Fortunately, McDonald's moved away from frying their pies and they stopped cooking their french fries in animal fat. But I still have a fondness for the "good old days".

However, we lost our last one a couple of years ago. No more tots ...

Nope. I just needed the caffeine.

The $1 chicken strip sandwich is awesome. The best deal around as long as you don't get a Sonic that only puts one strip in there broke in half. They are suppose to come with 2 chix strips. 2 to 4 pm is half priced drinks. so for $2 you get chix sand, Route 44 drink. Try that at KidDonalds.

I see what you did there.

But seriously, if you kept going back and getting more coffee, logically, you wanted more of it.

I totally miss Del Taco's Del Deal. 2 1/2 pound bean and cheese burritos, a soft taco, and a medium drink for $3.

that was lunch for two for CHEAP. When they took it away all anyone was asking for was the Del's Deal and I heard the guy at the counter explain no less than 30 times that it expired. :(

@babyruthless: They seem to have re-introduced some $3 adult value meal.

Coincidentally, although Subway doesn't technically have a dollar menu, their $5 footlongs really feel like it. Two people can eat one of them for dinner, and if you have some chips or potato salad at home its just about the cheapest you can possibly get takeout for.

I hear people say that about fast food all the time, but they're never able to say what they mean by that other than it makes them feel fat or lethargic or "ill." In other words it's just a placebo effect. People want to be edgy and pan McDonald's (which is far more nutritious than what most of the world has available to eat), so they start imagining that they feel bad after eating it in order to justify denying themselves perfectly fine meals.

@edwardso: Wendys has the best dollar menu on the planet, and they're right near my office- I have a love/hate thing going with them as a result.

You can eat anywhere you want... you don't have to get the horrible stuff, that's the trick.

The portion has been downsized a bit, which is fine, I don't feel like I've overindulged after eating one, though unfortunately, the price hasn't been similarly reduced.

But I knew I was in trouble when I responded with a "huh?" in the drive-thru speaker to the then repeated "Do you want your chicken grilled or crispy?" -- Grilled. Worst fears confirmed that the now smaller salad had a box with about of a third of a grilled, hot chicken breast in it. Not what I wanted to put on a cold salad. Ate the naked piece of meat, then dug into the salad.

Tried again at a different location some time later with similar results. They had the best fast food salad hands down with the Southwest Chicken Salad, but I just can't order it now as it reminds me of what it once was and ends up depressing me, even if (hot chicken cutlet aside) it still is the best fast food salad.

LOL! I do this. A cheeseburger Happy Meal is just the right amount of food for me. I can get the apples and a milk and be sort of healthy.

I have the pedometer but I never used it.

I agree. Wendy's nuggets are much tastier. And you can get a thing of orange slices with them, and milk. That's very good.

Arrgh! Now I want Wendy's!

The best meal is Wendy's small chili and a sour cream and chive potato off the dollar menu. It's $2 and some change and is tasty and filling. A great lunch in the wintertime and not too unhealthy (unless you load the potato with butter, which I have a hard time not doing!).

Thanks for not tricking me into wasting anymore time.

Actually, I agree with McDonalds Coke. I don't know what it is, but it's better than other Coke offered from other restaurant fountains. Their diet Coke is also phenomenal. Since I don't go to McDs much at all, I stick to my generic brand soda, which tastes pretty good.

I always used to order kiddie meals at fast food joints--it was always the right amount of food, and not too pricy. I'd usually tell them they could keep the toy, unless it was completely bitching. Then I wanted it. For awhile, McDonald's even had an "adult" kiddie meal, which was the exact same, but with stuff like a crappy pedometer instead of a hotwheel. Do they still make these? It's been a couple years since I've darkened the doorstep of a Mickey D's for anything other than a cross-country potty stop (where, of course, I would buy one of their delish Diet Cokes).

@Boulderite: You prefer Chik-fil-A? Seriously? Do you also enjoy oxygen and sunshine?

I no longer eat meat at restaurants, but Chik-fil-A's were always definitely chicken, whereas nuggets were...um, something else entirely.

Plus the CFA near my college was owned by an alumna, and she totes gave out awesome specials.

@Woooot!-Offing_GitEmSteveDave: Mmmm, Sonic drinks. I prefer the lemon-berry slushie to the cherry limeade, which is, of course, their signature beverage.

personally, i hate mcnuggets. wendy's 5-piece, though - *drooool*. in fact, of all the value meals, i think wendy's takes the cake.

@bbagdan: I worked at McDonald's when I was a teenager in the 90's. We did bake them and they looked like raw frozen dough that if left to thaw would certainly not be edible. It wasn't like all they needed to be was warmed. Putting a lot of butter in the crust can create a grease bomb once it's baked.

@Elcheecho:

No McNuggets on the $ menu here either.

I doubt McPies are now baked. I think they are fried at the factory, then "baked" at the restaurant. I had one a few months ago and it was a grease bomb.

1) McDonalds coffee.
I thought that McD had gone to a better quality,better tasting blend o' java (last summer). Had some over the last couple of weeks whilst working and phewwweee ! Tastes as bad as the bad old days. Have they lured us in with th promise of better coffee and then changed back to the same old swill ?

2) Wendy's 99 cent double stack couldn't be worse if they tried. If swallowed,do not induce vomiting, call a physician immediately. Note to Wendys : If your heart isnt in it,don't bother.

3) Most "value" or dollar menu items at other fast food chew n' chokes are just regular items that have been zapped with a shrink ray. On a cost per ounce basis,they are probably a worse deal than their full size namensakes.

Okay, I feel better now.

@nakedscience:

I miss eating McGriddles.
They gave me chest pains...
and not the fun "I'm in love" kind...
the "oh-crap-is-this-a-heart-attack" kind.

@Woooot!-Offing_GitEmSteveDave: We just got our own Sonic's here, and I tell you, it is now the only place I stop for fast food...
and I only go for malted milkshakes and mozzarella sticks.
Their drink menu is simply unrivalled.

Also Jack in the Box's Southwest Chicken Salad is the BEST FAST FOOD SALAD EVER.

I'm not a fan of Sonic, I've been to two different locations and each time the food was stale or so greasy I couldn't taste anything, but the grease.

Wendys Jr Bacon Cheeseburgers and their Caesar Side Salad are yummy!

Also, fast food related and therefore totally on topic: Anyone know the Star Trek BK glasses schedule? So far everyone has Kirk and Uhura, both of which I have...aaaahhh, I want all 4! I hate collecting shit. I'm not made for it. I KNOW I'm going to miss the Spock one or something and be pissed.

@eelmonger: THIS. "It's not real food!" is bullshit.

You get the most for your buck at Wendy's, I feel. For one, they have a much larger selection on their dollar menu than McDonald's. The McDonald's in Phoenix don't have McNuggets on the dollar menue. Wendy's has AWESOME nuggets, and they are on the dollar menu. Also, they have "chili" and baked potatos and salads you can choose instead of fries, which I love. I don't always want fries, so it's great to have options.

Also, their 10-piece nugget meal is AWESOME, and freakin' cheap! Much cheaper than McDonald's. And I usually get a side salad instead of fries, because that's a LOT of nuggets. Sometimes if I'm starving, I'll get a chili instead.

I will say that McDonald's has large iced teas for 99 cents right now. I rarely drink soda, and I drink my tea unsweetened, so it's awesomeeee that I can drink for cheap, and healthier, when I go to McD.

@bilups: I still get a Doulbe Cheeseburger -- it's $1.19 and totally worth that extra 20 cents. I dunno why, but I love the gooey cheese.

@pixiegirl1: Sonice is AMAZING.

@xboxcrazy33: Their McGriddles are awesome!

@Elcheecho: I never see Nuggets on the dollar menu here in Phoenix.

Dollar menu "nasty," "ratty"? Never! I loved the double cheeseburger (now the mcdouble), and I love the wendy's double stack and JBC. And if you get them fresh, the fries are good too.

Do you realize that give or take 10 cents, the Wendy's Junior bacon cheeseburger has been 99 cents for 15 years or so?

@theblackdog: add tater tots and a corn dog to reach nirvana

@youbastid: Dude... some of us are downsizing our lunch budgets to reinclude fast food. I'm glad someone was willing to let me know if there was anything on those value menus worth buying, because it is entirely possible I would have wasted a buck or two on a sundae or something.

Even better, I called the survey on the back of the receipt and got another free Regular Roast Beef sandwich. I'm saving money, but I'm gonna get fat!

@pixiegirl1: I think they put something in the senior coffee to upset the stomachs of anyone under 50 years old. That's probably what gets you.

@ekthesy: I stay away from Barnaghetto as much as I can ;) As for Easton, I love their bats.

@Woooot!-Offing_GitEmSteveDave: Nothing says diet like a 750 calorie quarter pounder with cheese! (and a large 500 cal fry)

You know the thing that is so funny I used to live on fast food in high school it's cheap and I loved the taste. My dad would always get upset when we'd want to go eat at them because it's not "real" food to him. Now whenever he's on the run he eats there all the time. His fave is the chicken wrap at mc d's and he'll get a senior coffee with it and generally spend $2-3 for it. It really depends on the coffee some places will give it free, some will just discount it. Now that he likes it I can't stand it, it really upsets my stomach when I eat it.

@youbastid: It's not meant to be informative. It's "hilarity."

i know a lot of people who basically "survive" via the Dollar Menu. Mostly broke college kids or those of us whom live check to check. I think if they made a "healthier" menu withing a reasonable price (like $1.35 or $1.89) they would secure more business.

I commend Wendy's on not having their meat frozen. dont know about the calorie count, but never the less its still fast food.

-dave

Stale, lukewarm McNuggets? Sounds to me like her local McDonald's is crappy. The one near me always has awesome nuggets.

Also, I ove McDonald's soft serve. Mmmm.

I heard somewhere in Bergen County, but I don't know where. I've been to the one down on Route 9 in Barnegat and even drove out to the one in Easton, PA for a fix one night.

Not to mention, at least in the segment you quoted, her review is specific to the batch she got, no to the food as a whole. Chicken McNuggets are not always stale and lukewarm, she clearly had a batch that had been sitting around for a while. And on top of that, they are rarely on the dollar menu.

I fell prey to wendy's the other day after doing some side work and going waaay too long without eating. I got the spicy chicken wrap, small fries and a frosty it wasn't much of a bargain at $6 but pretty damn good