All of this reviewing of NYC food makes me miss all those wonderfully crappy chain places down south that haven't quite made it north yet. Here's my Top 5.
5) Cracker Barrel. This one is really for Evan, who really really loves the place. These Southern cooking/general store hybrids can be found along major highways and interstates, ready to serve you up some fresh chicken fried steak, grits, and baked cinammon apples. While you wait for your food, you can play with the little pegboard games. After you're done eating, stop in the general store and buy yourself some religious paraphernalia and 10 cent candy sticks. The closest one we've found is in New Jersey, which we once went out of our way to visit on a road trip to Baltimore.
www.crackerbarrel.com
4) Chick-Fil-A. The creator of the chicken sandwich. I think that the pieces of chicken at this place are actually fried in crack, which is why they are so addictive. It's kind of cheating to put it on this list as a NYC location actually DOES exisit....but it's in an NYU dorm. To get to it, you must breeze in past the security guard and walk with a purpose into the dining hall, but only after you've glued a look of moneyed contempt on your place that says "My parents might pay for my tuition, apartment, and cocaine habit, but I can buy my own Chick-Fil-A, thankyouverymuch." The NYU place does in a pinch, but nothing beats a real brick and mortar freestanding location. Oh, and they're all closed on Sundays for religious reasons, so plan accordingly.
www.chick-fil-a.com
3) Whataburger. When Evan and I took an impromptu trip down to Texas last fall, I forced my vegetarian sister to drive us to the nearest Whataburger on the way home from the airport. Upon getting his burger and unwrapping it from the pleasant goldenrod colored paper, Evan exclaimed "THIS is a REGULAR SIZED burger?!" You see, the regular sized burger at Whataburger (which is pronounced "waterburger", by the way) is the size of a newborn child's head. It's the best fastfood hamburger known to man. Whataburger is also the home of the world's best breakfast food, the so-hot-you'll-blister-your-lip fried apple pie. This heavenly chain with the distinctive triangle-shaped building began in Corpus Christi and is open 24-hours, a fact that I frequently abused in college.
www.whataburger.com
2) Casa Ole. Say what you want, but the tex-mex at this delightfully crappy chain is better than ANY tex-mex that i've had in NYC. So what if it all tastes a bit microwaved? The mysterious green sauce that you get with the chips and salsa for free is the one thing that I MUST eat whenever I'm home, and where else can you get 99 cent margaritas every Tuesday? You could plausibly get a full dinner with two margaritas and still leave a nice tip for $10 at this place. It's also always either attached to a mall, or kind of hovering in the parking lot, so it's a nice break from shopping. I ate many a meal at Casa Ole in college and can still sing the theme song when prompted. In high school, my hooligan friends and I went at least once a month and lied and said it was someone's birthday, so that we could hear the birthday song about chimichangas and get the free trans fat cinammon and sugar chimichanga creation. I'm pretty sure they were on to us, but we never got turned down.
www.casaole.com
1) Sonic. Oh Sonic. You continue to tease me by running your advertisements nationally, despite the fact that you are nowhere near NYC. The burgers and fries at this drive-up establishment are quite tasty, but here are the three real reasons that people go to Sonic: Cheese-tots, Ched-R-Peppers, and the drinks. You could probably come up with a million different drink combos at this place, but I always order a cherry limeade slush. When we went on that trip to Texas, we were there for about three days, and visited Sonic twice. My small hometown had THREE Sonics, but the one by the mall was the best because the waitresses wore rollerskates to take your order, and then deliver it to your car. I really love this place.
www.sonicdrivein.com
Runner Ups:
Taco Bueno. Kind of like Taco Bell, but a bit fresher. The Mexi-Dips, oh my god.
Taco Cabana. Mexican fastfood, really only noteworthy because they sold booze and were open 24-hours.
Wienerschnitzel. Really cheap fantastic hot dog place. My dad and I like to go and get kraut dogs here.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Top 5 Chain Places You Can't Find in NYC
Posted by Spring at 10:24 AM
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4 comments:
Oh Whataburger. There are so many wonderful things that I can add about this place. Like the real cream gravy that after just 15 minutes of sitting out would start to congeal (sp?). It was also the first place I remember that would be open 24 hours and took credit card. It was a mecca in high school.
Taco C does have awesome tortillas. Some of my favorites.
I also miss Dairy Queen. I know there are ones in many other places, including NJ and LI, but none in NYC.
Your blog makes me sad and miss home.
Its so funny, the first thing jeff and i did when we got back to texas was make his dad take us to whataburger! However, it was newer branch and pretty terrible. We were, however, shocked at the size of the "small" drink and "small" fries. Next time I'll go during breakfast and have taquitos. Oh and seconded on the cream gravy in the comment below.
I actually prefer Taco Cabana over Casa Ole. They have cheese enchiladas that don't use that sticky cheese all the cheap places use. If you've never had their cheese enchiladas you should try them, they are surprisingly good. I still miss two pesos though. It was worlds better than taco cabana. Where is Taco Bueno? I've never seen one.
I also feel teased with the sonic commercial, but not nearly as teased as Chili's. I almost want to go to Long Island just so i can have nachos at chili's. Boy do I miss nachos that i didn't make that aren't just cheese sprinkled on a pile of chips. Even a black bean burger would be nice.
Thank you! Seriously, WHY does Sonic run ads in NYC when there is no Sonic for miles? It's cruel...
Another runner-up is the Midwestern chain Culver's - custard, butter burgers...mmm....
Being on the other side of the coin as someone who moved from NYC to a small southern town I can say I totally do not appreciate the abundance of chain restaurants here. I would MUCH rather have actual variety like NYC does. I miss being able to get any ethnic food that I desired. It is so much better and healthier to be able to get good, ethinc, varied foods rather than chain restaurant garbage. I would trade all of the Arby's, Chik Fil A's and Olive Gardens here for one good Greek restaurant or a good Thai food place.
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