I never said I didn’t get burgers at any of those other places in person. I love Huey’s. I doordash 5 Guys because I think the burger is great and I can get an excellent chocolate milkshake with it. Like I said, it’s just a monthly treat.
ETA: Thanks!
If I ever make it to Memphis, which I probably won’t, I plan on having a burger at Dyer’s. I don’t get the impression that it’s good food by any stretch of the imagination, but “eating a burger that’s been deep-fried in 112-year-old liquid beef fat” is something I’d like to do just for the experience.
I haven’t been there in years but I remember the burgers were tasty. They moved to a different place several years ago and had a police escort when they moved the grease pot. 
McDonald’s is a little better. You get 100 points for every dollar you spend on the app. (I think you can also get points by scanning your receipt.) Looking right now, the “rewards” are as follows;
1500 points = McChicken, hash brown, ice cream cone, or regular cheeseburger
3000 points = Medium fry, sausage burrito, 6 piece McNugget, or large iced coffee
4500 points = Large fry, large frappe, Filet-O-Fish, or sausage McMuffin
6000 points = Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Happy Meal, or BEC biscuit
So $60 equals a free Big Mac. Which, if you’re ordering for two adults and two kids, you could probably hit in two visits these days.
I have complete faith that you can acquire the skills to make those specific dishes if you want to. Which, well, is entirely up to you. I know plenty of people who find the joy of any take-out is that they don’t have to acquire the skills, or a kitchen full of Chef-toys!
But seriously, reheating in an oven, a toaster oven, or any other hot dry heat method would work fine after putting it on some aluminum foil (if you don’t have a tray), heating the gravy or chili in a pot or microwave, and melting cheese on top is about as easy as it gets.
Which is NOT to say it’s effortless the way delivery or take out is!
Me, I like to eat (too much), and I’m cheap, so cooking is my route to being overweight.
I am not sure what magic you people do.
I have learned that fries are never good delivered…it takes too long and they suffer for it (they steam themselves and/or cool off too much). I LOVE French-fries but only when served fresh and hot.
Worse, fries the next day are just…bad. I’ve tried many ways to re-heat them and it never turns out well. Edible…but only just.
If you have some magic for day-old French-fries please let me know.
Really, REALLY hot and fast. Like ROCKET hot. An air-fryer at 375-400 (and preheated before they go in!) or so for a Very short while (and you have to watch it). Depending on the greasiness, a quick spay of oil (from a Misto or the like) will help the surface re-fry. Only if they have minimal surface oil left though. And make sure it’s in a single layer, with space between them in a wire basket for example.
But no, IMHO they’re not as Good as they were fresh, but it does get them back to 70%? Maybe 80% depending on the fry. Which is why I suggested using it to make a fry-adjacent dish.
Hot and fast, hot and fast, hot and fast.
Air fryer
Will a convection oven do? (never been clear if they are basically the same thing)
When people use the app, they can fire the $18/hr cashier.
Back in the day, you had a row of registers, each run by a dedicated cashier. Today, there’s one register and someone in the cooking/drive-thru area needs to notice you and come over to take your order.
Hearing that people reheat leftover fries is like learning somone washes aluminium foil to use it again. It’s just weird.
Not very close. I’m not actually sure how an air fryer works, but it must be much more concentrated hot air than what you get in a convection oven, which seems to be a regular oven with a maybe 20% boost from the convection.
On the larger topic, it doesn’t make me feel at all bad if fewer people are eating fewer french fries (the stupid text editor wants me to capitalize “french” but I refuse). They are one of those foods that I find too delicious (if served fast and hot, as above) to not eat too many of. I have to watch my carbs, being pre-diabetic and trying not to cross over, and there are better uses for the carbs I allow myself than french fries.
Same, I always reheat the fries before I eat if we get delivery.
This is an entire thread of why we rarely eat fast good (like twice a year when traveling). That was my take until I got to the end and the subject of air frying the leftover fries came up. Want hot tasty fries from McDs at your home? Buy “Grown in Idaho” brand and pop them in your air fryer. They are built by Lamb Weston and complete our home made burgers (much, much better than fast food) when we make them. Costs a lot less and taste way better. We have several ways of making home made burgers. All better than we can buy and very easy as well. It’s out go to “we don’t want to cook” meal.
Around here, “Weston” was the name of a baked goods company that is inextricably associated with sliced white bread. So in my addled brain, “Lamb Weston” immediately suggests a lamb sandwich on white, with lettuce and mayo, no fries.
Man, I really thought my grandson eats enough fries all by himself to keep the producers happy. Actually, he would, but his parents won’t let him.
I used to really like McDonalds food, but I just never crave it anymore. I like the In and Out burger or just a homemade patty melt. Those are much better options.
I don’t understand the fascination that some people have with McDonald’s fries. When I first got my air fryer, I tried it out with some 5-minute frozen shoestring fries. They were fine. By sheer coincidence (I go to McDonald’s maybe once or twice a year) I got a burger there later that day. My impression of the fries? They tasted exactly the same as the ones out of my air fryer earlier.
Neither was bad, but I don’t consider air-frying frozen fries to be a major benefit of the air fryer except for the convenience. Homemade fries are 1000x better.
In my case, I’ve shifted to smaller fries for calorie/salt reasons. I don’t plan to give them up completely, but a smaller size will satisfy an urge for fries with fewer calories and less salt than the larger sizes.
Kind of shocked, and horrified, or something.
Primarily at the economics of fry-purchasing and breakdown of food costs for fast food joints.
No, I can only add anecdotes, but when I’m in a rush, like on the way into work, for what would be my one meal of the day, it’s always fries that dictates the choice of places to stop. Burger or whatever sandwich is secondary…you know, whatever: some stuff on a bun or so forth.
Jack in the Box curly “seasoned” fries and as I’ve lately discovered, Popeye’s “large” fries are ginormous, comes in a box unto itself.
Return of Slingblade is likely? French fried potatoes and all that?
In raw ingredients, it has to be a profit center, but I don’t know anything about the restaurant business…they still have fixed labor costs, plus the skill of whatever manager of anticipating orders and balancing dedicated labor to dropping and retrieving fries before they become burned husks or limp things sitting under a heat lamp.
ISWYDT