I’ve been to Five Guys twice; the second time I was with someone who insisted on eating there. Everything is swimming in grease. I hope there won’t be a third time.
I also didn’t think it was possible for a fast-food place to irritate me with ugly decor, but Five Guys succeeded. FYI if you haven’t been there, their walls are covered with reviews describing how mind-blowingly wonderful Five Guys is; here’s a photo. Evidently they need to reassure customers who are already inside the place eating grease.
There have been epic lines and traffic jams every time a Chick-Fil-A opens in the Seattle area. One is opening soon in the small town of Covington. I expect traffic in the town is going to come to a standstill for days.
The one that’s 2.5 miles away from my apartment has been here for at least twenty years (as long as I’ve been living here), and STILL has constant lines like that at the drive-thru.
ETA: And that’s when business is light. It’s not uncommon to see lines wrapped all the way around the building, just to get to the payment window (they send staff out with an e-tablet to take your order).
I think the longest I’ve ever waited for a seat at a restaurant was 45 minutes, and that was on a weekend, at a very nice place that didn’t take reservations. I would never, ever wait more than 20 minutes for fast food. I’d go elsewhere or just go home and make a PB&J. No fast food - none - is worth waiting 2 hours.
I have the same experience with food trucks outside major events. Always with giant lines and you have to wait in line for 30 minutes to pay, then wait another 20 minutes for your food to actually be cooked-up. It’s far easier to just frequent the hot dog stand inside the venue or (if possible) walk across the street from the venue to find something else. LA Convention Center I go to about 4 times a year for various events and it’s always the exact same situation, 80 people in line for a burrito truck, or 20 people in line for a hot dog or burger in one of the food stands inside the center.
15 minutes is about my max wait time for fast food, and that’s only if I’ve already paid, and the wait is for pickup. 15 minutes for actually ordering? Fuhgeddaboutit.
I remember when the Krispy Kreme Kraze hit, and thinking that was totally bonkers. As a teen at the beginning of the 1970s, I frequently patronized the KK on US 1 just south of Alexandria, because they were cheap (glazed were 6¢ each) so it was no big deal to grab a dozen and share with friends over at the UCM coffeehouse. They were made mostly of air, and the non-air part was 99% sugar and fat, perfect for a teenage guy’s taste buds.
I had one during the Kraze. Same donuts, only now they were nearly a buck apiece. Still mostly air. And people were going nuts over them. I didn’t get it, and still don’t.
Actually, yes. I’ve never been in one; never seen one other than in Los Angeles, and that was decades ago. They’re not in Maryland, Virginia, or DC as best as I can tell. They aren’t in Florida where my in-laws live. They aren’t in any of the places I’ve been to school. Excepting L.A. (because I was 4 years old when we moved east), I’ve never lived anywhere with a Jack in the Box anywhere remotely nearby. I didn’t even know they were still in existence.
Looking at their website, most places seem to either have saturation Jack in the Box coverage, or no Jack in the Box presence at all.
Yeah, ditto in Chicago. I’m in Phoenix right now, so there’s a bunch around, but their mascot Jack is the creepiest fast food mascot (yes, creepier than The King) that I haven’t had the urge to try them (although I’m almost poisitve I’ve had them once or twice in the past when I took a Greyhound from LA to Chicago, which may be why I’ve also never wanted to step into one. I just can’t remember if it was Jack in the Box or Hardees that we kept stopping at, but it’s six to one, half dozen to the other for me. I haven’t been to either of them since that Greyhound trip.)
Not sure if you’re talking about the one over in Allen or not, but here’s a video of the drive-thru line when that one opened in 2011. Still blows my mind.
As a policy I won’t go to a new restaurant in it’s first 3 months. No interest in the combination of new hires and curious customers. It compounds the problem and makes everything terrible for everyone.
The whole point of fast food is it’s fast. If it was slow I’d never eat it, stuff is terrible.
Not sure if you’re talking about the one over in Allen or not, but here’s a video of the drive-thru line when that one opened in 2011. Still blows my mind.
[/QUOTE]
Holy crap! :eek: Like I said, I love me some In N Out, but these people are on another level in their passion. Holy cannoli.
