What fast food places do you think are underrated?

I would say Sonic (They have really good food, treats, and a variety of beverages), Taco John's (I love their potato oles), and A&W Restaurants (Cool how that place was named after a soda).

Hey, I know what Taco John's is, there's only three in the state of WA but my family on the other side of the state has lived next to one for years. They also have one of the few remaining A&W's nearby too which use to be more prevalent, but I think that one stayed in business because they had young girls in tight skimpy clothes doing car washes next door for years during their hot summers. Never tried a Sonics.

Moving back to Seattle in a few months, already looking forward to things I can eat there I can't get here in Southern California.

• Taco Time
• Taco Del Mar (pisses all over Chipotle)
• Dick's Drive-In (In-N-Out Burgers is overrated)
• Ivar's
• Burger Master
• Fat Burger (we have them here in CA too but they're all run down, not the same as in WA)
• any local mom-n-pop teriyaki shop, you just can't get that quality anywhere outside Seattle
• and the Mexican food there is much better there in WA than where I've been in California, in fact the guy that writes the Ask A Mexican syndicated column wrote about how the local CA Mexican food scene is pathetic just a few weeks back

Hot N Now. Greatest fast food I have had but there are very few left so it isn't well-known.

It was almost huge but expanded too fast which lead to it crashing really hard.

Great food that is cheaper than other fast food places at the same time.

@jun_aka_pekto:

Boston Market is a great answer......I usually won't bother with any others these days.

Underrated?!! All fast food is nasty, pull out those pots and pans and learn to cook. You'd be amazed after a while how nasty fast food really is. Anyone can make a better burger then some zit poppin' teen making 8 clams and hour, or some fool with Hep making tacos .

@ktseymour:

Sounds like you had bad experiences at fast food restaurants.

Anyway, @ArmoredCore55: besides higher property taxes, i don't understand why these companies don't have restaurants in Chicago. We don't have Sonic, Hardee's, Steak n Shake, Culvers Arbys etc. I never tried Hardee's or Sonic. These places are in the Suburbs but the not the city.

Anyway, last year I tried Taco John while in Wisconsin. I remember it not being bad.

Dick's is the best. It's pretty much the only fast food place I frequent at this point. Their burgers and fries are some of the best I tasted, and unlike any other fast food place, the food always tastes completely fresh. Any other fast food place has a bit of a "mystery meat" quality to their beef, but that's absolutely not the case at Dicks. And their food is cheap! You could get a couple burgers and a fry for under $5. And finally - they're the only fast food place around me that stays open reliably late now. Every other fast food place around here closes at or before midnight. If I'm wasted or high and want a burger at 1:30 AM, Dick's always has my back.

Burger Master is quite good too. They offer more variety than Dick's but they're much more expensive and their hours aren't nearly as good.

Nah , I just cook all my own stuff. If people slowed down and took a minute to cook their own food, they'd realize how nasty fast food is.
It doesn't taste good, and it seems not many people at all remember after 9/11 here in the states, all the FF chains used that as an excuse to buy cheaper product and sell it for the same price. All chain food places took a dramatic dive in quality , and never went back to the better products.

Not all fast foods are nasty ya'know. Chick-Fil-A is a good fast food restaurant to chow down.

@KHAndAnime: "You could get a couple burgers and a fry for under $5."

How big is the burger?

@ktseymour:

When was the last time you ate at a Fast Food place? And Wendy's is high quality.

whos calling, in need of service?

I'd say normal sized. They're not big burgers, and they're not tiny. They're just right - where it feels like eating more than 2 would put me in the fat farm. They also have a "deluxe", which is a very filling double-cheeseburger with lettuce and some delicious sauce. I could only eat one of those, and that's also a meal you could get for under $5.

To compare, I'd say 2 Dicks burgers fills me up the equivalent to a couple of McDonalds double cheeseburgers (which are wimpy because their patties are preposterously thin). No doubt, Dicks is way more filling for the money. And instead of worrying about eating extra-carcinogenic preservatives, I just need to worry about cholesterol and fat (which is a lot more manageable in my eyes than fighting cancer).

I've simply eaten too much fast food so I have no problem limiting my choice to a single joint at this point. Dick's is my choice :p

@KHAndAnime: "I'd say 2 Dicks burgers fills me up"

lol.

Anyway, I looked up Dick's Drive In and of course we don't have that either.

"and that's also a meal you could get for under $5."

McDonald's is starting to suck as it seems they're getting rid of the dollar menu(or it's gone already). I think the only $5 meal at McDonald's is the 2 cheeseburger meal which isn't bad but back in the day I remember a big Mac used to be a total of $3.27

Never been to Sonic (none near me), but I hear good things.

And I am going to say In N Out, because there is no way you can say enough good things about it; that place is so good, it is cursed to never be sufficiently praised. Why God? WHY!?

@KHAndAnime: yeah, also looking forward to that legal recreational weed WA state has too =D and all the good food to satisfy any munchies. Shame, I moved away like RIGHT before legalization went into effect.

I heard they closed The Hurricane in Seattle, one of my favorites to go to at any hour of the night. Is Beth's in Greenlake still open? I use to frequent there back when they were set up in Bothell.

Locally, Salem's. Highly underrated, especially their burger and fries. Also, underrated due to the sheer scope of their menu.

Unfortunately never been to The Hurricane. Beth's is still open. They seem to always be doing very well. My problem with the place is that every time I go, it's filled with rude and drunk teenagers, so I don't go there anymore. I like their food but the atmosphere is way too much of a dive for me.

The recreational situation is getting real good. A year back things were abysmal compared to the medical options. Now that all the medical places are gone, all the good deals and pricing that existed for medicinal users now exist for recreational. I used to pay $8/g for 15% THC weed, but now I'm paying $25/g for 85%+ THC of hash (which used to be $40+/g). It's almost too good to be true. If I was only an occasional user, I could easily make hash gram that last for months. But my life is pretty much vaporize, eat, crap, and sleep (in that order) so I fly through it.

You'd think with the recreational thing going so far, fast food places would be enjoying some extra business or something. But to me I'm sensing nothing but cut-backs almost everywhere around here (except for Dick's). Being someone who also works in the food industry, the little benefits I have are being cut away too. Must be the minimum wage increase.

That's weird. We have Hardee's, Steak n Shake, and Arby's in my town. The closest from Sonic and Culvers is like 40-50 min. away from me, unfortunately. You could also try using something like Google to find your nearest location to these places or go to their websites:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=chicago%2C+il+arbys

Arby's has some really good food.

But my life is pretty much vaporize, eat, crap, and sleep (in that order) so I fly through it.

I am going to bed now ^^ ... I guess

Yeah, I hear the economic situation with Google and Amazon's expansion are turning it into runaway housing/business rent rates and squeezing out people on price(like its the next San Francisco in chasing out its citizens), so they don't have the expendable income they once had to put into the local economy. Dick's was always well known though for great pay for its employees and offering even helping them with college and stuff, wouldn't be surprised they're not stingy with giving back to their workforce.

Not really big on fast food chains. I would easily choose some local casual dining place over chains. If I had to pick I would pick Flatbread Company, Panera and California Pizza Kitchen.

Oh man Seattle has some great restaurants and great place for a foodie. Last time I was there I couldn't find time to go to Pike's place. But man some of the restaurants were just awesome. Best burger I've ever had in my life

I've never ate anything in my life that amazed me so much as other people seem to claim for certain places. Either I like it fine or I don't but never anything I couldn't do without ever thinking about it. Maybe my taste buds just aren't as sensitive as some.

Well it's not really underrated but I get so pissed when I see people say Shake Shack is better than 5 Guys. It gives them a good run for their money but it is not better than 5 Guys.

In terms of an underrated food chain, I'll say Honeygrow. But they have only been around since like 2012. I'll also say Federal Donuts.

@ArmoredCore55:

Oh I forgot we have Arbys downtown Chicago. Buts that's not good enough.

Steak n Shake I know is in Rosemont and Skokie

There suppose to be 2 Culvers coming to Chicago one near Wrigley Feild.

Shake Shack ... I want to visit this place some day

Here in AZ I like Filibertos, The Habit Burger, and Freddy's Steakburgers. I also like Whataburger. I'd say they are underrated compared to everywhere else.

Whataburger has some really good food, I wish they had one in Illinois.

I don't know if I would quite call them fast food, but there is a chain around here called zoup where they have 10 or 15 different soups each day (they allow you to sample all of them before you buy), sandwiches, and salads. And you get bread every time you buy soup. It's closer to fast casual though given the quality and price.

And there is a Sonic in Uptown. It's horrible.

I've been to places where A & W is a grocery store.

I'm just going to say Wendy's is underrated just because it seems like the least popular hamburger place, that serves the best food.

@TheHighWind: I'm just going to say Wendy's is underrated just because it seems like the least popular hamburger place, that serves the best food."

Didn't Wendy's surpassed Burger King to become number 2? But even if its number 3, I wouldn't thought Wendy's was considered underrated.

@mark1974:"And there is a Sonic in Uptown. It's horrible."

Explain?

@PSP107: the food at sonic is just really poor quality. I ate at one in Kentucky I think years ago and I thought it was ok. When they built that one in uptown I wanted to try it but was very disappointed. I like that they have penutbutter shakes though.

@mark1974:

I never tried Sonic so I guess that's off my to eat list.

What about Hardee's?

And if you want to talk overrated, Five Guys is overpriced and nothing special.

@PSP107: I never liked five guys much.

I grew up in Indiana and they had Hardee's. I remember liking it but not all that much.

Since you are my neighbor here in Chicago I would say the best fast food was Hot Doug's (rip) Max's (rip). I like skyway dogs on the south side. And for Mexican Asadero.

Brothers Chicken. They're like a cheaper, better version of Canes.

Better off going to a middle Easter or Vietnamese Street food joint

That sounds good.

Taco Johns is freaking awesome. My uncle once gave me a $50 TJ gift card for Christmas. Good times.

Sonic is pretty decent, never had something bad from them. Their slushees are really good (the ice alone is so good they sell bags of the stuff).

Hardee's serves some of the best fast food breakfast.

@shellcase86: Went to Sonic last month it was alright. Didn't try the slushies though.

Quiznos for me. I can eat there everyday.

Chick Fila is overrated. I mean it's good but not lines out the door good.

Could really go for a Chikfila Sandwich with Chikfila sauce on it now.

This is gonna sound gay as sh1t but I actually like their kale and broccolini salad.

@ArmoredCore55: other then ordering a pizza I don't eat "fast" food. It's all shit. You can cook a decent meal in the amount of time it takes to drive & obtain fast shit food.

1. Place 1 cup of basmati rice w/garlic salt into 2 cups boiling water

2. Cut up ... chicken or purchase sirloin beef sliced for stir fry or ground beef, ground pork.... cook it. Add seasoning, garlic/pepper/ etc.

3. Get another pot fill it half full of water add some seasoning boil. Throw in broccoli. Take it out after 3-4 min. when its lil soft.

4. Mix it all together. Add sauce if you like or go plain. Personally I enjoy Red Curry sauce mix it all together.

Takes less then 20 min.

@Skarwolf:

What do you call it?

Rice with... whatever meat /veggie/sauce you use