March 25, 2006 - Cook Out

Fast Food Restaurant: Cook Out
Location: Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh, NC
Date: March 25, 2006

I ordered a Cook-Out Style hot dog, a banana pudding milkshake and a order of onion rings. Let me say first that the person that took my order was VERY friendly and really took the time to ensure that I got what I ordered. I know that doesn't seem like much, but I KNOW you all have had experiences where the people taking the order couldn't care less about what you were ordering and it showed up when you were missing something or got the wrong thing in your order. Ok, moving on....

The cook-out style hot dog was delicious. Cookout style means that it is cooked like it was cooked out on the grill straight with the chargrill marks. It came with coleslaw, mustard and chili on a hot dog bun. The hot dog was neatly made and my only complaint is that the bun was a little soggy because of the coleslaw. It didn't fall apart on me while I was eating it though, so I was happy. The onion rings were piping hot and crispy on the outside. The onions on the inside were melt in your mouth delicious. They use sweet vidalia onions for their onion rings and you can definitely taste it. The banana pudding milkshake tasted just like homemade banana pudding, including the vanilla wafers and fresh bananas. No imitation banana flavoring here! The milkshake is so thick that you need a spoon to actually eat it (luckily they provided one!). It was absolutely delicious. I have to try some of their other flavors. They have over 20 different kinds including cherry cheesecake, mint chocolate chip, banana fudge, egg nog, watermelon and many more.

I would recommend this fast food restaurant to anyone.

March 24, 2006 -- Sheetz Gas Station

Fast Food Restaurant: Sheetz Gas Station
Location: Capital Blvd., Raleigh, NC
Date: March 24, 2006

I ordered their gourmet meat pizza and a Kidz meal with chicken fingers and a cookie for my son. First off, the pizza. The crust was hard, the meat looked shriveled up and the sauce looked old. The whole pizza looked overcooked. I took a couple of bites, but had to discard the rest. I had this pizza a couple of times before and the first time I got it, it was very good. Unfortunately, ever since that time, every time I have ordered it, it has been pretty bad. I probably won't be ordering it again; at least not from this Sheetz. This is the only Sheetz I have been to though that offers gourmet pizza.

As for the chicken fingers, I did not eat them, but my son didn't either. Not because we didn't want to, but because we COULDN'T. The chicken had to have been very old and were overcooked. The pieces were hard like wood and completely inedible. The only salvagable item was the cookie, which was of the sugar cookie variety with frosting on the top. It seemed to be ok, and my son enjoyed it.

Overall, though, this was a very disappointing meal. It'll be a while before I go back there.

March 22, 2006 - WaWa Gas Station

Fast Food Restaurant: WaWa (ok, so this isn't a fast food place, but I do get fast food there!)
Location: Lynnhaven Parkway, Virgnia Beach, VA
Date: March 22, 2006

Some gas stations aren't what they used to be -- and that's good thing! The WaWa gas station that I stop at has all kinds of goodies that rival your local 7-eleven. They offer made to order sandwiches and wraps, salads, fresh made pretzels (the jalepeno and cheddar are my favorite), breakfast sandwiches and have all kinds of specialty items that you can make yourself like milkshakes, icees, cappucinos, soft drinks and the newest drink that I've seen and tried -- Smoothies!

I had a strawberry-banana smoothie today and a mango-peach one yesterday. Both smoothies were a good mixture of fruit (or fruit tasting ingredients) and ice. I prefer my smoothies, well, smooth opposed to icy, but these were a little more on the icy side. Not that this is bad, mind you, and it is commonplace for when I order smoothies elsewhere anyway, so I'm probably the oddball. At any rate, both of these smoothies had the taste that their titles claimed and made a nice refreshing breakfast treat. You can get a 22 oz smoothie for about $1.05 plus tax. So go and find a WaWa today and try one of their new smoothies!

March 21, 2006 - Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers

Fast Food Restaurant: Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers
Location: Princess Anne Road and Tiffany Lane, Virginia Beach, VA
Date: March 21, 2006 approx. 6:15pm

I ordered the No. 2 combo consisting of a Classic Double 1/2 pound hamburger with cheese, regular fries and a medium fruit punch with lite ice (I always order lite ice because I figure by the time they fill the cup up with ice and then put in my drink, I mean have about three or four good swallows, and that's about it.)

Everything was nice and hot (well, except for the drink of course). The burger had hot beef patties (although there were a couple of bites that I took that had some inedible, grissle like texture to it) crisp lettuce, firm tomatoes, crisp onions (although I don't particularly care for the onions that have the stringy stuff coming off of them), fresh pickles and a good amount of ketchup and mustard. The bun was a little soggy and flat, but I guess "ok" fo the most part. The french fries were nice and hot as well, and were lightly salted. The fruit punch was a little watery tasting but tolerable, and had the lite ice that I requested.

Overall, the meal was wasn't the best that I've had, but wasn't the worst that I've had either. I guess I would call it "even".

March 19, 2006 Hardee's

Fast Food Restaurant: Hardee's
Location: Western Branch Blvd., Portsmouth, VA
Date: March 19, 2006, approx. 11:05 am

I ordered a six-dollar burger and a large sweet tea with lite ice. Boy the six-dollar burger is a mighty hefty sandwich as claimed! The sandwich was packaged neatly and tasted very fresh. The meat was nice and hot, the tomatoes were the right amount of firmness and the lettuce, onions and pickles were cold and crisp. There was just the right amount of ketchup and mustard on the burger, but there was a little too much mayo. The bun was was not stale or hard; my only copmliant is that the hamburger patty was so large, that it was falling way off of the bun! Even with that though, the sandwich was quite satisfying. The sweet tea from Hardee's is always a favorite with me, and the serving I got today didn't disappoint. Overall, a pretty tasty meal.

March 11, 2006 Madison's Seafood Rocky Mount, NC

Fast Food Restaurant: Madison's Seafood
Location: 2181 Lawrence Circle, Rocky Mount, NC 27804
Phone: 252-977-7741
Date: March 11, 2006

OK, let me preface this comment with a statement regarding Madison's Seafood. You may have noticed that I included Madison's full address and even a phone number to call. This is because they are AWESOME!!!!!! This is probably the best seafood I have had in over a decade. I just happened upon this restaurant on my way to Raleigh, NC when my son wanted some KFC. I stopped at the KFC for my son (and by the way, the food was horrible, but that's another blog!), and decided I would try this seafood restaurant that had a drive thru because, hey, how many of those do you see?

Well, I am so happy that I stopped. They have a wide variety of seafood dishes to choose from that include catfish, flounder, scallops, shrimp, oysters and more. They also serve chicken fingers, BBQ and various southern side items like steamed cabbage, sweet potato sticks, onion rings, fried okra, potato salad, etc.

I ordered the 3 choice combination dinner that comes with 2 sides and hush puppies; I had a double order of scallops and a catfish fillet with side items of potato salad and onion rings. Here's the breakdown:

Scallops: Oh my gosh, they melt in your mouth!!! They were fried to a perfect brown color, very meaty and not overly breaded. Simply perfect!

Catfish: Also melted in your mouth! Was a very meaty piece of fish, also fried to a golden brown and didn't have one bit of a fishy taste like you sometimes get when you get fish from a restaurant. Excellent!

Potato salad: Very tasty; the potatoes weren't too hard or too soft, and there just the right amount of mayo and spices to add the prefect amount of flavor.

Onion rings: The onion rings were hot and crisp, not soggy and greasy and were not too salty or burnt at all. Another pefect side dish!

As for the hust puppies, they are not the round type that you get from Long John Silvers or Captain D's, but they were oblong and absolutely delicious. They were browned to pefection and very tasty.

All in all, I guess you can see that I was VERY SATISIFED with the meal I received from Madison's. They don't have a Madison's in my area, and I'm not even sure they are a chain, but I tell you what, when I am on my way to Raleigh, NC, I will always make a special stop just to get some of their food. I highly recommened if you are in the general area you do the same as well.

March 10, 2006 Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

Fast Food Restaurant: Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
Location: Taylor Road and Western Branch Blvd., Portsmouth, VA
Date: March 10, 2006

I ordered the KFC Snacker combo meal that comes with your choice of two snacker sandwiches, potato wedges and a drink. I chose two fish snackers. Well, the potato wedges were pretty good; they were warm, crispy on the outside and soft, but the right amount of firmness on the inside. The soft drink was your average drink; nothing special to report.

As for the KFC fish snackers, well, not so great – oh wait, I mean BAD. The fish was overcooked on BOTH snacker sandwiches – one a little more than the other. Neither were edible. The fish on both was very overcooked – brown on the outside and when you went to bite into it, the inside was very hard. Not a good meal.

March 10, 2006 Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits

Fast Food Restaurant: Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
Location: Newmarket Drive and Mercury Blvd., Hampton, VA
Date: March 10, 2006

Ordered the new fish basket with a side of red beans and rice, their chicken sandwich (mild), and a medium fruit punch. I have had Popeye’s shrimp and chicken before, but not their fish, so I thought I’d give it a try. I received 2 pieces of fish in the fish basket; it was crunchy, but a lukewarm. It was however, pretty tasty. The red beans and rice are always a favorite for me. The portion could have been a little larger, however, it was good. The beans didn’t overpower the rice and they mixed evenly and well.

As for the mild chicken sandwich – it was delicious! I know they say presentation is everything, and maybe that won have of the battle for me, but when I took out the sandwich, it looks like it would have been in a one of Popeye’s promo pictures to entice you to buy the sandwich. It was neatly put together and was picture perfect. As for the taste, well, it was equally pleasing. The lettuce was crisp and the tomato was just ripe (not runny); both were cold as they should be. The chicken patty was very fresh, hot and cooked to perfection. It certainly wasn’t just a small piece of pressed chicken that you might get from some other fast food restaurants that offer chicken sandwiches. There was just the right amount of mayo on the sandwich and the bun was just the right firmness – not too hard and not soft or soggy. In addition, this was a HEARTY sandwich. It was very filling and worth the money. HIGHLY RECOMMENED.

I would say overall, I was pretty much satisfied with the meal. I might or might not get the fish platter again, but the chicken sandwich is a definite winner.

March 9, 2006 – Dairy Queen

Fast Food Restaurant: Dairy Queen
Location: Holland Road, Virginia Beach, VA
Date: March 9, 2006

Ordered a medium cherry dipped vanilla ice cream cone. The ice cream was typical dairy queen fare; the cherry dip (outer shell) was good and actually tasted like cherry. The way the cone was dipped, however, did not cover all of the ice cream on the cone, but did cover most of it. I always like the cake cones; (except for when it’s stale of course!) this one was fresh. As for the size of the cone, “medium” is subjective of course, but to me, this medium was a little on the small side. Overall, pretty good.

March 9, 2006 Burger King

Fast Food Restaurant: Burger King
Location: Mercury Blvd., Hampton, VA
Date: March 9, 2006, 8:30 am

Double Croissanwich (ham) value meal with orange juice and hash rounds. The hash rounds were lukewarm and very greasy; at least they weren’t burnt! The orange juice had a valid expiration date, however it was very tart. The OJ comes from the manufacturer, so I guess this is not BK’s fault. The double ham croissanwich was very dissatisfying. The egg was cold, although I do have to say it was fluffy and not hard. The cheese was not melted at all on the sandwich. The ham was lukewarm at best. The croissanwich bread was not warm at all either; tasted like it came right out of the bread bag. I’m really sad about this review. I haven’t eaten breakfast at Burger King in about three to five years, and even though my previous experiences with their breakfast haven’t been that great, I was willing to give them a try again. Once again, I unfortunately got substandard food.

March 7, 2006 Chick Fil A

Fast Food Restaurant: Chick-Fil-A
Location: Lynnhaven Pkwy & Princess Anne Rd, Virginia Beach, VA
Date: March 7, 2006, 9:15 am

Chicken Biscuit, Breakfast burrito, hash rounds. – Food was hot, fresh and good. Biscuit was nice and soft, almost melt in your mouth. Hash rounds were crispy, but not burnt. Breakfast burrito (chicken) had big chunks of chicken in it, lots of eggs and perfectly sautéed vegetables (onions, green peppers). Overall, a delicious and very satisfying breakfast.

Fast Food Dish Blog Intro

I will try to get something at a fast food restaurant each day and report back on the quality of that item. I will even try to include a picture every now and then. I know it seems like it’s not a big deal, but you know, when you want some hot, delicious McDonalds French fries, you pay your money and get some cold, hard french fries that are unsalted, it’s a big deal! And let’s not even talk about the times you order your food and then take it home and it’s the wrong thing or something’s missing! Call me the “fast food police” but I hate to pay my money for something and then have to throw it away. I mean, I don’t have money to throw away, do you?