Fast Food – Page 3 – The Unvegan

11/16/2011 Reviews Glendale

Jimmy’s Super Lunch to the Rescue (CLOSED)

More than once, my work has taken me into the bowels of Glendale, past a little hole-in-the-wall called Jimmy’s Super Lunch. On the outside, it appears to be your average burger shack, but a quick look at the menu and at those working inside tells a different story. Jimmy’s appears to be a part of the trend of old burger places that are now run by Asians (family or otherwise) that now double as teriyaki chicken shacks. I encountered this with Irv’s, Twin Castle and Crown Burger and I’m now suspecting this is more of the norm than some sort of trend.

Bacon Burgers Fast Food Glendale Hamburgers Jimmy's Super Lunch Los Angeles Restaurants

10/25/2011 Reviews Avarua District

Local Fast Food at Palace Takeaways

One amazing thing about Rarotonga in the Cook Islands is the lack of chains. No Starbucks. No Subway. No McDonald’s. It’s enough to make a coffee-loving, fast food-devouring American feel dizzy. Fortunately, I don’t care for coffee and this also doesn’t mean Rarotonga doesn’t have fast food. Yes, even this slow-paced island that runs on even slower-paced “island time” is not without its fast food, but this fast food is local.

Our awesome bartender/sample-giver from the Cooks Lager Brewery, Wendy, recommended Palace Takeaways. Situated on the outskirts of Avarua, this little shack served burgers, fish and chips and not much else. Wendy told us they were the best burgers in town, so I had to find out for myself.

Avarua Burgers Cook Islands Fast Food Hamburgers Palace Takeaways Rarotonga Travel

10/3/2011 Reviews Victorville

Sonic Good is Just Pretty Good

So this is what all those commercials were about…

About 10 or so years ago, the world began to see commercials for a fast food burger place called Sonic. These commercials were often both funny and hunger-inducing. Unfortunately, though, Sonics were only in select locations throughout the country. Yes it was annoying, but it was also genius, because it whet the appetite for Sonic with people who had never even seen the place. The idea was that when they would finally see one, whether in travel or with a new one being built, they would want nothing more than to devour their burgers. And it worked, at least on me. When I saw my first Sonic years ago while driving through Independence, Missouri, I just had to try it. I remember it being good, but this was pre-meat blog and in the middle of a cross-country road trip, so the memory is mostly blur filled with the knowledge that the meal kept my internal fuel running just as long as I needed it to.

Bacon Beef Burgers California Fast Food Hamburgers National Chains Sonic Travel Victorville

7/13/2011 Reviews Saint Paul

Apparently, I was Thinking Arby’s

Arby’s has always been kind of a fringe fast food chain. You can find it all over the country, but it isn’t exactly on every corner. Perhaps this is the reason it has taken me so long to review them. Or perhaps the reason is because I once heard their meat begins its life as a liquid. Whatever the case, a golden opportunity to chow down on some potentially formerly liquid meat presented itself at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.

Airports Arby's Beef Fast Food Meat Minneapolis Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport Minnesota National Chains Sandwiches St. Paul Travel

6/28/2011 Reviews Manhattan Beach

Make Way for Cafe Rio

I have a coworker who has a problem. The problem is she is a vegetarian. Gross, right? But not by choice. You see she is lacking the enzyme that breaks down meat in her body, so the simple act of eating meat makes her violently ill. It’s really the only acceptable form of vegetarianism, yet there is one place she will always eat meat, stomach be damned. That place is Cafe Rio. It’s a seemingly generic Mexican place that I have driven past many times in Manhattan Beach and brushed off. But little did I realize that Cafe Rio is huge in Utah. Like real huge. And it’s about to get even huger. There are currently 40-something locations, but they are planning an expansion on the scale of 100 restaurants. So when one opens across the street from you, remember you read about Cafe Rio on The Unvegan first. With my coworker in mind, we finally stopped at Cafe Rio to what all the meat fuss was about.

Burritos Cafe Rio Chains Chipotle Fast Food Los Angeles Manhattan Beach Mexican Utah West Coast Chains

6/8/2011 Reviews Flint

Halo Burger: The In-N-Out of Flint

With two of my parents hailing from the once mighty city of Flint, Michigan, I spent much of my upbringing in Flint and hearing about the mighty Halo Burger. My step-dad even celebrated his 60th at Halo Burger (although I was out of the country at the time). Yet, until my return home to Michigan last weekend, I had never once set foot into one of these fabled local fast food joints. But enter I finally did and was impressed by what I found.

Bill Thomas Burgers Chains Fast Food Flint Halo Burger Hamburgers Meat Michigan Travel

5/24/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Der Decent at Wienerschnitzel

Wienerschnitzel and the concept of a hot dog chain restaurant has always intrigued me. Since I was a little kid, I have loved me some hot dogs, and finally I got the opportunity to check out Wienerschnitzel when the bright yellow and red a-frame restaurant in Valley Village called my name loud enough. I had some strange expectations for this place, because it’s really hard to mess up a hot dog, but they can be messed up and it doesn’t matter what ingredients you toss on top if the dogs can’t hold their own.

Burgers Chains Fast Food Hamburgers Hot Dogs Los Angeles Meat National Chains Restaurants Wienerschnitzel

5/23/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Snacking at Astro Burger

Countless times I have driven through West Hollywood and passed Astro Burger. In just about all of these situations, I have muttered to myself or to anyone in my car that I just need to try that place. Finally, after one of my rare drinking nights in West Hollywood, I had a golden opportunity to see what was inside Astro Burger.

American Astro Burger Bacon Burgers Fast Food Hamburgers Los Angeles Meat Restaurants West Hollywood

1/20/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

The Nostalgia Burger at Twin Castle

On our way to get some ramen for lunch in North Hollywood, we passed by a place called Twin Castle. The sign looked like it had been there since 1940 and the logo was similar enough to White Castle’s that we thought they might serve up some real sliders like back east. Since the sign said “Hamburgers” we knew at the very least the place had burgers. Our minds quickly jumped from ramen to burgers and we turned around and parked.

Bacon Beef Burgers Fast Food Hamburgers Los Angeles North Hollywood Restaurants Twin Castle

11/8/2010 Reviews Shanghai

Pass Me Some Taro Pie

To some, the thought of eating McDonald’s in a foreign country seems just plain wrong. After all, when you’re in a different country, you should be experiencing their culture in all aspects, especially food. And what’s more American than McDonald’s? Yet, it’s hard to deny how much of this American fast food has become a part of other cultures. In Japan and China, a big bucket of KFC is now a Christmas tradition and all over the world you can find Burger King, Subway, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. And these companies have not simply forced American food down people’s throats. Instead, they have adapted, and few have adapted as well as McDonald’s.

Step into a McDonald’s outside the US and you will see foods you never knew existed. In Canada, you can find Poutine, in Israel there are Kosher McDonalds’ that don’t offer cheese on their burgers. In Japan, the Teriyaki McBurger is like a regular burger, but with a teriyaki twist. These international options almost make McDonald’s a destination, rather than a place to avoid on vacation.

Asia Chains China Fast Food McDonald's Shanghai Taro Taro Pie Travel

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