Transplants: Which fast food joint/chain do you miss most?

[jmowreader]

Rules for today's game: you don't live now where this place is, and it's still open. If you can't go there because it's there and you're not, it counts. We will NOT be impressed if you say you miss Chi-Chi's or Kenny Rogers Roasters.

For me: I miss most Skipper's. It's a chain of fish and chips joints in the Northwest. They had REALLY excellent chowder and fish. Runners-up include Whataburger and Krystal.

[havocmom]

1. eegees & Chuy's

mmmmmm eegees

[jobycom]

4. Chuys is expanding.

They've opened a few in other Texas cities, and are about to start a cluster in Nashville and in other southern states.

[havocmom]

9. They won't make it anywhere near my location here

Population under 1000 and far far north ;)

[BuddhaGirl]

36. I saw eegees when we were in Tucson last week on vacation

what is eegees exactly?

[Kali]

38. and you didn't try it?!

(Sort of like Hawaiian shave ice)

[BuddhaGirl]

55. oh wow!!

sorry I missed it!! Next time for sure :-)

[Fridays Child]

46. Just the best lemon (or pina colada, if you prefer) ice in 48 states.

I have to admit that the lemon ice in Sorrento is better but Eegee's lemon ice is definitely a Tucson institution, as are the steak fingers at Lucky Wishbone. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[havocmom]

51. And fairly decent sandwhiches (which I also miss)

Flavor of the month special eegees (my favs were cherry cider and the one with grapefruit/cranberry juices)

And, you could call a day ahead and get gallon - 5 gallons of the lemon for the best big batch for a party margarita mix! Viva eegees!

[Kali]

59. drool

Lucky Wishbone

I cheated a couple years ago and got chicken from there for 4th of July. And ate shrimp and steakfingers while we waited for the chicken.:blush: :rofl:

[Fridays Child]

60. Addictive!

Steak fingers should be listed as a controlled substance!

[jobycom]

2. Snuffers.

It's a Dallas chain. I'm addicted to their cheddar fries.

[Broken_Hero]

3. Jack in the Box, and The Old Spaghetti Factory nt

[jmowreader]

5. Old Spaghetti Factory--good choice!

[Broken_Hero]

7. Its a holdover from my time in Sacramento

I had a handful of buddies who worked there, and they would hook me up big time. I'd pay for a garlic bread/cheese appetizer and they would keep my "stein" full. :D I can barely remember what the food tasted like.

For Jack in the Box, it was the only place in Sac that was open 24/7, and some other buds worked there so I could get free fish/chips/jumbo jacks.

For my hometown, we didn't have any chain there, except McD's and Subway and I don't miss those at all .

[Aristus]

6. Long John Silver's.

I know, I know, it's a heart attack on a plate, but I used to just love their chicken planks, their hushpuppies, and their "crumblies". These were little flakes of fried batter that they put next to your chicken, just for some extra artery clogging.

And I used to enjoy their live-action pirate characters in the commercials back in the '70's.

I live in the wrong part of the country. We do, however, have Skipper's here...

[jmowreader]

41. You went to a fish place for chicken? I never figured out why anyone would do that

There is ONE of those stores in Fayetteville--Yum does a "combination" thing where they'll let you put two restaurant concepts in the same building, and the local Taco Bell franchisee put a Long John Silver's in one of his restaurants. For some reason he's not doing well with it, probably because he picked the wrong store. The one a block from the mall MIGHT have been a better choice, eh? Anyway, the food is pretty good--the tempura-breaded fish is tasty. They don't have chowder at least at this one, or I've not seen it on the menu.

[JCMach1]

8. Suprisingly we have almost everything in the UAE

I do miss Krystals though.

[Ron Green]

10. Whataburger. It's one of the only joys of visiting Texas.

There are a few others, but not enough to move me back there for good.

[wickerwoman]

11. Love Skippers and Ivars too.

Best fried clams on the planet.

For me, it's not really a chain, but I *really* miss New Jersey subs from the local convenience store. Every once in a while I get a massive hankering for a really good Italian sub and I frankly wouldn't clean the floor with Subway or Quiznos.

[enigmatic]

12. Dick's- Spokane, WA

http://www.yelp.com/biz/dicks-hamburgers-spokane

[Sebastian Doyle]

15. Are they related to Dicks in Seattle?

[enigmatic]

16. 99.9 percent sure yes

But I've never been to the ones in Seattle..

[pokerfan]

58. Nope, no relation

http://www.city-data.com/forum/spokane-area/294016-dicks-hamburgers-spokane-v-seattle.html

[jmowreader]

42. I can't really say I miss Dick's, and I went there a LOT

Or, more accurately, I was TAKEN there a lot. My parents loved the place because the service was so quick. When we'd go to Spokane to do our shopping, if we left town via the South Hill they always went to Dicks, bought a bag of their burgers and some fries and cokes, and that was dinner. This happened...oh, about once every three weeks. Mom and Dad loved Dick's. To me the burgers had an aroma reminiscent of Vitalis Hair Tonic.

I think that's the reason I liked McDonald's burgers best: they never smelled like hair tonic.

[lazarus]

13. Krystal/White Castle

And the Dairy Queen in Andalusia, AL. They have the best food ever: A slaw dog with western sauce.

Also miss Dreamland in Tuscaloosa, but that's not really fast food, it's the world's best rib joint.

[Sebastian Doyle]

14. Used to love Skippers. Until I worked there for a while

Coming home smelling like fish every day will kill the enthusiasm. And your love life.

[PJPhreak]

17. Nathans Hot Dogs in Oceanside LI NY...NOT Coney Island!

Best cherrystone Clams on the Halfshell in Long Island!

[Roon]

18. I miss Skippers too

They aren't around in Colorado now. Have to settle for Long John Silvers. I also had first job in one.

[onestepforward]

19. Wienerschnitzel

I haven't lived close to one in about 20 years, but it was one of my favorites. Great chili cheese dogs at the time! Are they still good?

[peekaloo]

27. Last time I was in Austin went there and was disappointed.

Maybe the half asses working there but the food was terrible. Nasty. I remember when they introduced the pretzel bun, :9

[onestepforward]

52. Aww, that's too bad.

I remember that they had a good polish sandwich too.

[Captain Hilts]

20. Doumar's in Norfolk, VA -

I'll have a hot dog and a ringo!

[RFKHumphreyObama]

21. A&W, Swenson's, Burger King

[Ohio Joe]

22. One of the few things I'll miss from Ohio

Steak-n-Shake. Good burgers, fries, shakes and even a damn good vegetable beef soup.

[jmowreader]

49. Yeah, that is about the only good thing about Ohio

[peacefreak]

23. Shady Glen in Manchester, Ct.

They fry their cheese in their cheeseburgers til it's a golden crispy ring around the burger. Top with ketchup, mustard, onion & relish & it's heaven on a plate. Their ice cream is pretty damn good, too.

[CBR]

24. Macado's -- sandwich chain in VA, WV and NC. nt

[GoCubsGo]

25. Portillo's

There is a joint that sells Chicago dogs and Italian beef sandwiches somewhat close to me now, but it's a 45 minute drive, and through a city that I prefer to avoid at all costs. It's good, but not the same, even if they do sell those tubular tamales.

I also miss White Castle. We have Krystal, which is an acceptable substitute, but still not quite the same.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

26. White Castle and Lindy's Chili

both in Illinois and I'm in Fla now. Used to love the fact that White Castle was open 24 hours.

[JimGinPA]

28. Steak & Shake / White Castle

:cry:

[Bertha Venation]

29. Jack in the Box, In-n-Out, and Del Taco, in that order.

:(

[BuddhaGirl]

37. mmm Del Taco

ahhh memories of junior high and high school...Del Taco was a fun hangout then...

:hi: from a fellow HBer!

[Bertha Venation]

70. Hey!

A fellow HBer. Wow!

Which Del Taco did you go to? I worked at the one right by Edison High School, corner of Atlanta & Magnolia. Of course, this was in the dark ages, 1979 - 81.

[MiddleFingerMom]

69. Del Taco Ignant

Having never heard of Del Taco, when I saw the construction company's
sign announcing that they were building one on that location, I thought
the company sounded familiar, and finally asked my friend what the heck
"Delta Co." did.
.
This was about 7 years ago and he hardly ever ridicules me about it anymore.

[Bertha Venation]

71. LOL Delta Co.

Sorry for laughing, but that's funny.

Have you eaten there? Faux mexican food (plus burgers/fries), light years better than Taco Hell.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

30. In N Out... Officially, I go to CA to visit my sister, but really I go there

for In N Out

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[Biker13]

31. Moved From NJ to Idaho...!

I'd KILL for a White Castle!

Second, Nathan's! There is NO edible seafood in Idaho!

Biker's Old Lady

[leeroysphitz]

32. Biscuitville (N Carolina). They just don't make anything like that here in Detroit.

[nolabear]

64. +1! Seattle is not famous for its ham biscuits!

Or its chicken biscuits, its steak biscuits, its...*drool*

[SoxFan]

33. Popeye's!

There's only one anywhere near us (near Fenway Park and the BU campus), but I'm not driving 45 miles for fried chicken and biscuits, no matter how good!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. Burgerville in Portland, specifically their seasonal fresh fruit shakes

:-)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

35. Jimboy's Tacos in the Sacramento area

I never lived there...an ex girlfriend had grandparents there, and we visited several times. Jimboys was always one of our destinations.

It is like a cross between Taco Bell and Mexican food prepared in a good, authentic restaurant. It was "clean" food...never greasy, never "thrown together." Delicious...never the "after-meal regrets" that often come with Taco Bell and their ilk.



http://www.jimboys.com/



:toast:

[jmowreader]

43. My first glance at one of your sentences really made me laugh

"It is like a cross between Taco Bell and Mexican food."

And then I noticed there was more.

[yankeeinlouisiana]

39. If I have to pick a chain, it would be

Portillo's, but actually an Italian beef sandwich from Chicago, dipped, with sweet peppers.

Yummy!!

[Sanity Claws]

40. Skippers and Ivars

Both are fast food places that serve real fish. They are in Seattle and I am not.

[jmowreader]

47. Oh God...Ivar's!

The two cruelest, most un-American fuckers on the face of the earth are Ivar Haglund and the asshole who runs Legal Seafood in Boston.

And you know WHY they're cruel and un-American? Because they're depriving honest, hard-working, patriotic Americans who don't live in those two places from enjoying their food on a regular basis, that's why!

You could go into any moderate-size town in America, no matter where it was, build a replica of Ivar's Acres of Clams, and have to carry the receipts to the bank in a wheelbarrow. I can prove it, too: Look at Joe's Crab Shack. They do well, but it's basically a bar. (And the food, while reasonably tasty, isn't anything memorable.) Ivar's would compete in the same segment as Outback and Olive Garden.

Legal Seafood is fine dining, or at least the one in Boston I took my classmates at the Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course to was. (EVERYONE should eat at Legal Seafood at least once in their life, I figured.) If Ruth's Chris and Morton's can go nationwide, so can Legal Seafood.

The major thing that would prevent those places from going coast-to-coast is they serve really fresh seafood, which would be hard to achieve in Kansas. (Ivar's especially--that place is not "close" to the water, it's sticking out into it.)

[Mopar151]

72. Legal is off the hook!

Their own distribution - fish is fresher than anyone else's (except Newick's), and everything on the plate is as good as the fish, i.e. The tomato that the luncheon tuna salad is served on (in New England, in March) is a PERFECT, red, juicy, hydroponically grown tomato.
Roger Berkowitz runs Legal Seafoods. Oh, yeah - Newicks? The family lobster boats dock behind the restraunt at Dover Point. If you are in New England and have to have a "lobstah" to say you been there, go to Newick's.

[CBGLuthier]

44. Richard's Pizza Hamilton Ohio

They have a steak sandwich that is simply incredible, in fact it is world famous. I have not had one in about 10 years.


http://www.richardspizza.com/

[femmocrat]

45. IHOP

Laugh if you must.

[jmowreader]

48. I'm not laughing...I wonder where you live!

There are LOTS of IHOP restaurants.

One thing that always drove me nuts about IHOP is that they allow cigarette smoking but not pipe or cigar smoking, or at least they did until all the indoor air quality laws were passed. Let's see...pipe smoking smells the best, fine-cigar smoking second-best, cheap-cigar smoking is a distant third-best and cigarette smoking stinks the worst of all. Naturally, they allow the one that's foulest to be done in their restaurants. One of these days I would like to open a place with a sign on the wall "No Cigarette or Cheap Cigar Smoking. Smoke all the pipes and hand-rolled cigars you want."

[femmocrat]

53. I live in W. PA. I always thought of IHOP as a southern chain.

So I checked their website and I found two in SW PA, although not nearby.

I don't know about their smoking policy since I haven't been in one in ages. Maybe I still smoked the last time I was in one? :shrug: Anyhow, they used to have great Belgian waffles.

[baldguy]

50. When I lived in Boulder I missed Ted's and Mighty Taco.

[Hawkeye-X]

83. Ted's Montana Grill?

Good food, but hated the straw!

[baldguy]

85. No.

Fast food staples in Buffalo.

[TommyO]

54. I used to be a frequent visitor to the Germantown, MD area

I miss Ricky's Rice Bowl.

[kwassa]

66. you must be kidding.

[TommyO]

74. I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't mean it.

[lazarus]

56. I forgot one: Waffle House!!

Not that awful Huddle House ripoff, but the One True Waffle House.

[TroglodyteScholar]

76. Yep...just moved to WI after living in the southeast for my entire life...

It amazes me that midwesterners don't know the joy of WH.

[Mopar151]

78. It's not the Waffle House

But you can get you some serious food at the Machine Shed. I reccomend the 2 pork chop breakfast!

[madamesilverspurs]

57. Big Boy

Loved that burger with onion rings. And a vanilla coke. sigh

And Mac's Steak-in-the-Rough in Albuquerque. Taquitos and guacamole. Heaven.
---

[billyclem]

61. Three places in Cincinnati

Whenever I am back for a visit on the first day I visit:

The Coffee Emporium in Hyde Park where I know most of the regulars,

Empress Chili in Hartwell,

and of course

The Aglamesis Brothers Ice Cream Parlor in Oakley, the place that has probably not been updated or redecorated since it opened in
190whatever.

Hmmmmmmmmm must be time to peruse airfares.

[B Calm]

62. Marty Ks and Burger Chef

[GOPisEvil]

63. Whataburger and Taco Cabana.

[KamaAina]

65. Zippy's

not really fast food; more like Hawai'i Denny's. Great place to take your visitors 'cause you can get local stuff like saimin noodles or the fresh fish o' the day, and grandma can have her grilled cheese (!), burger, chili (served over rice, though), or terrific fried chicken. Yummy desserts from on-site Napoleon's Bakery, too.

[kwassa]

67. Lucy's Drive-In

I've never had better Chile Verde anywhere on this planet.

Corner of Pico & Sepulveda, Los Angeles.

and they will puree carrots for your carrot juice right in front of you.

[MiddleFingerMom]

68. Shakey's Pizza Parlor

They used to have a couple here in Tucson years before I moved here, but
not now. When we were first married and struggling, a big night out for
my ex and I on the Kentucky/Tennessee border was to go to Shakey's with
another couple, and all four of us would get stuffed with their
large "Everything" (included popcorn shrimp and sliced tomatoes added in
the last minute or so of baking and boasted 4 lbs of toppings), drink
pitchers of beer and watch "The Little Rascals" and Buster Keaton movies
on the walls while listening to (and sometimes singing along with) the
live ragtime piano player they always had.
.
Good times. Good, CHEAP times.

[greenbriar]

73. Waffle House. I know it is fast food

but I LOVE their hashbrowns


scattered smothered covered and diced!


SO good

[Tommy_Carcetti]

87. Waffle House is the best!

A staple along I-95 going south.

[rrneck]

75. Krispy Kreme

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Donuts...

[flvegan]

77. Friendly's.

I couldn't eat them now, but DAMN do I miss their Fribbles.

[Mopar151]

79. If you could make soy that really tasted like a Fribble

It would be a damm fine thing. And you'd heve some VERY happy vegans.

[flvegan]

81. I'd also be very, very wealthy.

I miss my Fribbles!

[Mopar151]

80. The Miss Lyndonville Diner

I get there at least twice a year - I wish it was twice a week!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/miss-lyndonville-diner-lyndonville

[Hawkeye-X]

82. Los Betos in Tucson

I used to eat their breakfast burritoes every night in the middle of the night.

Viva Burrito doesn't hold water to that place. Mmmm... makes me want to move back to Tucson just to eat Los Betos' off Broadway and Craycroft.

[KT2000]

84. Arthur Treachers

wish there was an Ivars where I live!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

86. Hardee's, but.....

....by that I mean the old school pre-Carl's Jr. merger Hardee's. Last time I went to a Hardee's it was after the CJ merger and the food wasn't as good as it had been growing up. I loved me a Big Cookie!

[Paladin]

88. Pappasito's

People in the Denver area wouldn't know decent Tex-Mex food if it bit them in the ass. A Pappasito's would make a killing up here, just off homesick Texans like me.......

[AzDar]

89. Skyline Chili and Whitecastle...

:9