# Overrated food and drink (brands) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 12, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515 "2023-10-12T11:40:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/301 "2023-12-17T11:46:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Never had them. I’d give them a try if I ever saw one - they sound interesting. (To **Mahaloth**. Animal-style I’ve had. Lots.) > > If I was going by sheer number eaten, Farmer Boys and Del Taco would be my Top 2. That’s because they are between home and work, so I default to one or the other. #1 is a LA area chain known more for their pastrami than their burgers, but a custom burger from [The Hat](https://thehat.com/locations/) is what I dream of at night. I ADORED the Hat when I was in Orange County! Pastrami for me, please. And their fries and onion rings portions were actually TOO generous. **Kaylasmom** and I could never finish a full order of either one between us. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/302 "2023-12-17T15:32:41Z")
My standard challenge to my debate team was that if any 2 of them could finish an order of pastrami chili cheese fries (with pickles and tomatoes) in 30 minutes I’d buy dinner for the entire squad. In 35 years I never had to pay. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/303 "2023-12-17T16:57:55Z")
These are high schoolers? At least some of whom are boys? That’s a very impressive record. Next time I’m out there … ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/304 "2023-12-17T17:56:55Z")
Yep. Thought I would have to pay off about 5 years ago, but they couldn’t pull it off under time. They DID finish, but it took them 45 minutes. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/aHt3ClE.jpeg "Pastrami Chili Cheese Fries from The Hat") ](https://imgur.com/aHt3ClE) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/305 "2023-12-17T18:25:01Z")
I’m glad you took a picture. Yipes! In my teens or 20s I could have eaten my share, at least as to bulk, if not as to richness, and probably not in 30 minutes. Now? By the time I was full you could tell somebody had been gnawing on the edges, but that’s about it. I couldn’t quite decipher the online menu but it seems the large chili fries with pickles and tomatoes is $8.19 with no mention of pastrami. What does this marvel of excess cost as pictured? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/306 "2023-12-17T18:33:10Z")
Throw pastrami on anything is another couple of bucks. All the way fries will set you back a little over $13. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/307 "2023-12-17T18:43:17Z")
It will set your health back quite a bit too. Ah, to be young - ish again for food consumption. In summer at RPI, guys and I would go to the Friendly’s for hand packed pints of ice cream - every day. The young gals knew we were looking when they’d reach back to get flavors in the freezer. Different colored panties each day! Midnight or later after a hockey game, we’d go to the diner at the bottom of Hoosick St. (began with a “P” but I forget) for giant cheeseburgers, baskets of fries, and pitchers of Coke or Pepsi. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/308 "2023-12-17T21:16:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > All the way fries will set you back a little over $13. A family of 4 could eat a couple days on that one item very cost-effectively. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/309 "2023-12-17T21:26:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m glad you took a picture. Yipes! Yes, and now I want an order. to share. and a side of Tums. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/310 "2023-12-17T22:05:52Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I ADORED the Hat when I was in Orange County! Pastrami for me, please. And their fries and onion rings portions were actually TOO generous. **Kaylasmom** and I could never finish a full order of either one between us. Yeah, I usually went to The Hat with coworkers, and we never ordered more than one order of fries or rings for the whole table. > [@smithsb](#): > > In summer at RPI, guys and I would go to the Friendly’s for hand packed pints of ice cream - every day. My brother had a high school job at the local BofA branch. One of my sister’s friends worked in a Winchell’s on his way home, and he’d stop in and she’d hand him a box of donuts (a dozen or more) every day. He never gained weight. That’s youthful metabolism. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/311 "2023-12-17T22:29:11Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > …Krispy Kreme donuts… and I just didn’t get it. They were just really, really sub-par donuts. Everyone told me that I had to have one fresh to really appreciate it, so I finally went to a store and got one fresh. And it was a really, really sub-par donut that was also warm. I agree 100%. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/312 "2023-12-17T22:38:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > I’m glad you took a picture. Yipes! > > Yes, and now I want an order. > > to share. > > and a side of Tums. 😀 Yeah, howdy! This place is in Detroit near the airport. It is famous throughout every airline in the land: > **[Romulus (Airport) | Wheat and Rye](https://www.wheatandryebarandgrill.com/romulus)** > > Proudly serving Allen Park, Southgate, and Romulus (Airport) for over 30 years. Family-owned and operated. A near-universal rite of passage is to order the basic pastrami sandwich and a side of fries. After being goaded by the old heads that fgood is good but the servings are kinda skimpy. The sandwich is roughly the size of a Nerf Football. The Nerf one sized for adults, not toddlers. So not quite as big as an NFL regulation football, but close. The side of fries that comes with the sandwich is likewise huge. Nobody finishes their sandwich nor touches the extra plate of fries. Or at least that was true back in the day; been about a decade since I was last there and they may have encheapened it since. COVID was hard on every restaurant, but those dependent on the airlines and overnight travelers especially so. It yet lives, so there is hope. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/313 "2023-12-17T22:46:39Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > [@Miller](#): > > > > …Krispy Kreme donuts… and I just didn’t get it. They were just really, really sub-par donuts. Everyone told me that I had to have one fresh to really appreciate it, so I finally went to a store and got one fresh. And it was a really, really sub-par donut that was also warm. > > I agree 100%. > [@carrps](#): > > One of my sister’s friends worked in a Winchell’s on his way home, and he’d stop in and she’d hand him a box of donuts (a dozen or more) There is nothing about a fresh warm KK donut that can hold a candle to a week-old Winchell’s that’s been dropped on the floor a couple times. Winchell’s FTW. Damn I miss some aspects of SoCal. Winchell’s, The Hat, Original Tommy’s, Charlie’s Chili, etc. Heck even the original local small In-N-Out locations; the out-of-state outposts generally sucketh. So much iconic 1960s-1970s fast food that somehow lives on 60 years later. Plus the actual mainstream restaurants that have survived the decades. Road trip!!! ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/314 "2023-12-18T00:19:42Z")
I miss a couple of places that have been gone for ages. Clark’s (later Herbie’s Nut House) on Pico just west of the old Kelbo’s down the street from Billingsley’s. Best hot fudge sundaes. The Patio had the best charbroiled burgers (on Wilshire next door to Jack Lalanne’s). The Egg and the Eye restaurant (across the street from the Tar Pits above The Craft and Folk Art Store) had these delicious exotic omelets. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/315 "2023-12-18T00:45:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ve had In-N-Out burgers. They’re pretty good but not eight hours waiting for good. Limp, greasy, fries and a burger just like you can make at home. You are paying for not having to make it at home. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/316 "2023-12-18T01:05:09Z")
I think they’re better than McDonalds. But I wouldn’t wait eight hours for one. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/317 "2023-12-18T02:37:36Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > You are paying for not having to make it at home. Isn’t that literally the entire point of fast food? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/318 "2023-12-18T02:51:17Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I’ve had In-N-Out burgers. They’re pretty good but not eight hours waiting for good. > > Limp, greasy, fries and a burger just like you can make at home. You are paying for not having to make it at home. - On the other hand, my fries are crisp and I don’t have to leave home. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/319 "2023-12-18T05:29:41Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > > > > [@pkbites](#): > > > > > > Then there was Kingsbury > > > > Ah, Kingsbury! > > I knew that Kingsbury made Near Beer, but TIL that they also brew an alcoholic beer. [Here you go.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsbury_Breweries_Company) [![](https://www.taverntrove.com/imagecache/kingsbury-beer-labels-kingsbury-brewing-co-div-of-g-heileman-brewing-co-inc-of-la-crosse-wi_69198-1.jpg_H1286.jpg) ](https://www.taverntrove.com/imagecache/kingsbury-beer-labels-kingsbury-brewing-co-div-of-g-heileman-brewing-co-inc-of-la-crosse-wi_69198-1.jpg_H1286.jpg) 'Twas the best cheap beer ever! When I turned 18 in 1978 it was $1.88 for a case of 24 twelve ounce returnables. The deposit was almost as much as the beer! Had some real bite to it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515/320 "2023-12-18T05:52:21Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Limp, greasy, fries I am not a fan of In&Out fries, but they have _never_ been limp or greasy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overrated-food-and-drink-brands/991515.md?page=17)