The official ATOT Fast Food discussion thread

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Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,226
7,054
136
Arby's curly fries are solid. Definitely one of the better fries.

It's like that with lot of chains. The difference isn't huge but noticeable. The McDonald's in the Chicago areas were all solid and better than I had elsewhere. Chick-fil-A in Atlanta metro areas are solid. Some places are better than others but even the locations in the ghetto section of town are decent. I don't think I've had bad customer service at any Chick-fil-A locations.

Arby's curly fries & cheese sauce are awesome.

I'm still trying to figure out how to clone Chick-fil-a's waffle fries.

Atlanta has amazing food. Georgia is kind of under-rated for food, especially Altanta. Traffic aside, they have some bangin' food places there for sure.
 

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
Yesterday I ate at Blaze Pizza. It was basically copy of Chipotle concept on pizza. You walk through the line telling them what you want on the pizza and they top and cook it in the fire hot oven for about 3 minutes. Pizza was very thin. Concept was ok but lot more labor intensive than Chipotle with more employees. Single sized pizza was about $9. Quality was ok and you could make some pretty interesting pizza with about 50 topping/sauce choices available. But honestly, I'll take Costco food court pizza over it. I think Costco pizza tastes better. Or maybe I didn't get the right topped pizza. I tried BBQ chicken pizza, meat lover pizza, and Green Stripe pizza. The Green Stripe was probably the best as it was close to veggie pesto pizza I used to make when I owned a pizza restaurant. I can see Blaze Pizza spreading and becoming popular. Not Chipotle popular but it's the same concept and will appeal to similar Chipotle organic ingredients crowd.


my son works at a place like that that just opened in my little cow town. its ok but kinda expensive for what you get.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
26,067
24,393
136
I don't know who's running Potbelly but they need to expand. I think it's the best of the chain subs I had but I need to try again to confirm. Unfortunately, they don't have a location in my state.

I enjoyed their roast beef and cheddar as much as I would enjoy my favorite spiced ham and cheese at Jersey Mike's. Only issue is Potbelly stopped carrying Sour Cream & Onion Chips at their locations. That's the best kind of flavored chip out there! TRAVESTY!
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
800' used to be a lot better before they got investors and expanded everywhere
 

AznAnarchy99

Lifer
Dec 6, 2004
14,695
117
106
800' used to be a lot better before they got investors and expanded everywhere

They got investors for their initial store. It was Umami who funded them and expanded it all around. I know cause I was trying to get in on that lol.
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
ah, that's why it's so sihtty now because Umami is involved.
 

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
It really depends on if they use quality products. A true Neapolitan in a legit oven that's 800-900 degrees F really doesn't take that long to make so the concept works.

They do it right here.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/800-degrees-neapolitan-pizzeria-los-angeles

i dont care for the crust. the oven they imported from Italy, it has a blue shiney tile dome and the pizza stone rotates. im not sure how hot it is but it take just 3-4 min to cook a pie.

it looks like this but electric.

stg-pizzeria.jpg
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,675
1,843
126
I've heard teh same about Popeye's in NO compared to the rest of the country, at least regarding the biscuits. Popeye's biscuits are legendarily awful to anyone that has tried one, but in NO awful biscuits are verbotten. Apparently, the original Popeye's biscuit shack (also founded by the Popeye's founder) still operates and is very popular, so they are actually prepared fresh and are real biscuits in those local Popeye's restaurants.

I've also heard that no one in NO eats their red beans and rice, because people just go somewhere else. I've never been to NO myself....and I am 100% certain that Popeye's would never be on my list to eat there in order to confirm this. I want to believe it, because there is no way that a restaurant that puts "biscuit" in its name should be proud of the crap that they sell, outside of NO, anyway.

Their biscuits are okay and I've never had their red beans. Good red beans and rice, chicken, and biscuits are ubiquitous in New Orleans, so there's no reason to go to Popeyes. Al Copeland started a local chain called Copeland's which has really good stuff. Similar base flavors, but much higher quality. If you're going to serve food in New Orleans, you've got to come proper.
 

AznAnarchy99

Lifer
Dec 6, 2004
14,695
117
106
i dont care for the crust. the oven they imported from Italy, it has a blue shiney tile dome and the pizza stone rotates. im not sure how hot it is but it take just 3-4 min to cook a pie.

it looks like this but electric.

stg-pizzeria.jpg

Looks like the right type of oven. I know 800 uses wood to get it that hot.

I used to never care for the crust either but after having some amazing ones, the bread is just as important as the sauce/toppings.
 

JMC2000

Senior member
Jun 8, 2006
295
192
116
Their biscuits are okay and I've never had their red beans. Good red beans and rice, chicken, and biscuits are ubiquitous in New Orleans, so there's no reason to go to Popeyes. Al Copeland started a local chain called Copeland's which has really good stuff. Similar base flavors, but much higher quality. If you're going to serve food in New Orleans, you've got to come proper.
I find it funny that I've never been to a Copeland's outside of Louisiana that either tasted good, or didn't make me sick.

Had one open up on the fairly-well-to-do side of my hometown of Mobile, it didn't last all that long for some reason.

Through all of my travels, I've figured that if you want good Louisiana/New Orleans/Cajun-style cooking, you MUST visit Louisiana.
 

Linux23

Lifer
Apr 9, 2000
11,374
741
126
I'm at the point in my life where I am really thinking about opening up my own sandwich shop. There is nothing like a good sandwich done RIGHT.
 

Xstatic1

Diamond Member
Sep 20, 2006
8,982
50
86
Arby's curly fries & cheese sauce are awesome.

I'm still trying to figure out how to clone Chick-fil-a's waffle fries.

Atlanta has amazing food. Georgia is kind of under-rated for food, especially Altanta. Traffic aside, they have some bangin' food places there for sure.

If you do figure it out, please share recipe! :)


Speaking of Popeye's their $5 Bonafide Big Box is back March 20-31.

5-bonafide-big-box_mar20-31.jpg

Coolness. We occasionally eat there. Might have to grab dinner from there soon.