Never been a fan of Arby’s.
When young, single, between jobs and broke, I’d get two Subway foot-longs for $5. That was it for the day. The sandwich maker quickly figured out what I was doing so she added a little extra meat and cheese. Those were not easy times but for whatever reason I look back with a bit of fondness. Maybe times are just too easy now, not that I would wish myself difficulties, but still…
I think we need a new thread for favorite fast foods, both today and the lost treasures of yesteryear. What say ye out there in M4C Land?
My favorite fasy food is NO fast food. I miss thay shit sometimes, but haven’t had in years, and am better off for it.
Yeah, doing calls all day, Jack n the Box for lunch, Arbys for dinner, night calls, then beer beer beer, do it all again the next day…
Nevet again.
Sure.
They all seem pretty bad, though. And normally slow and not cheap.
Would rather get something from a Supermarket deli, or mom & pop Chinese, Indian, or Latino restaurant.
That’s the other thing, my money goes WAY farther making food at home rather than grab-n-go like that.
Sure, fast-food and restaurants are more expensive, and always have been. That said, have you looked at your grocery bill lately? The glaring gap in cost of eating at home vs eating out, while still there, has shrunken from what it used to be. Eating at home ain’t as cheap as it used to be.*
*This assumes eating good food at home, not beans and rice or hot dogs with mac-n-cheese (I’m not a half-starving, struggling college student). I’m talking stuff of restaurant quality. Roasts, burgers, cheeses, seafood, poultry, sides, etc.—all that shit is pretty pricey these days.
For instance, if I do buy hot dogs it’s not gonna be the el cheapo special, they’re gonna be Ballpark Angus or Hebrew National. I’m not buying the 1/4lb frozen burgers made out of God knows what, I’m buying the store-made ground chuck ones. I know I just used two lower-tier items as an example, but that is kind of what I was talking about in general: buying good shit at the store.
And conversely with increasing prices and minimum wages, and having to ever more scrape the bottom of the labor barrel, the mom-n-pop or even casual-chain and fast-food experiences are becoming indistinguishable.
Every time, it reminds me how blessed I am to have an owner-operator at one place I frequent who holds to a standard that she won’t let it onto the prep table nevermind out of the kitchen if she wouldn’t feed it to her own family. My mother was really excited when she heard Honeybaked was rolling out pot pies, and S. told me that the company recipe called for a prefab gruel that turned her stomach when she saw it. To quote her, “If you insist I will dig it out and make you a couple, but I don’t think you’ll find it very good and if a restaurant served it to me I’d complain about it. No way would I serve this to my own kids.” (Bear in mind, we have a history of spitballing off-menu sandwich ideas past each other, she’s done the kitchen work on some of mine and I’ve been a guinea pig for some of hers.)
Granted, being an almost-from-Day-One reliable customer and generous tipper have a certain way of motivating people to take care of you, but…
I buy a whole beef every year from a friend’s cattle farm. Price varies based on the market but last year all in, including processing fees, it averaged $5.25/lb. That’s for roasts, steaks (best ribeyes I’ve ever had), briskets, ground, filets, everything. I haven’t bought beef in a store in over 8 years. A lot of money up front but cheaper overall. And the beef is unadulterated- grass fed and grain finished for a little marbling.
If I had one of those “coffin lid” freezers I’d think about buying a half of a cow, but I don’t.
How do you keep that much meat from getting freezer burned over time? Even the best wrapping jobs only protect it for so long.
It’s vacuumed packed. As long as it is sealed properly it will last a long time. I’ve eaten two year old beef with no issues.
The wife and I rarely eat out other than on trips. Every once in a while the wife will get the 3pm munchies and stop at the local MikeyD’s for a burger on the dollar menu… which has morphed into a so-called value menu price of $2.50.
As far restaurants… the kids like to give us Cracker Barrel gift cards. Food and service aren’t terrible. The big fireplace is kinda nice on a winter morning. Sometimes I’ll go to Waffle House for breakfast with the guys before a gun show or whatever. The gals who work the tables often have that look of being rode hard, both young and old. They’re great! Doesn’t matter what the meal price is, I leave a $20. Those working gals earn every penny.
We’re fortunate to have Publix, Food City and Walmart grocery stores all within a few tenths of a mile of each other. What we can’t find BOGO at Publix and FC we’ll stop by Walmart and get.
I look at the grocery bill every week. It’s fucking killing us, but still no question WAY cheaper than ever eating out. And healthier.
10 bucks at Winco gets me a lb. of good 93% lean ground beef and a pack of tortillas.
That gives me 5 GOOD burritos, with 11 more tortillas to spare, for other shit.
The local Walmart deli made sandwiches up until 2018’ish for $3 or less and I think I got extra meat /cheese by not being picky/a pain in the ass.
I would get in line behind the senior citizens buying 4 different types of lunch meats with each type sliced 1/32"(or whatever the minimum adjustment is) different than the last.
I would get my turn and the person at the counter would ask what thickness i wanted and my reply was always “whatever it is set on” along with saying “thank you” and “please” and usually got a huge sandwich. 
This approach works for a very many things in life. It rings more true than just a humorous story.
Bulk spices at WinCo are the the next best thing to wholesale. Over an hour each way for me to hit one but a must for appropriate quantities of chili powder, etc.
It’s always good practice to treat people well, particularly those serving you food.
No joke! If it’s reasonably close, not iffy on safety, and/or even something i would normally order i dont complain.
This may have been a coincidence, but my wife changed her mind on something she ordered and asked to change it when the waiter brought it out thinking they could just give it to someone else. After we paid the check, the waiter told her “God bless you” which by that time was kind of unusual for chain restaurants.
After that, we stopped at a couple of shops and left Knoxville about an hour after eating. Beginning on the outskirts of Knoxville on the shoulder of I75 just after dark on a Saturday night, the normal just over 2 hour drive home turned in to a almost 4 hour drive home pulling over to puke and/or dry heave.
Glockforum.com and Defensivecarry.com are good forums.
I have been a member of Glockforum.com for years. It is imho much better than Glocktalk.
I’ll check it out. I looked at it once, but at quick glance, thought it was low volume of posting.