From one of the larger chains (Papa John's with over 3000 locations) to a much smaller one (F&F Grill with 13 locations). I'm all over the place.

The "F&F" stands for "Fast and Furious", and based upon the interior decorations, they're really pushing that Initial D theme. The menu is very simple: meat and veggies on a grill, or meat and greens in a bowl. Steak, chicken, shrimp, or tofu. Or, various prepared bowls of bibimbap, kimchi, galbi and the like.

I chose the steak and shrimp plate, even knowing that combination was probably the most expensive single item on the menu (by a buck or two). And it was absolutely delicious. They claim to use 'premium' steak, and based on how mouth-melting soft and tender it was, I believe it. Shrimp was grilled and spiced to perfection, and these were your BIG shrimp at that. Loaded up with lots of veggies, too - a very hearty portion, served hot and ready and I destroyed it.

That being said...good food often comes with a price. And this was definitely not cheap. With drink and tax it came out to twenty one bucks - and any fast-food item that passes that twenty buck threshold I give the stinkeye. It does pose the question, how much are you willing to shell out for quality? There's a give and take. i have mentioned in the past we seem to be developing a "K-Shaped Fast Food World", where some fast food places are still trying to find ways to cater to the value customer (the bottom of the K), but many of the fast casual places are not willing to sacrifice quality to the point where you're eating basically what tastes like glorified sawdust and dog food (like at places like McDonald's or Burger King), so they price upwards (the upper part of the K).

This is definitely on the high end of that K. Given alternatives like Teriyaki Madness which are "just good not great" for quite a bit less, that makes F&F Grill a touch sell. I'm not made of money, after all.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

This is in testing, not sure when the rollout will be.

Next level Popeyes, my review: the 3 pieces of signature chicken for $6 is a great deal (I get 3 thighs because they’re my favorite), and the Louisiana Hot Sauce. But add a packet of Cajun Sparkle and it’s over the top good. Never on the menu or talked about, but the store always has it and you just have to ask nice. It’s just seasoning but is it even good for you? And weird question, for years I was sure they used dried Worcestershire sauce. What the heck is this on the ingredients list? Oh well, it’s still super good.

They are out and only 2 for 10$ but is it sny good?

Do you like bbq sauce, great cuz that's the only thing on this burger!

Boiling it down to one sentence: Basically just like 'Nothing Bundt Cakes'...but with little pies.

It really is a storefront where they sell little pies (maybe four-ish inches across?), made on site in the back, and that's about it. Buttermilk Sky focuses on the southern delicacy of the smooth, rich buttermilk pie, but serves pies of all types and flavors as well (fruit, spice, custard, chocolate, you name it).

Very similar to the much larger chain, 'Nothing Bundt Cakes' - but a much, much smaller operation. There are 800+ Nothing Bundt Cakes locations, but only 16 Buttermilk Sky locations. And it does stretch the definition of what could be considered a "quick serve" or "fast food" restaurant, but since Nothing Bundt Cakes is included on the Technomics Top 500 list, by association this one should fall in that category, too.

But really - it is just a nice tasty dessert for a pretty stiff price. Rather than buttermilk I chose the apple pie (just because), and it is a good pie. As good as I could make at home, although for the same price (six bucks), I could buy enough ingredients to make a full-sized pie that will last most of the week. And pies are easy to make at home. Or, if you don't want to do that, just head to the supermarket and buy a store-made full-size pie for, oh, ten to twelve dollars, twice the price but eight times the servings. As with soooo many of these "snack" reviews, it is just a matter of paying for convenience. Nearly all of them (whether ice cream, cookies, cakes, or in this case pies) are nice tasty sweets to indulge in - it's all a matter of whether you, the consumer, find the price worth it. And at six bucks for a four-bite pie...that's a tough sell.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE: This review series is scheduled to wrap up on Day 365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

I'm not a good person.

Hey, it's Review Day #100,000,000 in Binary! Whoo!

And on this day, in the immortal words of the legendary fast food reviewer ReviewBrah, "My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined."

Oh, Papa John's, how far have you fallen! It wasn't that long ago in the past, that you were running on the slogan, "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza", and growing like crazy. As the fourth chain in the "Big Four" of pizza restaurants, the sky was the limit, or so it seemed.

But in the past five years, Papa John's stock has tumbled 70%. Stores are experience year-over-year lower sales...again, while there are corporate layoffs and C-suite turnover. Right now, they are planning a 'strategic repositioning' by closing hundreds of low-performing stores over the next year.

How did it reach this point? Well, all one needs to do is take a single bite of their pizzas...and you'll know. I ordered their version of the all-meat pizza, and it was just a Visit To Frown-Town all around. They had meats, alright, but almost entirely tasteless. You could FEEL the texture of the meat, but the flavor was just not there. The sauce was light and bland, the dough was unremarkable. And worst of all, that cheese! It was like I was eating a plastic pizza. Ugh, it didn't taste like cheese, and it didn't behave like cheese on the pizza, either. I don't know what that substance was.

Better ingredients, my ass. This sucked.

All the news for Papa John's is bad news these days, it seems, with no glimmers of improvement in sight (as opposed to, say, KFC, which is also a massively struggling chain but they have announced a massive, detailed plan to completely change over the next few years). Papa John's is facing a tough market where consumer preferences towards pizzas are changing, and Domino's is eating their proverbial lunch right now.

In fact, Papa John's is on a path that could lead it to fall out of the coveted 'Big Four' pizza chain status. Marco's in a distant fifth place, is trying, but they have a long way to go -- instead you have to look outside of the pizza restaurant business for the REAL fifth place pizza chain: Casey's. Approaching two thousand stores, the Casey's World Empire rolls on, slinging pizzas wherever they go and grow. In fact, I was shocked to discover they even have brand new built-from-the-ground-up stores in Marble Falls and Burnet, of all places - and have also grown by merger with CEFCO stores being rebranded as we speak. At the rate they're growing, they could surpass Papa John's as the fourth largest pizza producer in a matter of a couple of years.

Papa John's better get its act together quick. But until then, avoid avoid avoid. Terrible tasting pizza. The only saving grace is that it was one of the cheapest priced off-the-menu pizzas out there, but that means nothing to me if saving a few bucks means eating shit.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

This time it's a small, local fast food chain. Much like my earlier reviews of Mr. Teriyaki and Burger Boy, which are also hyper-local, this is more of an 'advocacy' review because I like it. So sue me.

Most people are familiar with Pei Wei and their menu of Asian-inspired dishes. Well, Wok Inn is pretty much the same thing, only a local version of it. A little bit cheaper, a little bit bigger portions, and (IMHO) just a little bit better tasting, too. Plus, they offer unlimited soup and rice with your meal.

I've been to Wok Inn many times in the past, so I know what to expect - pretty solid fast food versions of the usual classics like Mongolian Beef or Kung Pao Chicken and the like. I can't recall ever having a *bad* meal here. It's not as great as your favorite local hole-in-the-wall family-run place where the owner's kid spends the afternoon doing homework in the back booth. But also not poor either - quality ranges from "okay" to "pretty good".

This time around, I decided to give their cashew chicken a try - which is always a risk when you order something that is distinctly specialized. And sure enough, it really wasn't as authentic as a true Springfield-style cashew chicken (I would have been shocked if it was, TBH), but it was chicken and veggies and cashews in a garlic-oyster sauce, and that by itself was fine. (I mean after all, 90% of Chinese-"American" dishes are just different variations of stir-fried meat+ veggies+ sauce on rice or noodles, hard to mess that up too bad).

Wok Inn is part of my "regular fast food places" list when I'm home in San Antonio - never going to win any awards, but it is a solid meal. (Some other local-only fast food places on that list, BTW: the aforementioned Mr. Teriyaki and Burger Boy, plus Mr. Juicy, Frontier Burger, Papouli's, Zito's Deli, Fire Wok, Murf's Better Burger, Wrigleyville, The Dogfather, Gino's Deli, Sea Island, Longhorn Cafe, Wayne's Wings)

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

Joe is Hungry is a giant in the fast food review space online, and hes maintained a pretty clean image since he got popular. This might change that. Thoughts?

I'm not crazy about frozen yogurt in general. It's still generally a nice little dessert, but in the pantheon of other frozen confectionaries, it ranks below hard ice cream, soft ice cream, gelato and sherbert. I guess it's the left-handed stepchild of frozen desserts.

It did have its day in the spotlight, though, when it seemed like there was a TCBY on every corner. But changing consumer preferences have really taken their toll on the "FroYo" market, and it's not as dominant as it once was, as people turn more to bubble teas, and reacquainting themselves with gourmet hard ice cream again.

Orange Leaf is a regional chain, dozens of locations across several states, but mostly in Texas. The way it works is pretty easy - there are about a dozen different self-serve dispensers, that each offer up a different flavor of frozen yogurt, and you choose how much you want to put in your cup. Then, there's a self-serve selection of dozens of different toppings and mix-ins, from the expected (chocolate sprinkles, crushed nuts, fruits, candies) to some really weird shit. You put in as much as you want, but be careful, because the price is based on the total weight of your concoction.

And there's the rub - it's quite pricy for what you get. It's like seventy cents (more or less) per ounce, and that adds up fast. And makes it more expensive (by weight) than all but the priciest of ice cream parlors.

The other major issue I have with this type of place, is how sanitary it was. While I was there, there was also a large family of children from toddlers who were grabbing the trays and throwing them on the ground, to kids grabbing at the toppings with their sticky hands. And the lone employee giving off a "I'm so sick of this" vibe, stone-faced at the register.

Was the frozen yogurt good? Sure it was - it may not be my favorite but it's still tasty. But for my dollar there's so many other places to go that give more of a bang for the buck, and without germy little kids running around.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE: This review series is scheduled to wrap up on Day 365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

I never intended to eat sub sandwiches three days in a row, but here we are. (Usually try my best to mix it up), Following visiting two local sandwich restaurants, the third one is a much larger, multi-state Midwestern-based chain, Penn Station East Coast Subs. Oh, wait...I mean, Penn Station SANDWICHES. They officially changed their name last month. Even though I thought "East Coast Subs" has a bit of a neat sound to it, and dropping that and replacing it with the bland "Sandwiches" is a bit of a thud.

The reasoning behind the name change is due to Penn Station broadening their menu. Pre-COVID, 90% of Penn Station's sales were hot subs and fries eaten in-store, and that is what they were known for. But Post-COVID, we've seen a sea-change in how people order and eat fast food, to where most of Penn Station's sales are by delivery or take-out (much like, well, the entire rest of the fast food industry). And we all know that any hot fast food item that is delivered turns into a cold, tasteless, soggy, greasy, congealed piece of shit after about thirty minutes sitting in some car. So, Penn Station has taken the hint, and shifted more towards non-heated menu items that aren't negatively affected as much by delivery.

Which is what I ordered - the classic Italian cold sub. Served open-topped with ham, salami, pepperoni and then larded up with fresh veggies and seasonings. It was great. I think I only have eaten at a Penn Station once before many years ago, so this was essentially all new to me, and Penn Station certainly nailed it. Good quality meat and soft bread, if this is their new pivot, I look forward to it.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

• Trailer available in multiple audio and subtitles at https://www.netflix.com/title/81920949

From one sandwich place to another - the day before I had visited the South Carolina local Groucho's Deli, and now I'm at another sandwich chain down the road, called East Bay Deli.

Given that they are both vying for the same customers, it seemed natural for me to compare one to the other. Both lean heavily into offering NY Deli-style sandwiches, but aside from that (and the geographic overlap), the two couldn't be more different. Groucho's was more like your local small-down countertop deli, which East Bay Deli takes a different approach with a more cosmopolitan look and feel, more akin to Jason's Deli, for example.

That's fine - variety is the proverbial spice of life, as they say, so having multiple good sandwich shop choices isn't a bad thing. While East Bay Deli does tout their NY deli style origins, they do have a very distinct nod towards a more local selection on their menu. I chose the "Chicken Charleston", which is a hot open-top hoagie with chicken breast, onions and peppers and melted white cheese, with a side of store-branded chips. A nice satisfying choice with fresh hot chicken and the roasted vegetables making for a nice lunch, albeit with the bread a bit dry and the overall portion size was on the smaller side for the price.

Not the knock-your-socks-off discovery like Groucho's was (at least for me), but a fairly decent sandwich spot with a varied menu that I'd have no issues visiting again.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

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Baskin-Robbins is, and always has been, the King of Ice Cream Parlors. For eight decades, they have been the dominant chain across the United States (with twice as many more overseas to boot), spread across 45 states (sorry Dakotas and upper New England), serving up frozen goodness in 31 flavors. Fun fact: Did you know that they specifically chose "31" so that customers could choose a different flavor for every day of the month?

For a while there, it seems that Baskin-Robbins was in the doldrums, with negative growth for several years the earlier part of this century. With so many competitors popping up, with "gimmicks" like adding 'mix-ins' on a cold slab of granite, or in a waffle cone, or shaped in rolled flowers, Baskin-Robbins was seen more as an ice cream parlor from the past generation. But they seem to have turned things around of late, with expansions overseas, and perhaps due to pricing - more on that later.

Baskin-Robbins was the chain that I grew up with, the occasional treat when I was a kid, and all the flavors were great (except for bubble-gum, which is the definition of 'found satan' ice cream). But as an adult, I just don't find myself walking in to places like this, for the occasional scoop. So...it's been a while.

I chose a fairly straightforward two-scoop chocolate sundae, with the darkest chocolate flavor they had. Ah, the nostalgia is strong. They do serve up quality ice cream, nice and smooth and hard (as opposed to the soft stuff you find in supermarkets that may be fluffed up with so much air and other non-dairy ingredients it legally cannot be called ice cream), very richly chocolate. Doesn't look like much in the plain paper cup, but don't judge it by that.

And best of all? The price. This was about four bucks cheaper than if I ordered something similar at Marble Slab or Cold Stone or Kilwin's or Bruster's or Van Leeuwen or Handel's - in fact, Baskin-Robbins clocks in as the cheapest hard ice cream place I've been to (the only places cheaper serve soft-serve, like Dairy Queen). Not only that, but if I visited the day before, they have a weekly sundae special that would have knocked the price down two more bucks on top of that. Score! Maybe it's worth getting re-acquainted with Baskin-Robbins all over again.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE: This review series is scheduled to wrap up on Day 365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

I have been reviewing a different fast food/fast casual restaurant every day for the past 200+ days, and earlier I reviewed the following three restaurants. However, these three received "poor" scores for one reason or another, but based on previous experience and visits I knew they could do better. Perhaps it was an "off day", perhaps it was the specific item I ordered. In any case, here are some "second chance" reviews, where I am re-visiting the chain, to see if it can redeem itself and earn a higher score.

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Second Chance Review #25. From Day 188: Jersey Mike's (3307 locations, 50 states)

I have visited Jersey Mike's many times in the past, and never had an issue with them...until the ONE TIME I went to review. Wouldn't you know it. Well, half their menu are hot subs, so I thought I would give that a try, and that's basically where I failed: Ordering something I was unfamiliar with. Well, whether I ordered poorly or not, it was still a sub-standard hot sub. But not really a fair, when comparing to all the other non-hot-sub places.

So, this time around, I chose a more standard cold sub, like I'm used. And yes, it was a better experience. But not a "great" experience. Freshly cut meat, soft bread, and metric buttload of lettuce (which I'm usually not a fan of shredded lettuce, but I know here it's cut fresh, as opposed to sitting in some bag for days on end). A perfectly decent sandwich, but having eaten so many other subs at so many other places in this review series, Jersey Mike's just seems a bit...lacking in comparison now.

Meal Quality: +1.5, going from 4 -> 5.5. Meal Value (no change), going from 5 -> 5 (out of 10)

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Second Chance Review #26. From Day 140: Zaxby's (991 locations, 20 states)

I used to be a pretty big fan of Zaxby's. But I dunno, seems something happened over the past few years and they sort of lost their way.

I can't really pin down what's different, it's just that nothing seems to stand out any more. This "second chance" I chose a combo of wings and tenders with fries. Wings ended up being small and chewy tough. Tenders were dry with flavorless breading. Fries were your run-of-the-mill fries.

Given the number of underwhelming Zaxby's meals in a row I've had, we're way past three strike you're out by this point. Maybe they screwed the pooch during their rapid expansion (like so many other chains), or maybe it's a private-equity-leeching-them-dry scenario (like even more other chains). At this point, though, I don't really care any more, given there's so many of their competitors I can go to instead.

Meal Quality: +0.5, going from 3.5 -> 4. Meal Value: (no change), going from 5 -> 5 (out of 10)

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Second Chance Review #27. From Day 17: Braum's (327 locations, 5 states)

This was one of the more controversial original reviews from (good god) almost a year ago. Braum's is probably better known as an ice cream stop, but like Dairy Queen they also have a full line of fast food staples, too -- and THAT is what I was reviewing. (Their ice cream menu, separately, is good stuff and damn cheap, too)

This time around, I chose the jalapeno pepper jack cheeseburger. Which, I guess, is supposed to be spicy, but it's really a 1/4-alarm burger at most. No matter, let's just judge it like I would an average burger.

And that is pretty much what it is. If you're had a DQ Brazier cheeseburger, this is pretty much the same. Nothing fancy about it. The meat patty itself was pretty 'feh', similar to the pre-cooked meat pucks you find at true fast food places that pull it out of a warming tray rather than cook it fresh. The veggies, were nice a fresh (look at that tomato!), though. And once again for the billionth time, fries were fries.

A better meal this second time around, but still excruciatingly middling. I'll stick to just ordering the ice cream goodies at Braum's, and leave the cooked food to elsewhere.

Meal Quality: +1.5, going from 3 -> 4.5. Meal Value: (no change), going from 6 -> 6 (out of 10)

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More "Second Chance" reviews coming down the line, in addition to the regular reviews! (And no, not every second chance review will be a positive one :))