Maybe they caught it in Lake Michigan? 
I’m guessing it was supposed to McDonalds chicken tenders kinda thing (chicken= cock, strings=strips, Mcflour=Mcdonalds). I really lol’d when I read it though- what a disgusting image!
If the dipping sauce is white, don’t eat it.
If the dipping sauce is red, don’t eat it.
If the dipping sauce is brown, don’t eat it.
If the dipping sauce is yellow, don’t eat it.
Unless you are into that sorta thing (not that there is anything wrong with it!).
And don’t forget that the NUMBER of pigs shown is important, too. The more pigs in the sign the better the eats.
Best BBQ I’ve ever had was at some nameless joint in Tennessee not far from Chatanooga. We nearly ate ourselves unconscious (I think the hardiest of us went back for thirds. We **all **went back for seconds.).
The complicated neon sign set-up had three pigs sliding down a slide: rinse, repeat.
Right. While my examples may have not been the best possible, it’s still a general rule. Kinda mushy now that I think about it. Because crab legs are cooked on the boats and flash frozen, you cannot get “fresh” crab legs anywhere. Except possibly on that World’s Most Dangerous Catch show. Previously frozen crab legs are delicious and are a gift from the gods. Garlic butter optional.
Most conch you get in Florida was imported from the Bahamas. This violates the 50-mile rule, but I sort of think of the Bahamas as Florida East. It’s the same ocean with the same critters in it.
But yeah, shrimp from Thailand? Erm… no.
I would make one of my rules “GO TO CHILI’s.” It’s very reasonably priced, and Always really good. Great, cheap cocktails, awesome nachos (they took the ground beef nachos off-menu, but usually will still make them for you) and even healthy dishes, if that’s your game. Service is always good to.
Calvin Trillin once said that the number of calendars on the wall of Mom & Pop restaurants was a measure of good food. "Oh, look, Honey – there’s a 4 calendar shop. Let’s eat there!
This is commonly said of U.S. truck drivers too. Unfortunately truck stops and other places catering to truckers often serve crap.
It may be that the likelihood of truckers eating well on the road is inversely proportional to the degree of pressure they face to get goods delivered on time (if you’re behind schedule you probably won’t want to drive into town to eat at the good barbecue place, you’ll stay on the interstate).
In that case, the rule might hold better for French truckers since they stereotypically aren’t worried too much about pressure for delivery 
Two fundamental disagreements with the OP:
I disagree, heavily. The chain stops along highways don’t need to rely on repeat business, so they’re often the worst run ones. When I’ve stopped at chains along highways, they’re always far worse than, say, the ones in cities / suburbs where there’s competition.
The non-chains, on the other hand, have to compete with chains and have also generally been in business for years. They will often have charm, decent food, occasionally VERY good specialty items (there’s a truckstop diner along a highway near me that is mostly by-the-book generic diner food but has hand-battered mushrooms that are fantastic), and often appreciate the business. And you’re not giving money to the same old stupid chains.
Just don’t do something idiotic like ordering Tilapia and a salad at a truck stop.
This is often true, but it’s worth your time looking for exceptions. Sometimes, those odd dishes are on there because they’re really good, but they’re not big moneymakers. It’s always tough to tell, but there’s clues – if something odd seems popular or the menu seems to be trying to draw attention, that’s a sign.
I now picture you as some sort of movie villain. Chili’s is, to me, practically everything I dislike in food. It’s not as bad as Applebee’s, which is absolutely, 100% abhorrant.
The food is always bland, hohum, and tastes vaguely of preservatives and way, way too much salt. There’s never any surprises, and I always leave feeling vaguely like I massively overpayed, but can’t quite quantify why.
The cocktails aren’t bad, although syrupy drinks aren’t usually my thing.
Not that I actually bear you ill will or think you’re bad for liking chain food. I just really, really don’t.
QFT