In case you missed it, last week we published a Pulitzer Prize winning article* on Nebraska fast food restaurants. We have moved on to your favorite national chains. There are so many national chains to address so we focused on the ones that we felt needed to be knocked a peg or two down.

If there are other chains you would like to discuss then please let us know in the comment section.

*This is not true. Well part of it is true. We did publish an article on the topic, but unfortunately it has not won the Pulitzer Price though we are holding out hope.

Raising Canes

I know a lot of people that freak out when Raising Canes comes to town. The lines are long and they all come for one thing. Tasty chicken fingers and sauce, that’s it. Take one of those two things away, what do you have? Do you have a restaurant that would bring people in from miles around?

I like breaded chicken. In all honesty, who doesn’t? Well, vegan and vegetarians. They’re probably not reading this article anyway as they are too busy eating their veggie sandwich from Subway.

I’m not 100% sold. Just like another restaurant further down on this, it is good but it is also a one trick pony. I need more from my restaurants. Variety is the spice of life, just not at Raising Canes.

Sparty: Raising Cane’s is the greatest fast food restaurant on earth.

Pepperjax

It’s fine but everything tastes the same. I mean, what do you expect when you cook everything on the same griddle? Is there a difference between the steak and chicken at Pepperjax?

Let’s be honest, we go there for the extra sodium.

Chick-Fil-A

Set aside the now irrelevant controversy of them donating to the Family Research Council with corporate profits, that’s not why I am criticizing them as over-rated. Chick-Fil-A is crap food. It is greasy, makes you feel sick after eating, and is hyped up to the point you would think it’s Michigan’s September Heisman winner or something. Just like yet another September Quarterback phenom in Ann Arbor, after that first bite you are reminded that yet again the food you are consuming is another November meltdown of 567 yards of offense and 62 points while your poor stomach can manage only a brief twang of protest before succumbing to the horrible indigestion of another third place finish in the division and loss to an SEC opponent in the bowl game.

Nate M: Chick-Fil-A is delicious.

Dairy Queen

I’m sorry but this place is trash. The ice cream isn’t even that good. Does anybody actually go there for the food?

Anybody?

Sparty: I always enjoyed getting the foot-long hot dog growing up.

Checker’s/Rally’s

Despite a cult following, most of these restaurants would fail a health inspection. Like a high school math teacher taught you about using a graphing calculator: garbage in equals garbage out. In this case, the garbage may also include rat droppings.

In-N-Out

Yet another weird cult following that makes no sense. The fries are not at all noteworthy, the burgers are unappetizing cardboard, and the overall chain is a fake cliche decor.

Burger King

I’m not entirely sure what flame-broiled means but it definitely only produce burgers that taste second-rate. As for the “Impossible Whopper?” It is impossibly just as unhealthy as regular beef and lacks the texture and taste of actual beef, or at least that’s my own experience when I tried it.

McDonald’s

Okay, I’ll give them some credit. Their breakfast is delicious. I don’t eat pancakes but every time we order them for the kids they smell amazing. Their breakfast sandwiches are awesome and so are their sausage burritos.

Arguing that they are overrated is starting to get difficult.

I think I figured it out. They are overrated because their breakfast menu overshadows their lunch and dinner menus! There ya go!

Also what happened to their dollar menu? I remember a friend of mine ordered seven McChickens and it only cost him $7.00, tax excluded. I could be wrong but that’s not an option anymore right?

They have tried to move toward higher quality food and giving you healthier options. Not a fan. Be. Who. You. Are.

Taco Bell

When people complain about Taco Bell they usually talk about having to find a toilet. For some that is good as if you are a little plugged up then a couple tacos could help you out.

I fell in love with Taco Bell when I was in high school after my mom took me there after a doctor appointment. I had never been there before and didn’t know what to get. I ended up order the Chicken Quesadilla and my life has never been the same before. At that time it was $2.19. My friend learned about this amazing food that it became a cult following among my friends.

Then like all these other chains...things change. The food is less and it costs more. It is now $3.79 and the value is no longer there. You go to Taco Bell for value, not for quality. Right?

The thing though that I continue to find hilarious about Taco Bell is that they come up with new items and it is simply using the same ingredients they already have and just mixing them up and then calling it something new.

Lastly, they had the baja chalupa and now you can’t get it anywhere and it was delicious.

Chipotle

So what if you think it tastes good? They pioneered pseudo-science food theory that results in constant outbreaks of salmonella and other food-born illnesses. Not only that, if you get anything other than a burrito then it is a complete rip-off of your wallet for the amount of food you get.

Sweetgreen

Maybe this is just an east coast chain, but it’s a crappy salad for the same cost as you would get at a top-notch steakhouse. If you want to “eat healthier” then just go to Chop’t as they have better quality salads.

Wendys

What good is fresh, never frozen beef if it is cooked to the point the meat literally crunches? They used to be pretty good, but the quality of the food has really nose-dived at most locations. Plus their sea salt fries they rolled out probably over a decade ago now were one of the biggest flops that come to mind since the attempt at “New Coke.”

Not Arby’s because Arby’s is amazing

Sonic

If they didn’t have ice cream and they didn’t have cherry lime-aids then would you even go?

Every time I show up to Sonic I look at that menu and expect to find something worth while.

I used to order their Super Sonic Breakfast Burrito because it was loaded. But then as times have gone, like a lot of chains, they start “unloading” the burritos. Their margins might be so thin that that is where they want to make up for them.

Back to the cherry lime-aids. Do you know what else they do when you order a drink? Fill that cup all the way with ice. Not a fan. Sonic is the only place that I have to tell them “light on the ice” and they know exactly what I’m talking about.

Sonic, stop short-changing me!

Shake Shack

Shake sauce is good, as are the shakes, and the fries. But let’s face it, you’re spending a lot of money for a tiny burger patty that is not at all filling. You can offer all the grand accouterments you want, but when you’re a burger shack that charges an arm and a leg for a not at all filling burger you are doing something unethical.