No Right Answer: Best Fast Food

[MetallicaRulez0]

The correct answer is, of course, KFC. It's the only fast food that actually tastes like food. It's just as unhealthy as all the disgusting burgers and tacos at other fast food joints, but it actually tastes good. That's the clear difference.

Honorable mention to Arby's for their delicious curly fries.

 

[saotome547]

has anyone mentioned Sonics or Canes chicken
these two are the best in flavor in my book

 

[Toriver]

Leave it to these guys to debate which is the best of the entirety of the choices out there in fast food... and choose the three worst ones.

Due to the different nature of the three most common fast foods out there, I would make three choices among the "best". Also, I can only choose from the fast food I have actually eaten, so chains like In-&-Out Burger, Chipotle and Taco Time aren't included here as there are no locations in my area. With that said, here are my choices:

Burgers: Wendy's, by far; my dad managed a Wendy's, and "fresh, never frozen" is no lie, and it shows in the taste

Tacos: Taco John's; MUCH fresher tacos and ingredients than Taco Bell, and potato oles > mexi-fries. And before I get chewed out for my choice, pretty much only Taco Bell and Taco John's exist up here, so those are the only two I could really choose from

Pizza: I'm going with Godfather's here, they keep it simple and don't skimp on the toppings when you ask for them

EDIT: How did I forget Subway? Subway > all of the above, except maybe Wendy's

Captcha: It's Super Delicious
Don't make me hungry, captcha!!!

 

[redisforever]

There's a fast food place, not a chain, but just one store, near my school. Anyone in my area will know it instantly. Golden Star burgers. Fantastic food. Greasy, disgusting looking, amazing taste though. Really tender chicken strips, great fries.

 

[Finalplayerryu]

I got no Burger King or Taco Bell around... only McDonalds and you know? When you are like me and dont eat some stuff for like half a year, a year and then you get around to eat it again you immediatly taste the friggin poison outta stuff.

So yeah, i went to McDonalds after more than a year and while i was eating it, i only tasted garbage and i could feel the unhealthy goo that they call food circulating through my body.


So in all honesty... i dont think there is a best Fast Food Chain, only a least awful Fast Food Chain.

 

[joshthor]

for me - Arbys

 

[BiscuitWheels]

Does Five Guys count? Because they'll kick Burger King or McDonald's balls up into their throat when it comes to a damn fine burger. Honorable mention goes to Zaxbys chicken. They're like Chik-fil-a without the baggage.

 

[wings012]

Carl's for burgers. Cost more, but are a lot bigger and tastier. Over here anyway. Also unlimited drink fountain. Which BK used to have but not anymore. Wendy's second, BK third, McDs is the pits.

For fried chicken, we only have KFC and Popeyes. And Popeyes is just a more expensive Hot & Spicy only KFC with smaller portions. KFC wins.

 

[subtlefuge]

I feel bad for all the people who don't have Whataburger. It's not like it has the best burgers anywhere, but there really isn't any place that beats it in the 11pm-11am category. Dominating 12 hours a day in its region has to count for something.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Eh, I'll chime in.

Tier 1: McDonalds and Burger King

Spoiler: *McDonald's vs Burger King*

*Head to Head comparison*

A year and a half ago, I'd have told you Burger King and McDonald's were evenly tied for "cheap filling food".

Today, it's McDonald's, since Burger King has downgraded their dollar burger THRICE in under three years.
Double-Cheeseburger -> Buck Double -> Single Stacker -> Bacon Burger (no cheese )

Now, McDonald's admittedly also downgraded their sandwich once:
Double Cheeseburger -> McDouble

But I can still put two bucks down and have a reasonably filling heart-killing dinner on the way home. Even for taste, I still find the McDouble better than the Big Mac, better than their Angus line, better than the Quarter Pounder and DQP.

As for chicken: The McChicken is a big hit-or-miss with me.
Made correctly, it's crispy hot and fairly tasty for the price. Made incorrectly, it's a tough, over-seasoned piece of shit covered in mayo-spunk.

The Southern Chicken Sammich is a direct knockoff of Chic-Fil-A's, only not QUITE as good.
Which means it's easily the best chicken item on the menu, and lightyears ahead of the Orange Heartburn Submarine BK offers.

What does BK have to keep it out of Tier 2?
They may have downgraded their cheapie burgers, but they have MASSIVELY upgraded their ice cream.
Their strawberry sundae is dirt cheap; at parity with McDonald's price, and it's much better quality no matter what type you get.

In the second bracket:
Tier 2: Taco Bell and Wendy's

Spoiler: *Taco Bell*

*Taco Bell*
It'd actually be #2 on my best-value fast food (in my area) and it isn't for any of their Tacos.
(especially those Doritos tacos...those things fall apart even worse than their regular hard shells).

It's for their Grilled Stuffed Burrito. One and a drink, and I'm good. Or if I haven't eaten, two. Fresco Bean Burritos are the second best, and even though they aren't cost-effective, I'm a sucker for both the Volcano Taco and Volcano Burrito.

My big strike against Taco Bell: They eliminated the chili-cheese burrito from the menu this year. Understandable, but dammit, I liked those since I was a kid. This is why they're now #3.

The Chili-Cheese Burrito will be added to the memorial of fast food items I liked but no longer exist.
+1996 Chipper Sandwich (DQ)
+2004 Spanish Omelette Bagel (McD's)
+2012 Chili-Cheese Burrito (Taco Bell)

Spoiler: *Wendy's*

*Wendy's*

This is probably the fast-food place I eat at the least, which is weird because they are poised right behind Burger King for availability (and were supposed to overtake BK as the second largest fast food franchise this year. Not sure if they achieved that though)

But my life schedule keeps me far FAR away from any Wendy's, and I'm never especially eager to go out of my way for them. I've been to one three times in the last year total.
I probably shouldn't even be commenting.

However, there is one fundamental constant of Wendy's.
Two words: "Large Frosty"

Smooth, cold cheap cocaine. Half the cost of an equivalent-sized Blizzard or Concrete Mixer, but plenty damn good.

Their chicken used to be effectively priced, and unlike BK, McDonald's, or KFC, their chicken looks like it was made for human consumption.

But the rest of their food always received a resounding "meh" from me.

Tier 3: Culvers & Dairy Queen
The pricy ice-cream shacks.

Spoiler: Culvers & Dairy Queen

These two have been doing the "property dance of death" in my area (Chicagoland).
They actively avoid trying to put down a Culver's where there is a DQ, and vice versa.

Good reason too, because I actually like both of them, although I will only rarely eat at either due to the cost.

Spoiler: Culvers

*Culvers*

Culvers has three big items, and none of them cheap:
1) Double Butter Burger with Cheese (American only to accent the angus taste. accept nothing else)
2) Chicken Tenders Basket w/cheese curds
3) Concrete Mixer with [Snickers + Heath] OR [Reeses Cups + Hot Fudge]

Locally, their burgers are unreal. Granted, I live on the border of the corn belt and our beef is the best in the fucking world (which is why most of it is exported, while most of our consumed beef is imported cheap shit from South America) but even then only a handful of dedicated local burger joints beat Culver's.

They lack the "fakey taste" most fast food places have, and that alone is worth the occasional indulgence.

Everything else I listed is just plain good. Period.

Spoiler: Dairy Queen

*Dairy Queen*
Used to be my favorite as a kid. Their burgers were 'meh', but they had GREAT chili-cheese dogs and awesome novelty ice cream. (natch)

Today...to the list!

1) Chicken Strips Basket (4 pc)
2) Quesadillas
3) Cheese Burgers (yes yes, I know)

The chicken basket would be inferior to Culvers in every way if not for one secret weapon: Gravy is an option. The DQ basket is basically the least-healthy option this side of the Triple Baconator, but damn. GRAVY. FUCKING GRAVY. THAT ISN'T KFC.
Texas Toast Fries with Gravy is AWESOME. I don't care if the sodium and fat is killing me!

Quesadillas are greasy as sin, but pretty damned good besides that. Again, kills me, but I like it.

They occasionally have the 2 for $3 cheese burgers, and depending on location, they can be really good, or just decent. I know one DQ near a mall where the grillmaster knows his shit, and another one where the burgers are basically slashed and dry.
Takes some recon.

Blacklist: Bottom Tier
These are the fast food chains I actively attempt to avoid eating at for one reason or another.

Spoiler: Bottom Tier

*Sonic*
Burgers taste WEIRD, shakes are overpriced for the quality (modestly better than McD's), and I can't even look at their hotdogs without getting queasy. I've been to them five times in five different locations, and they've all struck out in the same way.

*Dog and Suds*
Shit hotdog chain that I think finally went under in the last two years.
The less I remember, the better.

Good fucking riddance.

*Subway*
Horribly overpriced sub sandwich salmonella factories.

Outside of Perkins (which isn't fast food and the only reason it isn't on this list) I have gotten food poisoning from eating Subway than any other two fast food chains put together. That's not me going to the same place like a retard; I mean cross-country, different locations.

But even if I demand that to have every sandwich microwaved, their prices are fucking insane for what they're offering. It's just Sub sandwiches on cheap ass bread!

They don't even have great bread and vegetables like Potbelly's or Jimmy Johns; fuck even THOSE places are cheaper on average. If nothing else, I can get a large warm gooey PB&J or Italian sammich for half of what a Subway footlong meal costs.

*Quiznos*
Slightly less overpriced than Subway since the quality is better, but they aren't worth THAT much.

No, the biggest strike was their infamously awful ad-campaign featuring two dancing, singing turds (link to youtube video in 3...2...1...), making it the only fast food place whose advertising made me more ill than their food ever did.

*Kentucky Fried Chicken*

Their chicken is shit. Plain and simple.
Hell, everything outside of their mashed potatoes is either shit, or meh, and it's all overpriced.

Here in Chicago, we have the chicken trifecta of Brown's Chicken, Popeyes, and KFC, and of the three, KFC is the worst by far. Every year, I pop into one to see what has changed, and it baffles me how it keeps getting WORSE.

Er...OK. This was way longer than I was expecting.

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

Gonna have to go with White Castle on this one, partially for the taste and the half-reasonable portions, but mostly because, well...

Spoiler: I enjoy weed.

And movies having to do with it.

Burger King comes in at a close second, though. I agree that their fries just taste better, and my extremely Jewish hair appreciates the kosherness.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Hey Everyone! Starting today and up until the 20th McDonalds is offering Big Macs and, Quarter Pounders with Cheese for sale: buy one get one for a penny. This is in the United States, definitely on the east coast (I'm in the DC area so if it's not happening in New England or, Florida I apologize for bad regional info)

Anyway OT: I recently had a few orders from both BK and McDonalds recently and while McDonalds is always mostly hit or miss, Burger King is now serving Sweet-Potato fries. Burger King automatically wins.

 

[Beautiful End]

BK wins, hands down. Why?

-Taco Bell shouldn't even be called TACO Bell. They're not serving tacos! Tacos are made with soft tortillas and there's lime involved and salsa and the works. Those are...not it! It's like a US version of what a taco should look like so it should be called something like "US Mexican-like Snack Bell". I don't need to go any further than that.

-Mickey Ds: Is there anyone who still goes there because they enjoy the hamburgers being served? Seriously, grab your burger and give it a good whiff and then tell me it smells tasty. I'll admit I liked Mickey Ds' food a lot about a decade ago. but now, the food's smells drives me off immediately. And it's true; I'm the kind of person who gets small meals because I'm always in a rush. A Kids Meal comes with a burger that has 2 onion cubes, 1 pickle slice and two drops of mustard. And it still smells and tastes like ass. I'm not talking about value, I'm talking about quality.

Now, BK:
Their food is actually pretty good compared to the other two places. Their most basic burger comes with a buttload of vegetables: onion slices, lettuce, tomato, pickles. Heck, when my burger gets messy is because I can't keep the vegetables in place! The fries always feel as if they had just been cooked; they're soft and not too salty; perfect for me. McDonalds' fries are okay but they feel smaller and saltier in comparison. Yes, fast food will always be greasy but when the patty is grilled, i gives it a unique flavor.

Carl's and Whataburger are good too but...eh, I like BK better.
I also like KFC but I'll admit their food is one tic away from getting greasinly gross. I just made that term up.

 

[rayen020]

sonic, taco bueno, Whataburger.Hooray for regional fast food joints.

Also surprised Wendy's didn't make it in there...

 

[Little Duck]

As a man who has worked in fast food I'd like to weigh in on this.

McDonalds burgers are terrible. They are poorly made, most in the morning, and thy will be served to you at night. They do make the best chips granted, but that's it. Burger king, the oldest hot product you can buy was made 20 minutes AT THE LATEST ago (10 minute holding time in the heat, 10 minutes in the chute after it was made). More than that, I ate McDonalds all my life and could still eat burger king. I work at burger king for 3 months and I can never go to McDonalds again it is so poor in comparison.

Taco bell isn't even in this country, but KFC is and they do make the best chicken, if chicken is you thing.