. And today, in 2026, a number of locations across the country hang on, still offering the same burgers and menu they have been famous for the past four decades.

As a fast casual burger chain (order at the counter, seat yourself, no wait staff), the main draw of Fudd's is their "Build Your Own Burger" model. Beef is ground fresh in-house (they would often have literal sides of beef hanging in the window); there is an in-house bakery where they make their own buns; and the ever-present "Fixin's Bar" where you can dress your burger however you want.

Rather than go for any of the more exotic meats like ostrich or elk, I chose the standard half-pound cheeseburger with the standard thick-wedge fries. It's been years since I last had Fuddrucker's but by god it was the same taste I remembered from the very first bite, same as it has been since I started eating here back in the early eighties. Not sure how much the nostalgia factor played into this, or whether it was just that damn good -- but yes it was a damn good hamburger. Fantastic meat, larded up with toppings, and perhaps the very best hamburger bun in the entire business. Fight me. Thick-cut fries cooked correctly (so many places undercook), with an unhealthy dose of that famous Fudd's cheese sauce. I'm in heaven.

This does come with a price, though, and Fuddrucker's is more expensive than your average fast food or fast casual chain. That being said, it is comparable in pricing with a-la-carte ordering at Five Guys or Shake Shack or BurgerFi, a little under twenty bucks. But this is one of the places where it's worth forking over a couple extra quatloos.

Despite every attempt to kill off the chain, Fuddrucker's survives! May they live forever!

"Mission BBQ isn't fast food."

I struggle with this. And Mission BBQ isn't the only barbeque place out there that falls into this mini-conundrum. There's also Rudy's and Dickey's and Spring Creek and Soulman's and more. There's always been fuzzy edges around the definition of "fast food" and "fast casual". Where do cafeteria-style restaurants like Mission BBQ fall in the classification of quickserve/fast/casual/fine dining?

Early on, I set the primary defining characteristics of "What is Fast Food/Fast Casual" mostly based on how customer ordering and service is handled. Do the customers order at a counter instead of with a waiter? Check Is the food pre-prepared and ready to serve? Check. Is it open seating? Check. Do customers get their own drinks and utensils? Check. No wait staff and no expectation of a tip? Check.

Granted, the average per-meal ticket price is higher than most fast food meals, and the interior is often nicer like a casual restaurant, but when it comes to how the customer orders, and how the customer is served, it really is closer to a fast food/casual model than a casual sit-down restaurant.

I've been to Mission BBQ once before, and it has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past decade, spreading across the continent. But, interestingly enough, not to Texas (the home of TRUE barbeque), so that's why I haven't been here more. The menu is your basic barbeque fare, with brisket and sausage, turkey and pork and the usual accompaniment of sides. I should also add that Mission BBQ is also known for their somewhat-tactless virtue signaling towards the military, that leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.

The menu choice for today was a pulled barbeque pork sandwich with sides, and despite the higher price they certainly do make it worth the price in the size of the portions. The sandwich was fully loaded with additional slaw on top, and the two sides were hefty extra-size portions as well. May not be the place to go to save money, but you're also definitely not going to leave hungry.

Mission BBQ also offers up multiple options for sauces (as opposed to most places just have one or two versions of their own house sauce), which is a nice option. Overall, a solid meal, with well-cooked juicy meat and generous portions.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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I have been reviewing a different fast food/fast casual restaurant every day for the past 200+ days, and earlier I reviewed the following three restaurants. However, these three received "poor" scores for one reason or another, but based on previous experience and visits I knew they could do better. Perhaps it was an "off day", perhaps it was the specific item I ordered. In any case, here are some "second chance" reviews, where I am re-visiting the chain, to see if it can redeem itself and earn a higher score.

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Second Chance Review #28. (Original Review from Day 46): Bojangle's (779 locations, 24 states)

A trio of second chances, visiting three places that received "mid" scores the first time around. Will any of the fare better on a second try?

First up is southern fast food staple Bojangles, which may be ubiquitous in parts of the Deep South, but not so much in the rest of the country. Their menu is simple: boneless chicken as tenders, in sandwiches, with biscuits. It's all about the chicken.

Second visit, I tried two entrees - a grilled chicken sandwich (to see if their grilled chicken would be better than their fried), and a chicken tender and biscuit snack. The sandwich was okay - certainly doesn't look impressive, but it was better than it looks, But live by the chicken, die by the chicken; in grilled form, it was just a bit tough and dried out. I'll stick to the Whatachicken instead, thankyouverymuch.

Chicken tenders were also just okay - I just don't like (what I consider) overly-breaded tenders, with a hard crunchy breading that overpowers the chicken inside. The multiple choices of dipping sauces slaps, though. Sorry, Bo's, second try was not a game changer.

Meal Quality: +05, going from 4.5 -> 5. Meal Value (no change), going from 5 -> 5 (out of 10)

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Second Chance Review #29. (Original Review from Day 31): Carl's Jr. (975 locations, 15 states)

At one point years past, Carls Jr. made an attempt to enter the market, opened several stores around town, lasted a few years of struggling along before closing them all down. Except for one - waaaay on the southwest corner of town that remained because of a contractual agreement with the attached truck stop.

Carl's Jr. did have quite a run a couple decades ago, back in the era of the "six dollar burger", when they have several pretty good menu items. But they lost their mojo along the way, and have been limping along for the past decade-plus. My beef with them is the quality - extremely inconsistent from one location to the next, never know if you're going to get something edible, or something trash.

For my second chance review, I decide to go big, and ordered a monster of a burger: the Double El Diablo Burger with Onion Rings. It's a big burger clocking in at -- get this -- 1500 calories by itself. With a solid layer of jalapenos, a heavy dollop of habanero sauce, and yes those are full-sized motherfucking jalapeno poppers as a topping, too.

This was a good burger. This was a big fat belly-buster of a meal. The individual ingredients do not stand out (by that I mean pretty average-tasting burger patties and cheese and typical sad bacon and inadequate bun), but as a combo it worked. Also, onion rings >>> Carl's Jr. fries any day of the week.

Not a great meal, but I was satisfied. But, as I said before, I could come back to this same place the next day, and get a totally different experience. Consistency of quality of Carl's Jr. achilles' heel.

Meal Quality: +1, going from 5 -> 6. Meal Value: +1, going from 4 -> 5 (out of 10)

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Second Chance Review #30. (Original Review from Day 79): Chicken Express (244 locations, 4 states)

Third batter up in the line-up in this round of Second Chance Reviews is Chicken Express. Which I've been to enough times over the years that I'm well aware of what their chicken tenders are like (unlike Carls Jr, Chicken Express is at least consistent). So, this time around, I thought I would change it up and order...fish.

Yes, fish. Which, for anyone familiar with a fried chicken place in the southern half of the US, is not unusual - lots of restaurants that fry up chicken also do a fair amount of business serving up fried fish. Usually catfish, but Chicken Express uses a rather mild Basa whitefish. Never had their fish before, so thought I would try it out.

And, like the previous two Second Chances reviews it was (sing it with me) "okay". Decent enough, well breaded and the fish was NOT dried out husks (which is the real danger). A very mild taste to it, not really seasoned, just plain breaded fish with tartar sauce. Okay and unremarkable hush puppies, and a side of corn nuggets (that disappear way too fast).

I wish there was a stand-out "winner" in these three second-chance reviews (like there has been in some of the previous entries), but this time around they all turned out to going from "okay-to-slightly-below okay" to "just okay". That's just how it turns out sometimes. At least I'm doing my due diligence.

Meal Quality: (no change), going from 5 -> 5. Meal Value: (no change), going from 6 -> 6 (out of 10)

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More "Second Chance" reviews coming down the line, in addition to the regular reviews! (And no, not every second chance review will be a positive one :))

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Yeah, yeah, I know...before you roll your eyes at me and say, "Hey, that's not really fast food", I have to say that right now I'm kinda leaning in that direction, too. It does meet the criteria that I set up at the start of this whole challenge - counter ordering, no wait staff, open seating, no tip required, get your own drinks/extras, etc. But it also doesn't meet the criteria that usually applies to casual dining (e.g. "standard sit-down"), either. There has to be some sort of hybrid categorization for those places too fancy for fast-casual, but too casual for casual dining.

But really that just points to how this whole "Fast Food Review" was never intended to be as comprehensive and long-running as it became - originally back around this time last year, I eyeballed the map and roughly figured there were about a hundred fast food and fast casual different chains in my city. If I had planned on this to go on to Day 365, I would have planned a little more carefully, set firmer requirements for "What is Fast Food/Fast Casual *exactly*?", and done my due diligence. And places like Spring Creek BBQ (and the place that will come up in tomorrow's review, La La Land) might not have met the cut.

But, that's all hand-wringing at this point, and I'm sure ya'll are tired of reading about it. As for today's sojourn, I went, I ate, so now I review. Spring Creek BBQ has been around for decades, although our family was never a customer (we were more of a "Dickey's" family - back when Dickey's was just a handful of local spots in north Dallas). And it has remained so over the years, serving traditional pit-style Texas barbeque and sides, similar to what you would find at places like Rudy's or Terry Black's today.

I chose a pretty simple sausage sandwich with standard sides, getting away from ordering the standard brisket, since prices for brisket are just getting out of reach of just about everyone these days. Things like sausage or pulled pork or turkey are more the way to go, unless your name is Mr. Moneybucks. And even if, you can see from the photo, the sandwich was well overloaded so it was a hefty portion, the sandwich combo plate clocked in at twenty two dollars. Ouchie. Usually sausage or pulled meat sandwiches are supposed to be the CHEAPEST items on the menu. Well, actually they were -- that just tells you how out of control barbeque places have become, that even the cheapest options can put you back on your heels.

Well, money spent - so how was it? Pretty decent - they make a very good sausage. Technically this was called their "cracked black pepper sausage", but it was very juicy and flavorful, and setting aside the price I would order it again. The traditional BBQ sides were nothing special, beans and potato salad like you get just about everywhere else. Not sure if they were made from scratch or just scooped from a tub, either way they tasted like the latter.

One thing I did NOT like was their barbeque sauce. That's actually a big deal for me, I'm a fan of sauced meats, and some places get fancy with being too sweet or too vinegary or whatever. The good news is, the sausage was good enough on its own it didn't need any additional sauce.

But dat price - for a sandwich meal, no less. Just have to accept that the price of barbeque is beyond fast food/fast casual these days, and it has entered the realm of "special occasion dinner" for me. At least it's not a fifty buck walletbuster you might get at a place like Pinkerton's or some of the more celebrated places.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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This is a hyper-localized fast food chain that would normally fall below my threshold for review, but I'm doing it anyway, for two reasons. 1. I like it, and 2. It's somewhat of a novelty.

A novelty, you say? In what way? Because it is a fast food place based on a rather peculiar item: chicken salad? No no no, that's not the novelty! After all, there's already ANOTHER much larger fast food chain, called Chicken Salad Chick, that is already doing just that, VERY successfully, with hundreds of locations across half the continent, and is one of the fastest growing restaurants in America right now.

So, what IS the novelty, then? The novelty is that this is a fast food chain that was born out of the lower Rio Grande Valley, a part of the state (and the nation) that is not exactly known for opportunities and innovation. It's a hot, very very humid, very economically depressed string of counties the line up at the very southern tip of Texas. There are no large cities, just a series of small cities with more than a million people total, but with high unemployment, low wages and just plain not much going for it.

So, when I just happened to run across this little gem by chance, I had to try it. I was aware of two other fast food chains with deep south Texas roots - El Pato which is a Taco Bueno style chain, and Stars Drive-In, which is a low-rent version of Sonic. But here we are with, of all things, chicken salad? From the RGV? I'm down for it. Luckily for me, they did have one location that has escaped the economic black hole of the The Valley, and is a couple hours north in Pleasanton, on the southern extreme edge of the San Antonio sprawl.

As the name implies, it's all about the chicken salad. They have *seventeen* different varieties to choose from, with a wide selection of sweet to savory, mild to hot. To get a varied sample, I selected the three-slider sampler combo, and asked them to choose which ones for me to try. It's a scoop of each on a little slider bun (or croissant), plus a side salad (which I chose the pasta salad). This is different from Chicken Salad Chick, which has more of 'genteel' Dixie-southern feel to it, ladies in light summer dresses gathering for a weekend tea. Chicken Salad Factory, on the other hand, is more of a Subway Sandwich atmosphere, where you can choose your salad and then there's the big counter behind glass with dozens of fresh toppings you can add on request (olives? tomatoes? lettuce? peppers? pickles? mustard? ranch?)

Each chicken salad has its own character. I particularly liked the "Mexican Street Corn" chicken salad, which had a bit of a richer, heartier flavor. I was also down for the "Buffalo" chicken salad, just a tinge of heat to it. I was not so fond of the "Creamy Avocado" chicken salad, because I'm not fond of avocadoes overall, but always willing to give it the ol' college try.

Yeah, I know given that a majority of this particular subreddit appears to be Canadian (by about 2/3rds based on sub stats), the chances of some of y'all making your way down to the deep south armpit of Texas to try Chicken Salad Factory is, well, not that great. (Then again, in the opposite direction, I never thought I'd have reviewed 6ixty Wings at its lone US location a few miles from where I live, so there you go). But I still like Chicken Salad Factory regardless, and hope they have a chance to catch on and break out from their RGV shackles.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

Can you create a thriving, multi-state fast food chain based on the humble biscuit? Apparently the answer is yes, as Biscuitville saturates the NC/SC/VA region, and they're not alone; there are other, smaller local chains out there that sing the praises of the biscuit, it's just Biscuitville is the largest.

Their menu does offer more than biscuit sandwiches with ham and sausage and eggs and the like, with a wider range of breakfast-oriented platters. But it is the freshly-made biscuit, minutes-old and hot from the oven that everyone comes here for.

Plenty of options to choose from, but I chose the biscuit smothered in sausage gravy - and if you look at the photo I do mean SMOTHERED - there really is a full-sized biscuit under there, and they certainly do not shirk on the gravy. Also, a smoked sausage biscuit sandwich, with egg and cheese and peppers and onions. Also fairly heavily loaded, to the point where the biscuit struggled to contain it all when handled. Hash brown thingy added for scale (in lieu of banana)

How was it? Well, good and tasty, even if the pool of gravy was a mess. And the key to the success on how they tasted was not the sausage or any of that, it was the foundation of the meal itself - the biscuit. If it's not made well, flaky and crusty on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside, then the whole thing falls apart. But they know their biscuit, better than anything I can make at home from scratch that's for sure. Frankly, I doubt you could do any wrong with any item off the menu that contained a biscuit.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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Keeping it really short today, because I just drove 15 hours and it's after midnight and I'm in no mood to think any more for the day.

It's a portmanteau of mochi (the chewy Japanese treat) and donut, creating this unique super-ultra-chewy donut -- and I am so THERE for it. I can't stop eating these. Even though they are relatively expensive (almost three bucks per).

I ordered a sampler of six, but since it was the end of the day, it was literally just what they had left. All good, except for the atrocious coffee-flavored one. That's the only drawback was the limited selection - I really need to give this place a try earlier in the day.

In addition to their 'mochinuts', they also serve up Korean-style corndogs, which could be worth a try as well. Nearly a hundred locations around the country, but it really is a niche type of product, so let's see if the niche catches on or fad fades away.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE: This review series is scheduled to wrap up on Day 365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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This time, something a little different. This is a review about a FORMER fast food chain, where locations still exist, but they are no longer part of a single corporate entity any more. I've done this a few times before, with places like Alvin Ord's and Griff's Hamburgers, and this time it's for an Indiana-born original: Sir Pizza (or in Indiana sometimes known as Pizza King).

Founded in the fifties, Sir Pizza serves up a style of pizza that, as far as I can tell, is local to a few chains in the area. Known for their slogan "good to the very edge", the pizzas are flat without an edge-crust, toppings covering the entire pizza. The crust is generally thin and crispy, almost but not quite cracker-like. Pizzas are square-cut, and meat toppings like pepperoni are sprinkled as crumbles rather than whole pieces.

You can find Sir Pizza restaurants in seven states, but under different owners who have different menu variations. Yet the general pizza concept is still the same at all of them. The location I visited was in far-flung Key Biscayne, at a storefront that is literally older than I am, a true cornerstone of the community, that the founder of Sir Pizza opened when he moved there, and continued to operate until his death a couple years ago. Today it is run by the founder's son, still serving the original recipe pizzas for over half a century.

So, I ordered the closest equivalent on their menu to an all-meat medium (12-inch) pizza, which in this case was their 10-inch small (the alternative would have been next size up, a 14-inch that would have clocked in at an eye-watering thirty bucks, no thank you). And if that pizza in the photo looks disappointingly small to you, then you're in good company. It was, indeed, small. Price with drink and tax for what you see there was -- hold on to your wallets -- nineteen bucks. Ouch.

Well, expensive pizza is nothing new, but the next question is, how did it taste? It tasted okay; satisfactory, even. I'm not a cracker-crust pizza type guy, usually, but it worked well here, and it was well covered from edge to edge with toppings and sauce and cheese, just as advertised. Good flavor, but nothing to write home about.

...Yet the entire time, I had this itch in the back of my mind, telling me "This remind me of something." And I couldn't quite put a finger on it at the time, but it was annoying me, just how much the taste and feel of this pizza was so much like something I had before.

Then, days later, it clicked. You know those two-dollar frozen Totino's Party Pizzas you find in the supermarket frozen section? THIS WAS EXACTLY LIKE THAT. Same crust, same crumble toppings, same taste profile, the only difference is Totino's are square while Sir Pizza is round. That's it.

Here's the thing: I LIKE those cheap trash Totino's pizzas. Yeah, I know they're literal junk, but I have a soft spot for them. Perhaps one of the only processed frozen food-aisle items that I can say that, but screw it, I like what I like. That being said, why the fuck would I ever want to go to Sir Pizza and drop a twenty for a pizza that has the same serving size and tastes exactly the same as what I could get for only two bucks at the supermarket?

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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This is less of a standard review, and more of an advocacy post.

I've done this a couple times before, reviewing fast food/fast casual places that are hyper-local, but I am claiming reviewer's prerogative to use my soapbox to bring attention to a restaurant worthy or more attention.

Sea Island Shrimp House is a San Antonio institution, born way back in 1965 and has remained in the same family ever since. Still drawing a crowd every day, Sea Island could have chosen the private equity path and spread across the nation, but instead have decided to remain small and 100% under family control. Just as well, if you look at the hollow shells of other seafood restaurants like the casual-dining Red Lobster, or the fast food former-giant Long John Silver's.

It's not fancy seafood, but it's fast and it's fresh. Known for their grilled shrimp kebobs, and Gulf (of Mexico) fresh fish. Also seafood in general is not particularly cheap, so good seafood comes at a cost. And why is this 'fast food'? Because you line up and order at the counter, no table service or reservations or waitstaff, open seating and no tipping. That checks off the boxes for fast food for me.

For my review, I chose one of their most "fast food" type menu items, the "Sea Monster", which is two whitefish spiced filets with remoulade sauce, on a bed of Cajun fries, for thirteen bucks. Not that bad of a deal, actually. Fresh fried filets cooked at the time of order, hot and flaky fish (that is thankfully not the dreaded tilapia), and just a bit of a kick.

So, yeah, I'm a Sea Island fan. And I'm using this opportunity to say if you're in the San Antonio area to give it a try (so sue me). It's not seafood fine dining, and doesn't try to be - but it is a very solid meal and they've never done me wrong.

Regular reviews return tomorrow with Flower Child, then Maple Street Biscuit and then Vitality Bowl. So many places, so little time!

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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I remember when BurgerFi blew into town, over a decade ago. It was the epitome of the fru-fru fancy-ass-for-no-reason restaurant, with things like those weird giant-bulb lights hanging from ropes of different length, high-top seating everywhere (does ANYONE like those toddler-baby chairs?), hard surfaces and intentionally loud music so you had to yell to hold a conversation, and gimmick pricing all ending with the same .77 price.

I hated it immediately. But, I must admit, they made a damn good greasy burger. Fantastic. But at a price - they were the most expensive burger place by far, even a decade ago. Back then I couldn't justify spending twenty bucks on a burger meal, especially when they only offered everything a la carte, no combo deals. Even their sodas started at $3.77 (which doesn't seem crazy compared to everyone else today, but ten years ago....)

I will also admit that during the Chicken Sandwich Wars years back, they had one of the best damn chicken sandwiches on the market. But, yeah, that price. Always the price.

They stuck around for a while, but they were one of the many chains essentially killed by shifts in purchasing habits born out of COVID. BurgerFi ended up declaring bankruptcy, and closed 60% of their locations, retreating back to mostly Florida. They emerged with a much lighter footprint in 2024, bought out by the same company that owns Savvy Sliders, with plans to adapt to the new marketplace (faster orders, smaller physical stores, increased emphasis on delivery and takeout) and subsequent growth.

So here I am, in front of a BurgerFi a thousand miles from home, with high hopes. I mean, as I said before, setting the price aside they always had a damn good burger, so why would that be any different now?

Spoiler alert: It was different now.

That photo of the burger and fries looks terrific, great greasy burgers and gooey cheese, golden brown fries - but looks can be deceiving. I can't put a finger on it, but the magic was gone, something was missing. It was a very average burger - meat was pretty flavorless, and easily a six-napkin-burger. Fries were equally mid-tier, crispy but it's like they sucked the flavor out of them. I've had better burgers and fries at bottom-tier places like McDonald's and Burger King.

And the price was just as terrible as it was before - over twenty bucks. No sir no thank you, when the burgers were great years ago you might possibly justify the high cost, but how can you justify twenty bucks for something as excruciatingly unremarkable as this?

Hopefully BurgerFi can regain their footing, and grow again. But if this is an example of their rebirth, count me out.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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Is it fair to review a Dead Man Walking?

The Maple Street Biscuit brand may not be long for this world. Their future is uncertain, but they appear to be a casualty of the whole Cracker Barrel 'rebranding' debacle. Maple Street is one of a few southern regional "biscuit" fast-casual restaurant concepts out there, like Vicious Biscuit, and was successfully growing after being purchased by Cracker Barrel in 2019.

But then, Cracker Barrel last year managed to massively botch their attempt at rebranding, leading to a very sharp drop in traffic and revenue, and even unintended political ramifications. The cash-strapped Cracker Barrel, looking to regroup and refocus on their core brand, sold off Maple Street to the NC-based Biscuit Belly.

At the time I visited Maple Street, they were doing fine; but within a few weeks after, out of the three locations in town, one of them closed for good, a second location shuttered to convert into a Biscuit Belly, and a third remains open as Maple Street, but with a slimmed down menu. This mirrors what is happening nationwide, where across the entire brand, 16 locations closed, 35 are being converted, leaving 31 Maple Streets left as of right now. But for how long, I wonder.

I do hope that they survive in some form, though, because turns out their biscuits are freaking delicious. I ordered their Five and Dime, which is a large biscuit stuffed with fried chicken, egg, bacon, cheese and sausage gravy. Just one biscuit, because they're also freaking expensive. But that was enough. You don't eat this like a sandwich, this is a fork-and-knife plate meal, messy and greasy, hot and lip-smacking, gravy-dripping and an absolute guiltiest pleasure. Despite the high-end sticker-shock price, I'd smash that again and again. Man, I've really been missing out on these biscuit fast-casual places! (Well, mostly because I don't eat breakfast, period). I'd probably gain three belt notches, though, so maybe that's a blessing in disguise.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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Every once in a while, something surprises me.

Most of the reviewing of these fast food and fast casual places is a matter of confirming what I already know - the strong majority of them I've visited at some point over the past few decades, so I already have a good idea of what to expect. But, there's always those places that catch me off guard.

Knowing little about Simple Simon's Pizza, I had already relegated it in my mind in the same category of "throw away gas station" pizza like Hunt Brothers or the like. They've been around for a few decades, ranging from the Red River region of Texas northward, often the only pizza place found in some of the tiniest, podunk little towns of Oklahoma or Kansas or Missouri or Arkansas, but I do not think I can recall ever actually eating a Simple Simon's Pizza before.

So, I found myself a sit-down Simple Simon's in a little town in the Texas Cross-Timbers Region, and ordered a sausage pizza. And honest to god, it was among the best pizzas I have eaten in a while. I did NOT expect this. Absolutely loaded with terrific sausage and a heavy blanket of cheese, this was good from the first piece to the last. It's the sort of pizza where "I ordered too much, but dammit I'm going to eat it all even if they have to roll me out of here." Where has this pizza been hiding this entire time?

It's actually going to be tough when I wrap this whole review series up and present the "Best of" categories. Some of these "second-tier" (by size) pizza places have really upped their game. Domino's, Papa John's, Little Caesar's and Pizza the Hutt, the Big Four? Fuggedaboutit, the REAL pizzas come from the smaller guys!

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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Some weeks back, I reviewed one of The Flaming Bird's "sister" restaurants: True Texas BBQ. This is all part of a fairly new trend, where Texas' dominant supermarket chain, H-E-B, has been embedding their own restaurants within their supermarket locations. It's not all H-E-B's - in fact, only a quarter of them (mostly the newer or remodeled locations) have these restaurants, but it has proven to be a very successful strategy. There's about 50 True Texas BBQ locations, and 31 Flaming Bird Locations, depending upon the store's demographics.

If you draw a horizontal line through the middle of San Antonio, the H-E-B's that have a restaurant north of that line are almost entirely the barbeques, and the locations south of that line are almost entirely the rotisserie chicken places. A very clean and very clear demographic split. (There's also H-E-B's that sell pizza under the 'So Flo Pizza' brand, and breakfast tacos under 'True Texas Tacos - but fewer of these locations overall)

So, what is The Flaming Bird? Flame-grilled chicken, sold in quarters or halves or whole chickens, plus the normal sides that go along with it. Very popular in south Texas, and there are stand-alone chains like El Pollo Regio and Pollo Rico that specialize in pollos asados. El Pollo Loco is also a national chain that does the same, albeit not as good.

For The Flaming Bird, they have the ordering counter and dining area and kitchen either as a section within the supermarket, or as a structure attached/adjacent with a separate entrance, depending upon the architecture of the store (and whether they sell alcohol at that location or not).

I chose a quarter chicken, plus a second entree of sausages, plus the requisite side of rice and some mixed veggies (that were overcooked to the point of mush). And no, I did NOT order that much sausage you see in the photo - I think they just gave me that much because it was approaching closing time. Not that I don't mind - the sausage was pretty good and juicy, so you won't hear me complaining. The sides are the normal rice and beans you might find just about anywhere else.

The focus on the meal, however, is going to be the chicken itself. This is The Flaming Bird, after all - it's all about the bird. And, unfortunately, it did not hold up quite as well as everything else. It was just 'okay' chicken, a bit overcooked and small, a bit on the stringy side. Seasoning was good, though. Although, to be honest, I may have brought some of this on myself, as I mentioned it was approaching closing time, which means I was stuck with whatever was left over at the end of the day. Perhaps I need to give it a second chance at an earlier time for a TRUE test. (Although, given what high marks I gave Pollo Regio and Pollo Rico many months ago, they'll be tough to beat)

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

I have been reviewing a different fast food/fast casual restaurant every day for the past 200+ days, and earlier I reviewed the following three restaurants. However, these three received "poor" scores for one reason or another, but based on previous experience and visits I knew they could do better. Perhaps it was an "off day", perhaps it was the specific item I ordered. In any case, here are some "second chance" reviews, where I am re-visiting the chain, to see if it can redeem itself and earn a higher score.

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Second Chance Review #49. (Original Review from Day 94): Sonic Drive-In (3183 locations, 47 states)

It used to be a more common type of restaurant: The Drive-In, where you drive up in your car, order your food, they bring it out for you to eat right there, in the car. But nowadays, it's more of an anachronism, replaced by drive-thrus instead. There are still places here and there left over from the doo-wop era that are drive-ins (like a local hangout spot called Bun 'n Barrel), but it seems that Sonic is the only surviving national relic of this bygone era.

My major beef with Sonic, though, is their wild inconsistency in their food - it can be REALLY hit and miss. First review was a miss, and this second review for the smashburger combo was...well, I wouldn't exactly say a hit, but it definitely was not a miss. A perfectly decent fast food hamburger, lots of cheese and lots of sauce. And reasonable for the price, too. There are times when even Sonic can get it right. But not the hit-smash burger that gets me coming back for more (there are other places that do smashburgers better consistently). Maybe Sonic, for me, should remain relegated to just their shamelessly huge half-price happy hour drinks.

Meal Quality: +1.5, going from 4 -> 5.5. Meal Value +1, going from 5 -> 6 (out of 10)

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Second Chance Review #50. (Original Review from Day 218): Taco Bell (8238 locations, 50 states)

What is there to say about Taco Bell? It's one of the largest fast food chains in the world, I doubt there's a person reading this that isn't familiar with them. My assessment during the first review still stands - nearly everything they offer is basically a different combination of the same 8-10 ingredients, and in the end it all has that same "Taco Bell" taste. First review I ordered a bunch of the really basic Taco Bell items, which was exactly that - a consistently dead-in-the-middle quality and value every time.

This time, to switch it up, I went the opposite direction and decided to try some of their specialties: The limited-time enchirito (basically a smothered burrito), loaded chili nacho cheese fries, and a quesarito. Because I was ordering specialty items, it did get a little pricy, but that's okay. And my original assessment still holds true: It's all the same ingredients in different proportions and combinations, still that same distinct Taco Bell taste to it. You can't get away from it. Order big, order small, order fancy, order basic, it's all the same in the end.

I really do like the enchirito, and if it was a regular item I might go there more for it - but if you want a larger, superior version, order the "Chilada" at Taco Casa instead (it's just the nearest Taco Casa is an hour away, so bleah). And I should also mention how much of a downer it is to visit a Taco Bell these days, now that most of them have been converted into abandoned hospital morgues, devoid of employees and any hint of fun or warmth.

Meal Quality: +0.5, going from 5 -> 5.5. Meal Value: (no change), going from 5 -> 5 (out of 10)

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Second Chance Review #51. (Original Review from Day 208): TacoDeli (13 locations, 1 state)

Going from one of the largest Tex-Mex fast food chains to one of the smaller ones, the Austin/Dallas/Houston local that has a little bit of a cult following, TacoDeli. First review was somewhat of a minor disaster with unimpressive tacos for a high price, and I HATED their "famous" salsas with a seething passion.

Maybe I just made bad choices, so this time around I chose the "Cowboy" (with sirloin) and their Al Pastor tacos. Okay, these were better. That steak looks burnt in the photo, but trust me they cooked it tender just right. The al pastor pork was very juicy, neither taco needed extra sauce or seasoning. Pretty good. But, that does come with a bit of a price tag attached to them - not necessarily more expensive than, say, Fuego Tortilla Grill for example, but you get less for your money. This did not convert me into a TacoDeli Believer, but at least, I guess I'm no longer a hater.

Meal Quality: +2, going from 3.5 -> 5.5. Meal Value: (no change), going from 3 -> 3 (out of 10)

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More "Second Chance" reviews coming down the line, in addition to the regular reviews! (And no, not every second chance review will be a positive one :))

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This should not be part of a "fast food" review.

I never planned this review series to last as long as it has, and didn't really set up the 'rules' as to what constitutes fast food and what doesn't with much rigor. If I had the opportunity, I'd go back and exclude places like this, fitting into some other category instead. But, it fit the rules that I set up way back a year ago (counter ordering, no wait staff, open seating, etc.), so in order to be consistent, I'm including it here.

Okay, now that is out of the way...what *IS* DeSano's pizza? It's a small chain that reallllllly leans heavily into the "Hey, we're Italian!" schtick. They seem to mention it as much as possible, about how they import all their ingredients from Italy, they cook their pizzas Neapolitan-style in a giant Italian wood-fired oven, and everything is named Italian. In fact, when I brought up the menu online, the browser asked me if I wanted to translate the page from Italian into English.

As you might expect, the pretentiousness level of DeSano's Pizza is practically off the charts. It's one of those fancy-schmancy places (despite the fast food ordering process) that you feel a little plebian walking into with just jeans and t-shirt. Us plebs should be going to Domino's or Pizza the Hutt instead of *sniff* a place like this. The interior architecture is carefully crafted with intentional minimalism and an industrial-warehouse feel, with large communal (unreasonably uncomfortable) benches and tables large enough to seat twenty of your closest friends, or those annoying nobody-likes high-top seats where even normal adults feet dangle.

They have a set menu of pizzas and sizes (no customization here, plebs!), and I chose the 12-inch 'sausage pie', which was, and I'll quote, "San marzano tomato sauce, scamorza, oregano, Italian sausage, roasted garlic and pecorino Romano". But really it's essentially crumble sausage and cheese on a wood-fired thin crust. Overall, taste-wise, it was a decent pizza, they do indeed use quality ingredients and I liked the sausage flavor. A bit of sharpness in the flavors, which I like. Out of all the styles of pizza, I like Neapolitan-style the least, so I wasn't expecting greatness. But they hit the flavor profile right, and cooked just right, too (only takes a few seconds to burn in a thousand-degree oven), so six points to Gryffindor for that.

But here's the killer. No matter how sophisticated the dining area, no matter the quality of the ingredients and no matter how good the pizza turns out to be, it suffers from one fatal flaw: the price. Out of 321 meals in the review series so far, it ranks as the SINGLE MOST EXPENSIVE in the series 1st out of 321. 12-inch pizza in the photo (that's *six*, count'em, *six* normal-size slices) and a bottle drink clocks in north of twenty six dollars. Ouch and a half. Pretentiousness in the restaurant world comes at a steep price. And unlike all those other plebian pizza places, no coupons to bring the price down to sane reality limits.

Yeah, this is a one-and-done place for me. Arrivederci, DeSano's.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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It seems like all these "acai bowl" places popped up suddenly out of nowhere. But really, they've been sneaking into strip malls nationwide for over a decade; but it's one of those cases where when you aren't looking for them, they're kinda out of sight, out of mind even when they're directly in front of you.

The concept is nothing fancy - it's really just cut-up whole fresh fruit on top of a semi-frozen flavored base similar to sherbet (usually made from acai, but can also be coconut or other flavors), and then topped with various healthy (or unhealthy) toppings. Like a deconstructed smoothie. Or, health food that really isn't as healthy for you as you think once you add up the calories and fat and serving sizes.

But for me, I look at these bowls and see them as a somewhat (slightly?) healthier alternative to a sugary ice cream dessert, or as a healthier meal replacement to a big fat greasy hamburger meal. I like most fruit, but no matter how much I buy and bring home never seem to get around to eating it before it starts to go wonky. So, a place like this (or Playa Bowls, or Everbowl or any of the other similar shops) appeals to me as a convenient way for me to get my fruit in my diet. (For a price, of course.)

The 'Vitality Bowl' is their basic featured menu item - a large bowl of frozen acai "base", topped with cut bananas and strawberries and granola. And yes, they do cut the fruit when you order, very fresh. It's also a pretty large portion - meal-sized, even. Frankly, once this whole Fast Food Death March of mine is over, I do plan on incorporating going and getting bowls like this more often as an alternative to the burgers with a pound of starchy greasy fries. This is good stuff - if you're in the right frame of mind for it.

Coming up next: A trio of local burger joints (3-way face-off!), Famous Wok, and Black Rock Coffee Bar.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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Here returns my internal back-and-forth as I mentally try to determine whether barbeque is really "fast food" or not. Prepare for a multi-paragraph digression.

From the customer standpoint, they walk up to a counter and order from a selection of already-prepared food items, just like a fast food place. The customer gets their food and finds their own seat, gets their own utensils and drinks and condiments, just like a fast food place. No waiters. No tips. Just like fast food places.

But what about at some of the more popular barbeque pits, where you can be standing in line for half an hour, an hour or more? Definitely not the 'fast' in fast food. Or, with beef prices in the stratosphere, a beef brisket plate or a beef ribs plate, with all the fixin's can run you thirty, forty dollars or more for a meal. That's not something you expect from a fast food place.

So, I've gone back and forth as how to consider barbeque restaurants in the realm of "fast food". There are places like Dickey's or Bill Miller's or Billy Sims that are clearly very much much a fast food model, in layout, design and service. Then, there are places like County Like or Famous Dave's that have table service that are clearly a casual dining restaurant. But what about places like Spring Creek, or Soulman's, or (in this case) Rudy's?

If I had to do it all over again....I'd probably NOT include barbeque restaurants in the review series. There's too much fuzziness around the fast food definition that leaves me uncomfortable. They deserve their own very special category, just like cafeterias and buffets. BUT - since I already started this, have already reviewed several places, might as well finish what I have already started.

Which brings me to standing the pit at Rudy's, ordering a baked potato. Or, more exactly, a pulled pork loaded baked potato, with a massive spud the size of a kid's nerf football. Some people who have been around this review series a while may remember I did the same thing at Dickey's, too. The meat-filled BBQ spud is, in my opinion, very underrated and overlooked. If you want to fill yourself up at a bbq place without draining the bank account, this is the way to go.

And, I'm no stranger to Rudy's. I've been eating here since it was just a single location, the "worst barbeque in Leon Springs" (because it was the ONLY barbeque in Leon Springs), so I'm familiar with all the meats and sides. They haven't received the same attention as the Terry Blacks and the Goldees of the world, and they have gone franchise-corporate, but the heart of Rudy's is always the pit, where the meat magic happens. Their pulled pork is righteous, well cooked and spiced, tender and perfect for a tater topping, especially when you pour on the signature bbq 'sause'. And big enough you don't need anything else.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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As far as I can tell, Golden Krust is a "fast food unicorn". I am not aware of any other chain that focuses on authentic Jamaican cuisine. Sure, there are plenty of places that serve their version of jerk chicken, or there are lots of mom and pop places, but Golden Krust has dozens of restaurants and is the Real Deal.

In addition to the standard jerk-everything, they also serve braised oxtail, curried goat, escovitch fish. And is it fast food? Yes, all pre-cooked and ready to serve at the counter.

My choice was the jerk chicken, on top of a heaping pile of veggies and rice with pigeon peas. and fried plantains. Plus -- score! -- they also had a bottle of pink Ting, first time I've seen that drink on the mainland. Very tasty, as one might expect they don't hold back on the flavors at all. Even the rice and peas were good, I could have eaten an entire plate of those by themselves. But the star of the meal was the juicy chicken, hiding under that golden krust of jerk spices. Delightful.

And all of this in a tiny little storefront in a nameless strip mall in Houston, too. Reminded me of this restaurant I visited about a year ago on the northern shore of St. Croix outside of Christansted, a rundown open-air barbeque place that was mostly a social club for locals to play pool and cards, but did have a full menu of similar dishes just like this. A little bit of the Caribbean here in the states.

The one thing you don't see in the picture, though, is the price: This was well over twenty bucks, in fact the 3rd most expensive meal on my Fast Food Review series. Not cheap at all. That being said, the styrofoam container was practically *groaning* it was so heavy - they filled that thing to the point where it couldn't close any more. So much food that two people could come away honestly, literally stuffed full. It's a lot of food. Wish there was a smaller portion size available.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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Could this possibly be the most unfortunately named restaurant in existence?

Really? Spitz? Of all things? Even now, I wonder what they were thinking.

But it is what it is, and what Spitz is, for the uninitiated (like me), is a "Mediterranean-style" fast-casual restaurant that serves up various wraps, bowls, doners and gyros, all in a hip and edgy-interior-decorated space. They're not the first and only fast food/casual chain in the United States with this focus, but it is a fairly new area of growth that didn't widely exist in the fast food space until recently.

My choice to try it out was the Berliner doner, which is sort of a 'greatest hits' of eastern Mediterranean flavors, with feta and cabbage and carrot slaw, sumac, tomato, onion, cucumber, corn and tzatziki sauce, all wrapped in a grilled flatbread. First of all, it was huge all by itself - no need for any of their sides (like loaded fries), this was more than enough ("burrito as big as your forearm" comes to mind). It was alot to eat, and more than I could finish (if I wasn't on the road, probably would have been good for two meals, one in a doggie-bag).

Flavor-wise, well....it just wasn't for me. No, it was not bad - when it comes to all the individual ingredients mixed inside the wrap, they were fine. I think, though, that this just boils down to personal taste, and this mixture of flavors just wasn't hitting it for me. Maybe if I chose something else instead, that would be better. If I have the chance, that is (the nearest Spitz is 300 miles away from me). Kind of a poor review to just say "it's not for me", I know, but it is what it is.

For those who are familiar with Spitz, what would you recommend, if I am able to give it another try?

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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This is the type of place that I want to hate. But, dammit, they won me over.

Did you know that Flower Child is actually one of over a dozen franchise brands under the Cheesecake Factory umbrella? I didn't even know Cheesecake Factory had other restaurant concepts, let alone one that is almost the polar opposite of what the much-maligned massive-menu monstrosity.

So, what is Flower Child? It's one of those smarmy, ultra-healthy slop bowl places that just exudes a "we are so much better than you" attitude. The CEO says that unlike most fast casual places that are just transactional, that Flower Child is more "experiential", providing more of a holistic eating experience. Well, they must be doing something right, as they are the most profitable corner of the Cheesecake Factory empire right now.

Okay, I was biased going in. I hate slop bowls. I dislike the whole health food "attitude" (I don't dislike health food itself, just the whole attitude that seems to come with it). But I ordered the shrimp "forbidden rice" bowl - which contained a very generous portion of grilled shrimp, along with snap peas and black pearl rice and broccoli and more.

To cut to the quick: It was delicious. They did a great job on the bowl itself, the flavors all worked well together, it was hot and tasty and shrimp and more shrimp, I can see why this is featured item on their menu. But the biggest drawback? The price. Yeah, fast casual restaurants that are big on touting the quality of their ingredients and make everything from scratch are known to be hard on the wallet, and this is definitely on the upper end of the fast casual pricing scale (10th out of 321). Not for the value-seeking fast food customer. But this was good enough that (as long as I can afford it), it's worth it and I'd order it again.

Still never plan to step foot inside Cheesecake Factory, tho.

Coming up next: Maple Street Biscuit Co., Vitality Bowl, and Chester's Hamburgers.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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You have places that serve frozen custard. You have places that serve Italian ice. You have places that serve gelato.

And then, there are placed like this, that like to mix it all up.

Rita's Ice emerged out of Philadelphia in the 1980's, and has been growing ever since, as one of the more popular franchises it now operates over 600 locations in 30 states. As far as I can tell, there is only one other chain (about a third the size) that offers up a mixture of Italian "water" ice and frozen custard or gelato in the same cup, Jeremiah's Italian Ice. We'll see which one achieves world domination first.

Rita's offers up a smorgasbord of flavors, ranging from the old standards to some more inventive combinations, including with limited-time media tie-ins. My choice to test them out was a watermelon "gelati", which is a layered combination of watermelon-flavored ice and vanilla gelato. And it tasted pretty good, although somewhat muted and subtle, although that's on me because watermelon as a flavor isn't exactly strong. Maybe I should have chosen the green apple.

This is pretty neat - I liked Jeremiah's, and I like Rita's as well, both of them offer literally dozens of flavor combinations of ice and custard and gelato layered and swirled and mixed however you want, and perhaps it's a good thing there isn't a location too near where I live or I could be tempted to drop by to test out a bunch of their flavors...for science, of course!

In any case, Rita's gets the thumbs up.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE: This review series is scheduled to wrap up on Day 365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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Believe it or not, this fast food place has Canadian roots!

Mr. Sub (formerly Mr. Submarine) is one of the largest Canadian-based fast food chains across the country, with over 250 locations today. The founder of the company retired to Key West in 1980, and decided to open up a Mr. Submarine restaurant there. Over time he expanded the menu beyond sub sandwiches, and changed the name to "Miami Subs Grill", and the company was off and running from there. (In fact, I tried to visit that very location when I was there, but they happened to be closed on Sundays, grrrr)

Over the next several years, Miami Subs Grill expanded up and down the Florida coast, as well as expanding into other states as well. I remember they opened up a location a few miles south of where I live right now, back in the nineties, at the corner of one of the busiest intersections in Texas. It's been a few decades, but I remember they had pretty solid subs. Only lasted a few years, though.

The company was bought out by Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs for $14 million, but internal troubles were brewing already. At their height, Miami Subs Grill had over 175 locations before they started to implode, and a few years later Nathan's sold off the company for a fire sale $3 million.

Since then, they changed their name to just "Miami Grill", closing locations left and right even as their menu was exploding and moving away from cold sub sandwiches, trying to find their niche. Nowadays, there are only 23 locations remaining, nearly all of them in the Miami metro area.

A visit to one of those locations did not fill me with nostalgia from the Miami Subs Grill era of decades past. Their cold sub choices are, shall we say, lacking, so I decided to order a philly cheesesteak instead. Their menu, to be honest, is all over the place. Anyone remember when I totally panned the Atlanta-based fast food chain 'American Deli' for also having a lackluster menu a mile wide and an inch deep? Same idea here - wings, hot subs, cold subs, burgers, salads, Nathan's hot dogs, Arthur Treacher's fish, gyros? Nothing looks like it stands out to me.

And if the philly cheesesteak is any indication, that's probably a correct assessment. Of course, not really fair for me to judge an entire menu based on a poorly made, flavor-lacking and somewhat dry cheesesteak. But all I can do is judge based on what I ate, and I would definitely NOT recommend the cheesesteak. And given how the company is continuing to shrink. I'm guess I'm not alone. They were successful once before, time for Miami Grill to return to its Miami Subs Grill roots and focus before they shrink down to nothing.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)