Top nine for 2009:
1. In-N-Out – The Tiger Woods of fast food. In a class by itself. Every time I travel to the west coast I check the In-N-Out website to see if I’ll be near any of their locations. Not only do they offer the best burgers and fries of any chain but they are the cleanest of all the fast food restaurants. You could picnic on their bathroom floors.
2. Chick-Fil-A – Great service, clean restaurants and consistently good food.
3. Sonic – Fast food joints are better served by doing a few things really well instead of a lot of thing kind of well (eg: In-N-Out/Chick-Fil-A). Sonic is the outlier. Everything on their menu is good and their flavored sodas are the best. Perhaps my favorite fast food meal is their popcorn chicken, mozzarella sticks and a jumbo vanilla Dr. Pepper.
4. Wendy’s – Every time I get Wendy’s I’m happy with my decision. I can’t say that for any of the fast food restaurants ranked below Wendy’s.
5. McDonalds – Hard to rank McDonalds because the experience varies every time I go. McDonalds seems to exercise less control over their franchisees than any other chain. When McDonalds is good, it’s very good. Not to sound too much like Kevin Spacey but in 2004 I was at the McDonalds in Yakima, Washington and it was one of the greatest fast food experiences of my life. They had couches, fireplaces, flat screen TV’s and the food was perfect.
Conversely, my worst fast food experiences are thanks to McDonalds. Some of their chains feel the need to dump pounds of salt on my fries to the point where they are almost uneatable. I mean, salt shakers are at each table for a reason. Have it your way? Depends on which location you visit.
6. Taco Bell – Their burritos the real deal. If Chipolte didn’t exist I would be getting Taco Bell carryout for dinner on a weekly basis.
7. Hardee’s – In case you haven’t been to a Hardee’s in the last two years you owe it to yourself to visit. It’s hard to even classify them as a fast food restaurant anymore. I’d put them more in the Five Guys category since they bring you your food. Their problem is that you pay Five Guys prices but you don’t get Five Guys quality. Their half pound beef angus thick burgers are good but not Five Guys.
8. Burger King – I’m allergic to sesame seeds and they don’t have an alternative bun for their burgers. This pretty much makes BK dead to me. However, their breakfast is great and whoever does their advertising is the best in the business. Those ads featuring the creepy King guy are worth stopping the DVR to watch.
9. Arby’s – Case in point why it’s better to do one or two things really well instead of everything kind of well.
Chick-fil-a = consistently good food? The only thing consistent I find in the restaurant is way too greasy chicken. Although I do enjoy their fries and the “eat more chicken” ad campaign.
Sonic should undoubtedly be moved to #1.
America’s drive-in has a cult like following. My only problem with Sonic is their lack of locations. I’ve never understood why they pay to advertise in major markets when they don’t even have franshises in that area.
Your only problem with Sonic is their lack of locations, yet In-N-Out is #1?
+1 for Chick-fil-a here
If you don’t want greasy fast food, you shouldn’t be eating fast food.
5 Guys not count as fast food?
In-N-Out doesn’t tempt me with 27 ads everytime I watch a football game. Sonic is a tease.
“If you don’t want greasy fast food, you shouldn’t be eating fast food.”
Well said Ray!
In-N-Out all the way dude. Get the fries well done next time. I can’t attest to Chik-Fil-A. For political reasons I can’t go to one. Hardee’s marketing alone should cause it to plummet to a penultimate spot, followed by Carl’s Jr. (owned by the same company). What kind of message does “If it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong in your face.”
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