# What can't you get by where you are?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 6, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099 "2006-12-06T18:39:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/41 "2006-12-06T21:03:30Z")
Good jewish Deli, Bagels, Knish, real NY pizza with actual sliced meatball on top. Chinese food that isn’t corn starch and food coloring.
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### Author:  [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/42 "2006-12-06T21:05:35Z")
[QUOTE=According to Pliny]
Vernor’s Golden Ginger Ale
[/QUOTE]
I always have Vernors in the house. Mixed with a healthy dose of Old Crow and done as shots it’s a drink I call “The High Hard One”.
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### Author:  [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/43 "2006-12-06T21:08:11Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth]
I second Tim Horton’s. I believe the nearest one is either Pittsburgh or Columbus. Mom sends the coffee for me to brew at home, but it’s not the same.
[/QUOTE]
Have you tried the coffee with heavy coffee cream? It’s still not exactly like you get at Timmy’s, but the richer cream is closer to what they use in the restaurants.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/44 "2006-12-06T21:11:25Z")
A clothing store besides Penney’s and Kohl’s. {although the lack thereof has led to me being not so concerned about clothes, and that’s a good thing}
Popeye’s.
NY style pizza
Chicago style pizza
Big record store
Real good bagels
(NH/VT here)
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### Author:  [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/45 "2006-12-06T21:11:39Z")
I would absolutely love a Trader Joe’s - I always try to stock up when I visit my cousin in Seattle, but the stuff never lasts long (yum!). Also, a Krispy Kreme would be nice. But the one I want the most is Marks and Spencer store brand (St. Michaels?) tea bags. I love their Kenyan breakfast tea, but now there are no M&S locations in North America - boo! A trip to the UK would make the tea a bit too expensive for my bankbook…
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### Author:  [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/46 "2006-12-06T21:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist]
Chicago style thin crust (I’d kill a puppy for some Monical’s).
[/QUOTE]
I always think it’s funny that Chicago pizza = deep dish to most people. To me, Chicago thin-crust pizza is the way to go…always cut in squares, of course! You can get the deep-dish stuff in a lot of places now, but the thin-crust you can only get here.
My husband would kill for **Jack in the Box** to come back to Chicago.
I would like to be able to get **Skyline** dogs…when I’m down Cincinnati way, I bring back cans of the chili so I can make them at home, but it’s not quite the same.
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### Author:  [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/47 "2006-12-06T21:14:34Z")
I can’t get poutine down here. I can’t even get gravy on french fries, because what they think is gravy here is brown water that may have passed by a cow once. You need thick chicken gravy for fries.
The kind of big, thick crusty buns I used to get in Canada. I like to make big sandwiches with several kinds of meat, cheese, onion, lettuce and tomato. The biggest buns I can find around here are not the right kind. They’re not crusty and chewy.
I miss Schlotzky’s Deli. There were three or four of them in town, then they all closed simultaneously. I was going to post about them in the other thread, but I looked them up on the web and they are still in business elsewhere. There are only three locations left in Florida, though, and none within reasonable driving distance of where I live.
I miss the Canadian version of cream soda. It doesn’t taste like strawberry pop or vanilla. My favorite kind was from Pop Shoppe. It was clear, and very good.
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### Author:  [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/48 "2006-12-06T21:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle]
I miss Schlotzky’s Deli.
[/QUOTE]
Aw, they closed the Schlotzky’s by me about a year or two ago. I loved me the Big Texas sandwich they had. Good call on the Schlotzky’s.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/49 "2006-12-06T21:25:11Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun]
Semi inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398918&page=3&pp=50) about fast food resturants that seem to have gone away, what can’t you get where you are that you wish that you could? I know if I worked at it I could come up with most of this stuff, but I’m talking I want it to be a regular thing, a down the street thing.
I know that I’d love it if there was a Jack in the Box or a Sonic in the greater Chicagoland area. I also wish that I could get Full Sail, Blitz-Weinhard, Shiner Bock, Sonny’s Mean and Lean Lager and Bell’s beers (we just lost Bell’s thanks to a dimwitted distributor) out this way too. What are yours?
[/QUOTE]
There used to be a Sonic on 68 near 53 in Arlington Heights.
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### Author:  [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/50 "2006-12-06T21:29:27Z")
Something I can’t get here (I don’t know if anyone will know what it is here) but a drink called Ski. It’s made in a town near my hometown and there is a small area there that you can buy it, but since I’ve moved to college, I have to smuggle it down here (heh).
I believe it is also available in some parts of W. Va. and Tenn.
Brendon
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/51 "2006-12-06T21:35:26Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist]
Decent seafood - _not_ Red Lobster.
[/QUOTE]
Get to [Jax](http://www.jaxfishhousedenver.com/jax_denver/index.php) in Lodo or Boulder, man. McCormick’s is right by Jax downtown. Or out your way try 240 Union. Highland Pacific is great, too, on W 32nd.
The notion that you can’t get great seafood in Denver hasn’t been true for at least 10 years.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/52 "2006-12-06T21:35:59Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager]
What (he asks with a shudder) is a chowmein sandwich?
[/QUOTE]
I think you need to go considerably farther south than North Andover to find one (I was being literal about the border, next town over is in fact in RI), but [this person](http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=179) explains it better than I could.
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### Author:  [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/53 "2006-12-06T21:38:09Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
There used to be a Sonic on 68 near 53 in Arlington Heights.
[/QUOTE]
And there used to be a Checkers near the Fox Valley mall too, but they keep taking away all these places that I like. Used to be Carl’s Jr. around here too. ☹
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### Author:  [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/54 "2006-12-06T21:40:06Z")
We have Checkers here in Baltimore. They’re kind of new, actually; I think they just started opening up about five or six years ago.
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### Author:  [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/55 "2006-12-06T21:41:23Z")
[QUOTE]
Originally Posted by\*\* KidScruffy\*\*
\*A 24-hour pharmacy.
Do such things even exist?
Oh, and a Popeye’s chicken.
24-hours of course.
With a pharmacy inside.
Maybe I should open my own business…[/\*QUOTE]
:eek: I would NEVER eat at a fast food place that had to have it’s own pharmacy!
Otherwise the idea is good…maybe a 24 hour fast food joint attached to a 24 dry cleaners?
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/56 "2006-12-06T21:42:38Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477]
I think you need to go considerably farther south than North Andover to find one (I was being literal about the border, next town over is in fact in RI), but [this person](http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=179) explains it better than I could.
[/QUOTE]
> [@](#):
>
> The question then is “What is a Chow Mein Sandwich?” The chow mein part is easy enough to describe. It is a mixture of minced meat (pork), celery, onions, and bean sprouts in gravy over deep fried noodles. This combination or blend of ingredients is more like a thick sauce or a stew. It is placed between a hamburger bun or between two slices of white bread. For the latter, brown gravy is ladled over the works. As with any category of chow mein, there are variations. In addition to pork (the standard), there are other choices such as chicken, beef, or shrimp. For those who do not like noodles, the Chop Suey Sandwich (with the same variations) is available, and even a Chow Mein/Chop Suey Sandwich can be had by an indecisive diner.
Chop Suey and Chow Mein? I can’t remember the last time I saw those items on a menu. Wait, yes I can - it was in Ogden, Utah.
Odd to say, but is there anything more American than Chop Suey between two slices of white bread?
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### Author:  [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/57 "2006-12-06T21:46:03Z")
A Del Taco. I’ve only had it twice when I visited California and Nevada, but damn if I didn’t fall in love with their tacos. Beats the crap out of Taco Bell.
Trader Joe’s/Whole Foods. We have a Trader Joe’s an hour north of us, but I would really like one within driving distance after work. We usually make a special trip once a month or so.
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### Author:  [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/58 "2006-12-06T21:53:10Z")
All the fast food I miss from So. Cal.
Carl’s Jr.
Jack in the Box
Wienerschnitzel
Yoshinoya Beef Bowl.
Also White Castle and Sheetz. There are Sheetz in Virginia, but I want one near my home.
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### Author:  [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/59 "2006-12-06T22:06:33Z")
No White Castle, Krystal, or Sonic in the DC area. No real good Mexican.
Good BBQ, not some yuppie smoked meat boutique.
And you can’t get good catfish here. Everybody breads it like fried chicken…WRONG!
Not too much of a problem, since I make the BEST catfish.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cant-you-get-by-where-you-are/383099/60 "2006-12-06T22:36:16Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun]
And there used to be a Checkers near the Fox Valley mall too, but they keep taking away all these places that I like. Used to be Carl’s Jr. around here too. ☹
[/QUOTE]
Checkers…I don’t think I ever had anything from there. But I miss Dog ‘n’ Suds! Right there on Roselle Road just south of Higgins.
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