Episode 8 - Fast Food Fries
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You're listening to locally produced programming created in KUNV Studios on public radio. KUNV 91.5.
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You are listening to Top Tier. Top Tier. I'm your host Jordan McRae. I find things and I rank them and I rank them and I rank them. We are live coming to you from the first floor of Greenspun Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada on the beautiful campus of UNLV. You are listening to Top Tier. I am your host, Jordan, and I am joined here by my guest.
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Hey, Sket.
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So glad to have you today.
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So glad to be returning here.
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Yes, for a second time.
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For the second time. Yes. It's such an honor.
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So, for those of you guys who are new, what we do on this show is I essentially take things, I find things that fall into a category. So, this entire season is based on foods. I find food categories and I rank them.
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And I rank them.
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I do indeed. So, we're going to have a lot of fun today because do you know what our category is today?
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Please enlighten me.
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It is fast food fries.
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Ooh, okay.
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I'm a fries kind of guy, so I'm very curious as to what your rankings are.
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I am a fast food kind of gal, especially the fries. So I'm very excited today. I would like to think that I'm well versed in this category.
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Okay.
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All right, so you ready to get started?
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I am ready.
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Let's dive right in. So for those of you guys who don't know, how we rank these things, since I don't really like to go one through 10, one through 15, we go by tiers. We have our bottom tier, is what we always start off with. We have our tier that is right above that, which is incredibly mid-tier. And then we have our top tier, the name of the show, of course. So, as I mentioned, we're always gonna start with the bottom tier. These are things that I believe that are just skips. We all kinda know that we don't like this thing, so I feel like there shouldn't be much disagreement on it. And our first item on the bottom tier is gonna be canes.
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Okay, I kind of see why you go that route. Every time I get fries from canes, they always seem soggy.
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Yes, they're always limp, and they look so sad. Okay, I put canes on the bottom tier, namely because no one goes there for their fries. Their fries are good, you know, they're that little crinkle cut, you know, they have a good potato taste, but like, they're not like your top, like, oh, I need to go get those fries. It's not a need at all. It's not a need. You know what it tastes like?
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It tastes like that somebody just like half-assed it, like they put it into the fryer for a little bit and then they take it out. It's not even done cooking all the way.
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Right, you know, it's like they saw, I think that they're also freezer burnt. So they're like not done all the way like thawing and then you just throw them straight into the fryer and it's just, I don't think they're good. And, hey Scott, about how often do you think people sub the fries for more bread? Zero. What?
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No, I've never heard of that before. When it comes to canes, people always sub the coleslaw. I've never heard anyone sub fries. That is fair.
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Most people will sub the coleslaw. I am a gal that likes the three finger combo, so I don't even get the coleslaw you get the coleslaw the box combo, but yeah You know sometimes if I'm really feeling it that day. I'll sub the fries For more bread, okay. Yeah, cuz you know the fries. They're very forgettable You have to and you also have to have a dip for them. They don't stand good on their own cuz they're not salted Yeah, they are so yeah, I had a whole rant about Cane's last week, so I'm gonna save the listeners from going down that road again. And I'm just saying, Cane's, y'all need to do better. You just need to do better. Seasoning is just non-existent for y'all, and I don't understand it. So we're just gonna move on from Cane's, and the next item in the bottom tier is actually our last one, just because these two are just well known for not having good fries. And the other is In-N-Out.
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Really?
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The thing is, I feel like In-N-Out is such a cop-out with their fries. Like, their burgers are super good and they have great milkshakes, but I feel like if you look at your meal, like, the fries are definitely weighing it down.
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I'll kind of have to disagree with you on that because unlike canes, In-N-Out actually does like good in terms of like freshness with the fries. They cut up the potatoes right in front of you and they put it in the fryer as is. It's like fresh potatoes that they just cut up. So it's not like any other fast food where you have to go into a walk-in freezer and get fries and just put them in the fryer.
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And I agree. You know, we all know that In-N-Out, like one of their bread and butter, like their main service promises is that you're getting fresh food. And you can taste it. And you know, I like that about In-N-Out. But man, for me personally, I do not like eating their fries as is. Personally, I do not eat my fries with ketchup. I don't like adding ketchup to my things and like my plate because I'm not a huge fan of ketchup. That's just me personally. So I when I'm looking for a good french fry I need it to stand on its own. I need that salt to be popping. You know whatever seasoning spray you got to be popping and for it to taste good. And for In-N-Out I feel like they're like deal with it. Add some cheese, add some onions, you'll be alright. Alright how do you feel
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about animal fries? Does it make it any better?
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I love animal fries. I think it does make it better. I think that the cheese gets clumpy, and I think that you have to eat animal fries as soon as they come out of that little microwave thing that they have. Like, because if you let animal fries sit, they don't taste very good.
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They don't.
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Right. But I think that they're good, but I like having a french fry that stands well on its own. And I'm like, I don't want to have to add cheese, I don't want to have to add grilled onions, you know. I don't have to add all of that. They have like chili, I think. They have like on their secret menu or something like that. I can't remember. But like I want to add all this extra stuff just for your fries to be palatable.
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Now that we're on the topic of fries, I do have a question for you. What? When you do order fries and a milkshake, are you the type of person to dip fries into your milkshake? I know you said that you're not a huge fan of ketchup, but how about dipping fries in milkshakes?
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Oh, 1,000%.
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Yeah, see?
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I really like it. It's a salty and sweet combo. I think it's a good, you know? It helps all the flavor profiles, you know? And I think, you know, that's another thing that I do somewhat. I feel like you can't really do it with In-N-Out fries. I'll do it with like other companies, but In-N-Out fries are like too short.
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Okay, that makes sense.
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I feel like they're not very dippable. And In-N-Out shakes are also too thick.
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Too thick, okay.
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Oh my God, do you not struggle?
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I mean, at first, when I first get it, but like when you leave it out for a little bit, then yeah, it's easier to digest.
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Nah, I need it now. I need it the second it's in my hand.
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Or what you can do is that you get an In-N-Out shake and you put it in your freezer for a little bit, you've got ice cream practically.
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No, I need it now. I'm not patient. I need instant gratification. I'm already eating fast food. I need it now.
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It's my money and I need it now!
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So yeah, that is actually all for the bottoms here. I think I've said my piece on both Cane's and In-N-Out. As companies, you guys are great companies, great plan. You guys are very similar in your build of you have very minimal things on your menu. There's literally only three to four different combos that you could do, but y'all need to work on them fries because both of y'all are lacking 1000%. So yeah, like if you need a reminder on bottom tier, it's In-N-Out and Okay. Now we are going to move into the category of Incredibly mid. I think that these are relatively good fries on a good day with certain Circumstances, but they don't stand out. They don't stand out as top tier. They might not even come close and My first thing that I want to talk about in this mid category is Popeyes.
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Yeah, I do agree with you on that. I mean, when I say mid with Popeyes, I'm not saying mid in terms of it has a mid flavor. Popeyes fries are good, however, it's kind of what you said about In-N-Out, they're too small. Okay, actually, I would actually disagree with that.
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I feel like Popeyes fries are like kinda long. I feel like the serving that you can get it really depends on the person if you got someone hooking you up you getting fries for days but if not they really don't care about you you've not seen a lot of french fries um my main thing about Popeyes is like I like their fries they have good seasoned fry. My thing is I have never gone to Popeyes and gotten their fries fresh. Not a single time. I think this last time that I went to Popeyes which was like a day or two ago, it is like the freshest I had ever had them and you could tell that they maybe got out of the fryer and have been under like the hot lamp for maybe like 15 minutes.
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No, I think you were just lucky.
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Those fries are always somewhat stale and that's just something I can't get past. Like, that's just the quality. It's like, how long do you let those fries sit out and you're still serving them to people? I'm like, that's just, that's just, no, I can't do it. Like, I get it, you don't go to Popeye's for the customer service. Not at all. That is not what you go for.
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Nope.
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But I'm like, man, if you're getting fries, like I want them to be hot. Like I could tell these were just out of the fryer, and that has never happened to me, for me, a single time. So I never order the fries because I know nine times out of ten they're not fresh.
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Whenever I think of fast food workers serving crappy food, I'm always thinking to myself, like, if you were the one ordering and your food came out like that, you would be upset. You would be having a whole fit. So if you wouldn't want that for yourself, then why would you want that for other people?
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And like, I get it, but like, I'm also not a high maintenance person, like, I'm not gonna ask them, like, hey, is the chicken hot? Hey, are the fries, can I get those made to order? Like, I'm not gonna ask that, because you know, like, it's fast food. I'm usually in a rush anyways. I don't necessarily want to be there for extra time because they're doing something for something that I asked. You know, like I just want to be able to pull up and know that I'm getting good quality. And that's just not the case. My go-to side for Popeyes is red beans. So that's just me. I think that their red beans are really good, especially for a fast food company. So yeah, um, Popeyes do better. Have stricter rules on like for how long you can serve fries. Cause like I said, those fries are always at least 10-15 minutes old. If not longer. And it sucks. Alright, our next item that we're going to talk about on this mid-tier category is going to be KFC's potato wedges
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Okay. Yeah, that's
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That's kind of the same as Cain's like sometimes I feel like they don't cook it all the way
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I think that like potato wedges are a great idea, you know, like they have that niche I think KFC still has their potato wedges. I'm not sure they could have discontinued them I don't know. I haven't been there in years me too because I like I like Popeyes. I prefer Popeyes. But, the thing is, is that it's so much potato. It's so much potato that if you're also not getting them hot, like you bite into those potato wedges and you can see the steam, that is just not appetizing. It's not. Like, they have such a niche category of like, oh, you could dip the potato wedges into like some gravy if you got like mashed potatoes and stuff. It's like, yes, great idea. Well seasoned, not necessarily could do better. And yeah, not roasted, not fried enough, not anything because they never even seen that fried, like even the breading on it looks halfway done. I'm like, these kind of look like grilled potatoes with some breading on them. So, yeah, KFC, like, if you still have those, great. My recommendation is leave those in the fryer for an extra minute, because it's not enough. I don't want a potato wedge that's also a mashed potato. You know?
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You know.
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All right, I don't think we have to spend long on KFC, because I think we all just get it. No one is going out of their way to go get some potato wedges. So that's just my piece. So next up, we're going to be talking about Wendy's. I like Wendy's, I like their fries.
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Okay, so this is another thing where Wendy's,
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when you came out with your four for four, genius idea. I think the least favorable part about it was the French fries. Cause guess what? That small little carton of French fries is tiny. I feel like they probably have like the smallest serving of like fries in the entire fast food game.
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Am I wrong?
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You are not wrong. That you're not getting very many fries. And I like, yes, you can kind of see the like the little potato peelings that are on the fries still, you know, I know that they like changed their recipe, but, but it's still not that great. They don't have very good flavor. And even when they are well salted, they're still lacking. So, Wendy's, I'm gonna need y'all to figure something out because you have a great combo deal. Like, I would love to go get me a four for four, but like, if I'm a go, I need like everything to be like top notch, and those fries are just not it.
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I had to break it to you, Jordan,
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but if I'm not mistaken, I don't think they have the 444 anymore.
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You're kidding.
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I actually, I had a friend that posted this on my Facebook feed a few days ago, that they upped their prices on their biggie box. So now their biggie box is 7 bucks.
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What?
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7 buck biggie box.
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That is insane.
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I know.
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That is, wow.
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Oh my gosh, that makes me want to cry. Cause like, Wendy's is already kind of out the way for me, so I never even go anymore, but now they're really never finna see me. Because man, like Wendy's used to hit. Like, cause Wendy's was like late night and they always had weird stuff on the menu. Like you could get yourself a bowl of chili, you could get yourself a loaded baked potato, you know, like with some bacon and now like their fries used to hit they don't hit anymore like they got the frosties still and they come in different flavors which is cool but it's like Wendy's like you had a corner you made your huge comeback when you had the 4 for 4 and now you're saying sorry inflation inflation no way that breaks my heart that really does make me sad.
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Mo money, mo problems.
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For real though. Alright, so that's just gonna wrap up Wendy's. Do better, lower your prices, bring back the 444.
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Respectfully.
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We are going to move on to our last item in the mid-tier category. Are you ready for this? All right, let's see Me and a Scott actually went on a field trip for this one. We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket
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You know me through the sky Okay, so we went on a little trip and
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We actually drove a couple miles for this one because I was like it's got I have to put this on the list. I have to, because people say that their fries redeem the entire location, that their fries are the only redeeming quality. So I had to try them. But sadly, they land in the mid-category, and it's Arby's. I have not eaten Arby's in years. I can't remember. I don't know when was the last time I had a sandwich from there. But I do recall their curly fries. So me and Ace got, today, literally right before we shot this episode, we went to Arby's, we got their crinkle, their crinkle traditional fries, and we got their curly fries, and we both just kind of looked at each other. After trying them, we were like, these are mid.
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Yeah, those are mid.
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These were not worth it.
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And I haven't been there so long to the point where I didn't even know they had crinkle fries I thought the only fries that they had were curly fries. So I was like since when did they have this I
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To the one person that is like in the back saying Arby's is good It's not it's not there. They're curly fries are not redeeming Um, my one note that I had for the curly fries because we actually got both of the fries relatively hot. Like, those crinkle fries, they were hot, hot, too. The curly fries oddly tasted like onion aftertaste, and I don't think that was on purpose.
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The crinkle fries were giving BK, and the curly fries were giving a very crappy quality of Jack in the Box.
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And I completely agree. I just, it was not living up to the expectations that I had in there in my head because like people are like oh But they're curly fries are so good, and I'm just like they probably weren't They're not and I think that we just need to get out this out of our heads that their food is good I like looked at their menu. They had like a whole section of like Market items, and I have like a bunch of wraps and stuff. I was like what are they doing?
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Market item wrappings.
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We have the meats.
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I downloaded the Arby's app to see if I could get any free rewards and in the cart area where you go to check out an online order, it said you have no meats in here. I'm just like, is this a joke? Is this for real right now? Arby's, you got a lot of work to do if you wanna stay a while longer. I do have a lot of work. You already have a lot going against you and you're not helping at all. Yeah, that's all I have to say for Arby's. You were incredibly mid and I was very disappointed because I thought it would knock my socks off and it really did not. So that's gonna wrap up our mid-tier category. For those of you listeners that need a reminder we had Popeyes, Wendy's, KFC, and Arby's in the mid tier. Now we are going to move on to top tier and the thing not all of you guys were waiting for. All everybody been waiting for. So are you ready? Yes I am. Well of course we are going to start off with... Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Before you do I want to do a little drum roll. Oh please, please do. The first item on the top tier list is... The king of the french fries, McDonald's. I'm loving it. I wholeheartedly agree. McDonald's fries is busting, it is perfect for any mood, any day of the week and since it's one of the few food places in Vegas that still remains 24 hours because it's apparently we're not a 24 hour city anymore. It is the only place to go where no matter how you're feeling, no matter what you're
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in the mood for, everybody can agree on McDonald's fries.
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Them fries are gonna hit.
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They are gonna hit.
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Even if you catch the workers on a bad day where they really don't care about you, those fries are at least hitting the high mid area. Like they're at least going to satisfy something. When, and when they're well salted, oh my gosh, that, McDonald's fries are like the one thing that I'm willing to wait like five minutes extra for. They're like, oh, we have some fries frying right now. I'm like, oh wait, I'm gonna sit right here. You want me to pull around? Okay, oh okay.
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It kind of depends on what location you're going to too because some places do care, some places don't. Personally, me, and I've explained this on your show before, that I am a former McDonald's worker, what I would do is that, even though I didn't care about my job at all, and I didn't really want to be there, I wanted to ensure that everybody got the food that they wanted, and make sure that it was bustin', because I'm not gonna sit back and throw some half-assed fries or half-assed nuggets in there that are like barely like cooked. Like no, I'm not gonna do that. So every time I'll be at the fry station, whenever somebody will order a large fry, oh, you want some extra? Best believe I'm sneaking some in your bag. If you ask for a 10-piece McNuggets, I'm throwing more than 10 in there. Here, have 11 or maybe even 12 nuggets.
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A king. Oh my gosh. An absolute king right there because you probably made someone's day just by doing that. Someone tried to gaslight me into saying that McDonald's fries weren't even good, and I was just like, get out of my face. Please no. Because just the nostalgia of McDonald's is more than enough, and their fries are always good. And that's another thing, consistency, because them fries is exactly the same. They taste exactly as they did 10 years ago. That's one thing about McDonald's it everybody grows up on McDonald's no matter what what food you guys for me I grew up on the McNuggets and every time I It always tastes the same and it never gets old you grow up from having Happy meals and then one day out of nowhere you had your last happy meal and you didn't even know you had no idea You had no idea that you had your final happy meal I went from happy meals to McChickens and now that I'm a big girl I have to eat spicy McChickens and it kind of makes me sad because they just don't have the original McChickens But I'm like, oh, well, it's still a McChicken. I'll deal with it deal with it. Yeah, okay, so McDonald's thank you because even though you are raising your price Prices across the board and we could tell there's only like two things on the one, two, three dollar menu. You still have the free medium fry on your app when you spend two dollars or even one dollar, so thank you. You are the hero that we all needed.
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And a little piece of advice for everyone, if you download the McDonald's app, they got some bustin' deals. One of the deals that I really like is that you get free two any size fries with a purchase of a 20 piece.
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That's enough to feed a small family.
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And it's only $7.50. It fills you up so much.
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All right, we're going to move on to our next item in this top tier category. It's Jack in the Box.
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Jack in the Box. OK, yes, I like that.
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Jack in the Box deserves so much love because they are another staple in the fast food industry that is open pretty late. You know, it's known basically for their munchies food. I feel like Jack in the Box has good advertising, because they know the market that they're hitting. They're hitting literally college students. Their aim is just like, you know what, we're gonna give these college students all these box deals that are like $5 and they're getting enough food to literally feed all of their friends while they're either, they're some sort of intoxicated. And you know, both of their fries hit. They have their traditional normal cut fries, but they also have curly fries. And I've always been on their curly fries because they are so freaking good They are good. They are literally what Arby's wanted to be like Arby's Yeah, you just got it
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When you buy into a jack-in-the-box curly fry you can hear the crunch so it has the loudest crunch ever Literally you like I feel like jack-in-the-box
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more love because they have niche things that don't belong on their menu, like an egg roll and a teriyaki bowl, but they're good. They're open super late, and they have all-day breakfast, which McDonald's doesn't even do anymore. And Jack in the Box has really good breakfast. I know you explained this in your last episode, Jordan,
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but I just want to throw that out there, just real quick.
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Shout out to the sausage croissant.
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That, oh, so good. You could get two for five at Jack in the Box. I'm plugging y'all. Y'all better listen to me and go to your local Jack in the Box, pull up at like 2 a.m. All right, next we are going to talk about another underrated top tier fry spot, my humble opinion, Carl's Jr. Okay. I, or Hardee's, you know, if you're an East Coast friend. They are expensive, but I feel like almost everything
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on that menu, you can tell the quality. That chicken, crispy. The fries, their traditional fries are really good. They are hot.
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Hot, hot, hot. I used to, I recently just got laid off from this job, but I used to work at a thrift store, and right across the street from the thrift store was a Carl's Jr., and that's where I would go every time I was on my break, and every single time. All I'd do was ask for a large fry, that's it,
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because I only have 15 minutes for this break Every single time I would see him putting it in the fryer and they will come out so hot There were even sometimes where you would even give me a blister on my tongue because of how hot it is Have you ever tried their crisscut fries? I Wish I could say I could I always end up getting the regular ones.
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Their crisscut fries are so heavenly. They are so good. They are basically Popeye's fry seasoning, but in a waffle fry. And they are so good. Like, I... My mom actually put me onto these years ago. Because we had a Jack of the Bot, or we had a Carl's Jr. around the corner from our house. It was the closest fast food restaurant. So I'd go there late at night, pull through, we'd get some crisscut fries, and man we'd be munching. So freaking good. So I just had to push y'all on, for those of you who are listening, you need to go try those crisscut french fries from Carl's Jr. Because it's to the point that so many people don't know about it, that it's basically a secret menu item. So many people have never tried this and it blows my mind every single time. So, lastly, just because I have to talk about it, our last item on the top tier category is gonna be Chick-fil-A.
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Chick-fil-A, alright.
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I love their fries.
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Ah.
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Like, on the best circumstances.
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I feel so iffy about Chick-fil-A because I- You have to catch them on a good day. You have to catch them on a good day too but at the same time I think Chick-fil-a is good don't get me wrong
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it's just overrated it's just all it is I don't know anything about for heads even their salads are good how are you a fast food place and you have quality
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salads that's crazy I mean McDonald's tried it once but everybody found out that it was actually more fattening than the burgers so they stopped.
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And that in itself is also crazy. But Chick-fil-A, I think, I wanna cheat and say, but like the dips that they have just elevate the fries so much. And yes, you have to catch them on a good day. And oddly enough, the best Chick-fil-A fries aren't really that crispy. Sometimes they're a little limp, but they're so good. And the potato is amazing. I can't even remember what Chick-fil-A commercials used to be like. Was it just the cows? I think so. I don't remember because now all I can remember.
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I never really started seeing Chick-fil-A commercials until they were actually brought out here to Vegas. I think that's when they really started
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advertising themselves. I feel like I'm gonna just say this and then we're gonna end the episode. That my pleasure ain't isn't my pleasuring anymore. I feel like Chick-fil-A-
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Hey, hey, hey, it's an amazing day here at Chick-fil-A, how can I graciously take your wonderful order?
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They're not like that anymore! Like, they're so burnt out now. Like, they are so burnt out.
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They're so over it.
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You know, and they're cutting costs because they want you to buy the sauces in a bottle. And I refuse. I absolutely refuse. And I just be looking at them dead in the eyes as they only give me two Chick-fil-A sauces for a 12 count, and I'm like, how dare you?
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Like y'all rationing over here or what?
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Literally, I'm like, why? I want my complimentary sauces with my paid meal, please and thank you. And with that, with a heavy heart, I'm gonna end the episode. I wanna thank everybody so much from the bottom of my heart, my whole heart, for listening. This was top tier. Thank you so much, ASCAP, for joining me today. You're very, very welcome. And you guys can listen to my podcast every Friday night live on the Rebel HG2 app at 6 p.m. Thank you so much, and I hope you guys all have a great day. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode. I appreciate every single one of you. I hope Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode. I appreciate every single one of you. I hope all of you guys have a great night.
Transcribed with Cockatoo
