I give them a pass due to their very nice jingle:
I’m going to continue to disagree. You’re absolutely correct in that it’s cheap-ER than a sit down restaurant, but I feel that no, it’s not cheap in the aggregate. As always for ‘fast food’, the combo prices make the most out of selling the low cost sides and soda at a premium, with a discount for the ‘combo’. And I think your example jumped up a couple of steps when it comes to comparing McDonalds to Red Lobster. No, I don’t think Red Lobster is particularly high end dining anymore, but it’s probably at least 2-3 steps up from McD. 
Absolutely granted, all food prices have gone up, but the ‘low end’ has nearly doubled, while higher end places have seen increases closer to 50%. Probably because the higher end options have a lot more ways to supplement their costs, especially ones that sell booze.
But with the scale of the increase at the low end, even high-end frozen/microwaveable dinners are crushing the fast food option on a cost basis. Sure, you’ll need access to a microwave or toaster oven, but you can eat for half the cost of a combo without cooking skills or much time spent, and probably better tasting (well, to adult tastes, kids are something else entirely).
So I’ll absolutely agree that fast food generally represents the cheap-EST option of getting food from a restaurant (if you choose to call them that) but I can’t in any way see it as being cheap by an objective standard.
And later, your body pays for that fast food meal.
i did actually mean to say that one of the reasons I don’t compare fast food prices to the price of something I can make at home ( either cooking or microwaving) is because maybe once a year I’ll buy something McDonald’s-like and bring it home but mostly , if I’m eating fast food, cooking or microwaving is not an option because I’m not home and don’t have access to even a microwave or toaster oven. So it’s going to be some sort of fast food or an sit-down restaurant.
my uncle lives and works in the OC between the Victory Diner and the Hat… i want to go down there just to eat one day lol
The new thing is “DUI” fries named so becuase apparently people would order this mess while drunk although supposed;y the name has nothing to do with being drunk but yeah …
This is all I originally intended to mean about low cost. However, I’d rather have the McDonalds than cheaper microwave meals.
I’ve never heard it pronounced ply-nee, and I’ve lived in the US my whole life.
Oh, and McD’s burgers are never a choice for me. They just taste bad to me. If I’m going to eat something that is unhealthy, I at least want it to taste good. And it’s not worth any cheapness to me to eat something I don’t like.
Ah, Jim’s Burgers. No surprise. A couple of guys I worked with were babying a new system into production, and were working long hours. One day they went to Jim’s for lunch and brought back extra burgers for dinner. At dinner time they put them in the microwave and came back a few minutes later.
Grease was dripping out from under the door of the microwave.
Combine your quote of my post (where you cut off after the “sit down” part), and your post, and there’s a horrible bathroom joke to be made there. Perhaps including Chipolte. But I’m far too cultured to make it. 
@doreen - the last time I was travelling would have been the last time I ate fast food, and it seems something similar for you. But at that point, we’re back to eating it for the -easy-, not for the value. Now, a better question for this thread would be, if travelling, do you eat at the most easily reached fast-food-franchise, or do you drive out of your way for a “better” (possibly overrated, possibly not) option.
Because if a town has both say a McD and a Wendy’s and I’m in the middle of an 8+ hour road trip, I’ll probably drive an extra 5 minutes into town for Wendy’s than McD.
I’ll drive an extra 10 or 15 minutes to avoid McDonalds or Burger King
I still remember my first and last Coors in the 70’s. It was a sobering experience.
I would eat BK all the time if they left the mayo off. It’s like a burger milkshake drip onto your shirt. If they want to make money start by making mayo a requested item. It would probably save them millions a year.
KK donuts suck because they put too much sugar on them. I’m guessing they’re trying to entomb the donut in a hard glaze to preserve freshness.
And I’m always amazed at how mediocre food gets when it’s mass produced. Are the taste tests done with a centimeter cube of the food? Do they count the number of people who DON’T vomit? It’s not like there’s a massive difference between good tasting food and “WTH is this”. I’m in fear for my life over buying any frozen meal that is “Mexican” or “Italian”. It’s as if there’s one company that makes the “enthic” sauce used in all of them.
Maybe it’s a san fransico thing. I’ve been corrected by bartenders there several times: “do you mean a ‘ply-nee’?”
Every beer geek I know pronounces it “ply-nee.”
Trader Joe’s frozen Indian food. It actually tastes like Indian food, and the fiery chicken curry has some heat to it.
You should have had more than one.
That’s worse than sobriety.
I juat had Red Robin for the first time last night. The locals have raved about it since they opened here a dacade or so ago but I’ve managed to avoid it. Giant greasy burgers aren’t really my thing.
Mediocre at best, overpriced greasy garbage at worst. I really don’t see what the appeal is.
You should try Coors Light. A sparkling water with a vague after taste of beer.
My god. 
I can’t imagine raving over Red Robin. Sometimes you want a grease bomb (maybe every other year for me), and it’ll scratch that itch, but it’s nothing to write home about. It’s about one step up from mall foodcourt food.
Thank you. That was quite a blast from the past. The pacing of the song is perfect for what they’re trying to push. Leisurely, bordering on ol’ man lazy river. An artifact of a bygone era for sure.
Yeah, is there some hardcore Red Robin fandom? They are one of the interchangeable casual dining chains Chilis, TGI Fridays, Applebee’s, etc.