Fast Food Restaurants Are Broken; Is Convenience Store “Grab and Go” Dining Now The Best Fast Food Option? (plus other thoughts related to fast food and culture)

If you’re like me, you rarely step inside a convenience store. You pay for your gas at the pump and then get on down the road. Well, that’s changing for me – I just realized that C-stores are the answer to how hopelessly broken fast food restaurants are.

I’m not a food snob. There is plenty of fast food that I like. But even before Covid, fast food joints were broken. They suffered from understaffing, high turnover, worn out facilities, slow service (usually related to big and complex menus), long lines, etc.

Because of crime, staffing challenges, and street people, most downtown locations of prominent fast food chains have long since closed. I work downtown, and quick lunch options have been vanishing in recent years. I’ve been wishing that someone would bring back the Automat concept, whereby I could put money in a machine and immediately get a burger or a dog, without having to order or wait in a line.

I recently found myself out running errands at lunchtime, and needing to get a quick bite to eat. In quick succession I pulled into a Taco Bell, Popeyes, Krystal, and Wendy’s. The one thing all of these had in common was that there was no way to quickly get food. The problems included closed dining rooms, minimal staffing, drive-through lines that stretched to the street, and dining room lines that didn’t move at all.

In desperation, I finally pulled into a C-store thinking I’d just grab a dog off of the hot dog roller. Instead, I saw a beautiful spread of ready-to-eat grab-and-go food. Hungry and desperate, I felt like a Soviet citizen who had just stepped into an American grocery store for the first time. It was beautiful!

Since then, I’ve been venturing out to various C-stores and finding that there’s a nice selection of offerings, without being unmanageably large. Best of all, the options are real simple – you can take it or leave it, but you can’t customize it. “Have it your way” and fast food are not compatible. Grabbing a pre-made burger, however it might be prepared, is good enough for me.

Straying a bit from the topic, is there anything more excruciating than offering to make a fast food run and to get food for others, and then they give you complex, very customized orders?

“Hey Pete, I’m running to Whataburger, can I get you anything?”

“Yeah, that would be great. Could you get me a Whataburger with cheese, no pickles, easy on the mayo, with jalapenos on the side. No mustard unless its brown mustard. I’d like Coke for my drink, but don’t overfill the cup with ice, and if they don’t have Coke, I don’t want Pepsi. Just get iced tea instead. Be sure to get the yellow sweetener, not the blue.”

Continuing to stray from the topic – while keeping it related to fast food restaurants – what if elite universities required that all applicants had experience during their high school years of working in an entry level, “minimum wage” type of job?

A great many college applicants have a puffed-up resume full of faux-community service and accomplishments. Wouldn’t it be great if instead of ”I created a charity that teaches composting to homeless people in Costa Rica.” these privileged kids had to discuss how they worked the deep fryer at a McDonalds? A fast food job would provide more exposure to “diversity” and other cultures than a childhood full of “philanthropic” rich-kid vacations.

OK, let’s circle back to C-stores. As much as they are better than fast food restaurants for quickly obtaining a meal, the checkout process can still be a challenge. Back when everybody paid cash for small-dollar transactions, the checkout process flowed very quickly. Somehow it seems that there is always a problem now with the credit card transaction of someone in front of me. And God forbid I’m stuck behind someone trying to decide which scratch off lottery tickets he wants to buy, as he asks questions about the price and prizes on all the selections.

That said, a C-Store meal is still so much quicker and easier to obtain than a traditional fast food lunch.

What are your favorite C-store food offerings?

(buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com)

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 08:06 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I just had dinner; don't need more.

Posted by: mikeski at January 05, 2023 08:07 PM (P1f+c)

2 Hi

Posted by: Ciampino - Tie me kangaroo down at January 05, 2023 08:07 PM (qfLjt)

3 My brother worked at Wawa in his youth...his words "do not come get food at Wawa after midnight".

So, I don't ever get convenience store food, even pre-allergies. Post-allergies, it's a total no go.

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:09 PM (exHjb)

4 Taquerias for the win! Bonus...they usually have Mexican coke.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at January 05, 2023 08:10 PM (TgNpw)

5 And speaking of needing convenience food, DC will be very happy b/c the house voted to adjourn and will be back to vote at 12pm on Friday, so 434 people will need lunch again tomorrow, instead of getting a 3 day weekend. Food trucks and convenience stores the most happy!

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:11 PM (exHjb)

6 My brother did the fast-food-employee thing. He wouldn't eat at one for years afterwards.

Posted by: mikeski at January 05, 2023 08:11 PM (P1f+c)

7 Try the sushi. Trust me.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 05, 2023 08:11 PM (ZLI7S)

8 What are your favorite C-store food offerings?

Hoagies from Wawa.

Posted by: t-bird at January 05, 2023 08:12 PM (yZlY6)

9 6 My brother did the fast-food-employee thing. He wouldn't eat at one for years afterwards.
Posted by: mikeski at January 05, 2023 08:11 PM (P1f+c)

My oldest brother worked as a cook for Roy Rogers (and then Arby's at the change) - he brought home food at the end of the night that was far superior to my mom's...so I have happier memories of fast food!

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:12 PM (exHjb)

10 That said, a C-Store meal is still so much quicker and easier to obtain than a traditional fast food lunch.
----------

I love a gas station hot dog. There. I said it.

The problem for me is I always get the feeling that this food is at least one, possibly two, steps below fast food.* And even good fast food is still pretty bad food.

* Quality of ingredients, sawdust and bugs ratio to actual food-based contents, anything taken off of rollers using shared tongs in a building mainly used for urinating and pooping after handling gas pumps and doorknobs, etc.

Posted by: Press Juan for English at January 05, 2023 08:13 PM (+fJgE)

11 I've never eaten that sort of C-store food. I usually just grab chips and a Coke, or maybe a candy bar. Something where it doesn't matter if it's been there a couple months.

Posted by: mikeski at January 05, 2023 08:13 PM (P1f+c)

12 they worked the deep fryer at a McDonalds?

How you learned to STFU and DWYT.

Posted by: DaveA at January 05, 2023 08:13 PM (FhXTo)

13 What are your favorite C-store food offerings?
--
So far I've only tried pizza and it was good. Circle-K.

Posted by: Ciampino - never tried sushi at January 05, 2023 08:13 PM (qfLjt)

14 Pizza from Casey's

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:13 PM (kMPrp)

15 is there anything more excruciating than offering to make a fast food run and to get food for others, and then they give you complex, very customized orders?

What's worse is getting stuck in line behind the person who offered to do that. The ordering process alone takes 10 minutes.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 08:13 PM (Xrfse)

16 "Yeah, that would be great. Could you get me a Whataburger with cheese, no pickles, easy on the mayo, with jalapenos on the side. No mustard unless its brown mustard. I'd like Coke for my drink, but don't overfill the cup with ice, and if they don't have Coke, I don't want Pepsi. Just get iced tea instead. Be sure to get the yellow sweetener, not the blue."

Got it. You'll get nothing, and like it.

Posted by: Judge Smails at January 05, 2023 08:13 PM (aXxgO)

17 The chicken fingers.

Posted by: Totally Not a Moosad Spy Cow at January 05, 2023 08:14 PM (PiwSw)

18 Gas station Pimento cheese sandwiches are the best pimento cheese sandwiches.

Serious.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 05, 2023 08:15 PM (uLr+K)

19 I get fried chicken from the little shops inside gas stations on the occasion I didn't bring a lunch. Their prices beat everyone and the quality is similar to cfa, popeyes, or Zaxby's. You can walk out with a good amount of chicken for $3. Hard to beat.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:15 PM (apjrS)

20 I use grocery-store hot deli tables for that sort of fast food.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at January 05, 2023 08:15 PM (Vwz3I)

21 Both grocery stores I go to have lots of made to eat or take home and pop into microwave

Posted by: Skip at January 05, 2023 08:15 PM (xhxe8)

22 What are your favorite C-store food offerings?

Broasted chicken and potato wedges like those pictured in your post.

In East Tennessee, the only place to obtain these seems to be either at a local convenience store or at the Walmart deli counter.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 08:15 PM (u93Yj)

23 I recently ate a steak and cheese footlong sandwich at a Speedway. They have always been pretty good and very reminiscent of how Subway used to make theirs, but Biden struck them and the "steak" is some sort of pressed-loaf oddity now. It sort of tastes like steak, but I'm certain it's made with a squeegee.

Posted by: Press Juan for English at January 05, 2023 08:16 PM (+fJgE)

24 Sure, roller dogs taste good, but you're trusting that someone, sometime, washes and sanitizes the rollers and cleans tongs, etc. Monkey Pox seems likely, not to mention that many gas station food customers could do with a delousing also.

Posted by: Crazy Eddie at January 05, 2023 08:16 PM (dXilO)

25 We need to import some Japanese kombini (the ubiquitous convenience stores). They are amazing. They even have 7-11 over there but it is like how sharks and dolphins look the same but evolved differently? Japan's 7-11s are clean, nice, and the clerks will offer to heat your bento for you. I became addicted to their onigiri (rice ball sandwich equivalents)

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at January 05, 2023 08:16 PM (cjvQp)

26 Royal Farms makes a damn good fried chicken.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 05, 2023 08:16 PM (uLr+K)

27 I'm so glad that overseas we didn't have to write a letter to each university and be accepted/rejected on its merits. University is an academic thing and has nothing to do with how I perform in sports or in community service.

Posted by: Ciampino - what a farsical way to get into STEM at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (qfLjt)

28 I live right on the Wawa-Sheetz border in PA. Wisconsin cheese bites from Sheetz for breakfast; Wawa hoagies for lunch.

Posted by: margarineoferror at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (2nZwd)

29 Past bed time
Everyone have a great evening

And don't eat to much before bedtime

Posted by: Skip at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (xhxe8)

30 Despite Nova local's comment at #3, I love Wawa. Son of Doof missed Wawa more than anything when he was away at college.

Royal Farms fried chicken and chicken tenders are awesome!

Sheetz and Rutters are really good too -- jealous of you PA morons.

Posted by: Doof at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (yYFOV)

31 anyone else getting a car warranty pop-under window from this site?

Posted by: ghbucky at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (/xDbx)

32 but Biden struck them and the "steak" is some sort of pressed-loaf oddity now. It sort of tastes like steak, but I'm certain it's made with a squeegee.
Posted by: Press Juan for English

It's the finest extruded-meat product on the market!

Posted by: mikeski at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (P1f+c)

33 My oldest brother worked as a cook for Roy Rogers (and then Arby's at the change) - he brought home food at the end of the night that was far superior to my mom's...so I have happier memories of fast food!
Posted by: Nova
____________

Roy Rogers had those little Peg Leg chicken drumsticks. Good stuff.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (SIZS3)

34 I was in the Walmart Neighborhood Market two days ago and the rotisserie chickens were under 30 minutes old.

Oh I know what I am having for lunch.

Succulent and wonderful.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (C1rbv)

35 The only cstore food you should touch is Buccees.

Posted by: Indignacio Vindacatorem at January 05, 2023 08:18 PM (d4akU)

36 Wawa is the tits.

Posted by: DPICM at January 05, 2023 08:18 PM (M2VUX)

37 I get fried chicken from the little shops inside gas stations on the occasion I didn't bring a lunch. Their prices beat everyone and the quality is similar to cfa, popeyes, or Zaxby's. You can walk out with a good amount of chicken for $3. Hard to beat.

Posted by: banana Dream
------------

I've never seen it outside of the South, but some of the best fried chicken you'll ever eat is at gas stations with little single-cabinet glass deli counters.

And yeah, the trick is to say "I'd like about $3 worth, please." The old lady will fill the container up and write $3 on the outside with a permanent marker and you're out the door.

If you order per piece it will be 1/3rd of that amount for the $3.

Posted by: Press Juan for English at January 05, 2023 08:18 PM (+fJgE)

38 I spent some time doing food delivery (something like Ubereats) I always found it odd when I was directed to pick up stuff at the 7-11. Crappy food with the delivery fee.
I assume alcohol was involved.

Posted by: N.Lurker at January 05, 2023 08:18 PM (eGTCV)

39 Most Groceries have similar hot food, or prepped food. Usually have cheese and meat and crackers that are good.

In the Whole Foods down the road the Soup/Stew is pretty good and the pot is hot enough do dodge most germs.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:18 PM (eoQWY)

40 I get fried chicken from the little shops inside gas stations on the occasion I didn't bring a lunch. Their prices beat everyone and the quality is similar to cfa, popeyes, or Zaxby's. You can walk out with a good amount of chicken for $3. Hard to beat.
Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:15 PM (apjrS)

Dodge's in North Myrtle Beach. Amazing fried chicken. And FRIED apple pies.

Posted by: Doof at January 05, 2023 08:19 PM (yYFOV)

41 7-11's in Japan are the shizznizzle.

The quick grab and go foods there are generally of a high quality.

Even things like Chinese-style BBQ steamed buns are really good. The sandwiches and onigiri's are fresh, etc.

For late night, quick bites they're superior to anything we have here.

That may be changing. 7-11 is a Japanese owned company and they are starting to work at improving the food available at American 7-11s. They've even introduced to-go ramen in certain markets now.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 05, 2023 08:19 PM (KLPy8)

42 20 I use grocery-store hot deli tables for that sort of fast food.
Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at January 05, 2023 08:15 PM (Vwz3I)

As do I - I get fried chicken from the grocery deli b/c they can show me the ingredient list and I can see them cook it and pack it.

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:19 PM (exHjb)

43 Wawa used to be a reliable grab=n=go, or fast food source. They have an extensive menu of made to order food. But as they expanded down the East coast, their quality has suffered. Now the only things I get from them are the little containers of cubed pineapple. croissants, and these little pinwheels of turkey/cheddar/romaine. They used to have decent beans and rice but they ended it.

Posted by: kallisto at January 05, 2023 08:19 PM (7WZjf)

44 >>Both grocery stores I go to have lots of made to eat or take home and pop into microwave

We have a small grocery chain here that makes really good stuff. Their fried chicken in particular is fantastic.

That's my go to spot too.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 05, 2023 08:19 PM (ZLI7S)

45 Both our daughters worked at Micky D's while in college (in Moscow, Idaho no less). Both will not eat at that same establishment ever again.

Posted by: Cheerful Reprobate at January 05, 2023 08:19 PM (j92eC)

46 And God forbid I’m stuck behind someone trying to decide which scratch off lottery tickets he wants to buy, as he asks questions about the price and prizes on all the selections.

This one always annoys me. You are losing money...it doesn't matter which one you pick.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:19 PM (lc5cP)

47 So, you can gas up at the C-store and pick up some food, or you can dine at the Fast Food restaurant and pick up some gas.

That's a toughie.

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel Remembers Babbitt and Perna at January 05, 2023 08:19 PM (aXxgO)

48 What's worse than making a food run is being in line and hearing the one guy left in front of you say, "I have multiple orders" and he pulls out a paper that looks like a friggan Santa Claus naughty and nice list, unfurls down to the floor, rolls across the floor, you hear the ding-ding as it rolls out the door...

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:20 PM (apjrS)

49 When I used to live in a city there was a pizza by the slice place around the block, used to go in there for something fast. The odd pre-fab hamburger in a convenience store as well.

Posted by: DaveX64 - AWFLs smell like dryer sheets at January 05, 2023 08:20 PM (Zs294)

50 'nite Skip !

Posted by: JT at January 05, 2023 08:20 PM (T4tVD)

51 I like QT's soft pretzels and donuts.

I have lived to regret a roller hot dog from a Love's truck stop somewhere in the Midwest. Never again.

Posted by: screaming in digital at January 05, 2023 08:20 PM (SLnCd)

52 30 Despite Nova local's comment at #3, I love Wawa. Son of Doof missed Wawa more than anything when he was away at college.

Royal Farms fried chicken and chicken tenders are awesome!

Sheetz and Rutters are really good too -- jealous of you PA morons.
Posted by: Doof at January 05, 2023 08:17 PM (yYFOV)

Wawa's fine - just don't go in at midnight or later. You'll thank me later...

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:21 PM (exHjb)

53 Grab-and-Go in the US is how you acquire numerous diseases in a short time span. Thanks, I'll skip the Hep-B.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 05, 2023 08:21 PM (IyrhE)

54 The fried chicken at Thomas Store on Rt 3 near Farnham, Virginia is among the best I've ever tasted. They have delicious sandwiches, too, freshly made.

Take a minute to say hello to Old Rabbit who generally spends his days sitting in one of the two chairs, and just take in life.

Posted by: Jinx the Cat at January 05, 2023 08:21 PM (RDZp2)

55 We need to import some Japanese kombini (the ubiquitous convenience stores). They are amazing. They even have 7-11 over there but it is like how sharks and dolphins look the same but evolved differently? Japan's 7-11s are clean, nice, and the clerks will offer to heat your bento for you. I became addicted to their onigiri (rice ball sandwich equivalents)
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at January 05, 2023 08:16 PM (cjvQp)

Just pre covid one grocery had a sushi vendor put in packs of pretty good sushi trays for somewhat less than fresh ordered. Got those fairly often.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:21 PM (eoQWY)

56 Ah, I see Sabrina Chase beat me to the punch.

grrrrrr.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 05, 2023 08:21 PM (KLPy8)

57 My grocery store prepared food deli is where I get most of my 'fast food'.

Posted by: polynikes at January 05, 2023 08:21 PM (bI09Z)

58 anyone else getting a car warranty pop-under window from this site?

no

Posted by: kallisto at January 05, 2023 08:21 PM (7WZjf)

59 Having lived in the south and the north I have to say the problem with fast food is in the north.

Southern fast food is flat out better, without as much pointless crap like "beyond meat burgers", cleaner facilities, and nicer staff.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:22 PM (lc5cP)

60 mikeski: "It's the finest extruded-meat product on the market!"

It's also a floor wax!

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel Remembers Babbitt and Perna at January 05, 2023 08:22 PM (aXxgO)

61 I miss the days when you could walk into McDonald's, order a couple cheeseburgers, and the guy would turn around, grab them off rack, and hand them to you.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:22 PM (uPgE/)

62 Hoagies from Wawa.
Posted by: t-bird at January 05, 2023 08:12 PM (yZlY6)
--------

Yep.

Buck, are there no Chick-fil-As around you? The ones here have people outside walking to the cars taking orders and radioing them in when there are a lot of cars in the drive-through. Fast, efficient, and polite. And delicious.

Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 08:22 PM (pTb/Z)

63 Out: fast food restaurants
In: second look at the automat?

I miss Roy Rogers. I think they had burgers wrapped ready to go you just grabbed, if I recall. And tasty. I think they have some still on the Jersey turnpike but it's been a while.

Posted by: LizLem at January 05, 2023 08:22 PM (+mkOR)

64 Kallisto Wawa sucks now. Just no!

no to all c-store food YUCK

I've gone keto but even if I hadn't - nope

Chick-fil-a grilled nugs!

Posted by: BlackOrchidIsNotAmused at January 05, 2023 08:22 PM (w0NJk)

65 27 I'm so glad that overseas we didn't have to write a letter to each university and be accepted/rejected on its merits. University is an academic thing and has nothing to do with how I perform in sports or in community service.
--
Rant (continued) - how do people in wheelchairs manage since most don't do sports or have the physical ability to build composting systems for homeless people? In my undergrad years we had a man in an iron lung for several years attending classes and all. Cannot remember his major but not STEM. He died shortly after majoring.

Posted by: Ciampino -- what a farsical way to get into STEM at January 05, 2023 08:23 PM (qfLjt)

66 We have a local "market" here in my little Austin 'burb that has the essentials and then some, a great beer and wine selection, they do growler fills for el cheapo, they have a pretty robust meat and deli case, and Miguel, the dude that runs their fairly substantial kitchen, turns out everything from breakfast tacos to chicken biriyani, and man if I were opening a restaurant I'd try to poach that dude. He and his staff can straight up COOK.

Of course HEB is where I do my grocery shopping but if I need a hot lunch, a six-pack, and a gatorade, the market is my jam.

Posted by: ballistic at January 05, 2023 08:23 PM (oXNqT)

67 Oh and Chick fil A is better then other places. Amusingly you'll often see empty McDs/Burger King with a Chick Fil A with cars lined out to the street.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:23 PM (lc5cP)

68 Single serving cokes at C-stores have become exorbitantly priced to the point where I can no longer bring myself to purchase them.

$2+ for a 20 oz coke is too much, especially when I'm simultaneously eyeballing a room temp 2 liter on the shelf for the same price.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 08:23 PM (u93Yj)

69 Our local Wally World just put in a grab and go section, but I haven't tried it yet. So those might be an option down the road too.

Posted by: Cheerful Reprobate at January 05, 2023 08:24 PM (j92eC)

70 our fast food here is decent - the Wendy's is not great looking, but fast and consistently good. the McDs were all updated and are decent

and I have many Chick-fil-as to choose from

and three Wegmans now! they're open until midnight

Posted by: BlackOrchidIsNotAmused at January 05, 2023 08:24 PM (w0NJk)

71 Don't most fast food restaurants have apps allowing you to pre-order?

Posted by: N.Lurker at January 05, 2023 08:24 PM (eGTCV)

72 I've been getting the deli's meatloaf. Makes about 4 meals.

Posted by: polynikes at January 05, 2023 08:24 PM (bI09Z)

73 My office building has the grab and go model mini store. They have yogurt to sandwiches, chips to candy bars, some desserts, tacos and burgers you nuke, etc. the best part is you need a badge to access the area and you scan your stuff and pay with a card or Apple Pay. Easy peasy. The bad part is the pricing is a bit all over the place. Some stuff is super reasonable and other stuff is way overpriced. Eh... I usually bring my own lunch but in a pinch, it'll do. It's very popular and only one floor down.

Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:25 PM (UUBmN)

74 I miss the days when you could walk into McDonald's, order a couple cheeseburgers, and the guy would turn around, grab them off rack, and hand them to you.
Posted by: No One of Consequence
__________

And fries cooked in beef tallow.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 05, 2023 08:25 PM (SIZS3)

75 I miss the days when you could walk into McDonald's, order a couple cheeseburgers, and the guy would turn around, grab them off rack, and hand them to you.
Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:22 PM (uPgE/)

I used to order Fish sandwiches at Arbys because you know for damn sure they made it for you.

The McDLT was good for that too in the original days.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:25 PM (eoQWY)

76 I don't know. I've tried several things from Circle-K's grab-and-go stuff and its all been completely tasteless. Even a preztel barely tasted like anything.

The stuff is definitely *fresher* than it used to be, but I think I'd rather forgo lunch than eat it most days.

Posted by: Agammamon at January 05, 2023 08:25 PM (Xk3kC)

77 Kwik Trip for great chicken and good sandwhichs

Posted by: Zeera. 'We want fun and we wanna get wasted!' at January 05, 2023 08:25 PM (w+EXq)

78 "Straying a bit from the topic, is there anything more excruciating than offering to make a fast food run and to get food for others, and then they give you complex, very customized orders?"

Well, part of the reason the fast food experience sucks is the people ordering like it's a five star haute cuisine restaurant.

If you want to skip the line, order a #1 to go. They always have those ready.

It does tend to cause a race riot when you get served first though.

Posted by: Oschisms at January 05, 2023 08:25 PM (0A5+1)

79 A good thing is small local grocery stores with their own smoker to make BBQ. None of the big chains do it like they do rotisserie chicken. But the small places do and when you find a good one you've got a source for low cost bbq. Which is great. Places in Kansas would have slabs of smoked beef ribs slathered in sauce just sitting their coy on the shelf tempting you. It's been so long since I've had beef ribs. But there's a grocery store near me that smokes pork at least.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:26 PM (apjrS)

80 My sister lives in a small town. They order pizza from the local gas station (and it's pretty good at that).

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:26 PM (uPgE/)

81 Don't most fast food restaurants have apps allowing you to pre-order?

You don't have to pay a knucklehead teen or a crack head $15 to screw up orders if you get your customers to use an app/order screen...

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:26 PM (lc5cP)

82 Elon comes up with an idea for journalist drinking game:

https://tinyurl.com/bdd4ph5n

Posted by: kallisto at January 05, 2023 08:26 PM (V4S8g)

83 Oh and Chick fil A is better then other places. Amusingly you'll often see empty McDs/Burger King with a Chick Fil A with cars lined out to the street.
Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:23 PM (lc5cP)

They def have a quality bulge here in CA, especially with chicken. I've been fighting a cold and their chicken soup is pretty good.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:26 PM (eoQWY)

84
If you want to skip the line, order a #1 to go. They always have those ready.

Yeah but the #1 is often a crap burger swimming in mayo...

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:26 PM (lc5cP)

85

One business I worked for, we rotated monthly ordering and picking up the order. There was always one witch who would say "I'm allergic to this and this. They can't let my food get near those things. I always told her to get her own f'ing lunch.

Posted by: four seasons at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (0bxLb)

86
What's worse than making a food run is being in line and hearing the one guy left in front of you say, "I have multiple orders" and he pulls out a paper that looks like a friggan Santa Claus naughty and nice list, unfurls down to the floor, rolls across the floor, you hear the ding-ding as it rolls out the door...
Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:20 PM (apjrS)

____________

Worse, I got behind someone with a multiple take-out order for which she paid for each one individually.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (MoZTd)

87 ballistic,
JD's?

Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (UUBmN)

88 Just like Costco, the BJ's roller chicken is a loss leader.

And a damn fine chicken it is.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (uLr+K)

89 My grocery store prepared food deli is where I get most of my 'fast food'.

--

I second this. If I'm on the road and need to eat, if there's a Publix around, I'm headed to the deli for a freshly made sub.

Posted by: Lady in Black at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (sVtYq)

90 71 Don't most fast food restaurants have apps allowing you to pre-order?
Posted by: N.Lurker at January 05, 2023 08:24 PM (eGTCV)

--------------------------------

I've got Taco Bell, McDonald's, Domino's, and Dunkin Donuts apps on my phone.

Had one for Sonic, but it sucked, so I deleted it.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (uPgE/)

91 I used to work next to a good salad bar place. One woman at our office who thought she was too busy to get her to-go salad herself would send a hapless minion over with instructions on how many peas to put on it.

Posted by: AgathaPagatha at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (xDMjB)

92 I second this. If I'm on the road and need to eat, if there's a Publix around, I'm headed to the deli for a freshly made sub.
Posted by: Lady in Black at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (sVtYq)

Endorsed.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at January 05, 2023 08:28 PM (PiwSw)

93
I miss the days when you could walk into McDonald's, order a couple cheeseburgers, and the guy would turn around, grab them off rack, and hand them to you.
Posted by: No One of Consequence

People used to complain about getting already made burgers which had been sitting under a light bulb.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at January 05, 2023 08:28 PM (63Dwl)

94 What are your favorite C-store food offerings?

Cigarettes.

Posted by: Peaches at January 05, 2023 08:28 PM (14URa)

95 I used to work next to a good salad bar place. One woman at our office who thought she was too busy to get her to-go salad herself would send a hapless minion over with instructions on how many peas to put on it.
Posted by: AgathaPagatha at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (xDMjB)
---------

I hope the minion gave her a comb to eat it with.

Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 08:29 PM (pTb/Z)

96 I hope the minion gave her a comb to eat it with.

Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 08:29 PM (pTb/Z)

That was so great!

Posted by: Peaches at January 05, 2023 08:29 PM (14URa)

97 Wegman's. Very similar to Publix.

Good grub.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at January 05, 2023 08:29 PM (n1JsZ)

98 Peaches, I can't tell you how good it is to see you here again!

Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 08:29 PM (pTb/Z)

99 "I'm headed to the deli for a freshly made sub."

Yup.

Beats even Jersey Mike's.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 05, 2023 08:29 PM (uLr+K)

100 I misspelt farcical - puts on dunce hat and stands in the corner.

Posted by: Ciampino - what a farcical way to get into STEM at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (qfLjt)

101 "Straying a bit from the topic, is there anything more excruciating than offering to make a fast food run and to get food for others, and then they give you complex, very customized orders?"

We used to have a group of 12-15 hospital nurses call in a to go order.

The person selected to pick it up would come in with 6 or more credit cards and 7 or 8 envelopes with cash, either exact change or they would want the change put into the envelope.

Women don't seem to operate on the "Ill get it today, you get it some other time" program like men do.

And they don't appear to use the "just keep the change" or "give them a tip" program either.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (u93Yj)

102 I am so glad I've never worked in an office or cubicle.

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (kMPrp)

103 As an odd side effect of Biden/Fauci destroying the economy I basically can't get pizza delivery any more. Oh there are plenty of pizza joints around but they don't deliver...they use uber eats which is 3x times as much for delivery fees as a tip. Oh and then you add on a tip.

WTH.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (lc5cP)

104 People used to complain about getting already made burgers which had been sitting under a light bulb.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at January 05, 2023 08:28 PM (63Dwl)

Yeah, you don't want to come in at 3 pm and get the cheeseburger that's been sitting since lunch rush ended.

Then you need something hugely popular or unpopular.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (eoQWY)

105 {{peaches}}

Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (UUBmN)

106 For road food McDonald's is still my go-to. I like the fries, and the cheeseburgers are tidy and won't drip down my shirt.

But, well, some stores are better than others. Fortunately the one closest to my house is run by good people.

there is a really good C-store in Lusk, Wyoming, but don't bother during the Sturgis rally weeks (mid-August). Like fucking scarab beetles in a Mummy movie.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (UQUAY)

107 87 ballistic,
JD's?
Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (UUBmN)
----

Nope, not familiar! It's called the [town name] Market.

West of town.

Posted by: ballistic at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (oXNqT)

108 I got an Outback Burger and fries for lunch today. Tax title and license $14.06.

Posted by: polynikes at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (bI09Z)

109
What are your favorite C-store food offerings?

___________

Blockhouse roast beef sub from Buc-ee's.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (MoZTd)

110 I'm a big fan of Speedway for food and drink, and to be honest I'd say since 7-11 bought them the food quality has increased. (The price has increased three times, but that's not their fault, we all know who to blame there.) I like their dark roast coffee, and espresso roast for when I want to drive an hour without blinking. Their "cheeseburger dogs" are greasy cheesy goodness, Polish sausage is good, their bacon cheeseburgers are competitive with the Big Three burger chains in Ohio, and the 7-11 brand cookies are worth their $1 price tag.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (W+kMI)

111 Women don't seem to operate on the "Ill get it today, you get it some other time" program like men do.

And they don't appear to use the "just keep the change" or "give them a tip" program either.
Posted by: Bitter Clinger
__

Some of us do.

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (kMPrp)

112 93
I miss the days when you could walk into McDonald's, order a couple cheeseburgers, and the guy would turn around, grab them off rack, and hand them to you.
Posted by: No One of Consequence

People used to complain about getting already made burgers which had been sitting under a light bulb.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at January 05, 2023 08:28 PM (63Dwl)

------------------------------

Burgers are still already made, they're just not yet assembled.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:31 PM (uPgE/)

113 As an odd side effect of Biden/Fauci destroying the economy I basically can't get pizza delivery any more. Oh there are plenty of pizza joints around but they don't deliver...they use uber eats which is 3x times as much for delivery fees as a tip. Oh and then you add on a tip.

WTH.
Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (lc5cP)

Dominos in my area has their own app/page

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:31 PM (eoQWY)

114 108 I got an Outback Burger and fries for lunch today. Tax title and license $14.06.
======
Nice, the Outback Burgers make you feel like you ate something.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 08:31 PM (W+kMI)

115 McDonald's "Big and Tasty" commercial from 2002 featuring a future president...

https://youtu.be/yr9LwiSayWU

Posted by: Doof at January 05, 2023 08:31 PM (yYFOV)

116 If I think about our Wawa and Sheetz, and compare them to our McD's, BK, Sonic, etc., the gas station kids have a LOT more responsibility. They need to be able to look after a hundred different things. The dumbing down of jobs at Mickey D's and Burger King has worked- only the bare minimum kids doing the bare minimum. Cleaning? If I get to it, man!

Posted by: t-bird at January 05, 2023 08:32 PM (Sv58p)

117 What are your favorite C-store food offerings?

Coffee and beer.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:32 PM (c7ca9)

118 Pilot Truck Stops along I-5 in Northern California. Good pizza, different types, chicken strips. Sausage biscuits. Good prices.

Posted by: RedGhost 12 at January 05, 2023 08:32 PM (uYTVY)

119 Burgers are still already made, they're just not yet assembled.
Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:31 PM (uPgE/)

Sitting on the griddle in a tin pot full of au-juice is fine. Sweating into a bun isn't.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:32 PM (eoQWY)

120 Women don't seem to operate on the "Ill get it today, you get it some other time" program like men do.

And they don't appear to use the "just keep the change" or "give them a tip" program either.

Had a an argument with a former GF about tipping. She thought it was ok to go to a place outside of her price range and just...tip less...so she could afford it.

My argument if you can't afford the food and a tip...don't go.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:32 PM (lc5cP)

121 I live right on the Wawa-Sheetz border in PA. Wisconsin cheese bites from Sheetz for breakfast; Wawa hoagies for lunch.
Posted by: margarineoferror

On a road trip a few weeks ago, we stopped at Sheetz to gas up. We took a chance and ordered food from there 'made to order' counter. Long story short - the food was very good, hot, reasonably priced, quickly delivered and easy to order with whatever selections one wanted. Ordering was done by a do it yourself kiosk. A very good experience.

With my pizza shops, the biggest challenge I have is staffing. Every day is a struggle. It doesn't how good the food is, or how well priced the bill is if the staff is insufficient for the tasks at hand.

Posted by: Tonypete at January 05, 2023 08:32 PM (qoGsy)

122 The person selected to pick it up would come in with 6 or more credit cards and 7 or 8 envelopes with cash, either exact change or they would want the change put into the envelope.

Women don't seem to operate on the "Ill get it today, you get it some other time" program like men do.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (u93Yj)
---------

When I worked outside the home I operated on the "bring it from home or go out and get it myself" principle. I can't imagine doing that to some poor place.

Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 08:33 PM (pTb/Z)

123 >>> 71 Don't most fast food restaurants have apps allowing you to pre-order?
Posted by: N.Lurker at January 05, 2023 08:24 PM (eGTCV)

Yes. If you have one of those add-this-drop-that orders, use the fkn website and pick it up.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 05, 2023 08:33 PM (llON8)

124 Had one for Sonic, but it sucked, so I deleted it.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (uPgE/)

I forgot about Sonic! I used to go out of my way for their onion rings, and many varieties of milkshakes and fruity drinks. But haven't done so in a long time.

Posted by: kallisto at January 05, 2023 08:33 PM (V4S8g)

125
Women don't seem to operate on the "Ill get it today, you get it some other time" program like men do.

And they don't appear to use the "just keep the change" or "give them a tip" program either.
Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 08:30 PM (u93Yj)

_____________

Men will not make themselves look bad in that respect. You buy your round and you know your friends will buy you one.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:33 PM (MoZTd)

126 My granddaughter started at Mickey D's in high school and continued through college in various food service jobs, eventually working her way up to kitchen manager at a bar and grill before graduation from college.

Posted by: That Guy What Always Says Yeah Buddy TM at January 05, 2023 08:34 PM (R5lpX)

127 My first real job was cashiering at Hardee's, way back in the day. My manager made us calculate change in our heads, not using the register. Fine, you're the one who has to reconcile them every night.

I miss Hardee's "Big Cookies"

Posted by: screaming in digital at January 05, 2023 08:34 PM (SLnCd)

128 My argument if you can't afford the food and a tip...don't go.
Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:32 PM (lc5cP)

Amen.

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:34 PM (exHjb)

129 Ballistic,
Have you had the bbq from the HEB's that now have the restaurants in store? I haven't yet but the new heb going up just west of Austin is supposed to have one in it.

Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:34 PM (UUBmN)

130 I have to agree with Throckmorton on the basic premise. Fast food is often anything but fast, with the combis you walk in, grab your stuff, fix it how you want, pay up, and get out of there. Through experience I have to say that the rush hour times can be busy, but they are generally as fast a stop as you want to make it and your car isn't burning gas at idle while you're doing it.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 08:34 PM (W+kMI)

131 Fast food restaurants, like a lot of things, are going away.

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:35 PM (kMPrp)

132 I fill up at Speedway all the time. If they have hotdogs on the rollers, I'll take two, put them in a paper basket, sir mustard on them, and I have a good, easy and quick, low-carb snack.

Posted by: Axeman at January 05, 2023 08:35 PM (OaZlZ)

133 When I worked outside the home I operated on the "bring it from home or go out and get it myself" principle. I can't imagine doing that to some poor place.
Posted by: bluebell

Same. And if people said they were going somewhere, do I want anything--always no thanks, because I'm one of those picky ones. Not doing that to my co-workers.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at January 05, 2023 08:35 PM (OX9vb)

134 And they don't appear to use the "just keep the change" or "give them a tip" program either.
Posted by: Bitter Clinger

I don't want to disparage the fine ladies here or around the country, but word from the waitron units when I was bussing tables was that 1 or 2 gals at a table were flashing yellow caution and 4 or 5 were death to all tips with some exceptions that they all knew by heart.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:35 PM (eoQWY)

135 One thing I would like to see in restaurants - have more of the entrees available as much smaller sized appetizers.

I often find when I go somewhere I get the same thing each time. Why? I know I like it. If I order something else and I don't like it I'm not going to order another entree.

Let me get new entrees as an app though and I can try it without the risk...

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:35 PM (lc5cP)

136 The person selected to pick it up would come in with 6 or more credit cards and 7 or 8 envelopes with cash, either exact change or they would want the change put into the envelope.

Whoever that was they were a glutton for punishment. Who would volunteer for such an idiotic and thankless mission?

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 08:35 PM (Xrfse)

137 Kinda hard to keep fast food restaurants up and running during a famine, after all.

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (kMPrp)

138 I like the 7-11 Taquitos. They're usually on the same rollers as the hot dogs.

For lunch once in a while I'll get a 7-11 hot dog with mustard+relish and a couple steak and cheese taquitos with a bottle of water, and maybe a tin of either watermelon or pineapple for the dessert.

Posted by: DudeAbiding at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (AjL/0)

139 My sister lives in a small town. They order pizza from the local gas station (and it's pretty good at that).
Posted by: No One of Consequence

Up the road from us is a small, run down Marathon station. The owner has a small 'cafe' inside (a window to yell your order to her) and one, old, beat up table to sit at. Country offerings only and her homemade biscuits are always gone by 9am.

Posted by: Tonypete at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (qoGsy)

140 The weird thing we have noticed, at least around here, is that the cost of eating at a decent (not snooty) sit down place is within a dollar or two of eating at a place like McD's that serves food like substances. There used to be a definite three level price point and now there isn't. So we NEVER eat McD's or the like anymore because if the couple dollars makes the difference, why go out to eat? And yet the McD's is always busy as you read about how everyone is broke. A lot of the modern world is illogical like the story is false..people are poor, no-one has any money..but they can't fill fast food jobs for $20 an hour. ?????

Posted by: azjaeger at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (3/XaG)

141
kallisto,

I loved Sonic's onion rings up until they started breading them with pancake batter. Might have been our local ones, but I won't take a chance again ordering them anywhere.

Posted by: four seasons at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (0bxLb)

142 I'd recognize those pics as Circle-K blindfolded.

See if they have the burntends w/onions & peppers.

Posted by: micky at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (3byMq)

143 124 Had one for Sonic, but it sucked, so I deleted it.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (uPgE/)

I forgot about Sonic! I used to go out of my way for their onion rings, and many varieties of milkshakes and fruity drinks. But haven't done so in a long time.
Posted by: kallisto at January 05, 2023 08:33 PM (V4S8g)

---------------------------

Got no beef with Sonic itself. My son loves their chicken strips (when they get them right).

Their app, though... Seemed to work fine. Pulled into a stall, followed all the instructions, it said our order would be out soon. Waited... waited... waited... eventually hit the call button, and found they never got the order. Happened twice, so I abandoned it.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (uPgE/)

144 2/$1 Sheetz hot dogs. with relish and boom-boom sauce.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (n1JsZ)

145 When I made food runs I had everyone give me cash and I would pay for the run with my CC.

Posted by: polynikes at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (bI09Z)

146 And yeah, fast foot has been going downhill the last few years.

I refuse to ever go back to Popeyes ever since the time it took them nearly 30 minutes to get FIVE FUCKING CARS through the drive-through (when nobody was waiting to order inside) FIVE CARS IN 30 MINUTES. I could literally have gone to a nice sitdown restaurant and gotten my food faster.

Posted by: DudeAbiding at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (AjL/0)

147 My first real job was cashiering at Hardee's, way back in the day. My manager made us calculate change in our heads, not using the register. Fine, you're the one who has to reconcile them every night.

I miss Hardee's "Big Cookies"
Posted by: screaming in digital at January 05, 2023 08:34 PM (SLnCd)

I never had to count change in my head until I delivered pizza for Pizza Hut. Turns out it's pretty easy - I learned it in a few minutes. Just a matter of mathing backward. I say this being a math idiot.

Also this was way, way before pay on-line.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (UQUAY)

148 The McD's experience is highly location dependent. Bismark, ND is like the TV ads, clean, quick, and excellent. Burien, WA, a certified diversity rich zone, is like going to a bus stop mugging.

In-N-Out is the best fast food restaurant chain on the planet. Fresh, tasty, affordable, great service, and the restaurants are always clean.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (c7ca9)

149 Screw fast food.
I'm going for not so fast food. It's not like we got any thing else to do.

Posted by: Diogenes at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (anj39)

150 My sister lives in a small town. They order pizza from the local gas station (and it's pretty good at that).
Posted by: No One of Consequence
___

That's what we do, since Casey's does make good pizza.
With a pop of 3,500 people, they do some pretty good business.

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (kMPrp)

151 Men will not make themselves look bad in that respect. You buy your round and you know your friends will buy you one.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:33 PM (MoZTd)

I went to graduate school in Physics and for some years on breaks I was treated to free rounds from the guys. It was some relief to get a job later and be able to pay my share.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:38 PM (eoQWY)

152 >>> 120
==
Had a an argument with a former GF about tipping. She thought it was ok to go to a place outside of her price range and just...tip less...so she could afford it.

My argument if you can't afford the food and a tip...don't go.
Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:32 PM (lc5cP)

It appears you made the right decision. What an asshoe.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 05, 2023 08:38 PM (llON8)

153 We have Maverick gas stations/C-stores here in rural Northern AZ and they offer pretty decent breakfast burritos -- and they have some pretty good coffees.

I've found the Circle K food to be awful, and worse now is that they've eliminated all cashiers (except for Lottery, Booze, & Tobacco purchases) -- and REQUIRE everybody to now self-check-out whether cash or card. Annoying ...

Some of the local grocery stores are also selling some "fast foods" including Walmart.

Posted by: ShainS -- Ctrl+Galt+Delete to remove the The Great Reset malware virus at January 05, 2023 08:38 PM (vJyxI)

154 103 As an odd side effect of Biden/Fauci destroying the economy I basically can't get pizza delivery any more. Oh there are plenty of pizza joints around but they don't deliver...they use uber eats which is 3x times as much for delivery fees as a tip. Oh and then you add on a tip.

WTH.
-----
CPTN Charles & I never get delivery pizza anymore. The local Domino's moved to within half a mile of our place. I'll gladly drive there and pick up my order rather than pay an extra $4.99 for the driver to go about 5-7 minutes to reach us.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 08:38 PM (W+kMI)

155 I don't want to disparage the fine ladies here or around the country, but word from the waitron units when I was bussing tables was that 1 or 2 gals at a table were flashing yellow caution and 4 or 5 were death to all tips with some exceptions that they all knew by heart.
Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:35 PM (eoQWY)

Since I manage the money here, I routinely tip more than my spouse. He now agrees to a "check with me" so I can make sure he's rewarding the staff enough for dealing with me (b/c if you get my allergies right, you get rewarded - even if you get it right as you're almost placing the dish in front of me - which has happened multiple times - b/c you remembered and cared and didn't mind risking a tip to make sure I didn't get sick)...

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:38 PM (exHjb)

156 Won't eat Quick Stop or Gas Stop food.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at January 05, 2023 08:38 PM (jmn+9)

157
7-11s in my neck of the woods often have a Laredo Taco. Never had one but there always seems to be lots of folks waiting for their custom burritos.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:38 PM (MoZTd)

158 What are your favorite C-store food offerings?

Spam musubi at the gas station by the aquarium on Maui.

Posted by: nurse ratched, I wanna cookie, please. at January 05, 2023 08:39 PM (U2p+3)

159 I could literally have gone to a nice sitdown restaurant and gotten my food faster.
Posted by: DudeAbiding at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (AjL/0)

We park, walk inside and usually get our food in less than 5 minutes.

But I hate drive-thru in general.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at January 05, 2023 08:39 PM (UQUAY)

160 2/$1 Sheetz hot dogs. with relish and boom-boom sauce.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (n1JsZ)
---
Thumbs up for Sheetz!

When I'm in PA, I'll usually stop there a time or two.

Posted by: Axeman at January 05, 2023 08:39 PM (OaZlZ)

161 In-N-Out is the best fast food restaurant chain on the planet. Fresh, tasty, affordable, great service, and the restaurants are always clean.
Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (c7ca9)

They must have some mind altering drug that I am immune to because I find just about all their stuff bleh to nasty. I also never found the charm of White Castles in the midwest to be overwhelming. But I have met acolytes for both those places many times.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:39 PM (eoQWY)

162 I just went through the drive-through at Arby's last night. Nobody inside, four cars in the line, one of them me. I ordered a double roast beef sandwich. Never thought to check, since I didn't get a special order. Somehow my sandwich came with cheese and some kind of sauce. Whole thing went in the trash.

Posted by: GibsonGirl at January 05, 2023 08:40 PM (KXY4V)

163 >>> Posted by: Lady in Black at January 05, 2023 08:27 PM (sVtYq)

Endorsed.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at January 05, 2023 08:28 PM (PiwSw)

They never put enough oil and vinegar on at the end. They put two micrograms on and I say"more". So they put on more, start to put the bottles back and I say "more". They empty the bottles, we're both standing in oil and vinegar, there's little rivers of oil and vinegar starting to form making their way to the mighty Mississippi, so they look at me again straight in the eyes and with a steely grim determination I say "more".

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:40 PM (apjrS)

164 Spam musubi at the gas station by the aquarium on Maui.
Posted by: nurse ratched
___

Mine's better.

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:40 PM (kMPrp)

165 naturalfake, they are bound to believe *one* of us, right?

Also, random thought I had, if Japan's 7-11 and Chik-fil-a joined forces how long would it take for them to conquer the world? (politely, efficiently, cleanly...). The logistics of keeping every kombini in Tokyo stocked with fresh and well made food boggles my mind, and we all know how Chik-fil-a adapts and overcomes.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at January 05, 2023 08:40 PM (cjvQp)

166 In-N-Out is the best fast food restaurant chain on the planet. Fresh, tasty, affordable, great service, and the restaurants are always clean.
Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (c7ca9)

On our Vegas trip last year, I was impressed with In-n-Out. I will never, ever go back to Jack-in-the-Box.

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:40 PM (exHjb)

167 153 We have Maverick gas stations/C-stores here in rural Northern AZ and they offer pretty decent breakfast burritos -- and they have some pretty good coffees.

I've found the Circle K food to be awful, and worse now is that they've eliminated all cashiers (except for Lottery, Booze, & Tobacco purchases) -- and REQUIRE everybody to now self-check-out whether cash or card. Annoying ...
====
The Circle K across from us on SR 4 still has a real working cashier that does full checkout. Maybe the different regions have different rules?

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 08:41 PM (W+kMI)

168 Four Fingers Of Death MRE > Convenience Store Chow > Fast Food Chow

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at January 05, 2023 08:41 PM (R/m4+)

169 95. Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 08:29 PM (pTb/Z)
96. Posted by: Peaches at January 05, 2023 08:29 PM (14URa)
You two are funny

Posted by: AgathaPagatha at January 05, 2023 08:41 PM (xDMjB)

170
But I hate drive-thru in general.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at January 05, 2023 08:39 PM (UQUAY)

__________

Because people have become assholes. Either they're ordering for an army division or they have to have an individually-crafted creation.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:41 PM (MoZTd)

171 Posted by: DudeAbiding at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (AjL/0)

You must have gotten there when they ran out of spicy and had to drop a few baskets. Takes about 12 minutes.

Posted by: polynikes at January 05, 2023 08:42 PM (bI09Z)

172 Hadrian the Seventh: "Men will not make themselves look bad in that respect. You buy your round and you know your friends will buy you one."

Else they wouldn't be friends.

Works well at a bar, too, until the group gets too big. Then you're too drunk to find your wallet.

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel Remembers Babbitt and Perna at January 05, 2023 08:42 PM (aXxgO)

173 takeout a step above Taco Bell around here is $20-25 at least. In the 30s with beef. Gouging

Posted by: dartist at January 05, 2023 08:42 PM (9X/y4)

174 >>> 137 Kinda hard to keep fast food restaurants up and running during a famine, after all.
Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:36 PM (kMPrp)

Heh.

I will say I'm amazed things haven't completely collapsed yet, but the imbeciles in charge continue to jump up and down on everything useful, so I can't see how things don't go boom eventually. And of course *when* it starts, it goes all at once.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 05, 2023 08:42 PM (llON8)

175 Remember Rax? There is one still operating in Parkersburg, WV.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at January 05, 2023 08:42 PM (n1JsZ)

176 In-N-Out is the best fast food restaurant chain on the planet. Fresh, tasty, affordable, great service, and the restaurants are always clean.
Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:37 PM (c7ca9)
---
When i have to go on a trip I always see if there's an In-N-Out within driving distance.

Animal style for the win!

Posted by: Axeman at January 05, 2023 08:42 PM (OaZlZ)

177 RAM rolled out their EV "truck." Ack, a truck does not come with a party mode, party mode has always been a user suppled option. Plus I would like to see one of these pull a horse trailer to a trail head on the north end of the Gila Mountains in New Mexico; you might get there but you ain't getting back.

https://tinyurl.com/476hmm3k

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:42 PM (c7ca9)

178 Whoever that was they were a glutton for punishment. Who would volunteer for such an idiotic and thankless mission?

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 08:35 PM (Xrfse)

Lol.

It was definitely a process. "This credit card is for Karen"

"Karen H. or Karen W.?" (They would fax in an order with everybody's name and what they wanted)

"And this is for Susie."

"Okay. There .40 cents left."

"Just put it back in her envelope."

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 08:43 PM (u93Yj)

179 Bag of corn nuts and a pepsi. No coke

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 08:43 PM (Z8Yh2)

180 Wawa Italian Hoagie!

Posted by: Browncoat formerly known as Mike at January 05, 2023 08:44 PM (9Afsw)

181 67 Oh and Chick fil A is better then other places. Amusingly you'll often see empty McDs/Burger King with a Chick Fil A with cars lined out to the street.
=======
The only reason I don't go to the local one by us more often is that they are usually slammed to the street, with 3 lines working and nearly all the inside tables filled.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 08:44 PM (W+kMI)

182 Giant Food fried chicken is good.
Wawa sandwiches are better than most sandwich shops.

Posted by: Legion of boom at January 05, 2023 08:44 PM (BsoVM)

183 On our Vegas trip last year, I was impressed with In-n-Out. I will never, ever go back to Jack-in-the-Box.
Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 08:40 PM (exHjb)
---
Jack in the box always tastes like the last 20 things they fried for other customers.

Even Sonic has that problem too a smaller extent.

Posted by: Axeman at January 05, 2023 08:45 PM (OaZlZ)

184 I second this. If I'm on the road and need to eat, if there's a Publix around, I'm headed to the deli for a freshly made sub.
Posted by: Lady in Black

Even the pre-made off the shelf half subs at Publix are great.

Had one yesterday, in fact.

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at January 05, 2023 08:45 PM (YJwUM)

185 Freddies is superior to In and Out in every way. Every. Way.

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 08:45 PM (Z8Yh2)

186 Two words, corn dogs and deep fried chicken gizzards. Road foods of the gods. Gizzards can get a little mess though.

Posted by: Javems at January 05, 2023 08:45 PM (AmoqO)

187 Whataburger was the best until they changed bread vendors. Still good but went down a notch.

Posted by: polynikes at January 05, 2023 08:45 PM (bI09Z)

188 Rat-in-the-Box is awful shit.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (n1JsZ)

189
DOYLE,

Yes!! Freddie's is the best!

Posted by: four seasons at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (ichPI)

190 Because people have become assholes. Either they're ordering for an army division or they have to have an individually-crafted creation.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:41 PM (MoZTd)

Reminds me of the story of Confed Gen R.S Ewell who had some bad habits from his days leading a squadron of Cavalry. One day he rode off to get rations for his regiment of 1000 or so guys and came back with two cows.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (eoQWY)

191 We park, walk inside and usually get our food in less than 5 minutes.

But I hate drive-thru in general.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at January 05, 2023 08:39 PM (UQUAY)

----------------------------

I stopped using the drive-thru at our McDonald's. They remodeled awhile back, and put in two ordering kiosks in the drive-thru. However, they just put them in one after the other. It gets really confusing as to which one you're supposed to order from when the line gets long.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (uPgE/)

192 If you've ever been in upstate ny you've seen a Stewart's. It originally started as an ice cream shop(ice cream is still good) and then expanded to gas and convenience store. They've started making burger, meatball heroes , pizza and other sandwiches daily. Not half bad and not pricey. Quick Check has made its way up from NJ and okay as well

Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (bOUhi)

193
We had visitors a few weeks ago and took them to dinner. While the ladies sat down the other fellow and I went to the counter to place the orders. Whereupon we both got out our debit cards and nearly had a stand-up fight each trying to pay.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (MoZTd)

194 I will say I'm amazed things haven't completely collapsed yet, but the imbeciles in charge continue to jump up and down on everything useful, so I can't see how things don't go boom eventually. And of course *when* it starts, it goes all at once.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket
___

Gradually, then all at once, someone once said.

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (kMPrp)

195 ...and secret menus are elitest.

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (Z8Yh2)

196 >>> Freddies is superior to In and Out in every way. Every. Way.
Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 08:45 PM (Z8Yh2)

I like Freddie's. Culver's is doing the same minus the custard.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (apjrS)

197 Now I miss the butcher shop where I moved from; they made great subs and did *not* skimp on the meat.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (llON8)

198 Freddies is superior to In and Out in every way. Every. Way.
Posted by: DOYLE
_______________

Good, but pretty much the same burger as Steak 'n Shake.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 05, 2023 08:47 PM (SIZS3)

199 Also, egg and sausage biscuits from truck stops like Love's or Circle K. Perfectly satisfying.

Posted by: Browncoat formerly known as Mike at January 05, 2023 08:47 PM (9Afsw)

200 RAM rolled out their EV "truck." Ack, a truck does not come with a party mode, party mode has always been a user suppled option. Plus I would like to see one of these pull a horse trailer to a trail head on the north end of the Gila Mountains in New Mexico; you might get there but you ain't getting back.

https://tinyurl.com/476hmm3k
Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:42 PM (c7ca9)

They need to make the horse trailer standard so you can ride the horse back home.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:47 PM (eoQWY)

201 I used to go to Sonic on Tuesdays for 1/2 price cheeseburgers.

COVID-19 killed that.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at January 05, 2023 08:47 PM (C1rbv)

202 There was a period between about June 2020 and March 2021 that the chip in my debit card wouldn't work most of the time. The cashiers at the local grocery store said that oversanitizing of the readers was probably to blame, and I wasn't the only one with that problem. I got a new card, finally, and the trouble mostly stopped.

I say this as an apology to anyone who was behind me at the convenience store, and I made sure to apologize in person when there was a line. I'm not sure I took up more time than the people paying in dimes, nickels and pennies, though.

Posted by: pookysgirl hates all the rewards program prompts at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (XKZwp)

203 The great fast food decline is actually just a microcosm of the larger, more general slide into 3rd-world shithole status.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (Xrfse)

204 129 Ballistic,
Have you had the bbq from the HEB's that now have the restaurants in store? I haven't yet but the new heb going up just west of Austin is supposed to have one in it.
Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:34 PM (UUBmN)

---

Not yet! Our HEB out here had a restaurant attached (pre-wuflu), but it closed during and never reopened. A shame. They had a pretty banging bourbon selection!

Posted by: ballistic at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (oXNqT)

205 I really don't get the appeal of Whateverburger.

Posted by: Axeman at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (OaZlZ)

206 Pilot's usually had the gizzards.

Posted by: Javems at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (AmoqO)

207 AM/PM hot dogs were awful but once a week I would get a hankering for one. Don Miguel frozen breakfast burritos in the yellow wrappers are great, especially with whatever taco sauce they might have.

Posted by: yep at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (6WBZp)

208 186 Two words, corn dogs and deep fried chicken gizzards. Road foods of the gods. Gizzards can get a little mess though.
Posted by: Javems at January 05, 2023 08:45 PM (AmoqO)

Gizzards...this is known!

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (CCSxw)

209 I would like to see one of these pull a horse trailer to a trail head on the north end of the Gila Mountains in New Mexico; you might get there but you ain't getting back.

https://tinyurl.com/476hmm3k
Posted by: Lost in Space
-----
I had a chuckle because I've been hiking there and I know exactly what you're talking about!😂

Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (UUBmN)

210 Quik Trip in the Midwest, Wawa for sandwiches, Sheetz is like the girl your Mother warned you about but the best is Buc-eel’s.. For non chains fried chicken in Virginia and gas stations in Louisiana for great Cajun food. Finally a subject I know something about.

Posted by: Sean at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (2oHWb)

211 Also, Freddies big bore shake straws are the shit. Unless you know you have no idea. I have sent the straws to buddies (3). They are always amazed.

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 08:49 PM (Z8Yh2)

212 Now I miss the butcher shop where I moved from; they made great subs and did *not* skimp on the meat.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (llON

I remember a place Loveland Chili in Cincy Ohio where the meat sammiches were double decker and literally cubical.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:49 PM (eoQWY)

213 I really like Wendy's, to be honest.
McDonalds will do in a pinch.

Local C-stores....well, the hot dogs at 7-11 are ok.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards (Logan Tiberius 2012-2021) at January 05, 2023 08:49 PM (xcxpd)

214 Cofigeo, a group which owns several food companies in France, has shut down four of its eight factories over energy costs, amounting to 80 per cent of its total production.

Cofigeo owns several French food brands including William Saurin, Garbit and Raynal and Roquelaure and has announced it has shut down four of its eight French factories, affecting 800 of the company’s 1,200 workers due to soaring energy costs.

https://tinyurl.com/2x977hke

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:49 PM (kMPrp)

215 >>> Good, but pretty much the same burger as Steak 'n Shake.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 05, 2023 08:47 PM (SIZS3)

Completely different and I could never stand steak and shakes toothpick fries.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:49 PM (apjrS)

216 I never had to count change in my head until I delivered pizza for Pizza Hut. Turns out it's pretty easy - I learned it in a few minutes. Just a matter of mathing backward. I say this being a math idiot.

Also this was way, way before pay on-line.
Posted by: Pug Mahon
---
Oh yeah. I wasn't bad at the change thing. Just seemed like it would lead to unnecessary headaches when counting down the tills.

I also worked for a pizza joint as a "phone girl." Not a call girl. That job wasn't bad, the drivers were a lot of fun. The drunk frat guys calling in, not so much. Sometimes I'd help make pizzas, but I never got the hang of tossing the dough. Actually, I could toss it ok, just couldn't catch it again.

I developed a very bad habit of taking home a small pizza (and eating it) most days at 2 am.

Posted by: screaming in digital at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (SLnCd)

217 173 takeout a step above Taco Bell around here is $20-25 at least. In the 30s with beef. Gouging
-------
Everything that comes to a fast food joint comes from a regional storehouse by truck. Notice how fast food prices have shot up since the missing year? You can thank the installed potato regime for having to drop $20 at Burger King. It's another reason why I do the Speedway run often, as I can say I usually got my money's worth.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (W+kMI)

218 I loved Sonic's onion rings up until they started breading them with pancake batter. Might have been our local ones, but I won't take a chance again ordering them anywhere.

I haven't been there in years so I don't know what the local one does. The thing I Liked about them was they tasted a little sweet, as if a little bit of honey had been added to the batter. And they were crunchy, not soggy

Posted by: kallisto at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (7WZjf)

219 Because people have become assholes. Either they're ordering for an army division or they have to have an individually-crafted creation.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:41 PM (MoZTd)

The worst is standing in a long line at McDs, and the person in front of you has NOT EVEN FUCKING DECIDED ON WHAT THEY WANT YET... or... here? They don't understand enough English to read the damn menu.

Posted by: Romeo13 at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (oHd/0)

220 Freddies is superior to In and Out in every way. Every. Way. Posted by: DOYLE

Las Cruces has one, I have never gone. Guess I will be there very soon.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (c7ca9)

221 The only fast food places I frequent are Tacqueria Lugar and Los Guerros. Oh and Cane's Chicken; they are excellent and they've figured out how to make the drive-thru fast.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (r46W7)

222 The great fast food decline is actually just a microcosm of the larger, more general slide into 3rd-world shithole status.
Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 08:48 PM (Xrfse)

Something to look forward to is when we get there black market street food will rise again.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (eoQWY)

223 I have a terrible weak spot for those spicy crap rolls that speedway carries on the food poisoning rollers. I’m not really sure what’s in them, nor do I care. I get food poisoning less often from them than I do from my local Taco Bell, Burger King, and Wendy’s combined.

Posted by: Don Draper at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (SXH3O)

224
...and secret menus are elitest.
Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 08:46 PM (Z8Yh2)

_____________

Sometimes when we go to our favorite Cajun place, I'll order a Creole Platter, which is not on the menu. But it always comes out: blackened catfish and andouille sausage on red beans and rice, slathered with etouffee.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:51 PM (MoZTd)

225 91 I used to work next to a good salad bar place. One woman at our office who thought she was too busy to get her to-go salad herself would send a hapless minion over with instructions on how many peas to put on it.

----

And how much pee did the minion put on it?

Posted by: Cave Johnson at January 05, 2023 08:51 PM (iWt73)

226 My first job was senior year of h.s. working at Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips. I cooked. I rather liked the food, too (having a 17 y.o. metabolism). The work conditions were fine. However, I remember looking at my first paycheck agog at how much had been withheld. That did have an effect.

Posted by: SFGoth at January 05, 2023 08:52 PM (KAi1n)

227 After midnight, roller dogs turn into wizard fingers.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 08:52 PM (Dc2NZ)

228 Totes random, but I don't feel like waiting for the ONT:
This means that the tool can actually keep running without human input, slowly stomping down the street, crushing everything in its path, and the only way to stop it is to grab the handle while in motion and hold it up so the top piston can no longer trip the magneto. That is the only off switch.
Other than the horror, it's insanely fun to use and is great at children's birthday parties and cideries.
https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=JW3bfYrK8oY

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 05, 2023 08:52 PM (llON8)

229 I felt like a Soviet citizen who had just stepped into an American grocery store for the first time. It was beautiful!

On Sept. 16, 1989, Boris Yeltsin was a newly elected member of the Soviet Parliament visiting the United States. Following a scheduled visit to Johnson Space Center, Yeltsin and a small entourage made an unscheduled stop at a Randalls grocery store in Clear Lake, a suburb of Houston. He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.

Posted by: rhennigantx at January 05, 2023 08:52 PM (BRHaw)

230 Completely different and I could never stand steak and shakes toothpick fries.
Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 08:49 PM (apjrS)

Yes too small and inefficient to get the amount of soft inner fry for a mouthful.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:52 PM (eoQWY)

231 Favorite fast food in C-store: The custom menu at Sheets.

Alternatively, they got basic sandwiches ands stuff.

Posted by: Alexander at January 05, 2023 08:52 PM (rJZQc)

232 I refuse to go to Tim Hortons anymore. They are all understaffed. They can service the drive through and the sit down customers. And sit down customers are always the lower priority.
I don't know whey they can train counter staff to make eye contact with the next person in line and say "I'll be with you in a minute sir."

Posted by: N.Lurker at January 05, 2023 08:53 PM (eGTCV)

233 Has anyone ever seen a Jack in the Box on the east coast?

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 08:53 PM (Z8Yh2)

234 that was down the road from where I live

it should be a memorial

Posted by: rhennigantx at January 05, 2023 08:53 PM (BRHaw)

235 Completely different and I could never stand steak and shakes toothpick fries.
Posted by: banana Dream
_______________

But you can get a fried egg on your burger at Steak n Shake. They used have avocado slices too, but I think those are gone.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 05, 2023 08:53 PM (SIZS3)

236 Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:51 PM (MoZTd)

Landry's on Westheimer used to have an awesome Cajun / seafood all you could eat buffet for lunch. Then they tore it down and built and apartment complex. One of the worst days in my life😁

Posted by: polynikes at January 05, 2023 08:54 PM (bI09Z)

237 I used to go to Sonic on Tuesdays for 1/2 price cheeseburgers.

COVID-19 killed that.

Ours kept it going and was actually how I discovered Sonic. Fast food establishments staffed by high school kids, you may remember, were deemed as safe as Level-4 Bio-Labs during the great Plague.

Posted by: t-bird at January 05, 2023 08:54 PM (Sv58p)

238 Best road trip I ever took was down the coast to my sister’s wedding in Carmel, CA.

The Subway sandwich joint around the corner from a jobsite I had been on posted an outbreak/exposure to hepatitis alert during that period I had been gone.

A little hand washing goes a long ways!

Posted by: Mike in Seattle at January 05, 2023 08:54 PM (ie65O)

239 Most folks with money do not understand that the folks in the ghetto live off of fast food.

Breakfast, "lunch" and dinner.

Look around...you never see any family owned soul food places anymore. Taco Bell has replaced Mammy's Kitchen.

No more souse, no more real fried chicken, no more fat back, hog jowls, ox tails, pig's feet or hoe cake.

Shame, shame, shame...

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at January 05, 2023 08:54 PM (R/m4+)

240 164 Spam musubi at the gas station by the aquarium on Maui.
Posted by: nurse ratched
___

Mine's better.
Posted by: SMH

Of that, I have no doubt.

Posted by: nurse ratched, I wanna cookie, please. at January 05, 2023 08:54 PM (U2p+3)

241 After a 5 day backpacking trip through Hila, that Freddy's green chili burger and onion rings was the best thing I'd ever eaten.

Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:54 PM (UUBmN)

242 The worst is standing in a long line at McDs, and the person in front of you has NOT EVEN FUCKING DECIDED ON WHAT THEY WANT YET... or... here? They don't understand enough English to read the damn menu.

Lulz.

On a similar note, when I'm selling beer at the football stadium, I'm always struck by how people can stand in line watching me ID every single person in front of them and then be somehow caught off guard when I say "I need to see your ID" and have to dig out the wallet and find their license.

We aren't living in a world full of observant, intelligent people, it would appear.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (u93Yj)

243 Ours kept it going and was actually how I discovered Sonic. Fast food establishments staffed by high school kids, you may remember, were deemed as safe as Level-4 Bio-Labs during the great Plague.
Posted by: t-bird at January 05, 2023 08:54 PM (Sv58p) see essential

Posted by: rhennigantx at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (BRHaw)

244 He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 05, 2023 08:52 PM (BRHaw)

This sounds like a lie, since a high roller like Boris likely never saw a store in the last 30 years of his life. I have heard similar stories from Russian defectors, I think the one who flew his MiG to Japan made his handlers drive in random directions and pull into stores at his order to rule out the stores being a set up just to fool him.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (eoQWY)

245
The worst is standing in a long line at McDs, and the person in front of you has NOT EVEN FUCKING DECIDED ON WHAT THEY WANT YET... or... here? They don't understand enough English to read the damn menu.
Posted by: Romeo13 at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (oHd/0)

__________

Went to an LA Crawfish and got behind two ladies who had a bunch of questions for the counter help, each of which required a long discussion between them, occasionally interspersed with questions for their two teenage daughters nearby, each of which required a long discussion. I walked out.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (MoZTd)

246 . . . did *not* skimp on the meat.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket

Does The Paolo need to, how you say, even comment on this?

Posted by: The Paolo at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (qoGsy)

247 At C-stores I try to get low-sugar beef jerky. Expensive but you pay for the crap you're not getting.

Posted by: SFGoth at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (KAi1n)

248 179 Bag of corn nuts and a pepsi. No coke

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 08:43 PM (Z8Yh2)

Mmmm, corn nuts. I discovered them in 1970, in CA. Used to have the T shirt, "I'm a corn nut nut". Still my favorite. That and chicharrones, or cracklin, depending on where you live.

Posted by: Javems at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (AmoqO)

249 polynikes: "Whataburger was the best until they changed bread vendors. Still good but went down a notch."

Went to the same one a couple times recently about a week apart. First time, late drive-through, 3-car queue, terrific food. Fresh and tasty. Second time, dinner hour in dining area, ten-minute wait. Stale and bland.

Based on the second visit (and I've eaten a fair number of Whataburgers), I'd probably not go again.

So, to my expectations of time and location, everything was reversed. Late night food from drive through was much better. Ultimately, it seems like it's a crapshoot with FF. Know going in there's a pretty decent chance you'll be quite satisfied... or hugely disappointed.

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel Remembers Babbitt and Perna at January 05, 2023 08:56 PM (aXxgO)

250 I would like to see one of these pull a horse trailer to a trail head on the north end of the Gila Mountains in New Mexico; you might get there but you ain't getting back.

https://tinyurl.com/476hmm3k
Posted by: Lost in Space
-----
I had a chuckle because I've been hiking there and I know exactly what you're talking about!😂
Posted by: lin-duh

My first trip there I came to the Mogollon gate going east to west. Of course it was locked. I didn't have enough fuel to make it back to T or C (distances between places in NM are, um, big. Thankfully I met someone that told me how to get to Reserve where I discovered Uncle Billy's Bar. New Mexico is alright.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 08:56 PM (c7ca9)

251 I refuse to go to Tim Hortons anymore. They are all understaffed. They can service the drive through and the sit down customers. And sit down customers are always the lower priority.

We had a Hortons open up near us last year. Lasted about 6 months and closed.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 08:56 PM (Xrfse)

252 and then be somehow caught off guard when I say "I need to see your ID" and have to dig out the wallet and find their license.

I've had several people go with me to a bar and forget their license. People way over 21. And all of this is stupid. You can tell someone is 40 not 21 but the government pretends you can't.

So IDing someone to get a Bud? Check. IDing someone to vote? THAT'S RACIST!

Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:56 PM (lc5cP)

253 Re: food service jobs on a young person's resume-

I just celebrated my son's 23rd birthday with him. I took him to dinner.

In May he graduated with a BS in electrical engineering and has a good job and is doing well; but one of the proudest highlights of our recent birthday celebration was going back with him to the family-run Indian restaurant where he worked as a server during his junior and senior years.

He's a tall, handsome, blond, easygoing kid. He doesn't look like the kind of server you would expect to see at a family-owned Indian restaurant.

He told me many funny stories while displaying a mastery of the ins and outs of Indian Cuisine. He clearly treated his job as a paid masterclass in the hospitality and culinary arts, Tandoori edition and loved almost every minute of it.

By all appearances is genuinely loved by his large Indian "family" at the restaurant. They hadn't seen him for 7 months and they were exceptionally thrilled to see him again.

I must have heard "you have a wonderful son" a dozen or two times that night, which has led me to the conclusion that my work here on your planet is done.

Posted by: SnakePlizzken at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (G0Od/)

254 I ordered a pizza from Domino's, the same one (thin crust, everything, extra sausage) we get every time we order (which is not often). They were always very good.

The last time (and it will be the last time), the gal had a thick foreign accent and I had to repeat the order three times. They STILL got it wrong. I phoned the pizza joint to complain (Karen alert!) and the thoroughly indifferent manager said they have a call center now; it's not a local issue.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (Dc2NZ)

255 Posted by: Hairyback Guy at January 05, 2023 08:54 PM (R/m4+)

Plenty of them in Houston .

Posted by: polynikes at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (bI09Z)

256 Sorry, I meant Blake's Lotaburger

Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (UUBmN)

257 Egg McMuffin in Monroe, Wa at 7am on the way to Stevens Pass to downhill ski.

And the corn dogs at the top of Snoqualmie Pass after a day of cross country skiing.

Posted by: nurse ratched, I wanna cookie, please. at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (U2p+3)

258 229 that story about Yeltsin is amazing,. It literally is one of the things that helped bring down the soviet union. Yeltsin on the plane back home kept muttering to himself that everything he had been told about USA and capitalism was a lie. He became even more of a reformer after that.

Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (bOUhi)

259 >>28 I live right on the Wawa-Sheetz border in PA.

Isn't that the Rutter's Zone?

Posted by: J. Frank Parnell at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (t4BDZ)

260 I must have heard "you have a wonderful son" a dozen or two times that night, which has led me to the conclusion that my work here on your planet is done.
Posted by: SnakePlizzken at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (G0Od/)

Congratulations

Posted by: N.Lurker at January 05, 2023 08:58 PM (eGTCV)

261 I'm thrilled to be back where I can get good barbecue. There's a good local bbq joint 3 minutes from my new place. Not good for GAINZZZ.

Also, meat & 3s.

Often faster than fast food these days, at least to get your food.

Posted by: screaming in digital at January 05, 2023 08:58 PM (SLnCd)

262 We aren't living in a world full of observant, intelligent people, it would appear.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (u93Yj)

or the lady mailing a package it UPS
the has a purse
the purse has a purse
then she looks at you (like the calf dead in the winter)
hold on I need to get my card

I hope you get Satans horned cock thrice daily.

Posted by: rhennigantx at January 05, 2023 08:58 PM (BRHaw)

263 This sounds like a lie, since a high roller like Boris likely never saw a store in the last 30 years of his life.
Posted by: Oldcat

He certainly would've been aware of the average Russki's living conditions, and more importantly, he said that not even Gorbachev had that kind of luxury. Sure, the top dogs in the USSR didn't go hungry, but they weren't eating Whoppers made to order, extra large fries, and a chocolate shake to wash it down.

Posted by: SFGoth at January 05, 2023 08:58 PM (KAi1n)

264 On a similar note, when I'm selling beer at the football stadium, I'm always struck by how people can stand in line watching me ID every single person in front of them and then be somehow caught off guard when I say "I need to see your ID" and have to dig out the wallet and find their license.

We aren't living in a world full of observant, intelligent people, it would appear.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger

There is no situational awareness in most of the public. It's pretty frightening, actually.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at January 05, 2023 08:58 PM (n1JsZ)

265 The worst is standing in a long line, and the person in front of you is on the phone getting instructions back and forth.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at January 05, 2023 08:58 PM (qhaRb)

266 BUC-EES!!!! https://buc-ees.com/
More jerky than fast food places have food.

Posted by: Roger Ball at January 05, 2023 08:59 PM (C8ve7)

267
You can tell someone is 40 not 21 but the government pretends you can't.

_________

My lab partner in grad school looked like he was 12. He was always getting carded. So he grew a beard. And looked like a 12 year old with a beard. He still got carded.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:59 PM (MoZTd)

268 We aren't living in a world full of observant, intelligent people, it would appear.

Yep. Basically a shitshow at this point.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:00 PM (Xrfse)

269 I've liked corn nuts. But I'm afraid, since I'd like to keep the teeth I have, that they'd break my teeth. They are right on the boundary of something so hard your afraid you're going to chip something.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:00 PM (apjrS)

270 One of the benefits of living around here is we have an overwhelming amount of seafood and small independent seafood joints. Fried clams, lobster rolls, fish sandwiches, etc.. Little shops all over the place and they are competitive with fast food chains and the food is much, much better. Better service as well.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 05, 2023 09:00 PM (ZLI7S)

271 170 But I hate drive-thru in general.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at January 05, 2023 08:39 PM (UQUAY)
_________
Because people have become assholes. Either they're ordering for an army division or they have to have an individually-crafted creation.
-----
Beware the lady in the van ahead of you. She will spend two minutes placing the order, five minutes of picking up food, and another two minutes correcting or double checking the order. The other one to beware of is the dude at Popeye's who decides he WILL wait for regular chicken instead of manning up and trying the spicy and moving the line along.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 09:00 PM (W+kMI)

272 I've had several people go with me to a bar and forget their license. People way over 21. And all of this is stupid. You can tell someone is 40 not 21 but the government pretends you can't.

So IDing someone to get a Bud? Check. IDing someone to vote? THAT'S RACIST!
Posted by: 18-1 at January 05, 2023 08:56 PM (lc5cP)

I remember one time I got carded buying dinner for the fam when my younger sister didn't. Bad tactics, there.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:01 PM (eoQWY)

273
There is no situational awareness in most of the public. It's pretty frightening, actually.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at January 05, 2023 08:58 PM (n1JsZ)

____________

I'm 29, but it's getting worse and worse.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 09:01 PM (MoZTd)

274 I must have heard "you have a wonderful son" a dozen or two times that night, which has led me to the conclusion that my work here on your planet is done.
Posted by: SnakePlizzken at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (G0Od/

Isn't that the best? Congratulations.

Posted by: nurse ratched, I wanna cookie, please. at January 05, 2023 09:01 PM (U2p+3)

275 259 >>28 I live right on the Wawa-Sheetz border in PA.

Isn't that the Rutter's Zone?
Posted by: J. Frank Parnell at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (t4BDZ)

3 people that hate each other
wawa-Sheetz
turbo vs naturally aspirated
indy vs paki

I cab cant see the difference and I love the hate!

Posted by: rhennigantx at January 05, 2023 09:01 PM (BRHaw)

276 Buc-ee's has good food too.

Posted by: lin-duh (y'all/all y'all) at January 05, 2023 09:02 PM (UUBmN)

277 There is no situational awareness in most of the public.

Boy racer on bicycle and phone zooms around corner heedless - then he saw my cane wound up to strike!

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at January 05, 2023 09:02 PM (qhaRb)

278 229 that story about Yeltsin is amazing,. It literally is one of the things that helped bring down the soviet union. Yeltsin on the plane back home kept muttering to himself that everything he had been told about USA and capitalism was a lie. He became even more of a reformer after that.
Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (bOUhi)

The leadership all knew it was lies, they were smuggling in enough Western luxuries for their consumption all the time.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:03 PM (eoQWY)

279 244 the story is true. Yeltsin also spoke with produce mggr. Asked him if he went to special school for his job. Nope, guy had worked his way up.
The other funny stories involve wives of soviet hockey players who came to play in NHL. Another players wives too them shopping and Russian wives grabbed as much meat as they could. Had to be convinced it was like that all the time

Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 05, 2023 09:03 PM (bOUhi)

280 Doyle, There used to be a Jack in the Box in Taunton, Mass. but that was mumble, mumble years ago.

Posted by: Debby Doberman Schultz at January 05, 2023 09:03 PM (a4EWo)

281 254 I ordered a pizza from Domino's, the same one (thin crust, everything, extra sausage) we get every time we order (which is not often). They were always very good.

The last time (and it will be the last time), the gal had a thick foreign accent and I had to repeat the order three times. They STILL got it wrong. I phoned the pizza joint to complain (Karen alert!) and the thoroughly indifferent manager said they have a call center now; it's not a local issue.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (Dc2NZ)

------------------------------

Our regular order is a medium hand-tossed cheese pizza. Usually turns out pretty well

The odd thing I've found is that if I order something with toppings (usually italian sausage and pepperoni, though it doesn't have to be), the pizza tastes "off". Not quite sure what it is, but something just goes wrong when it's anything more than cheese.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 09:03 PM (uPgE/)

282 There is no situational awareness in most of the public. It's pretty frightening, actually.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory
___

Survival of the fittest will be a thing, bigly, as things continue to spiral down the drain.

Culling the herd is long overdue.

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 09:03 PM (kMPrp)

283 Beware the lady in the van ahead of you. She will spend two minutes placing the order, five minutes of picking up food, and another two minutes correcting or double checking the order. The other one to beware of is the dude at Popeye's who decides he WILL wait for regular chicken instead of manning up and trying the spicy and moving the line along.
Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 09:00 PM (W+kMI)

Vans are the worst.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:04 PM (eoQWY)

284 >>> My lab partner in grad school looked like he was 12. He was always getting carded. So he grew a beard. And looked like a 12 year old with a beard. He still got carded.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:59 PM (MoZTd)

I never got carded until after I turned 21. But now my wrinkly greybearded bald dome gets carded every time. Even Peter Jackson with help from Industrial Light & Magic couldn't turn a kid into this.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:04 PM (apjrS)

285 Tesla, the other day, Hwy 1 CA, went off the road, over a cliff, family of four, 200 to 300 foot drop.

When the firemen repelled down to retrieve the bodies they brought back the the two children aged 4 and 7.
Helicopter air lifted the adults.

They are charging the father with attempted murder.
They all had minor injuries.
Tesla

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at January 05, 2023 09:04 PM (jmn+9)

286 Wawa is the best

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at January 05, 2023 09:04 PM (Kd4bG)

287 There was a Russian MiG pilot that came here (what's the word? Defected.") He drove across America and came to the conclusion, that yes there are some poor people, but most of America is prosperous.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at January 05, 2023 09:05 PM (C1rbv)

288 The last time (and it will be the last time), the gal had a thick foreign accent and I had to repeat the order three times. They STILL got it wrong. I phoned the pizza joint to complain (Karen alert!) and the thoroughly indifferent manager said they have a call center now; it's not a local issue.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (Dc2NZ)
---
I've switched to ordering my Domino's Pizzas online. Then I can follow the pizza through the process...from prep to delivery (a tracker shows me their location while driving).

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 05, 2023 09:05 PM (BpYfr)

289 The other funny stories involve wives of soviet hockey players who came to play in NHL. Another players wives too them shopping and Russian wives grabbed as much meat as they could. Had to be convinced it was like that all the time
Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 05, 2023 09:03 PM (bOUhi)
__

And now our shelves look like 1980s Soviet Union, just more brightly colored.

Progress, comrade!

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 09:05 PM (kMPrp)

290 229 I felt like a Soviet citizen who had just stepped into an American grocery store for the first time. It was beautiful!

On Sept. 16, 1989, Boris Yeltsin was a newly elected member of the Soviet Parliament visiting the United States. Following a scheduled visit to Johnson Space Center, Yeltsin and a small entourage made an unscheduled stop at a Randalls grocery store in Clear Lake, a suburb of Houston. He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.
=========
Well, the LGB regime sure has fixed that situation, haven't they?

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 09:05 PM (W+kMI)

291 One of the benefits of living around here is we have an overwhelming amount of seafood and small independent seafood joints. Fried clams, lobster rolls, fish sandwiches, etc.. Little shops all over the place and they are competitive with fast food chains and the food is much, much better.

Ugh. I would give anything for that scenario. The only good seafood to be had in my AO is at very pricy restaurants.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:06 PM (Xrfse)

292 Survival of the fittest will be a thing, bigly, as things continue to spiral down the drain.

Culling the herd is long overdue.
Posted by: SMH

Folks that fail to use their turn signals will be the first to go.

We'll guarantee it.

Posted by: The Paolo at January 05, 2023 09:06 PM (qoGsy)

293 278 yeltsin was not one of big leaders at time . He was from a relative backwater and had done a good job so Gorbachev selected him for promotion

Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 05, 2023 09:06 PM (bOUhi)

294 280-thanks. California transplant (NC), have not seen one out here.

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 09:06 PM (Z8Yh2)

295 Sorry, I meant Blake's Lotaburger Posted by: lin-duh

Blake's makes a pretty great fast food Green Chili Cheeseburger Blake's is a New Mexico thang and sort of dukes it out with Whataburger. Since Green Chili Cheeseburgers are a primary food group in New Mexico you quickly figure out where the great ones are served and that is never in a fast food restaurant. The Buckhorn Tavern - San Antonio, NM, The High Desert Brewery - Las Cruces, NM and the The High Point - NW Albuquerque all have a unique spin and they crush it.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 09:07 PM (c7ca9)

296
He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.

__________

When I lived in England I was amazed at how crappy their supermarkets were.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 09:07 PM (MoZTd)

297 Little swears Roy Rodgers had the best chicken wings. I made sure he tried Church's (close, but nah)...

Posted by: Joe Kidd at January 05, 2023 09:07 PM (bUGMk)

298 >>> When the firemen repelled down to retrieve the bodies they brought back the the two children aged 4 and 7.
Helicopter air lifted the adults.

They are charging the father with attempted murder.
They all had minor injuries.
Tesla
Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at January 05, 2023 09:04 PM (jmn+9)

We talked about that a bit here. I say whatever terminal speed it was going wouldn't have been too different from anything cars have to be tested for anyway.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:08 PM (apjrS)

299 Wawa. Sheetz. Great food, fast, infinitely customizable.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy, Set the Earth to fire and reshape it closer to the heart's desire at January 05, 2023 09:08 PM (C2ZTD)

300 267
You can tell someone is 40 not 21 but the government pretends you can't.

_________

My lab partner in grad school looked like he was 12. He was always getting carded. So he grew a beard. And looked like a 12 year old with a beard. He still got carded.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:59 PM (MoZTd)

-------------------------------

In college, my girlfriend (now wife) and I went to see an R rated movie (I forget which one). The cashier asked her if she was there with her parents. She was 21 at the time.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 05, 2023 09:08 PM (uPgE/)

301 280-thanks. California transplant (NC), have not seen one out here.
Posted by: DOYLE
---
There are some in upstate SC.

Posted by: screaming in digital at January 05, 2023 09:08 PM (SLnCd)

302 I never got carded until after I turned 21. But now my wrinkly greybearded bald dome gets carded every time. Even Peter Jackson with help from Industrial Light & Magic couldn't turn a kid into this.

Lulz.

A lot of it is either the company requires employees to check everyone's ID or state or local law does.

For instance at the stadium, by company requires all of us to not only check IDs for every customer, but also use a scanning app to make sure it's not fake.

And yet they still had 3 different bartenders serve a minor police cadet this season, which will likely result in them not being able to sell beer at the first four games next year. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but that is losing an estimated $1.3 million in revenue.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at January 05, 2023 09:08 PM (u93Yj)

303 "I've had several people go with me to a bar and forget their license. People way over 21."

Some years ago, I had a friend visit from Germany. We went out to the big Monday night goth club and she forgot to bring her ID. Sure, she looked over 18 (it was 18+ with a wristband over 21), but they weren't going to let her drink and it took some convincing to explain to her that she was not in Deutschland anymore. So we drove back to get it.

Posted by: SFGoth at January 05, 2023 09:09 PM (KAi1n)

304 The quality at Convenience Stores is lower than even fast food, its more low end cafeteria. Honestly I've been expecting the Automat to return but for some reason it never has.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at January 05, 2023 09:10 PM (0hOvj)

305 Oldcat: "I have heard similar stories from Russian defectors..."

The empty shelves things is absolutely true.

My uncle routinely goes to Latvia (Baltic state invaded by the Soviets post WWII). He was there just before the wall came down and almost yearly since. He was also a filming addict. Literally hours and hours of touring footage of walking around and recording, well, life. When the wall was still up, there were entire warehouse markets with almost nothing in them. A salesperson would stand behind counters of almost nothing and just sorta twiddle their thumbs. There were few customers and little commerce.

Then, when the Berlin wall came down and trade opened up, you could see the slow but building stocks start filling up and people spending. Every year it improved and became more bustling.

But when the wall was up, it was dire. There was no economy. It was wild. I mean to see an open freezer, thirty feet long, with one or two chunks of beef. Or a shelf with a handful of cracker boxes of one kind only... and then air. This was in relatively prosperous Latvia. Yeah, culture shock was real.

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel Remembers Babbitt and Perna at January 05, 2023 09:10 PM (aXxgO)

306 Don't forget the gas station sushi!

Posted by: Jonah Goldbrick at January 05, 2023 09:11 PM (F6Xpw)

307 Tesla driver who plunged his family off California cliff did so on purpose, officials say https://tinyurl.com/2p8h75m9

Doctor accused of intentionally driving Tesla off cliff in Calif. with wife, kids
https://tinyurl.com/2s42s23s

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at January 05, 2023 09:11 PM (jmn+9)

308 I've told this before, but around 1984 or so I sported around a Russian and his wife in south west of Houston. He was there for some oilfield business. Every where we went it was "We have this in Russia", until we hit the produce department at the local Fiesta Supermarket.

Posted by: Javems at January 05, 2023 09:11 PM (AmoqO)

309 278 yeltsin was not one of big leaders at time . He was from a relative backwater and had done a good job so Gorbachev selected him for promotion
Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 05, 2023 09:06 PM (bOUhi)

He was the Mayor of Moscow, the largest city and capitol of the USSR in 1985. He had some tangles with the other portions of the deep state in the 87 period and resigned, but he was no hick from the sticks, he was playing power politics.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:11 PM (eoQWY)

310 Used to love Domino's. Damned near kept me alive in my yout. Not sure when it was but they changed the recipe and started tossing in these hip herbs and spices. IMO, it now sucks.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:11 PM (Xrfse)

311 Whataburger is hit or miss around Round Rock. Depends on who is running the grill.

Hannity going safe tonight with Brett.

Posted by: micky at January 05, 2023 09:11 PM (3byMq)

312 Eddie Valiant: So that's why you killed Acme and Maroon? For this freeway? I don't get it.

Judge Doom: Of course not. You lack vision, but I see a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on all day, all night. Soon, where Toontown once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful.

Posted by: Chuck C at January 05, 2023 09:11 PM (xttsV)

313 Like you, love the Circle K. Strange things are happening there.

Posted by: jimmymcnulty at January 05, 2023 09:11 PM (BJgzI)

314 The worst is standing in a long line at McDs, and the person in front of you has NOT EVEN FUCKING DECIDED ON WHAT THEY WANT YET... or... here? They don't understand enough English to read the damn menu.
Posted by: Romeo13 at January 05, 2023 08:50 PM (oHd/0)

McDonalds has their menus on big video screens. And they keep changing the screens every few seconds. So I'm trying to decide whether it's more cost-effective to get 2 plain cheeseburgers, or a quarter-pounder with cheese, and they switch screens just as I am trying to read the prices. Bastards. Put up fixed, printed menus. And not just behind the damned counter.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 09:12 PM (tkR6S)

315 288 I've switched to ordering my Domino's Pizzas online.

Domino's....I think I see your problem..

Posted by: Joe Kidd at January 05, 2023 09:12 PM (bUGMk)

316 I've been in line behind a lottery ticket buyer who had to scratch off all his tickets before leaving the counter. I guess he wanted his payoffs immediately or was planning to buy more depending on his results. Didn't make sense to me to make the rest of the line wait in the meantime, though.

Posted by: Emmie at January 05, 2023 09:12 PM (Emce2)

317 Evidently Cardi B or some such whore rapper broad did a tic toc thing where she said all this other stuff has gone up in price so "p***y has to go up too" so women should demand more and expect more just to give up the goods.

But that's not how it works. The worst times and civilization gets, the lower the value sex becomes. You went from luxury to low end: OK sex for food and water and shelter.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at January 05, 2023 09:12 PM (0hOvj)

318 A new look at food trucks.
Got a Mexican one near the house. The yard guys all go there and line up before it opens.
Delicious!!!

Posted by: Diogenes at January 05, 2023 09:13 PM (anj39)

319 Doctor accused of intentionally driving Tesla off cliff in Calif. with wife, kids

Rot for eternity, you despicable coward.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:13 PM (Xrfse)

320 The Russian thing is STILL true...

My Polish guest was AMAZED on his 1st trip to our grocery store last year. He couldn't believe the size, the stock, and the level of fresh product and variety of meat product and convenience foods we had.

Every trip, I now send him back with a suitcase of food products for him and his family til his next trip.

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 09:13 PM (exHjb)

321 >>Ugh. I would give anything for that scenario. The only good seafood to be had in my AO is at very pricy restaurants.

Over in Newport there is a town pier where many of the local lobster boats berth and process their catch. Also a small retail shop/takeout restaurant with picnic tables on the pier.

Lobsters come off the boat, into the pot and then into a sandwich. It doesn't get much fresher or reasonable. No linen tablecloths but a killer view.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 05, 2023 09:13 PM (ZLI7S)

322 The Wendy's near my office has a very fast drive-through lane, and they have never messed up my order. They also seem to have a somewhat stable crew.

Much better than McDonald's.

Posted by: a.moron at January 05, 2023 09:13 PM (F6Xpw)

323 A new look at food trucks. Got a Mexican one near the house. The yard guys all go there and line up before it opens. Delicious!!! Posted by: Diogenes

All the food trucks near me are New Mexican. I will show myself out.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 09:14 PM (c7ca9)

324 I don't do much fast food, and never convenience store food. All of it is straight-up poison, and if I'm going to eat poison, I want it to actually taste good. So, McD's it is.

What I do like from C-stores isn't prepared food. If I'm buying that grab and go snack, I get one of those giant, salty, spicy pickles in the plastic pouch, a stick of cheddar, and a can of beer. A quick, cheap, filling, non-poisonous peasant lunch.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 05, 2023 09:15 PM (oINRc)

325 I'm a Sheetz freak--MTO, 24/7/365.
And their card/points system can't be beat for gas--save up those points, and .50+ off per gallon.

Posted by: barbarausa at January 05, 2023 09:15 PM (uAuXI)

326 "There is no situational awareness in most of the public."

No kidding, especially when people looking at their phones while they walk suddenly look up and see a dinosaur. The freakouts are so side-splitting, I can't watch them stoned.

Posted by: SFGoth at January 05, 2023 09:15 PM (KAi1n)

327 Needless to say, my Polish guest went from being ambivalent about America (since he grew up closer to the Belarussian border than the German one) to being much more pro-American.

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 09:15 PM (exHjb)

328 14 Pizza from Casey's

Posted by: SMH at what's coming at January 05, 2023 08:13 PM (kMPrp)

I do like their pizza, but the one near my office is staffed by retards, and runs out of pizza slices by quarter-after noon pretty much every day.

Posted by: a.moron at January 05, 2023 09:16 PM (F6Xpw)

329 All fast food places are really variable, it has to do with the staff and manager. Some weeks they are fine, some they are lousy.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at January 05, 2023 09:16 PM (0hOvj)

330 THE
PRICE
OF
EGGS

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at January 05, 2023 09:16 PM (jYCXf)

331 The leadership all knew it was lies, they were smuggling in enough Western luxuries for their consumption all the time.
Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:03 PM (eoQWY)

There was a soviet jet which crashed on take off back in the 80's.

Tu-104....overloaded with contraband, booze, whores and generals.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at January 05, 2023 09:17 PM (R/m4+)

332 Oh, I almost forgot: Fuck one eyed McCain. Carry on.

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 09:17 PM (Z8Yh2)

333 I never got carded until after I turned 21. But now my wrinkly greybearded bald dome gets carded every time. Even Peter Jackson with help from Industrial Light & Magic couldn't turn a kid into this.
Posted by: banana Dream

In MN, everyone gets carded because people with serious DUI problems have cards that say "don't serve this guy never-ever" on the back. So being carded when you're a well-seasoned 29 isn't quite as awesome as in some other states.

Posted by: mikeski at January 05, 2023 09:17 PM (P1f+c)

334 But when the wall was up, it was dire. There was no economy. It was wild. I mean to see an open freezer, thirty feet long, with one or two chunks of beef. Or a shelf with a handful of cracker boxes of one kind only... and then air. This was in relatively prosperous Latvia. Yeah, culture shock was real.
Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel Remembers Babbitt and Perna at January 05, 2023 09:10 PM (aXxgO)

Oh sure, the stores in Communist states were proverbially bare of stuff, known for generations. There's even an old joke, where an old man goes to the store for his ailing wife and is aghast that after waiting in line for hours he gets nothing. He starts bitching loudly how bad things are, then a man in a trench coat calls him aside and says "Comrade, calm yourself. In the old days under Stalin this talk would get you this" and he mimed cocking a gun.

The old man calmly leaves and goes home and tells his wife - "Masha, the enconomy worse than I ever thought. They have run out of even BULLETS"

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:17 PM (eoQWY)

335 Over in Newport there is a town pier where many of the local lobster boats berth and process their catch. Also a small retail shop/takeout restaurant with picnic tables on the pier.

My sis and BIL lived there for quite some time. He served on a Boomer and settled there after leaving the Navy. They used to brag about how good the seafood was. Finally got to visit them and was in no way disappointed.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:18 PM (Xrfse)

336 What a Sonoran Dogs?

Tucson - https://tinyurl.com/mrxtpppb
Las Cruces - https://tinyurl.com/5bhpebkt

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 09:18 PM (c7ca9)

337 >>> But when the wall was up, it was dire. There was no economy. It was wild. I mean to see an open freezer, thirty feet long, with one or two chunks of beef. Or a shelf with a handful of cracker boxes of one kind only... and then air. This was in relatively prosperous Latvia. Yeah, culture shock was real.
Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel Remembers Babbitt and Perna at January 05, 2023 09:10 PM (aXxgO)

Many of the leftist grifting scum who terrorize us today flew off to Russia to gobble up equity after it opened. Look at the names of many of the people that were profiting mightily off the fall into oligarchy and you'll start to see big name american deep state turds of the clinton, bush, obama, biden variety.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:19 PM (apjrS)

338 And the good ol' Kum-n-Go.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at January 05, 2023 09:19 PM (n1JsZ)

339 Thank you for the "C-store" idea. Some grocery stores have similar ready-to-eat food with self-checkout. The "service" section of college applications was a surprise to me when my kids went blundered out of the nest. Also, Barron Trump should be Speaker of the House.

Posted by: Marooned at January 05, 2023 09:19 PM (w6hJ9)

340 >>My sis and BIL lived there for quite some time. He served on a Boomer and settled there after leaving the Navy. They used to brag about how good the seafood was. Finally got to visit them and was in no way disappointed.

If you're ever back in the area let me know. The seafood is still excellent.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 05, 2023 09:20 PM (ZLI7S)

341 John James has spent the last two years studying 'being a typical pol'.

Ouch.

Posted by: micky at January 05, 2023 09:20 PM (3byMq)

342 she said all this other stuff has gone up in price so "p***y has to go up too" so women should demand more and expect more just to give up the goods.

But that's not how it works. The worst times and civilization gets, the lower the value sex becomes. You went from luxury to low end: OK sex for food and water and shelter.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at January 05, 2023 09:12 PM (0hOvj)

By reports it is especially not how it works now. Nobody is telling girls that men won't marry someone with a high body count and they turn out hitting the thirties with no prospects because they only want super affluent handsome men who if not married already will only marry young women.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:21 PM (eoQWY)

343 Moving across the country we stopped at Loves for three reasons:

Gas

Good Coffee

Dog Areas

Nice outfit.

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 09:22 PM (Z8Yh2)

344 The old man calmly leaves and goes home and tells his wife - "Masha, the enconomy worse than I ever thought. They have run out of even BULLETS"
Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:17 PM (eoQWY

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at January 05, 2023 09:22 PM (Kd4bG)

345 heard just before the crash - "I promise, if you kids don't stop fighting I'm gonna drive this car right off that cliff!!!

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 05, 2023 09:22 PM (r46W7)

346 In line at McDs drive through behind some pile of junk that could have once been a Chevy Nova. Guy gets out of the Nova? and climbs through the pick up window screaming about his french fries not be hot or some such.

At that point, I decided to limit my restaurant experiences to the walk in, sit down, pay $30 for lunch variety.

Posted by: Queequeg the Harpooner at January 05, 2023 09:23 PM (9X60i)

347 A local Marathon gas station serves fried blue gill on fridays. 7-11's in the Philippines, last time i was there, would sell you a bottle of beer then offer a church key to open it! Yeah, fast food is about done. Demition man was prescient- taco bell might win the fast food war. A local Hardee's had THE BEST spicy chix sammich about 20 years ago. Now, the parking lot is empty every time i drive past. At lunchtime.

Posted by: Cicero Kaboom! Kid at January 05, 2023 09:24 PM (3Or4S)

348 Here in the upper-upper midwest it's the Kwik-Trip gas station/convenience store FTW. Best of all they prioritize *fast* service.

Posted by: daidt at January 05, 2023 09:24 PM (SYTee)

349 The old man calmly leaves and goes home and tells his wife - "Masha, the enconomy worse than I ever thought. They have run out of even BULLETS"
Posted by: Oldcat

"Bread? No, Comrade, today we have no potatoes. Come back tomorrow, and we will have no bread."

Posted by: just the punchline at January 05, 2023 09:24 PM (P1f+c)

350 "Bread? No, Comrade, today we have no potatoes. Come back tomorrow, and we will have no bread."
Posted by: just the punchline at January 05, 2023 09:24 PM (P1f+c)

I remember growing up a radio station that did the just the punchline gag, reportedly the lines all were from amazingly dirty jokes.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:26 PM (eoQWY)

351 If you're ever back in the area let me know. The seafood is still excellent.

Thank you kindly. Will do.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:26 PM (Xrfse)

352 At that point, I decided to limit my restaurant experiences to the walk in, sit down, pay $30 for lunch variety.
Posted by: Queequeg

Fast food is expensive these days and is only few dollars less than what I pay for a plate of street tacos in a sit down restaurant in New Mexico. So yeah, I get your point completely.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 09:26 PM (c7ca9)

353 that story about Yeltsin is amazing,. It literally is one of the things that helped bring down the soviet union. Yeltsin on the plane back home kept muttering to himself that everything he had been told about USA and capitalism was a lie. He became even more of a reformer after that.
Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 05, 2023 08:57 PM (bOUhi)

Soviet Union had bad inflation, but hid it by having limited consumer goods. Partially this was due to the centralized state economy that could never predict what was needed to avoid bottlenecks, but also because there was no drive to fix the problem either by allowing importation or allowing the problem to solve itself. Any wages that could not be spent because there was nothing to spend them on went into savings in the State Bank that used it to support the banking system.
In the final segment of the USSR some relaxation of importation of foreign goods was allowed and inflation spiked. At that time Tafta became a serious problem, working harder gave you more inflated rubles and nothing you could afford to buy.

Posted by: Kindltot at January 05, 2023 09:26 PM (xhaym)

354 Here in the upper-upper midwest it's the Kwik-Trip gas station/convenience store FTW. Best of all they prioritize *fast* service.
Posted by: daidt at January 05, 2023 09:24 PM (SYTee)

If they are throwing beer bottles at you as you pull in they might have some other reason than fast service.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:26 PM (eoQWY)

355 I can't say Savannah is big with seafood. It's here, some good some bad, but not a lot of it. Many places are simply for tourists who aren't from the coast. I just thought there would be more.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:27 PM (apjrS)

356 Oldcat: "The old man calmly leaves and goes home and tells his wife - 'Masha, the enconomy worse than I ever thought. They have run out of even BULLETS'"

Here's another classic Soviet economics saying:

"We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us."

Give 'em credit. They relished their pain.

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel Remembers Babbitt and Perna at January 05, 2023 09:28 PM (aXxgO)

357 Okay, first of all mayo on a Whataburger is sacrilege. Sounds like a yankee thing to do. Second, Whataburger doesn't have Pepsi. Coke, Dr. Pepper or tea (sweet tea and unsweet for the heathans)

Posted by: Stacy0311 at January 05, 2023 09:28 PM (VfLe7)

358 The best fast food is the stuff you make to take it with you on a trip.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 05, 2023 09:29 PM (Angsy)

359 Over in Newport there is a town pier where many of the local lobster boats berth and process their catch. Also a small retail shop/takeout restaurant with picnic tables on the pier.

Lobsters come off the boat, into the pot and then into a sandwich. It doesn't get much fresher or reasonable. No linen tablecloths but a killer view.
Posted by: JackStraw at January 05, 2023 09:13 PM (ZLI7S)

We did some fishing near San Blas, Mexico during a couple of Spring breaks. Rickety, 15 ft fishing boat with no life vests. We would catch dolphin fish and take them to a restaurant where they prepared a dinner for us with the fish at no cost because they kept the rest of the fish

Posted by: Beartooth at January 05, 2023 09:29 PM (PX01u)

360 Okay, first of all mayo on a Whataburger is sacrilege.

Serial killers. That's who has mayo on Whataburger.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls - an election is is simply a festival for the majority at January 05, 2023 09:30 PM (KFhLj)

361 I would now like a Porterhouse steak and a lobster. To go.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:31 PM (Xrfse)

362 What about Miracle Whip on a Whataburger?

Posted by: davidt at January 05, 2023 09:31 PM (SYTee)

363 I work in St Louis. I don't have time to go to a fast food joint when I'm going to one job from another or as I'm going to Home Depot.

I'll stop at a QT and get a couple of egg rolls. Or stop at an On The Go (Mobil station) and grab a cheese burger or a hot hoagie, chips and drink. Both options are usually less than $10 and I'm in and out in 5 minutes or so.

Posted by: Ex-ex at January 05, 2023 09:31 PM (RU4sa)

364 229
He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.

Posted by: rhennigantx at January 05, 2023 08:52 PM (BRHaw)
----
I seem to remember that some Russian could not believe that a simple store made for EVERYBODY, not just elite, had a whole long shelf of breakfast cereals!

Posted by: Ciampino -- could be a trans-bull but what is a trans-steer at January 05, 2023 09:32 PM (qfLjt)

365 I like the chicken fingers and potato cheesy bites at Casey's, if you stop close enough to a normal mealtime that they have them in the warm case.

Posted by: ptschett at January 05, 2023 09:33 PM (OjZGr)

366 What about Miracle Whip on a Whataburger?

When you say filthy things like this it separates you from the Lord.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls - an election is is simply a festival for the majority at January 05, 2023 09:33 PM (KFhLj)

367 In the final segment of the USSR some relaxation of importation of foreign goods was allowed and inflation spiked.
Posted by: Kindltot at January 05, 2023 09:26 PM (xhaym)

The defector Viktor Suvarov has a very amusing book about his experiences in the Russian farm economy and then his life in the army. He was forced to bribe his way into the army because a nearby plant had a bonus production day to increase fertilizer yields. Trouble is, they couldn't haul it away and it couldn't stay. So the call went out to the farm to take their 1 truck and do the 50 trips needed to empty their allotment, which they couldn't store either. The farm manager gave Viktor enough gas for 2 trips, and there wasn't enough time for 50 trips. When the truck got to the factory, he followed the other trucks who got a load, went down the road a mile or so and dumped the fertilizer in the Dnepr river. Dying fish all over. This went on for a while, then Party bosses came and halted it. But they soon realized this was best and let it go on. He put the fertilizer on his private plot, which killed his crops and he had to bribe his way into the army to avoid starving.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:33 PM (eoQWY)

368 Ugh. They asked me if I wanted fries with that.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:34 PM (Xrfse)

369 Zerohedge says we're running out of sand. I bet this would give Sam Kinison a chuckle.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:34 PM (apjrS)

370 What about Miracle Whip on a Whataburger?

When you say filthy things like this it separates you from the Lord. Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls

For the Win! Pure poetry.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 09:34 PM (c7ca9)

371 "In Soviet system, the people line up for bread. In the Free Market system, the bread lines up for the people."

Posted by: Common Tater at January 05, 2023 09:36 PM (JFa+T)

372 In the final segment of the USSR some relaxation of importation of foreign goods was allowed and inflation spiked. At that time Tafta became a serious problem, working harder gave you more inflated rubles and nothing you could afford to buy.
Posted by: Kindltot at January 05, 2023 09:26 PM (xhaym)

Hey the Bible is full of Miracles. And quite a few whips

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:36 PM (eoQWY)

373 Speaking of iced tea; why the fuck is it soo sweet out here.
So sweet it makes the tea seem less cold.

I tried the Bojangles famous tea and wanted to wretch.

Posted by: DOYLE at January 05, 2023 09:36 PM (Z8Yh2)

374 By reports it is especially not how it works now. Nobody is telling girls that men won't marry someone with a high body count and they turn out hitting the thirties with no prospects because they only want super affluent handsome men who if not married already will only marry young women.
Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:21 PM (eoQWY)

The Government is now their Husband, the one who protects them, gives them things, takes care of them, and all they have to do is be absolutely loyal and never question anything they're told. As long as they do Big Daddy will take care of them for life.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 05, 2023 09:36 PM (r46W7)

375 Spin Blend?

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:36 PM (apjrS)

376 They are charging the father with attempted murder.
They all had minor injuries.
Tesla
Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at January 05, 2023 09:04 PM (jmn+9)

We talked about that a bit here. I say whatever terminal speed it was going wouldn't have been too different from anything cars have to be tested for anyway.
Posted by: banana Dream
------------------------------

Sorry I missed the conversation.
The fire chief said, we come here a often, they're always dead.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at January 05, 2023 09:37 PM (XbH2s)

377 Zerohedge says we're running out of sand. I bet this would give Sam Kinison a chuckle.

Heh. All of a sudden we're running out of everything. The panic p0rn is something to behold.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:37 PM (Xrfse)

378 245

Went to an LA Crawfish and got behind two ladies who had a bunch of questions for the counter help, each of which required a long discussion between them, occasionally interspersed with questions for their two teenage daughters nearby, each of which required a long discussion. I walked out.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 05, 2023 08:55 PM (MoZTd)
----
Were they getting scrod?

Posted by: Ciampino - scrod is not a past participle at January 05, 2023 09:37 PM (qfLjt)

379 369 Zerohedge says we're running out of sand. I bet this would give Sam Kinison a chuckle.
Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:34 PM (apjrS)

I told you so...

Posted by: zombie Milton Friedman at January 05, 2023 09:37 PM (CCSxw)

380 The Government is now their Husband, the one who protects them, gives them things, takes care of them, and all they have to do is be absolutely loyal and never question anything they're told. As long as they do Big Daddy will take care of them for life.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 05, 2023 09:36 PM (r46W7)

Except Big Daddy is lying too, just like the Culture warriors and Feminists did. Its lies all the way down.

Posted by: Oldcat at January 05, 2023 09:38 PM (eoQWY)

381
Fast food outlets gave been off our radar for years, with the exception of Chik-Fil-A (and even our patronage there has dropped significantly). We obtain "fast" food from Wawa, whose sandwich selection is quite good.

Laugh-a all you want, monkey boys ...

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 05, 2023 09:38 PM (pNxlR)

382 361 I would now like a Porterhouse steak and a lobster. To go.
Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:31 PM (Xrfse)
---

Moo Moo?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 09:38 PM (Dc2NZ)

383 Just across the Tennessee/Mississippi border, we stopped at a little gas station on a cross country trip. The fried chicken smell was absolutely amazing, and we were drawn to the counter where a young lady was cooking it up, along with catfish, fries, fried okra, black eyed peas, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, etc. It was also the cleanest bathroom I have ever been in. We complimented the gal working the register and she said that her dad saved up his money and bought the gas station for her and her sisters. This was how they made their living and they wanted it to reflect on them. It reflected very well.

Posted by: Moki at January 05, 2023 09:38 PM (JrN/x)

384 OT: But the deal for Kevin did not get done tonight...now, there's a morning phone call to discuss tomorrow.

4 republicans supposedly can't be there tomorrow b/c of family obligations (and I don't think any of the 4 are for the 20), so the adjournment to tomorrow will probably truly be failure theater or J6 grandstanding - if it's the latter, the 20 will never fold...

Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 09:38 PM (exHjb)

385 >>> 369 Zerohedge says we're running out of sand. I bet this would give Sam Kinison a chuckle.
Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:34 PM (apjrS)

When did the US government take over the Sahara desert?

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 05, 2023 09:39 PM (llON8)

386 "Fast, Cheap, or Good. Pick two."

This axiom holds true, but I think McDonald's, and maybe a couple others, were almost an exception to this rule. Very tasty, and very fast, and not too bad on price. They could do this partly on economies of scale.

But at some point, I don't know what happene, sometime in the 1990s the quality declined, portions reduced, and they are kind of slow. And now it's expensive for what you get.

Cost me $12 to get filled up for breakfast. F that, $12 still buys a lot of staples if you shop carefully. As someone said, it I'm going to eat unhealthy, it damn well better taste good.

Posted by: Common Tater at January 05, 2023 09:40 PM (JFa+T)

387 Moo Moo?

Yeah, I've hidden it all of these years.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:41 PM (Xrfse)

388 Related: I had an interesting experience at a Loves (crappy food btw) last summer. I was traveling with my 14 yr old granddaughter. Sad to say, she was dressed in her normal slutty attire - you know, way too short top and cutoffs. Long blond hair - a real beauty. We both had to hit the head so we split up. She came out of the restroom first and I saw the woman manager talking to her with urgency. It turns out, the mgr was quizzing her about me making sure she was safe and wasn't being trafficked. According to the manager, it's a huge problem and, at least at that store, they are on the lookout for it all the time.

Good for them.

Posted by: The Paolo at January 05, 2023 09:41 PM (qoGsy)

389 4 republicans supposedly can't be there tomorrow b/c of family obligations (and I don't think any of the 4 are for the 20), so the adjournment to tomorrow will probably truly be failure theater or J6 grandstanding - if it's the latter, the 20 will never fold...
Posted by: Nova local at January 05, 2023 09:38 PM (exHjb)

One of the 20 is my Rep - Andy Harris (MD District 1). I have never contributed to a political campaign. EVER. He may be earning my first ever donation.

Posted by: Doof at January 05, 2023 09:41 PM (yYFOV)

390 Ironic sock off!

Posted by: Tonypete at January 05, 2023 09:41 PM (qoGsy)

391 When I get sworn back in in 2025 expect a shortage of shortages!

Posted by: DJT at January 05, 2023 09:41 PM (BL1uJ)

392 >>We did some fishing near San Blas, Mexico during a couple of Spring breaks. Rickety, 15 ft fishing boat with no life vests. We would catch dolphin fish and take them to a restaurant where they prepared a dinner for us with the fish at no cost because they kept the rest of the fish

I did the same thing with a bunch of friends in Bermuda after fishing for tuna. We gave the hotel restaurant we were staying at a bunch we caught and in exchange they made us tuna tartar appetizer and then tuna steaks with a peanut sate sauce for dinner served outdoors on a table overlooking the surf.

Rum might have been involved that evening.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 05, 2023 09:42 PM (ZLI7S)

393 The convenience stores and groceries stepping up when the fast food joints fall behind is what is great about capitalism. The response to consumer demand is fast and limber, when it's allowed to be.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 09:42 PM (Dc2NZ)

394 >>> Sorry I missed the conversation.
The fire chief said, we come here a often, they're always dead.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at January 05, 2023 09:37 PM (XbH2s)

I believe that. I mean people die all the time from simple roll overs or side impacts even with modern airbags and whatnot. I think they were very lucky. Not in having the father/husband they did but in the aftermath of the accident. I also wonder if the big arched roof you see on teslas helpd out a lot.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:42 PM (apjrS)

395 On my recent trips the last 2-3 years, gas stations on the interstate had better food and faster than near-by fast food places.

Posted by: comradearthur at January 05, 2023 09:43 PM (qBOKC)

396 Walmarts has pretty good roast history chicken

Posted by: Kirk at January 05, 2023 09:43 PM (3OQb0)

397 Ironic sock off!
Posted by: Tonypete at January 05, 2023 09:41 PM (qoGsy)

Was quite funny with the sock fail!

Posted by: Doof at January 05, 2023 09:44 PM (yYFOV)

398
I spent one summer working for the parks department in my home town. I cut grass for days on end, picked up trash, drove a garbage truck, cleaned public restrooms. I dare say that thd "diversity" of my experiences beats, hands down, the ersatz form that every woke company is peddling today.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 05, 2023 09:44 PM (pNxlR)

399 “Have it your way” and fast food are not compatible. Grabbing a pre-made burger, however it might be prepared, is good enough for me.

Ding Ding Ding!

Sometimes we just need fuel. I am perfectly content with the food from a gas station convenience store, as long as it is clean, relatively fresh, and hot.

Oh...and not too juicy, because I will be eating it in the car, probably while driving!

Well...I usually spill shit on myself no matter where I am eating, so...never mind.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 05, 2023 09:44 PM (XIJ/X)

400 Some of the 20 will fold, Chip Roy is doing his best to see that they do. However, the 4 or 5 that he kneecapped will never and that's enough to block him.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at January 05, 2023 09:45 PM (XbH2s)

401 101 -- Back in the day, I worked as a waitress in an upper middle class restaurant. Every so often, I'd get a table of little old ladies. Those old gals spent more time making sure they didn't pay a penny more than what their share of the bill was than actually eating and drinking. A table ful of guys would just throw down a handful of bills and say "Keep the change." Not those old gals. After all was said and done, I was usually lucky to get a quarter tip per old lady.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at January 05, 2023 09:46 PM (z7W9M)

402 Walmarts has pretty good roast history chicken
Posted by: Kirk at January 05, 2023 09:43 PM (3OQb0)

Does it come with geogravy?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 09:46 PM (tkR6S)

403 Chick-fil-As Are run like McD'a use to be run.

Sheetz my son love the pretzel hotdogs

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at January 05, 2023 09:46 PM (dKiJG)

404 Freshwater sand, suitable for making concrete, probably is in supply. Ocean beach sand, with salt, is a no no for concrete.

If you look at sand suitable for concrete, under magnification, it is rounded iirc. Yeah, there is a shortage of sand. But it's a special or specific kind of sand.

Posted by: Common Tater at January 05, 2023 09:47 PM (JFa+T)

405 Walmarts has pretty good roast history chicken
Posted by: Kirk at January 05, 2023 09:43 PM (3OQb0)

Does it come with geogravy?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 09:46 PM (tkR6S)
----------

And mathed potatoes?

Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 09:47 PM (pTb/Z)

406 >>> When did the US government take over the Sahara desert?
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 05, 2023 09:39 PM (llON

According to the ZH article (take this with a grain of sand) the sand that is in short supply is for concrete needed for construction. I thought they were going to say silicon but no. Anyway, beach sand and desert sand isn't useful for concrete according to them. The kind that is useful is running out.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:47 PM (apjrS)

407 I guess I need to stock up on sand.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 09:48 PM (Xrfse)

408 Country Fair C stores in PA are very good, with either prepared or prepared to order deli sandwiches and wraps. They also have sales on deli meats and cheeses that beat the prices at major grocers. Down here in Arkansas, just about every gas station/C store is set up with a deep fryer, small pizza oven and the like, be it big chains like Casey's or a mom and pop. One in Fort Smith has frog leg specials.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at January 05, 2023 09:48 PM (lz5hY)

409 IN&OUT rocks!!!

Posted by: Nightwatch at January 05, 2023 09:48 PM (J00IM)

410 4 republicans supposedly can't be there tomorrow b/c of family obligations (and I don't think any of the 4 are for the 20), so the adjournment to tomorrow will probably truly be failure theater or J6 grandstanding - if it's the latter, the 20 will never fold... Posted by: Nova

The 20 are waging a guerilla insurgency against the Republican Wing of the Uniparty (RWU) and the odds of their resolve totally collapsing looks to be very low and they know exactly what they want. The odds of the RWU resolve splintering grows with every vote, this is a mushy group from an ideological perspective whose primary purpose is getting re-elected. Or merging with the Democrat Wing of the Uniparty if the pressure gets to intense.

Posted by: Lost in Space at January 05, 2023 09:48 PM (c7ca9)

411 >>> Walmarts has pretty good roast history chicken
Posted by: Kirk at January 05, 2023 09:43 PM (3OQb0)

Does it come with geogravy?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 09:46 PM (tkR6S)
----------

And mathed potatoes?
Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 09:47 PM (pTb/Z)

Just saw this and I can't stop giggling.

Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:48 PM (apjrS)

412 Have we talked about Buc-ee's yet?

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls - an election is is simply a festival for the majority at January 05, 2023 09:48 PM (KFhLj)

413 According to the ZH article (take this with a grain of sand) the sand that is in short supply is for concrete needed for construction. I thought they were going to say silicon but no. Anyway, beach sand and desert sand isn't useful for concrete according to them. The kind that is useful is running out.
Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:47 PM (apjrS)
---
Maybe the Chinese should stop building ghost cities all over the place...I'm guessing that's where a lot of sand is going...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 05, 2023 09:49 PM (BpYfr)

414 Just saw this and I can't stop giggling.
Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:48 PM (apjrS)
----------

Looks like our work here is done, AOP.

Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 09:49 PM (pTb/Z)

415 Corn Dogs: Is there any more American food than that?

(And that's most definitely a good thing.)

Posted by: RickZ at January 05, 2023 09:50 PM (emlEe)

416 I quit the 7/11 stuff after I viewed the staff loading the rollers without gloves...

Posted by: Nightwatch at January 05, 2023 09:50 PM (J00IM)

417 Mustard or catsup on a corn dog?

Posted by: davidt at January 05, 2023 09:51 PM (SYTee)

418 According to the ZH article (take this with a grain of sand) the sand that is in short supply is for concrete needed for construction. I thought they were going to say silicon but no. Anyway, beach sand and desert sand isn't useful for concrete according to them. The kind that is useful is running out.
Posted by: banana Dream at January 05, 2023 09:47 PM (apjrS)

Put prisoners to work breaking rocks into sand.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 09:51 PM (tkR6S)

419 And mathed potatoes?

Posted by: bluebell at January 05, 2023 09:47 PM (pTb/Z)

Oh shit...I actually laughed out loud!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 05, 2023 09:51 PM (XIJ/X)

420 I quit the 7/11 stuff after I viewed the staff loading the rollers without gloves...

Posted by: Nightwatch at January 05, 2023 09:50 PM (J00IM)

Those rollers are hot enough to kill any pathogens on their hands.

I wouldn't worry!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 05, 2023 09:52 PM (XIJ/X)

421 We were in Kimball NE a week or so ago. Went to the Subway. they made me an Italian sammich that was amazingly good. Like a lot of chains, your experience depends a lot on who's running the joint. Kudos to those nice ladies at the Kimball Subway.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at January 05, 2023 09:52 PM (UQUAY)

422 417 Mustard or catsup on a corn dog?
Posted by: davidt at January 05, 2023 09:51 PM (SYTee)
---

Are you trying to be offensive?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 09:52 PM (Dc2NZ)

423 And mathed potatoes?

Wath so funny?

Posted by: Mike Tyson at January 05, 2023 09:52 PM (KFhLj)

424 Are you trying to be offensive?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 09:52 PM (Dc2NZ)

Sauerkraut

Posted by: Kindltot at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (xhaym)

425 Zerohedge says we're running out of sand. I bet this would give Sam Kinison a chuckle.
Posted by: banana Dream

When did the US government take over the Sahara desert?
Posted by: Helena Handbasket

There's sand, and then there's sand. The MN Renaissance Festival has a bigly yuge moat because it's sitting on the kind of sand they use for fracking.

It'll have to move to a new location sometime so they can get what's under it, and not just cut a few cubic acres out around it.

Or maybe it's moved already, I haven't been since the Covidiocy. I heard they had a new location picked out.

Posted by: mikeski at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (P1f+c)

426 Get the Ronco Rotisserie, it makes some really good Chicken. Sometimes I will do a lamb or Duck

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (dKiJG)

427 314
McDonalds has their menus on big video screens. And they keep changing the screens every few seconds. So I'm trying to decide whether it's more cost-effective to get 2 plain cheeseburgers, or a quarter-pounder with cheese, and they switch screens just as I am trying to read the prices. Bastards. Put up fixed, printed menus. And not just behind the damned counter.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 09:12 PM (tkR6S)
----
You could go online for a fixed 'text' menu.

Posted by: Ciampino -- scrod is not a past participle at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (qfLjt)

428 416 During the really crazy times of covid, I saw a clerk working over in the deli area and then waiting on customers, handling money with the same gloves. Of course she was masked, behind the plexiglass screen of safety, and the gloves were black so you couldn't see the covid cooties.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (lz5hY)

429 Mustard.

You need to ask?

Posted by: RickZ at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (emlEe)

430 412 Have we talked about Buc-ee's yet?
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls - an election is is simply a festival for the majority at January 05, 2023 09:48 PM (KFhLj)

No, but working the pecan roaster is my dream job.

Posted by: Moki at January 05, 2023 09:55 PM (JrN/x)

431 Walk into any supermarket in the frozen isle and grab you a six-pack of "WHITE-CASTLE" burgers...and choose your flavor...M-wave for 60 sec's and...yum with a beer.

Posted by: Nightwatch at January 05, 2023 09:55 PM (J00IM)

432 handling money with the same gloves.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (lz5hY)

She also took a crap and gave her boss a hand-job with those same gloves.

"Universal precautions" are well known to be absolute shit.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 05, 2023 09:55 PM (XIJ/X)

433 You could go online for a fixed 'text' menu.
Posted by: Ciampino -- scrod is not a past participle at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (qfLjt)

Or I could just not go to McD's. Which is mostly what I do. They have abandoned their roots.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 09:55 PM (tkR6S)

434 Buc-ee's is to c-stores as Ruth's Chris is to steak.

Posted by: lin-duh at January 05, 2023 09:56 PM (UUBmN)

435 Sauerkraut
---

Acceptable.

#Midwest

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at January 05, 2023 09:56 PM (Dc2NZ)

436 Re: sand. Truth.
The sand in the Sahara and in Saudi Arabia has been smoothed over by being blown in the wind and having all the rough edges worn off. Utterly useless for making concrete.

This sayeth FlyoverSpouse, who was there during Desert Storm.

Posted by: Flyover at January 05, 2023 09:57 PM (Rbu5d)

437 >>Maybe the Chinese should stop building ghost cities all over the place...I'm guessing that's where a lot of sand is going...

And solar panels. I'm sure leftists won't see the irony of us becoming dependent on middle east sand for our solar energy.

Cement is a major part of the Egyptian economy. Now they are making deals with China to use the sand to make solar panels and one thing Egypt has a lot of is sand.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 05, 2023 09:57 PM (ZLI7S)

438 You could go online for a fixed 'text' menu.
Posted by: Ciampino -- scrod is not a past participle at January 05, 2023 09:53 PM (qfLjt)

Or I could just not go to McD's. Which is mostly what I do. They have abandoned their roots.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 09:55 PM (tkR6S)

I refuse to use the touch screen menu ordering at eating places.

Posted by: Beartooth at January 05, 2023 09:58 PM (PX01u)

439 433 When McD's announces that beef tallow is back for frying the french fries, I'll go back.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at January 05, 2023 09:58 PM (lz5hY)

440 We went to the Buc-ees in the New Braunfels area after the TXMOME. Crazy.

Alas, I was not feeling well, and so had no appetite. I did get a bag of mesquite jerky, though. Good stuff. Mrs. got a banana pudding parfait with real banana.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at January 05, 2023 09:58 PM (UQUAY)

441

ONTVS NOODVS EST

Posted by: Zettai at January 05, 2023 09:59 PM (809ed)

442 When McD's announces that beef tallow is back for frying the french fries, I'll go back.
Posted by: bill in arkansas

I'll load some pigs into the trebuchet.

Posted by: mikeski at January 05, 2023 09:59 PM (P1f+c)

443 420

Thank you professor Brown...yes pathogens do not like heat much above 100 degrees so you are correct.

Posted by: Nightwatch at January 05, 2023 09:59 PM (J00IM)

444
IKEA has Snack Bar, extra-quick option and Full Cafeteria/Dining Room. Excellent food, especially $4 Marinated Salmon on French Bread, next 2 Hot Dog display. Frozen Yogurt.
Wegman's has amazing food, ONLY place that made beef burger Rare. Old Country Buffet, bankrupt + gone, also reactively-try to cook beef Thoroughly, as a safety measure.
Smithsonian Museum on National Mall had the greatest set-up, I think was Marriott Food Service (then),as they run Senior Centers, Airline + Transportation Hubs.
me: recently retired, plenty of time to explore Food Displays. All Chains are building very close
(near UMCP campus, College Park)
CoVid hiatus ruined so much, just a pity!
Bon Appetit!

Posted by: zigzag at January 05, 2023 10:00 PM (fsX9w)

445 The sand in the Sahara and in Saudi Arabia has been smoothed over by being blown in the wind and having all the rough edges worn off. Utterly useless for making concrete.

This sayeth FlyoverSpouse, who was there during Desert Storm.
Posted by: Flyover at January 05, 2023 09:57 PM (Rbu5d)

Aeolian sand grains. Rarely perfect spheres, but they come close. And they have a frosted surface. Makes an amazingly good oil reservoir, though.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 05, 2023 10:00 PM (tkR6S)

446 Yeah, about those 7-11 hot dogs....
*BAAAAARRRRRRFFF*

TPTB always warned us when on exercise in a foreign land "Don't eat from the street vendors!"
Well, I had a fantastic meal of fried rice and a bottle of water for 75¢ while my colleagues ate 7-11 hot dogs.

Guess who was the only one not sick at work the next day?

I think I'll mostly stay away from at least the open stuff at convenience stores. And most things packed in a plastic bag.

Posted by: GWB at January 05, 2023 10:00 PM (sE2Ux)

447 The White Castle near me (walking distance) dies during the Dempanic. Every 6 to 8 months or so, I'd go get 10 sliders, adding cheese at home. I'd really enjoy the soft, tasty goodness. Then the 'belly buster' part would hit, reminding me of why I didn't go to White Castle more often. It takes about 6 to 8 months to get over the experience before I am so stupid as to do it all over again.

Posted by: RickZ at January 05, 2023 10:00 PM (emlEe)

448 I see than nobody has mentioned Buc-ee's yet. What is wrong with you people. Wait, wut?

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 05, 2023 10:01 PM (Xrfse)

449 And Nood

Posted by: GWB at January 05, 2023 10:01 PM (sE2Ux)

450 I'll load some pigs into the trebuchet.
Posted by: mikeski

"PIGS IN SPAAAACE!!!"

Posted by: Tonypete at January 05, 2023 10:01 PM (qoGsy)

451 If In-Out only also offered bacon...

Posted by: micky at January 05, 2023 10:05 PM (3byMq)

452 312 Eddie Valiant: So that's why you killed Acme and Maroon? For this freeway? I don't get it.

Judge Doom: Of course not. You lack vision, but I see a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on all day, all night. Soon, where Toontown once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful.
======
I'm glad someone remembered to load this quote.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 05, 2023 10:11 PM (W+kMI)

453 Swimmin in dat sassy sauce

CHOMP!

Posted by: Ted Torgerson DeSantis 2024 at January 05, 2023 10:12 PM (lzd36)

454 Race Trac actually has pretty respectable coffee. Food is tolerable. Quik Trip has better food, but they keep their coffee too hot and it scorches. Quik Trip breakfast pizza is the best fast-food option on Earth.

Posted by: Penultimatum at January 05, 2023 10:18 PM (dA2bw)

455 WaWa America.

Kale, quinoa, black beans, and baked chicken at 3am.

It is magnificent.

Posted by: tah Deetz at January 05, 2023 10:30 PM (+Cl6j)

456 The XO makes tombstones, and the sand blasterer takes a particular type of sand. I haven't heard anything about a sand shortage, but Oh. My. God. The stencil is crap. The shop can get stencil from one place only and it is crap. It won't go through the stencil cutter properly, leaving the XO to try and salvage something resembling the design. And when he has the stone in the sand last booth, the stencil won't stick properly to the stone.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at January 05, 2023 10:31 PM (z7W9M)

457 Yo Buck - around here (SE & Central Texas) Taco trucks are the bomb!
Quick, fresh, cheap, DEElicious.
I'd bet there are a couple hundred trucks just in metro Houston!

Posted by: Katfish at January 05, 2023 10:34 PM (+Z2md)

458 {{{Captain Josepha Sabin}}}

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at January 05, 2023 10:40 PM (u82oZ)

459 Kwik Trip is king here in WI. It's the modern day corner store.

Otherwise Costco $1.50 dog and soda is tough to beat

Posted by: Pete Seria at January 05, 2023 11:05 PM (7ZQe3)

460 The real and only QuikTrip - QT - for jalapeno cheddar dogs, taquitos, and outstanding service. Good pizza and pretzels too.

Posted by: QuestionMark at January 05, 2023 11:17 PM (+8As4)

461 OMG...THIS is Glorious!https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=JW3bfYrK8oY

Posted by: birddog at January 05, 2023 11:19 PM (uAI4S)

462 The college DEI experience should require students to work a minimum wage job in the community. They would get all of the diversity and inclusion they could stand from their coworkers who would be from all levels of society.

Posted by: JT Smith at January 06, 2023 12:56 AM (FxdZx)

463 Gas station food has always been one of my guilty pleasures. My daughter works at a place that has fried chicken that's better than Popeye's or KFC. Chicken, taters & gravy and fries in 2 minutes for about $8. Unfortunately, it's right on the edge of Little Mogadishu in Minneapolis, but our concealed carry permits take care of that problem.

Posted by: Warmongerel at January 06, 2023 02:06 AM (noy5N)

464 All of it sitting under the heating lights for hours and hours before you arrive.

No telling how much of it left over from the day, or week, before.

Hard pass.

Posted by: Aarradin at January 06, 2023 02:45 AM (5kvQv)

465 I am making $90 an hour working from home. I never imagined that it was honest to goodness yet my closest companion is earning $16,000 a month by working on a laptop, that was truly astounding for me, she prescribed for me to attempt it simply.
Here's what I've been doing.. www.Payathome7.com

Posted by: www.Payathome7.com at January 06, 2023 07:24 AM (HkYtU)

466 I'm sure somebody has said it, but in Iowa and the surrounding states, Casey's General Store c-stores have probably the best grab and go pizza (especially their breakfast pizza in the a.m.) and also several other offerings from each store's small kitchen. Also in the midland states, Kwik Trip has great variety of grab and go food (kitchen prepared) and they time stamp each item and rotate out food that has been out beyond their recommended serving times.

Posted by: Marty aka P. Dawg Knight at January 06, 2023 07:43 AM (rsaEf)

467 Speedway, especially newer stores, have the ‘Speedy Cafe’ setup. Most of that food is actually pretty good. I normally only get the breakfast sandwiches there - same thing as the ones from McD’s - but at half the price and ready to go.
Someone mentioned that the steak hoagie from there changed…. Speedway was recently sold from Marathon Petroleum to 7-11

Grocery store delis. Meijer just recently removed all of those, at least in the Cincy area.

Posted by: PMRich at January 06, 2023 10:27 AM (eh5ud)

468 Does your site have a contaⅽt page? I'm having a tough time locating it but, I'd like to sh᧐ot you an e-mail.
I've got ѕome ideas for yߋuｒ blog you might be interested in heaгing.

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Posted by: meniscus at February 03, 2023 09:26 PM (UOAlj)

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