# Restaurants that can't do a specific thing well **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 30, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335 "2022-05-30T02:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/21 "2022-05-30T16:27:53Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I’m a Texan eating a cheese steak from a supposedly authentic Philly place. [Texadelphia](https://texadelphia.com/)? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/22 "2022-05-30T16:44:16Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I was introduced to cheese steaks in Reading and they were yet another variant: shaved fried sirloin, provolone, thin, red sauce (not particularly pizza-like) and grilled onions. > > I was very disappointed then I got a “genuine” cheese steak in Philly. Fucking Cheese Whiz Reading area varied in their construction of cheesesteaks. Usually not the same meat used closer to Philadelphia. The rolls weren’t always well suited for the purpose. Whiz was primarily used at one restaurant in Philadelphia making unprovable claims about inventing cheesesteaks or some such nonsense. Provolone or american cheese were most common, sometimes just mozzarella used for pizzas. The marketers of the ‘Philly Cheesesteak’ concept promoted the Whiz for some reason. I think the near suburbs of Philadelphia had the best cheesesteaks, top quality meat, and soft rolls made just for hoagies and cheesesteaks. Most of my experience with cheesesteaks came from the 70s with only occasional samples since then, the situation has been in flux all along. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/23 "2022-05-30T17:09:53Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I was introduced to cheese steaks in Reading and they were yet another variant: shaved fried sirloin, provolone, thin, red sauce (not particularly pizza-like) and grilled onions. This is close to the Lehigh Valley cheesesteak. Most places will ask if you want sauce or not. I’ve been to a number of American style restaurants in Europe who have the nerve to serve flavored milk and call it a milkshake. They might get the burger, hot dog, etc., right, but forget the milkshake. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/24 "2022-05-30T17:15:59Z")
Culver’s french fries suck ass. Tasteless little crinkle fries, reminds me of school lunch from three decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/25 "2022-05-30T17:21:43Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Culver’s french fries suck ass. Whereas I really like Culver’s french fries, as well as most of the other stuff on their menu that I’ve tried. The exception, for me, is their “regular” chicken strips – the coating/breading is flavorless, and the chicken itself is often not great. Strangely, their Buffalo chicken strips have a completely different type of breading, and the chicken meat is very good. But, I’m guessing that they’ve been dealing with a supply-chain issue on the Buffalo strips, as they’ve been off the menu for months. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/26 "2022-05-30T18:37:44Z")
Cheese whiz on anything is 🤢 horrible. If I’m paying $$$ for a cheesesteak sandwich, it better have provolone. … Tastewise? Cheese whiz is to provolone as Miracle whip is to actual mayonnaise. ick ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/27 "2022-05-30T19:11:51Z")
I feel the same way about Five Guys’ burger chain’s fries. Thick cut, under cooked, soggy and limp. And the “Regular Sized” order’s portion is a meal in and of itself. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/28 "2022-05-30T19:58:13Z")
Same- I think they are good fries. I don’t order hamburgers from fast food places often but I make exception for In N Out on a road trip for both the burger & the fries. Maybe it’s nostalgia- our family would always stop at the Barstow location on our way to Disneyland or other S. California destination. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/29 "2022-05-30T20:09:27Z")
I order them extra crispy and then they are okay. But other people LOVE them, so I think we are a minority. > [@Asuka](#): > > Carl’s Jr (or Hardees back East) makes some of the best charbroiled burgers I’ve tasted in fast food, … I had a buy one get one coupon so ordered two of their burgers. Halfway through #2, I was full, so I just pulled out some of the meat. It was flavorless. Kinda salty and greasy, but no actual meat flavor. Weird. > [@ExTank](#): > > I feel the same way about Five Guys’ burger chain’s fries. Thick cut, under cooked, soggy and limp. Yeah, and the REFUSE to have 1000 island for the burgers. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/30 "2022-05-30T20:13:53Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > You are going to have to provide more details cause when I google “Sable” I get only the definition I was expecting … which would make for an ingredient that I hadn’t considered a Jewish specialty … just another thing you learn when reading the Dope! Whitefish & Sable Sandwich: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HFMVW71bDmQ/hqdefault.jpg "The Larry David Sandwich") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFMVW71bDmQ&t=81) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/31 "2022-05-30T23:39:15Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > [quote=“pulykamell, post:15, topic:965335, full:true”] Fresh potato, double fried, skin on, nothing else. Lightly crisp on the outside, potatoey goodness on the inside. And that’s the key - double fried. One round at relatively low temps to cook the fry through, then a high temp round for crispness. In-n-Out fails by trying to achieve both goals with one step. [/quote] This recipe for _pommes de terre soufflées_ > **[Comment réussir les pommes de terre soufflées ? - Recette par Chef Simon](https://chefsimon.com/gourmets/chef-simon/recettes/pommes-soufflees)** > > Pommes soufflées. Plus qu'une technique, un vrai défi culinaire. La recette par Chef Simon. calls for them to be fried no fewer than **three** times, at two different temperatures. I would not be surprised if some random restaurant could not quite get it right. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/32 "2022-05-31T00:11:48Z")
Not necessarily. In-n-Out’s problem is that they only fry their fries once. To do it right, what they need to be doing is cutting them early in the day, frying them at a lower temp, then _re-frying_ them at a higher temp right before service. That’s how they do it in Brussels, that’s how they do it at just about anywhere that takes pride in their french fries. Chili’s used to do them that way back in the day- I recall back in 1989 that the cooks would show up about the same time I did as the janitor/busboy, and among a whole shitload of other culinary prep-work that they did, one of the biggest was that they’d cut hundreds of potatoes and then fry them once, then store them in huge plastic tubs in the walk-in cooler. They’d retrieve them as the lunch and dinner rushes went on, and fry them a second time in hotter oil. They also need to be using some sort of starchy potato (as opposed to “waxy”). But I agree, the In-N-Out fries are pretty embarrassing for a national hamburger chain. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/33 "2022-05-31T00:14:34Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Potatoes need to be processed then frozen to make fries that are crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. A big part of In-N-Out’s marketing is how they only use fresh ingredients; IIRC they brag about how their restaurants don’t even _have_ freezers. They even purposely design their restaurants so that you can see the employee in the kitchen cutting up the potatoes for fries. They clearly want people to see that they’re using real, fresh potatoes rather than frozen processed fries. So using frozen fries would go completely against the company’s ethos. That said, they probably could do the double-frying thing others have mentioned, unless the time that takes too long to work in a fast food environment. That said, I think In-N-Out’s fries are fine. I mean, I’ve had better, but I don’t hate them. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/34 "2022-05-31T01:23:15Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JgJUbmGDc6k/hqdefault.jpg "Family Guy "Every Pizza Place Salad"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgJUbmGDc6k) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/35 "2022-05-31T01:51:51Z")
Every slightly upscale breakfast restaurant I’ve been to can’t make a skillet worth a damn. The whole point is a delicious comforting mound of potatoes, eggs, meat and cheese oozing into one another but they always play it like cowards and try to make it “clean”, defeating the purpose. Gimme my greasy dive cholesterol bomb or take it off the menu. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/36 "2022-05-31T02:34:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But other people LOVE them, so I think we are a minority. I’ve heard more people say In-N-Out fries are bad than I’ve heard people say they are good. So I don’t know that I’d say you were in the minority. I also stumbled across this article when looking it up: > **[Yes, In-N-Out’s fries are bad](https://thetakeout.com/in-n-out-has-terrible-french-fries-heres-why-1846514613)** > > Take this as a compliment to In-N-Out: it does everything else so spectacularly well that the subpar fries stand out as the chain's one major failing. > **[How To Order In-N-Out Fries That Don't Totally Suck](https://laist.com/news/food/how-to-order-in-n-out-fries-that-dont-totally-suck)** > > It only takes two words to make them golden and edible. I will say that I agree that In-N-Out fries were pretty bad the one time I had them. However, I LOVE Five Guys fries… I do think Five Guys does double fry them though. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/37 "2022-05-31T02:50:26Z")
The upscale hipster bbq place (4505 BBQ\*) that replaced the awesome hole in the wall place over the road from me in San Francisco. The sides were what took it from _meh_ to wtf is this crap? The meat was ok, massively over priced for tiny portions obviously (it’s San Francisco after all), but sides were inedible. Beans and coleslaw (pretty much only options), bland, too much celery, how is it possible to screw up these basic items? - What is it with bbq joints being named after numbers? The one near us now in Maryland (which is properly good, sides and meat) is Texas 2:50. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/38 "2022-05-31T02:56:59Z")
Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken in Mephis really makes a great fried chicken but none of their sides are all that good. They’re not horrible, but their beans, fries, potato salad, greens, etc., etc. just aren’t worth the calories. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/39 "2022-05-31T03:11:54Z")
I’ve tried the “well done” request at In N Out and I don’t get how it’s supposed to make them taste better. It tastes exactly like I expected them to: even drier with a bit of that Maillard reaction flavor to them. They still suck. “Animal Style” is a bit better, but that’s just because it covers up the fries with a bunch of other gunk. Just give me a double double (normal or animal style, I alternate), a diet cola, and I’m good. Five Guys fries are, indeed, excellent, except they just give you too damned many of them. They always have that board there telling you exactly where the potatoes being used that day were sourced, and probably the names of each individual spud cast into the deep fryer for your dining pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/40 "2022-05-31T03:18:39Z")
> [@bump](#): > > They also need to be using some sort of starchy potato (as opposed to “waxy”). In N Out uses the starchy Kennebec potato. I’d be surprised if any place used a waxy potato for their standard fry, though I have seen reds used for home fries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335.md?page=3)