Showing posts with label fast food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fast food. Show all posts

8/19/2016

Fatburger Las Vegas Strip XL Burger


Fatburger Las Vegas Strip
I was in Las Vegas last week and I asked my good friend Travis where could I get a great tasting burger? Without hesitation he replied, "FATBURGER!" Travis lives in Vegas and I trust his opinion. That evening after work we stopped at Fatburger.

On a Tuesday at 7pm it was not crowded, a bonus for sure. Walking to the counter I surveyed the menu on the wall. I selected the X-Large Fatburger with bacon and American cheese. I added the "Skinny Fries" and a Coke Zero. Cost was just under $20.00

Inside Fatburger Las Vegas
I was handed a table number and we went to out table. In less than ten minutes our orders were brought to us. As you can see from the pictures published with this post, the burger is big, a half pound of grade A beef.

Fatburger X-Large Size And Skinny Fries
The bun was fresh, not soggy, the burger was well cooked and not greasy, the cheese was melted, and the bacon cooked, not a lot of bacon, but it was cooked. The taste was very good. Not the best burger I ever had, but it was delicious. And filling. The fries came in two types, skinny and fat. i opted for the skinny. They were well cooked and tasted good. The Coke Zero completed the meal. (Free refills on soda)


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

6/13/2013

Steak N Shake - Double Cheeseburger

steak-n-shake-cheeseburger
Double Cheeseburger
Is Steak N Shake a fast food joint or a restaurant?
From the outside it has the markings of a fast food setup with a drive through window. However, when walking inside, the decor is 50's style diner, black and white tiles, booths, and even a counter to eat at.

We sat down and a waitress took our order. Chalk one up for restaurant. I ordered a double cheeseburger and fries. It was brought to our table in less than ten minutes. (Another restaurant feature) The cheeseburger was excellent, in the top 10 list for sure. I watched them make the burgers on the grill before. They start with a fresh round ball of meat and using the spatula, smash into a thin patty. A few minutes of sizzling and the patty is flipped. Cheese is added and then placed on the bun.

The fries were thin cut, (We will call them Mini Fries) and were tasty especially with the dipping cheese sauce.

The cost was very cheap, (A fast food feature) $4.00 with fries. We paid and left a higher than usual tip for our waitress and walked out the door.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.75 out of 5 shots and recommends steak N Shake for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

7/15/2012

Bacon Hot Fudge Sundae From Burger King

Hell Yeah Bacon
Yes, I know it was out there, hanging out with the deep fried twinkies and deep fried cheeseburger and it was just a matter of time before it landed on the Blue Plate Special.

Let's break this down, ice cream, hot fudge, and bacon. Whip em all together and you have the Bacon Sundae. I will state, I was a skeptic, however, after the first bite, it's true, bacon makes everything taste better.

If you like bacon, and ice cream, make the drive to Burger King and score a bacon sundae today.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Burger King Bacon Sundae for dessert.




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

1/19/2012

KFC Lies To Customers

Driving down South avenue the other day I spied a KFC restaurant (Kentucky Fried chicken) and a minute later I found myself in the drive through. Since I was there I decided to order something. It would have been a little awkward if when the drive through window employee asked, "May I help you," and I said, "No, just browsing right now!" Instead, I ordered a #10 which was two chicken filets, a biscuit, wedge fries, and a Pepsi. All for $6 dollars. I was told to pull around to the window.

After I paid my $6 dollars, I was told that the filets were not cooked and it would be 5-6 minutes. She told me to pull over and park on the right and they would bring it out. I noticed the time and it was 5:24pm. I pulled over. It started to rain. Perhaps a bad omen.

Six minutes passed and still no winner winner chicken dinner. Ten minutes passed and KFC became officially liars. Three minutes later the KFC employee was spotted, running my take out bag to me in the pouring rain.

For a brief moment I thought of being mean, with it raining hard and the girl outside my Jeep window holding my take out, perhaps I would pretend not to notice her. Make her wait on me. Instead, I unzipped the window and took my order and drove off.

The moral of this post is:
KFC lies to its customers. When they tell you it will only be a 5-6 minute wait, expect that time to be at least double.

You see, I am at a loss for rating this take out dinner. The chicken was good, the fries and roll hot and tasty, but the service was down right despicable.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 1 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommend KFC Drive through for lunch or dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

12/30/2011

Youngstown - A&W Restaurant Last Meal


A&W Restaurant
A&W Family Restaurant located on Route 224 and West Boulevard is closing tomorrow. The details are sketchy but apparently the owners wanted to retire and attempted to sell the business but there were no takers. So, on December 31st, 2011, A&W will serve it's last mug of root beer and close it's doors for good. I believe Advanced Auto Parts purchased the property and will begin building shortly after the new year.

A&W was one of those old fashioned fast food restaurants. So old fashioned that they had car ports and waitresses would come out to your car and take your order and bring it out on a tray and attach it to your car window. Just like at Arnold's from the Happy Days television sitcom. The car ports are still there but alas, that type of service was discontinued a long time ago.

However, I remember back in my teens I would take my 68 Camaro to A&W and order up some cheeseburgers and root beer floats. The food was good as fast food goes, and the root beer was unique, a very good blend. Those were the days. But those days are gone my friends.

Patty and I went inside to order, it was not busy, perhaps 10 people sitting in the booths and two people ahead of us in line. We placed our order, I went with the double cheeseburger special. (A double cheeseburger and Root Beer for $3.49) I added a large order of french fries ($1.99) to complete my last meal at A&W.

Cheeseburger And Fries
Our meal took about five minutes to be ready and we took the tray of food to our table. As I unwrapped the cheeseburger, it didn't look at all like the A&W burgers from old. The bun was a generic bun, you can see the powder on the top of the bun. It was not buttered, not toasted, not warmed, just a plain old generic small bun. The burgers were also small, not at all as I remembered. And the taste, well, it was nasty. I liken the taste to horse meat. Patty told me to keep my voice down as I was ranting about the terrible taste. I replied, "What are they going to do, close the place down!" I choked down half the burger and left the rest in the wrapper.

I had hope for the fries. Alas, they were simple standard generic fries. No real taste to them and salty as all hell. And for $1.99 I was expecting perhaps a little more fries.

A&W Root Beer
Perhaps the root beer would be better than the meal. After all, the root beer is what made the restaurant favorite. I remember the tall thick frosty mugs they used to serve for in dining orders. That root beer just tasted fantastic. Not today's however. It was in a paper cup, and was flat and stale. No fizzle, no taste. I would think it was perhaps the worst soft drink I had the displeasure of tasting.

That was strike three for me. Patty however, said the chili dog was excellent so we have that.

Perhaps the restaurant was merely unloading what was buried back in their freezer long ago. (They never did find Jimmy Hoffa's body you know) Perhaps they didn't want to change the CO2 tanks in the soft drink machine. Who knows. Who really cares anymore. The place will be open only another 24 hours or so.

With heavy heart, because I really wanted A&W to go out of business on a high note, The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 1 out of 5 shots for the final meal at A&W Family Restaurant in Boardman, Ohio.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

11/02/2011

Hungry Howie's - Calzone

Hurry - Its Dying
A new fast food delivery restaurant opened up in Youngstown recently. It looked like a typical pizza joint place, and being the blue plate special king, decided to try them out.

I used the flyer that was in my mailbox and called in my take out order. I ordered the above item, which by the menu is a sausage and cheese calzone.

Pickup was painless, the order was ready, and it was correct. When I got home, I unwrapped my dinner and found this. A big blob of soggy dough, cheese, sauce, and what appeared to be rabbit turds.

The taste was, well, terrible. A soggy mess of ingredients congealing wrapped up in a box. I cannot confirm if it was sausage or rabbit turds. Or cheese for that matter. However, the sauce was plain tomato paste, no spice whatsoever.

The Grassy Knoll Diner awards 1.25 shots out of 5 and does not recommend Hungry Howie's for lunch or dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

10/20/2011

Taco Bell Taquito’s

Do they Even Make These Anymore
Well you knew I would get around to this some day. Taco Bell has a new item on their menu, (Seems to have something new every month) the Taquito that comes in two styles, the chicken or steak Taquito.

Basically, it's a grilled soft taco shell wrapped with chicken wedges with melted cheese all for only 99 cents.

As far as fast food fare goes, the Taquito wasn't bad. It was hot, with enough chicken and cheese except at the end of the shell, which was empty.

The cost, at 99 cents, it was a good deal for a fast food pick me up type of meal.

Reluctantly, the Grassy Knoll Diner awards 2.5 out of 5 shots to Taco Bell Taquiot's and recommends them for late night dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

10/16/2011

Burger King Bites

Just A Nip
Just the other day I was driving through Ripley,West Virginia and found myself low on gas and hungry. Needing to press on and get back on the road, I foolhardily stopped at the local Burger King that was just off the Route 77 highway. I have not eaten at Burger King in over four years. I now remember the reason.

I go to the counter and order a hamburger and fry to go. About five minutes later, my order number was called and my order was handed to me. There was absolutely no interaction at all. The employee simply held out the bag until I walked over and took it out of her hand. She (The Burger King employee) said nothing like, Thank you, Have a nice day, Thank you for eating at Burger King, she just simply held the bag out over the counter.

I opened the bag to find this pathetic example of a hamburger. What the Hell, did someone take a bite out of my hamburger before they wrapped it up. It certainly looks like someone did. 

Anyway, the hamburger was dry, small, had a bite taken out of it, and was devoid of taste. The bun was soggy and flat. The cost of this single hamburger was $1.78 not including the fries. The fries were adequate, standard fare fast food fries except these were salted several times to much.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 0 out of 5 shots and will never visit Burger King again and DOES NOT recommend Burger King for lunch or dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

9/30/2011

Jimmy Johns - Turkey Bacon Cheese Sub

Jimmy Johns Subs Boardman Ohio
Jimmy Johns Subs Boardman Ohio
Jimmy John's shares a building with 5 Guys restaurant across the street from the southern Park mall. Patty (My darling wife) told me about Jimmy John's in Youngstown and raved about it. We decided to try the Boardman location. Walking in, we were the only customers, seating to the right empty, no one in the drive through, but that is OK.

There were five employee's inside behind the counter and they were all very pleasant. One asked us if we were ready to order.I ordered a turkey, cheese, and bacon sandwich. I asked if they toasted but they do not.
Jimmy Johns Turkey Cheese And Bacon Sandwich
Jimmy Johns Turkey Cheese And Bacon Sandwich
In a few minutes, our order was up and we took our sandwiches to a table. Opening the sandwich, this is what I saw.
Bacon: Five full slices. Cold.
Cheese: Two thin slices of American cheese.
Turkey: Two thin slices of turkey breast.
Bread: The bun was home made, very fresh and good. Size was approximately 8 inches.
Not there: No fries are offered, only chips. 

I will say the sandwich tasted good. Not great, not bad, but good. Perhaps if there were a couple more slices of turkey and cheese and the option to have it toasted, it would have been an outstanding sandwich.

The cost with a diet coke was just under $7 dollars. The table was clean, in fact, the entire restaurant was clean. That is always a plus. 
Jimmy Johns Counter Service
Jimmy Johns Counter Service
While we were eating our sandwiches, the radio was playing over speakers. One song was by the Police, with Sting singing Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light. If you know the song, Sting (The singer) really accentuates the word Roxanne. I know the song well, and when the Roxanne verse came around, I would belt out "Roxanne" along with Sting. Patty told me to stop singing. I was used to it. Ever since first grade, I was told by the teachers that I shouldn't be singing.

Anyway, a minute later, we over heard the gentleman behind the counter that took our order singing Roxanne. He accentuated "Roxanne" the same as I did. Patty and I looked over and smiled and laughed and he looked a tad embarrassed. He smiled and continued on his singing doing his job. A good time was had by all.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3.25 out of 5 shots and recommends Jimmy John's subs for dinner.

P.S. We will return in the near future. Perhaps Iron Butterfly will be playing on the radio. In A Godda Da Vida Baby....


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

9/28/2011

Steak N Shake - Cheeseburger And Fries

Steak N Shake Double Cheeseburger
Steak N Shake Double Cheeseburger
About 15 years ago there was a fast food restaurant in Boardman, Ohio called G.D. Ritzys. It reminded me of another old time restaurant open in the 1960's and 70's, Mister Wheelers. Both Ritzys and Wheelers had some fantastic cheeseburgers and unique french fries. Steak N Shake is close to these restaurants.

I pulled in to the parking lot and found myself inside Steak N Shake. I took a seat at the counter and the waitress took my order almost immediately. Of course, I ordered the double cheeseburger and fries.

From my vantage point at the counter, I watched the grill boy take two balls of hamburger and slap it on the grill. Using his spatula he smashed them into very thin patties. A couple minutes later he flipped them over and placed a slice of cheese on top of each patty. It looked just as Ritzys and Wheelers burgers looked. A minute later, my fries were being shuffled into a cardboard box and my burger was being wrapped in a paper sack. (A good omen indeed) I paid the cashier, cost was just under $6 dollars which included a drink and drove home.

The cheeseburger was hot, well cooked, the bun fresh and not soggy, and the cheese melted. The taste was one of the best fast food burgers on the market today. They call it a steak burger, but they are all hamburger meat. The burger was juicy and tasted very good. The show string fries were plentiful, more than i anticipated, well cooked, a little salty, but very good tasting. This meal brought back memories of the old Mister Wheelers restaurant from so long ago.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends  Steak N Shake double cheeseburger for lunch and dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/02/2011

Dunkin Donuts – Sausage Egg And Cheese Wrap

Dunkin Donuts Breakfast Wrap
Dunkin Donuts Breakfast Wrap
I remember when Dunkin Donuts only sold coffee and donuts. That was a long time ago. Today, they have at least 50 different coffee flavors but more importantly, they have these new fangled breakfast wraps.
As I was getting a coffee for Patty, I spied the wraps. I had to have one. I ordered the sausage, egg, and cheese wrap. The counter girl sprang into action, taking out a frozen round egg patty and sausage patty and a slice of cheese plus the wrap. All went into an over, (I suspected it was a microwave oven) and it cooked for less than a minute.
As she pulled out the tray, I asked what kind of oven it was. She said it wasn’t a microwave but some sort of high-speed hot air oven such and such. Anyway, she wrapped it up and bagged it for me.
As you can see, the wrap is not really a wrap, but sort of a small soft taco. The cost was proportional, at $1.29 for what you see. Of course it was hot, the cheese melted, the sausage and egg hot and the taste was good. I was pleasantly surprised.
The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Dunkin Donut breakfast wraps for breakfast or a snack.                 

LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

1/29/2011

Chick-Fil-A Chicken Breakfast Biscuit

Chick-Fil-A Chicken Breakfast Biscuit
Chick-Fil-A Chicken Breakfast Biscuit
My son Patrick found out that if you go to Chick-Fil-A drive through in the late morning and order from the lunch menu, you may just receive a little extra with your order. Today was no different.
Inside the take out bag, was a foil wrapped sandwich marked ‘Free Sample’ that contained a breakfast chicken biscuit. This was a no frills biscuit with a piece of breaded fried chicken in between.
Surprisingly, it tasted pretty damn good. The biscuit was fresh and the chicken well cooked and juicy and hot. The cost, well, it was free. Apparently, a few minutes before the restaurant switches gears and goes from breakfast to lunch, whatever breakfast items they have left are given away to the lucky patrons ordering at the right time.
The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends Chic-Fil-A chicken biscuits for breakfast.                  

LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

1/21/2011

Subway - Foot Long Steak And Cheese Sub

Subway Philly Cheese Steak
Subway Philly Cheese Steak
Last week I ordered the $8 dollar Big Philly Cheesesteak sub. Just the other day, I ordered the $6 dollar foot long steak and cheese sub. One was 6 bucks, the other 8 bucks. Upon close inspection, I could not distinguish any difference in the sandwiches. Except of course the $2 dollar cost.
The sandwich tasted exactly the same, with the same amount of chopped steak, was prepared the exact same way. (Toasted) But it was $2 dollars cheaper so it ranks a tad higher. My advice, do not order the Big Philly Cheesesteak, all you do is pay $2 dollars more.
The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3 out of 5 shots and recommends Subway Foot Long Steak And Cheese for dinner.

LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

1/12/2011

Wendy’s Natural Cut Fries

Wendys Natural Cut Fries
Wendys Natural Cut Fries
Wendy’s fast food restaurant had some pretty tasty french fries in the past but in a bold move, much like Coca-Cola did in the past, changed up the recipe and hoped for the best. Unlike Coke, Wendy’s bold move paid off.
I saw all the commercials touting Wendy’s Natural Cut Fries with sea salt made from whole russet potatoes. On my way home, I stopped at the drive through for some fries. The attendant asked, “Welcome to Wendy’s, may I take your order?” Feeling saucy, I replied, “No thanks, I’m just looking!” After several moments of awkward silence, I ordered a large order of the new fries. (Please pull forward to the second window)
The cost: $1.69 for the large. The order was correct and delivered in a quick fashion. The fries were fresh and hot. The container was full, a very fair portion.
To the taste: As stated above, Wendy’s fries were very good in the past, but the new fresh-cut fries are outstanding. They were well cooked, not soggy, not to crunchy, and the sea salt or whatever was just the right spice. These were some damn good fries. Not Idora Park level, (The ultimate fry) but very good.
The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 4.25 out of 5 shots and recommends Wendy’s Natural Cut Fries for lunch and dinner.

LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

1/09/2011

Subway – Philly Cheese Steak Foot Long

Subway Philly Cheese Steak
Subway Philly Cheese Steak
Subway restaurant has plenty of sandwich selections. While I was waiting in line to place my order, I spied in the premium section the Big Philly Cheesesteak. When it was my turn, I ordered the foot long on Italian bread and asked for it to be toasted. It was built in just a few minutes.
The cost was $8 dollars for the foot long. The bread was fresh, and toasted, not burnt. The provolone cheese was fully melted, the chopped steak hot and juicy. A little pricey for 8 bucks, but if you don’t stick with the value menu, prices are high.
The taste was good as I noticed no fatty meat in the sandwich and had just the right texture. Mind you, this was no Geno’s or Pat’s Philly steaks, but for fast food, it was adequate.
The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2.75 out of 5 shots and recommends Subway Big Philly Cheesesteak for lunch and dinner.

LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

8/11/2010

Subway - $5 Dollar Meatball Sandwich

Subway Foot Long Meatball Sub
Subway Foot Long Meatball Sub
Five... Five dollar.... Five dollar foot long... At Subway. The Boardman and Youngstown, Ohio area has several Subway restaurants. I stopped at the one on Market Street in Boardman on the way home from work.

I walked up to the counter, the counter girl was pleasant and asked me what I wanted. I ordered the $5 dollar meatball sandwich with cheese on Italian bread. She asked if I wanted my sandwich toasted and I said yes.

I watched the small assembly line as she made my sandwich and then popped it into the over for approximately 30 seconds. She wrapped it and as the commercial stated, the cost was $5 dollars.

First, there were eight small sized meatballs, enough sauce, and adequate cheese. The meatballs were hot, the cheese melted, and the bun toasted. The taste surprised me. It was pretty good. I was expecting bland meatballs but these were just spicy enough. As with all meatball sandwich's, it was a bit messy to eat but I was able to handle it.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3.5 out of 5 shots and recommends Subway Meatball Sandwich's for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

12/21/2009

Fannie Farkle’s Corn Dogs – (Ogle Dogs)

Famous Ogle Dogs
I was in Gatlinburg back in November when the weather was very pleasant, temperatures in the low 70's. As I was strolling the parkway enjoying the sunshine, I stopped in Fannie Farkle's to have myself a giant foot long corn dog.

Cooking The Ogles
The corn dogs were on display in the front window of the store. Even after seeing them, I still ventured inside to buy one. You could smell the grease outside, a large tub of cooking corn dogs. I then noticed they didn't sell corn dogs, but Ogle Dogs. Apparently Ogle Dogs are the house favorite of Fannie farkle's.
Ogle In A Bag
With it being not busy, I thought I would get waited on right away. After all, there were only four people in the building. Three were already eating on the side counter and one was ordering a sausage sandwich. It took five minutes for one of the three cashiers to ask if I wanted something. (No, no, I'm just inside your corn dog building admiring the impressive art decco) A few minutes later, he wraps my corn dog up in this fancy Fannie Farke take out bag.
Yeah - I Know
The cashier rang up my corn dog, the cost, $5 dollars plus tax. Yes, $5 dollars, and that was only for the corn dog, no fries, no chips, no beverage. Unwrapping the bag, I was met with this log. It smelled of old grease, and in a moment, I found that it tasted like old grease as well.

Continuing with the taste, it was well cooked, not burned, and the hot dog inside the dough was hot completely through. As corn dogs go, it was of regular tasting, but the old grease taste had a strong presence. After a few bites, the rest of the corn dog was laid to rest in the trash container outside of Fannie Farkle's.

PS: Technically, it was a a foot long corn dog, but upon inspection, it was two regular hot dogs on the same stick. Not splitting hairs here, just reporting the findings.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommend Fannie Farkle's Corn Dogs for dinner.



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL


Responses to “Fannie Farkle’s Corn Dogs – (Ogle Dogs)”


  1. Max Jackl said

    WTF! That looks like it came straight out of a porno movie.

  2. Moominboy said

    Ok, so if I understand this correctly, a corn dog is a hot dog covered in… cooked corn? Fried corn? Or what is it? And why would anybody want to buy it? o.O

9/30/2009

Elephant Ear Restaurant - Cheeseburger - Fries

Elephant Ear Restaurant Fair food
Elephant Ear Restaurant 

It's the end of September and the local and state fairs are now just a recent memory. Some wishing they would have bought that giant Elephant Ear or hot sausage sandwich smothered in peppers and onions.

As if my prayers had a direct hot line to the big guy, a new restaurant popped up in my old town called the Elephant Ear. The menu was simple and ingenious. All your fair food favorites.

We pulled in and the place was packed. There was one parking spot left out of about 25 in the lot. It must be good if the place is packed right?
Elephant Ear Corn Dog
Elephant Ear Corn Dog
The layout was simple. A small sit down area with a few booths and tables, maybe seating for 25-30 people. An order and pickup counter on the left side. We waited in line for our turn. We waited about 5 minutes to place our order. After we placed our order, it took almost 20 minutes for our order to come up. That is why the place was packed. The food preparation was very slow. We noticed that everyone sitting at the tables and booths were waiting for orders.

Finally, our number was called and I retrieved our order. Of course I had to order a corn dog. It was standard fare, (Fair) and standard size. It was cooked well and tasted good. I have to say, it tasted just like the Canfield Fair corn dogs. And at $2.75 it better.
Elephant Ear Cheeseburger And Fries
Elephant Ear Cheeseburger And Fries
The second part of my artery clogging dinner was a cheeseburger and original "Fair" french fries. The cheeseburger was nothing special, no outstanding qualities. The bun was a little beat up, and it looked like it was just tossed in the container. It was well cooked, the cheese melted, the beef adequate quality.

The fries, on the other hand, were not "Fair" quality. In fact, they were pretty horrendous. Perhaps if they were cooked properly, they would have tasted better. They had the texture of fat spaghetti strings. They were soggy, wet, greasy, and well, terrible. The cost was $6 dollars for the combo which was reasonable if the fries were edible.

So, the service was terrible, the food below average, and the price adequate. However, I have to commend the owners for the unique idea of Fair food without all the stinky animals and smelly pumpkins and rotting hay. Since the restaurant was still new, I have decided to give them one more chance to redeem themselves. With that.....

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2.5 out of 5 shots and is on the fence about recommending Elephant Ear Restaurant for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

5/18/2009

KFC - Big Box Meal

KFC Big Box Meal
KFC Big Box Meal
So I ordered the KFC Big Box meal deal. From the commercial, it looked like you were getting a boat load, (Or box full of food) but when opening it, not so much. For the record, I ordered the standard box with one exception. I wanted the chicken sandwich to have no mayo on it.
KFC Big Box Dinner
KFC Big Box Dinner
As you can see, the chicken sandwich was in the top left quadrant and the biscuit located on the bottom left. The top right side held two chicken strips, original recipe of course, and one original recipe leg. A tub of mashed potatoes completed the ensemble on the bottom right.
KFC Buck Chicken Sandwich
KFC Buck Chicken Sandwich
Where to begin. The chicken sandwich had mayo on it rendering it uneatable. Into the trash it went. The mashed potatoes were processed of course but were not bad. The chicken strips were good, crispy, and tasty. The leg was all you remember about Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was greasy, fatty, juicy, but tasted damn good. The biscuit was good as well.

The cost was 8 bucks, pretty steep when you look at what you really got. We know the snack sandwich is 99 cents, and the three piece chicken strip dinner is $3.99 making the strips 99 cents at the max, and the leg 99 cents at the max, the biscuit, under a buck, and a side of potatoes at 99 cents. Add all six pieces up and you get 6 bucks if purchased individually. Apparently you pay 2 dollars for the snazzy box the food comes packed in.

KFC committed a fatal error here. Actually two errors. One, the order was incorrect. Two, the cost was exceedingly high.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 1.5 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommend KFC Big Box Meal for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

4/11/2009

Five Guys Burgers - Cheeseburger And Fries

Five Guys Burgers And Fries
Five Guys Burgers And Fries
Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips used to stand where Five Guys is now. Arthur's was there for as long as I can remember. Just a little while ago, they closed their doors and Five Guys had the building torn down and erected a new one. Naturally, we had to try the new burger joint.
Five Guys Menu
Five Guys Menu
Parking was easy, as there were only a few cars in the lot. Once inside, of course the place was sparkly clean. It was a brand new building. There were several prominent banners touting how famous Five Guys Burgers were. (I have never heard of them before) Anyway, we bellied up to the counter and placed our orders. I asked for the cheeseburger, large french fries, and regular size diet Coke.
Five Guys Cheeseburger
Five Guys Cheeseburger
This is the $4.59 Five Guys cheeseburger. Yes, that's right. Four and a half bucks for this so called "Famous" Five Guys burger. To me, not so much. I will say it wasn't terrible, but after seeing all the accolades posted all over the store, this burger was highly disappointing.
Five Guys Fries In A Cup
Five Guys Fries In A Cup
This is the $3.79 order of large fries. (Cooked in pure, no cholesterol, tasty peanut oil) Seriously, almost four bucks for a pack of fries. The fries were good, but not $4 dollars good.
Fries At The Bottom Of The Bag
At the bottom of the sack, there were some greasy fries left. I found it very strange to receive my order in a take out bag when we ordered for dining in. They even gave us a tray.

Here's how the dining experience went. Placed order, given an orange tray. Sat down at our table, waited for our number to be called. 10 minutes later our number was called, our order was packed in a take out sack. We were handed two empty plastic cups, the server motioned to the Coke dispenser on the left, we filled our cups, took the sack to our table, separated our dinners. No napkins were on the table, looked for napkins, found none, looked for salt, ketchup, mustard, found none. Asked the server, we had to go back to the counter to ask, we ate our dinner, and left.

Let's tally the dinner tab. A $4.59 cheeseburger, a $3.79 order of fries, and a $1.59 regular size diet Coke. What you see here is $9.97 of food. Sadly, McDonalds has better tasting burgers and fries and a hell of a lot cheaper. MsDonald's offers you a double cheeseburger for 99 cents, a large order of fries for $1.79 and a regular diet Coke for 79 cents for a total of $3.57 of food.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommends Five Guys for lunch or dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL