Bad Burger at A&W/Long John Silvers

We have one of those A&W/Long John Silvers combos and Sat. I ate at one. I ordered a small cheeseburger w/onions and mayo only. I also ordered something called cheese curds as I had heard of these, but never tried them. The hamburger patty was very dry and crusty looking and the bun was not very fresh. I ate two bites of the burger. The cheese curds (to me) tasted just like mozarella sticks but these were round. I ate about half an order and then threw the burger and curds away. I did drink two glasses of diet rootbeer in a frosty mug (this was very good). So, I paid almost $7 for 2 glasses of rootbeer. Sucker born every minute (as they say).

The burgers at A&W/Long John's aren't bad but the french fries and the fish are fried in the same oil, methinks. French fries should not taste like fish. The root beer is the big draw for me. The seafood salad is pretty good too.

The cheese curds look disgusting.

In my opinion, LJS use to be pretty good many years ago but they have lost their stuff. I recently stopped there to get some fish. It was like a frozen fish dinner just fried.

They used to be better than Captain D's but that was years ago. I am not saying that Captain D's is all that great but it is miles ahead of LJS.

Just my opinion.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Long John Silvers and A&W, along with KFC you find in some combos, are YUM! Brands franchises. I have permanently stricken these chains off my list. While some individual franchisees run decent stores, the quality of their food is poor. Add a franchisee who doesn't make sure the bread is fresh and the frying oil is not past its useful life, and you have a terrible meal. If I am on the road, I have no way to know which category one of the branches of these chains falls in. I'll take a chance on a roadfood place.

The problem is that time passed Long John Silvers by. Fish prices have risen so high that they can't provide quality at their price point anymore. As for bad burgers, fries, or hot dogs at A&W, there are no other possibilities than low grade raw food and a franchisee who is inept.

There was one of these triples in West Islip, Long Island, NY a few years ago. With the higher prices found around here for fast food and the low quality, along with stiff local competition, the place lasted about a year.

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC
There was one of these triples in West Islip, Long Island, NY a few years ago. With the higher prices found around here for fast food and the low quality, along with stiff local competition, the place lasted about a year.

They were actually open for about 5 years and closed because their lease was bought out by a grocery store chain who plans to tear down the shopping center where they were located...not that they are missed. You are right...the food was edible at best. The draft root beer was the only good thing!

Interestingly, a McDonald's just down the street also closed recently. Imagine that...two fast food joints closed on the same block. Who says there is no good news in the world!

occasionaly, you can still find an individual YUM! brands location around here, usually a taco bell or pizza hut. but every one of the multi-branded locations has become absolutely awful and it doesn't matter what brands are paired up... a&w/kfc is the absolute worst, but taco bell/kfc is almost as bad. we have a a&w/long johns going in about 3 miles from my home, i predict it won't last 6 months.. back when a&w's were drive-ins with carhops and dick clark was the spokesman for the company, the food was actually pretty decent for fast-food.

I find the quality of food at A&W locations can vary greatly; I was initially happy to see one of the LJS/A&W combos open, as I had always enjoyed the food at A&W in my travels around, and for many years had enjoyed going to an old style A&W that was forced out of business when Yum! sold the territory.

The food at the combo resturant is bad, as is the service, at both that were opened about the same time in my area. One of the two was out of business within 90 days and was converted into a Church's chicken. The other one hangs on; and you are right, they do cook the fries in the fish oil. That doesn't bother me when I am eating fish at LJS, but when I have a hamburger, I sure as heck don't want fries that taste like fish - yuck!

Another peeve of mine, is that they used to sell rootbeer in gallon jugs at the old stores; now all they have are these big plastic cup type things with a handle that don't keep the rootbeer fresh. The Root Beer is the only thing A&W has going for it, but if you go to the combo place, they will serve you your root beer in a paper LJS cup with ice, instead of the frosty mugs that I used to enjoy at the old school one. A&W Root Beer in a can tastes nothing like what you get at the resurant.

Luckily, the A&W/LJS is right nearby several other fast food joints, so if I go there, all I order anymore is a rootbeer with no ice, and get my food elsewhere.

Make that "resturant"

I used to love LJS fish & hush puppies...now days...I haven't been to LJS for over 6 months...The last time I had them I (to be blunt) belched what tasted like I would think river water would taste like hahahaha. I tried it again several weeks later...same result...yummmooo river water NOT...I haven't been back.
I don't know if it was from oil not being very clean but, I don't have problems with fried fish any place else.
Pam

I remember my last visit to a KFC/Taco Bell. While I was in line, a woman came up and complained that her kids meal had a chicken leg instead of the strips she had ordered. This counter clerk opened the box, grabbed the chicken leg with his bare hand, and tossed it back into
the heating rack....I never went back. I told YUM about this incident. They sent me some coupons, I never used 'em.

Long John Silver is pretty rare in these parts. I've always guessed that it's just that we tend to take our fish seriously and we're usually willing to pay for it (Dred Lobster doesn't do great here, either). I find it interesting that they recently opened a Taco Bell/LJS in one location that has almost no parking and a 24-hour traffic jam which has been through more different incarnations (and at least one fire) than any site I know of in the Boston area.

We do have an A&W/KFC nearby. The KFC is okay for takeout. I tried the A&W when they were having a chili promotion. Got a chili dog and chili cheese fries. Dog was mediocre, fries limp, cheese the standard wiz sauce, and chili definitely made from Alpo. Root beer was pretty good, though.

Also - I guess we're lucky that our Bell is a stand-alone, and does good business. They hire mentally-challenged folks for cleaning and they do an adequate job, but also the management seems to encourage the rest of the workers to look out for them. It seems to filter down a little to how the whole place operates. It's still Taco Bell, but it's pretty consistent and I've never had a shock.

I remember when A&W had some of the best burgers available (early '70s). YUM screws up everything.

We have the combined Taco Bell & LJS near us. The LJS is pretty rough.

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator

I remember when A&W had some of the best burgers available (early '70s). YUM screws up everything.

the last old-style a&w in the seattle area (aurora ave) was literally forced to close when tricon became YUM! brands, it was all over the local news because it was a very popular a&w in a very busy location and the local franchise owners wanted to keep the store open. YUM! said that the old-style a&w image wasn't compatible with their future plans, so they pulled the plug on the franchise agreement and settled financially with the owners. they did a countdown on the reader board in the year before the closing, i remember driving by in the last few weeks and the crowds around that restaurant were amazing... they razed the building, now it's a used car lot.

Our great old fashioned A&W had the car hop stands tore out, and is now the office for a HVAC company; and the Yum! resturant a few miles away that replaced it lasted only two months; partly, I think due to the backlash of closing the landmark location that was the only FF place on its end of town in St. Charles, MO, and was quite a popular stop for many years for Mississippi river bound boaters every weekend. The location was open seasonally, and would close during the winter, as I believe the building had no heat.

I barely remember our old-fashioned Drive-in A&W on the north side of town. Its been gone for like 20 years now but I barely remember it. My Mom talks about going there as a kid a lot.