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 The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America

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Dr of BBQ

  • Total Posts: 2860
  • Joined: 10/11/2004
  • Location: Springfield, IL
  • Roadfood Insider
The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Tue, 08/11/09 8:28 AM (permalink)
The Winner: In-N-Out Burger

"The hamburger is definitive, greasy but oddly clean-tasting at the same time and the sauce actually is 'special.' And the shake tastes the way shakes tasted back when I was a kid. It makes me tear up just thinkin' about it." — Alton Brown, host of Iron Chef America
Order: One hamburger "Animal Style" and a chocolate shake

"I dare anyone to tell me their burgers aren't as good as any you'll fine anywhere, from fast food to fine dining." — Tyler Florence, host of Tyler's Ultimate
Order: Double-double cheeseburger "Animal Style"

Read more:http://www.esquire.com/fe.../food-drink/sandwiches

The Worst Fast Food in America: Esquire's Chef Survey

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/th...ood-0909#ixzz0NsPdICFj

The Loser: Taco Bell

"It's just scary." — Brian Bistrong, Braeburn, New York City

"Utter bastardization of one of the finest cuisines in the world. What the _____is a chalupa?" — Joey Campanaro, The Little Owl, New York City

"They use a meat hose for their meat. That's just plain gross." — Tim Love, Lonesome Dove Western Bistro and Love Shack, Fort Worth, Texas

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/th...ood-0909#ixzz0NsPiWyIP

<message edited by Dr of BBQ on Tue, 08/11/09 8:50 AM>
 
#1
    NYPIzzaNut

    • Total Posts: 2961
    • Joined: 3/8/2008
    • Location: Sardinia, OH
    Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Tue, 08/11/09 8:39 AM (permalink)
    I thought the chalupas were among the best of the worst food there.
     
    #2
      surrycounty

      • Total Posts: 3208
      • Joined: 1/1/2005
      Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Tue, 08/11/09 12:42 PM (permalink)
      Surprisingly, on my one visit to a Del Taco outlet, I found the food to be even worse than that at Taco Bell.  
       
      #3
        BillyB

        • Total Posts: 2851
        • Joined: 2/4/2009
        Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Tue, 08/11/09 12:54 PM (permalink)
        There is different degrees of Worse. One kind of worse is when your typing  this in the bathroom after eatting at a restaurant. The other kind of worse is when your typing it from the ICU in the Hospital.....Bill
         
        #4
          kennyb

          • Total Posts: 263
          • Joined: 1/19/2009
          • Location: paola, KS
          Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Tue, 08/11/09 7:42 PM (permalink)
          i don't eat chain fast food.
           
          #5
            meltz

            • Total Posts: 30
            • Joined: 7/21/2009
            • Location: okeechokeme, FL
            Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Tue, 08/11/09 10:59 PM (permalink)
            In n out burger is the perfect example of a small simple menu done well.
             
            on a side note I broke down and tried the much hyped angus burger from McD's. The bacon was real good, nice and thick with a wonderful crunch. The rest of the sandwich was completely tasteless. It was too dull to even be crap.
             
            #6
              Dr of BBQ

              • Total Posts: 2860
              • Joined: 10/11/2004
              • Location: Springfield, IL
              • Roadfood Insider
              Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Tue, 08/11/09 11:04 PM (permalink)
              Ok so no one wanted to spend the time looking through the two links???? Here is what you missed, oh by the way I have found if you make a couple of calls many times they will share recipes with other chefs and or cooks.

              Jimmy’s Favorite

              Jimmy and Drew’s 28th Street Deli, Boulder, Colorado

              Never mind that Jimmy and Drew left Chicago to sell meat in a vegan stronghold: They survive because they make everything in-house. They thrive because Jimmy’s namesake Reuben swaps pedestrian rye (meh, it’s just a meat vessel) for schmaltz-fried latkes the size of your hubcaps. (2855 Twenty-eighth Street; 303-447-3354)

              Porchetta

              Salumi, Seattle
              The daily fresh-pulled mozzarella runs out before the line of customers at Salumi, started by Armandino Batali (Mario’s dad). Don’t let the curing bats of fennel-studded finocchiona dangling from meat hooks distract: You want the porchetta -- braised-until-melting pork shoulder with peppers, carrots, and onions on a stout roll to soak up the profligate juices. (309 Third Avenue South; 206-621-8772)

              Cuban Meat Sandwich

              Paseo, Seattle

              No place in Seattle could care less whether you come in than Paseo. The shoe-box shack has no sign, takes no credit. Has so few seats that devotees eat outside on the trunks of their cars. What keeps them returning? The milagro that is the Cuban meat sandwich: marinated, slow-cooked pork ganged into a baguette slathered with garlicky mayonnaise, then mounded again with cilantro, jalapeños, and fat O’s of caramelized onions. Seattle’s a long way from Cuba, but this sandwich erases every mile. (4225 Fremont Avenue North; 206-545-7440)

              Bánh Mì

              Saigon Sandwich Shop, San Francisco

              A culinary legacy of imperialism: French baguette and Vietnamese barbecued pork, sprinkled with shredded carrots, onions, jalapeños, and cilantro. (560 Larkin Street; 415-474-5698)

              Reggie Deluxe

              Pine State Biscuits, Portland, Oregon

              A hangover cure found only at Portland’s Farmers Market (for now): fried chicken, bacon, cheddar, gravy, and an over-easy egg on a cream-top buttermilk biscuit still hot from the outdoor oven. (South Park Blocks, SW Harrison and Montgomery; Saturdays)

              Trailer Park Monte Cristo

              Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland

              Bobbing in a sea of Blue Ribbon, battered by gale-force amps, you need something solid to hold on to -- and hold down. So: Dip a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich in pancake batter, dunk it in a deep fryer, and dust it with powdered sugar. Voilà: Bar eats supreme. The crisp, cakey crust conceals a molten heart as sweet as Cleveland’s own. (15711) Waterloo Road; 216-383-1124)

              Monte Cristo

              Canter’s Deli, Los Angeles

              Popularized in the ‘60s at the restaurant inside Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the Monte Cristo is bread, turkey, ham, and Swiss dipped in batter and grilled like French toast. The Canter’s version is a sweet, meaty sponge sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with strawberry jam. (419 North Fairfax Avenue; 323-651-2030)

              Club Sandwich

              Restaurant Guy Savoy, Las Vegas

              Two tiny triangles of toasted country bread and two disks of creamy foie gras transformed by Gallic culinary voodoo into a bite-sized treatise on opposites -- simple versus complex, earthy versus rarefied -- all of it gone too soon, in the melancholy French manner. (3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South; 702-731-7731)

              The Tyler

              Cheese ‘N Stuff, Phoenix

              It began in the days before the belly and the beer that made it, when I was a high school wrestler. My prize for making weight was two hours to ingest as much as I could before getting my ass kicked. I found Cheese ‘n Stuff, which stood out not just because it was old and weathered in new, prefab Phoenix but because it had all these weird foods -- pickled things, things in aluminum tubes, headcheese. A father and son -- Stan Zawatski, middle-aged, and Emil, his father -- were behind the counter. This was my creation: a hoagie roll, split wide and topped with Boar’s Head turkey, Muenster, and lettuce, dressed with ribbons of tomato and hot peppers, deli mustard for zing, avocado for lubrication. I ate it at the gym before my match. Then again before my next. I went the week after that, twice. Then I quit wrestling, and on good weeks had it every other day. I ate it before the first concert I drove to with friends, and on graduation day. After a few months, I didn’t have to order anymore. Just enter and smile, a nod between priest and supplicant. Or call first, get Stan’s daughter on the phone -- ”Tell your dad Tyler’s coming in, okay?” (5042 North Central Avenue; 602-266-3636) --Tyler Cabot

              Cochon de Lait Po’Boy

              Walker’s Bar-B-Que, New Orleans

              For years, this sandwich -- twelve-hour-hickory-roasted suckling pig, topped with creamy Cajun mustard slaw -- was available only at Jazz Fest. Now there’s a shop, where the cult of the cochon can worship year-round. But you can still get it at Jazz Fest. (10828 Hayne Boulevard; 504-241-8227)

              Torta de Milanesa

              Las Nueva, Los Angeles

              A neon crown hangs in the doorway of the East L. A. institution that serves the king of the spicy torta, or Mexican sandwich: breaded carne asada, cheese, avocado, and jalapeños on a toasted roll glistening with grease. Dip it in one of the homemade salsas. (3701 East First Street; 323-264-0678)

              Italian Beef

              Al’s #1 Italian Beef, Chicago

              The stockyard special: thinly sliced beef on bread from the 122-year-old Gonella bakery, enhanced by giardiniera, a fermented vegetable relish made with hot peppers and celery. You could buy the ingredients and study the method, but it ain’t gonna taste like Al’s. (1079 West Taylor Street; 312-226-4017)

              Jibarito

              Borinquen, Chicago

              At first it looks like any sandwich: bread, mayo, meat, iceberg lettuce, tomato. But the “bread” is actually twice-fried green plantains (sliced and pressed into rectangles and brushed with garlic and oil), and the meat is traditional Latino (slow-cooked pork; chopped skin-on fried chicken). An American sandwich with Puerto Rican roots. (1720 California Avenue; 773-227-6038)

              Grilled Cheese

              Café Muse, Royal Oak, Michigan

              Grilled cheese: Wonder bread, Velveeta, and a clothes iron. Or: Havarti, for creaminess. Mozzarella for gooeyness. Fontina for bite. Honey to linger on the tongue, paired with the sharp anise nip of fresh basil and the sweet tang of grilled tomato. (317 South Washington Avenue; 248-544-4749)

              Lisa C’s Boisterous Brisket

              Zingerman’s, Ann Arbor, Michigan

              Gold Angus-beef brisket, dry-rubbed with sea salt, pungent Tellicherry black pepper, garlic, and marjoram, is left to sit in a mixture of butter-sautéed onions, caramelly demerara sugar, ketchup, molasses, garlic, and cayenne. Later it’s hand-pulled and layered into a bun that’s basically challah baked in hot-dog-roll form. On the side you get molasses-baked beans with applewood-smoked bacon, best added to the sandwich. (422 Detroit Street; 734-663-3354)

              Sweet Coppa with Hot Peppers and Rucola

              ‘Ino, New York City

              ‘Ino is short for panino -- in this case, an artful little Italian sandwich pressed flat. The bread comes from a bakery across the street, and the combinations inside come from a wild imagination. Sweet cured ham stands up to the fiery peppers -- pop the sugary roasted garlic cloves on the side to extinguish the flames. (21 Bedford Street; 212-989-5769)

              Corned Beef

              Slyman’s, Cleveland

              Bernie Kosar jerseys outnumber the business suits, but just barely. The corned beef is why you go: a softball-sized lump of lean the color of a Great Lakes sunset, kissed with fat and slow-cooked to succulence, then nestled between clouds of fresh bread. (3106 St. Clair Avenue; 216-621-3760)

              Polish Boy

              Freddie’s Rib House, Cleveland

              Soul on white. A pipe’s length of kielbasa is wrapped in a bun and mounded with french fries, then dressed with coleslaw and barbecue sauce. Ignore any toxic runoff: Locals consider cuff stains a red badge of courage. The genteel can request a fork, because, yo, every circus needs a clown. (1431 St. Clair Avenue; 216-575-1750)

              Chicken Sandwich

              Chick-Fil-A, Multiple Locations

              You can get a chicken sandwich anywhere, which may explain your low expectations. Boneless breast. Bun. Blah. But down south, there lives an eye-opener. A come-to-Jesus sandwich. The Chick-fil-A. Seasoned, breaded breast served on a toasted buttered bun with dill-pickle slices. No mayo. No sauce at all. Deceptively simple, yet transcendent. The hook is the breading: spicy, with an intoxicating crunch. The meat is always juicy, never chewy. The bun is like lingerie -- there, but not, providing delicious support without obscuring the main flavor. The first bite changes everything you think you know about chicken. And about the need for condiments. --Allison Glock

              Chopped Pork

              Allen & Son Barbeque, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

              Famous among the vinegar-based smoke pits of North Carolina for its tart, smoky sandwiches. The owner, Keith Allen, still splits his own hickory in the backyard, fueling the fires that cook your meat. (6203 Millhouse Road; 919-942-7576)

              Ferdi’s Special

              Mother’s Restaurant, New Orleans

              At Mother’s, a downtown refuge for the workingman (and tourists), they’ve been serving all kinds of meat since 1938. The Ferdi, a kind of compilation po’boy, has the greatest hits: tender baked ham, roast beef, and “debris,” the gorgeous, grease-darkened bits of meat that fall into the pan during roasting. Shredded cabbage and Creole mustard mix with the juices to create an alchemy from above. (401 Poydras Street; 504-523-9656)

              Cubano

              Latin America Cafeteria, Miami

              Little Havana’s specialty, an eight-inch roll wet with butter, plus sugar-cured bolo ham, lechon asado (slow-roasted marinated pork), Swiss cheese, and pickle, toasted in a plancha (press). The later the hour, the better it tastes. (9606 SW Sunset Drive, 305-279-4353)

              Seafood Salad

              La Sandwicherie, Miami Beach

              Go with the French bread, not the croissant -- it’s appropriately crusty and soft in the middle. And get it to stay -- the seating is outdoors, and the seafood salad (jumbo lump crab, shrimp) goes well with the salty air. (229 Fourteenth Street; 305-532-8934)

              Roast Pork with Provolone

              John’s Roast Pork, Philadelphia

              Although the area looks like a good place to dump a body, when John’s opened in 1930 the shipyards were bustling, and the place still keeps day-laborer’s hours: 6:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The cheesesteak is the best in town, but your first time, get Philadelphia’s sleeper signature sandwich, the roast pork with shards of provolone. Only the large size comes on a seeded roll from Carangi Bakery, the perfect texture to absorb the juices without falling apart. The meat and cheese meld together while retaining flavor and texture -- molecular gastronomy at its finest. (14 East Snyder Avenue; 215-463-1951) --Francine Maroukian

              Chicken Cutlet

              Shank’s & Evelyn’s Luncheonette, South Philadelphia

              You don’t need a hangover to appreciate the chicken cutlet with broccoli rabe and provolone at Shank’s & Evelyn’s. But with a little planning, you can acquire one and come to know the best morning-after sandwich in the world. And no matter how many times I tell myself that I’m too damn old for this kind of excess, the side of head-clearing long hots -- peppers eaten straight (vodka hangover) or jammed into the sandwich (bourbon) -- remind me that there’s no satisfaction in playing it safe. (932 South Tenth Street; 215-629-1093) --F. M.

              Ham and Cheese

              Primanti Bros., Pittsburgh

              A relic of Pittsburgh’s steel days, this sandwich was made for steelworkers who had to eat fast. Everything that typically comes with a sandwich comes on it: meat cooked hot, bacon, tomato, provolone, pickles, slaw, an egg for fifty cents extra, even fries. Shove it in your lunch box. (46 Eighteenth Street; 412-263-2142)

              Pork Roll, Egg, and Cheese

              Brennan’s Deli, Rumson, New Jersey

              Fancier places around the Garden State call it Taylor ham, but to the hungry, hungover Jersey masses, the salamilike breakfast meat is pork roll. Fry it up in bacon fat and serve it on a kaiser roll with a fried egg and a slice of American cheese, or ask the good men of Brennan’s to do it for you. It’s the only way to start a bad day. (44 West River Road; 732-530-0302)

              Tuna Niçoise

              Bouchon Bakery, New York City

              Looks like a regular tuna sandwich, except the bread is crusty and minutes old. The tuna comes with capers instead of celery, aioli on top of mayo, and cornichons instead of a pickle. Plus tarragon and sliced soft-cooked egg. It’s mundane. It’s exhilarating. It’s the best tuna sandwich we’ve ever eaten. (10 Columbus Circle; 212-823-9366)

              Pastrami on Rye

              Katz’s, New York City

              You know Katz’s. You know the scene in When Harry Met Sally. The orgasm. And if you’ve been there, you know she wasn’t faking it -- the fatty, thick-cut pastrami on rye is that good. Better with a smear of mustard. (205 East Houston Street; 212-254-2246)

              Three-Terrine Bánh Mì

              Momofuku Ssäm, New York City

              You’d never stand at a Plexiglas counter and tell the guy to top your crusty bread with chicken liver, ham terrine, and you know what, throw on some scraps of veal face. Just order this sickly delicious bánh mì and, without thinking too much, enjoy the crisp, earthy texture of...that delicious stuff between the bread. (207 Second Avenue; 212-254-3500)

              Fried Cod

              Cove Fish Market, Stonington, Connecticut

              When a fish starts its morning in the ocean and ends up in a deep-fryer that afternoon, the result is reliably tasty. The Cove has been proving this for four decades, turning out some of the best no-frills fish sandwiches on the Eastern Seaboard. (20 Old Stonington Road; 860-536-0061)

              The Bomb

              Sal, Kris, and Charlie Deli, Queens, New York

              The Sandwich Kings of Astoria stick to a simple formula: Use great ingredients and a lot of them. Know what you want to order when it’s your turn and you’ll have a great experience -- that’ll be the Bomb, an Italian with nine kinds of meat. (33-12 Twenty-third Avenue; 718-278-9240)

              Hot Lobster Roll

              Abbot’s Lobster in the Rough, Noank, Connecticut

              The best way to get to Abbott’s is by boat -- float in, tie up, and order the classic, made with a quarter pound of meat, melted butter, and not a drop of mayo. Get a table out on the dock. (117 Pearl Street; 860-536-7719)

              Maple-Barbecue Pulled Pork

              Vermont Country Deli, Brattleboro, Vermont

              Bunch of northerners making pulled pork? Damn straight. Two words: Maple. Syrup. (436 Western Avenue; 802-257-9254

              Grilled Lobster and Cheese

              Restaurant Bricco, West Hartford, Connecticut

              Generous clumps of fresh lobster tossed in a net of stringy, buttery Havarti and gently pressed between grilled white toast. Wash it down with a glass of prosecco. You’ll feel like you’re celebrating. (78 LaSalle Road; 860-233-0220)

              Gyro

              East Side Pocket, Providence

              The sliced lamb gets a quick char while you pick out your toppings -- any or all from a list of ten: hot sauce, hummus, tabouleh, tahini, yogurt-cucumber sauce, various veggies. Thirty seconds and six bucks later, you’re eating the best Syrian street food outside Damascus. (278 Thayer Street; 401-453-1100)

              Lamb Sirloin

              Matt Murphy’s Brookline, Massachusetts

              In a land teeming with trite Irish pubs, Matt Murphy’s stands alone: no Gaelic street signs, no U2 poster, no “Molly Bloom Mozzarella Stix.” But this hits you like a Joycean epiphany: sirloin, cooked until it dissolves on the crusty potato bread, and pickles, daubed with sweet relish and a sauce bearing the faintest rumor of mint. (14 Harvard Street; 617-232-0188)

              Prosciutto and Asiago

              Little Notch Café, Southwest Harbor, Maine

              Let the others scarf lobster rolls. Up near Acadia National Park, where the crowds thin out, sharp Asiago and sweet prosciutto offer a different sort of local comfort. Grab one and catch the mail boat out to breathtaking Cranberry Island, where the crowds disappear into nothing. (340 Main Street; 207-244-3357)
              A sandwich should be thoughtfully laid out, with components that add up to a complete meal, but the most important thing is that the ingredients should be of excellent quality. They should also be easy to come by: It’s a sandwich, after all. That’s why I start with steak. It’s never been easier to buy great beef. For the perfect steak sandwich, don’t be afraid to buy a nice cut of beef. The three basic cuts I use to make a sandwich without requiring the tenderization process of a marinade are rib eye, New York strip (sirloin), and filet, all available from any butcher. To season it, simply salt and pepper the meat, and that’s it. That’s all you have to do to it.
              This open-faced sandwich is a bit more elegant than one you pick up; it’s like a great steak salad on toast. Again, other than salt and pepper, there’s no need for seasoning. You get all the zing you need from glazing the sautéed vegetables with a little steak sauce added right to the pan. Everything you want is already in that bottle — the tomatoes, the spices, the vinegar — and in just the right proportions. It’s a fail-safe way to add flavor; you’re going to look like a genius.
              Ingredients
              • 8-oz prime strip or rib-eye steak or filet
              • Coarse salt and ground black pepper
              • Unsalted butter
              • 1/2 cup red onion, sliced into half moons
              • 1/2 cup pickled cherry peppers (hot and sweet), sliced
              • 1 cup white mushrooms, sliced thin
              • 2 tbsp steak sauce (like A1)
              • Hoagie-style soft roll, ends trimmed, split horizontally
              • Garlic mayonnaise (see below)
              • 4 slices Vermont white cheddar (about 4 oz)
              • Arugula, cleaned and dressed with red-wine or light balsamic vinaigrette
              • 2-inch piece fresh horseradish root, peeled
              Instructions
              Grill, broil, or pan-sear steak until medium rare, season with coarse salt and ground black pepper, and let rest before thinly slicing. In sauté pan over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp butter until lightly browned, and caramelize onions. Add peppers and mushrooms and cook, flipping frequently, until well mixed, about 3 minutes. Add steak sauce and simmer to glaze, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
              Lightly butter roll and lightly toast in skillet (buttered sides down). Spread toasted sides with garlic mayo and place on foil-covered sheet pan. Top with cheese and melt open-faced under preheated broiler. Remove and transfer to serving plate. Arrange steak atop broiled bread, overlapping slices slightly, and evenly distribute vegetable mixture, finishing with dressed arugula salad. Using small-hole side of box grater or microplane zester, shred horseradish root (as when working with raw chiles, do not touch your eyes) over sandwich and serve.

              How to Make Garlic Mayo

              Place peeled garlic clove on clean work surface. Using broad side of a chef’s knife, crush slightly and macerate, using circular motions, until it becomes paste. Add a pinch of kosher salt and mix. Stir paste into mayonnaise, adding ground black pepper and a pinch of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley. Use about 2 garlic cloves to 1/4 cup mayo, more or less according to your taste.





              <message edited by Dr of BBQ on Tue, 08/11/09 11:08 PM>
               
              #7
                ynotryme

                • Total Posts: 536
                • Joined: 8/20/2006
                • Location: mansfield, TX
                Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Wed, 08/12/09 12:23 AM (permalink)
                The Star telegram newspaper is doing a battle of burgers in the dallas ft worth metroplex. They started with 64 from steakhouses to dives. They are down to the final four. 5 guys burgers, an eastern chain is one of the four.
                 
                #8
                  cameron074

                  • Total Posts: 135
                  • Joined: 11/12/2007
                  • Location: Parsippany, NJ
                  Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 10:09 AM (permalink)
                  nocarolina


                  Surprisingly, on my one visit to a Del Taco outlet, I found the food to be even worse than that at Taco Bell.  


                  Wow really? On my one trip out to CA recently I had Del Taco for the first time, I thought it annihilated Taco Bell.
                   
                  #9
                    NYPIzzaNut

                    • Total Posts: 2961
                    • Joined: 3/8/2008
                    • Location: Sardinia, OH
                    Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 10:19 AM (permalink)
                    It does not take much to do that.
                     
                    #10
                      1bbqboy

                      • Total Posts: 3979
                      • Joined: 11/20/2000
                      • Location: Rogue Valley
                      Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 10:23 AM (permalink)




                      "Utter bastardization of one of the finest cuisines in the world. What the _____is a chalupa?" — Joey Campanaro, The Little Owl, New York City


                      I'm confused as to whether Joey little Owl thinks TB invented the Chalupa, or he just doesn't like
                      Taco Bell's version. I'm also wondering what they serve at the Little Owl, and why I should care what some guy in NYC thinks about Mexican food.

                      funny otherwise, though.



                       
                      #11
                        NYPIzzaNut

                        • Total Posts: 2961
                        • Joined: 3/8/2008
                        • Location: Sardinia, OH
                        Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 10:37 AM (permalink)
                        I wonder about fajitas - so many folks think if a Mexican restaurant serves them they are really Tex-Mex and not authentic Mexican.

                        I have read about the history of fajitas and I have discussed them with a Mexican owner of a Mexican restaurant.


                        http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A261130

                        There seems to be a general confusion about them and if they are really Mexican food, or Tex-Mex food, "invented" in Texas in the early 1970s.

                        The Mexican restaurant owner told me they have been around in Mexico much longer than they have been in The States.

                        Does anyone here know if that is the case?
                         
                        #12
                          1bbqboy

                          • Total Posts: 3979
                          • Joined: 11/20/2000
                          • Location: Rogue Valley
                          Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 10:43 AM (permalink)
                          Now we're back to whether Tex-Mex is a legitimate
                          cuisine.
                            I have to say though, the idea that Fajitias has become a style of preparation rather than a specific dish made with a specific cut of beef is kinda strange.
                          <message edited by bill voss on Thu, 08/13/09 11:02 AM>
                           
                          #13
                            NYPIzzaNut

                            • Total Posts: 2961
                            • Joined: 3/8/2008
                            • Location: Sardinia, OH
                            Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 3:48 PM (permalink)
                            No the question was if fajitas were really in Mexico before being introduced in Texas.
                             
                            #14
                              David_NYC

                              • Total Posts: 2117
                              • Joined: 8/1/2004
                              • Location: New York, NY
                              Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 7:58 PM (permalink)
                              bill voss
                                I'm also wondering what they serve at the Little Owl, and why I should care what some guy in NYC thinks about Mexican food.

                              The Little Owl serves Contemporary American cuisine; their pork chop entree is quite popular. They also serve burgers, seafood, and steaks.
                               
                              There used to be a Taco Bell about 6 blocks from Joey's restaurant. That Taco Bell/KFC was closed after those news clips of rats running around the place (and which we discussed on this forum.) I interpreted Joey's quote to mean that he considers true Mexican cuisine one of the world's finest
                               
                              #15
                                sk bob

                                • Total Posts: 1763
                                • Joined: 12/29/2005
                                • Location: South Daytona, FL
                                Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 8:51 PM (permalink)
                                the best Cuban sandwich is in the furthest  place from Cuba?
                                thats why I can't put much trust on the polls .
                                the only true  FAST food place they mention is IN n Out.
                                 
                                #16
                                  Dr of BBQ

                                  • Total Posts: 2860
                                  • Joined: 10/11/2004
                                  • Location: Springfield, IL
                                  • Roadfood Insider
                                  Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Thu, 08/13/09 10:12 PM (permalink)
                                  bill voss
                                    I have to say though, the idea that Fajitias has become a style of preparation rather than a specific dish made with a specific cut of beef is kinda strange.




                                  I hole hardly agree. It seems now you can throw anything together and I mean anything and call it a Fajitias. And that is bad in most ways but maybe some good will come of it some day. Today their is no standard and it's not a food item I normally order. They are run of the mill and most are dry and tasteless.
                                  Jack



                                   
                                  #17
                                    MaineStreet

                                    • Total Posts: 7
                                    • Joined: 3/16/2009
                                    • Location: Portland, ME
                                    Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Mon, 08/17/09 8:46 PM (permalink)
                                    I was eating the gyros at East Side Pockets all the time while at JWU in Providence.  They really are that good, one of the only reasons I stop in Providence when passing through.  Glad to see one of the places I'll always recommend on the list.  By the way Dr. BBQ I had lunch at Grill Zilla in Maine last week.  Not the smokiest BBQ I've ever had, but it was tender and moist and not hidden in sauce, the most common mistake us Northerners make with BBQ.  
                                     
                                    #18
                                      Dr of BBQ

                                      • Total Posts: 2860
                                      • Joined: 10/11/2004
                                      • Location: Springfield, IL
                                      • Roadfood Insider
                                      Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Mon, 08/17/09 10:02 PM (permalink)
                                      NYPIzzaNut
                                      No the question was if fajitas were really in Mexico before being introduced in Texas.


                                      Fajita History


                                      BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

                                      One of the most interesting facets of the American culinary revolution of the past 50 years is our growing fascination with culinary history. It seems the more we learn about the ethnic melting pot that makes up the American table, the more curious we become about regional cuisines and the origin of specific dishes.


                                      Texas is the proud home of an authentic regional cuisine, and the provenance of Tex-Mex foods is currently a very hot topic with everyone from academic researchers to cookbook authors to magazine and newspaper food writers. In exploring the history of fajitas, several credible stories emerge, and all of them have roots in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. It only makes sense that several people from the same ethnic group with roots in the same geographic area would come up with similar cooking techniques and names for the raw materials at hand.



                                      The first serious study of the history of fajitas was done in 1984 by Homero Recio as part of his graduate work in animal science at Texas A&M. Recio was intrigued by a spike in the retail price of skirt steak, and that sparked his research into the dish that took the once humble skirt steak from throwaway cut to menu star. Recio found anecdotal evidence describing the cut of meat, the cooking style (directly on a campfire or on a grill), and the Spanish nickname going back as far as the 1930s in the ranch lands of South and West Texas. During cattle roundups, beef were butchered regularly to feed the hands. Throwaway items such as the hide, the head, the entrails, and meat trimmings such as skirt were given to the Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) as part of their pay. Hearty border dishes like barbacoa de cabeza (head barbecue), menudo (tripe stew), and fajitas/arracheras (grilled skirt steak) have their roots in this practice.



                                      Fifth-generation McAllen rancher and cookbook author Melissa Guerra heard very similar stories in researching her first cookbook, The Texas Provincial Kitchen, and her upcoming work, Dishes of the Wild Horse Desert. Considering the limited number of skirts per carcass and the fact the meat wasn't available commercially, the fajita tradition remained regional and relatively obscure for many years, probably only familiar to vaqueros, butchers, and their families.



                                      Fajitas appear to have made the quantum leap from campfire and backyard grill obscurity to commercial sales in 1969. Sonny Falcon, an Austin meat market manager, operated the first commercial fajita taco concession stand at a rural Dies Y Seis celebration in tiny Kyle in September of 1969. That same year, fajitas debuted on the menu at Otilia Garza's Round-Up Restaurant in the Rio Grande Valley community of Pharr, according to Texas Monthly contributing editor John Morthland in a 1993 magazine story. Morthland writes that Garza never claimed to have invented the dish, but she did maintain a tradition of grilling skirt steak learned from her grandmother, a restaurateur in Reynosa, Mexico.


                                      At the Round-Up, fajitas were served on a sizzling platter with warm flour tortillas and mounds of condiments – guacamole, pico de gallo (chopped fresh onions, tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro), and grated cheese – for making tacos. In the Mexican ranching states that share a border with Texas, a similar dish called arracheras (grilled fillets of skirt steak) has been served for decades, according to cookbook authors Cheryl and Bill Jamison in The Border Cookbook.


                                      We pick up the fajita trail in Houston in 1973, when a Rio Grande Valley native named Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo opened a Tex-Mex restaurant on Navigation Boulevard called Ninfa's. She built a restaurant empire on a good bar business and the simple, tasty foods of her Valley heritage, including fajitas, sold as "tacos al carbon" and "tacos a la Ninfa." While Tex-Mex restaurateurs such as Otilia Garza and Ninfa Laurenzo were popularizing fajitas in Houston and the Valley during the 1970s, Sonny Falcon was introducing them to thousands of Anglos and Hispanics alike at his concession stands at rodeos, outdoor fairs, and festivals all over the state.



                                      Perhaps the most unlikely character to spread fajita fame (and blur the real meaning of the word) was German-born chef George Weidmann. Weidmann was the opening chef of the Hyatt Regency in Austin in 1982, and it wasn't long before he recognized the commercial potential of a popular local Tex-Mex dish. The canny chef put "sizzling fajitas" on the menu of the Hyatt's La Vista restaurant, and soon sales of that signature dish made it the most profitable restaurant in the Hyatt chain. Weidmann spent the last 20 years of his career at the Austin Hyatt and was often called upon to travel to other properties to share his fajita secrets (he used the more tender sirloin) with other chefs in the chain. Fajitas remain a Hyatt menu mainstay to this day.



                                      That brings us to the great irony of fajita success: The more popular the dish became, the less likely it was to be made from skirt steak at all. By the mid-1980s, fajitas were a fairly common dish in most Mexican restaurants and would ultimately become a popular Nineties fast-food item, thanks to Jack in the Box and Taco Bell. Increased demand often led Mexican restaurant operators to substitute other cuts of meat, and the addition of grilled items such as chicken, shrimp, and even vegetable "fajitas" blurred the line even further.



                                      http://www.ask.com/bar?q=...3Foid%3Doid%253A261130


                                      And some other history on TexMex: [1970s]
                                      "In the good old days, Texans went to "Mexican restaurants" and ate "Mexican food." Then in 1972, The Cuisines of Mexico, an influential cookbook by food authority Diana Kennedy, drew the line between authentic interior Mexican food and the "mixed plates" we ate at "so-called Mexican restaurants" in the United States. Kennedy and her friends in the food community began referring to Americanized Mexican food as "Tex-Mex," a term previously used to describe anything that was half-Texan and half-Mexican. Texas-Mexican restaurant owners considered it an insult. By a strange twist of fate, the insult launched a success. For the rest of the world, "Tex-Mex" had an exciting ring. It evoked images of cantinas, cowboys and the Wild West. Dozens of Tex-Mex restaurants sprang up in Paris, and the trend spread across Europe and on to Bangkok, Buenos Aires and Abu Dhabi. Tortilla chips, margaritas and chili con carne are now well-known around the world." --- Houston Post, 6 part series, all online:

                                      Los Angeles Times Cookbook: Old Time California, Mexican and Spanish Recipes [1905]

                                      Click below
                                      Los Angeles Times Cookbook: Old Time California, Mexican and Spanish Recipes [1905]




                                       
                                      #19
                                        ynotryme

                                        • Total Posts: 536
                                        • Joined: 8/20/2006
                                        • Location: mansfield, TX
                                        Re:The (Best and worst) Fast Food in America Mon, 08/17/09 10:53 PM (permalink)
                                        I must be strange because I've lived in Texas  for twelve years. I don't like Tex Mex or chicken fried steak, It's beyond me why anyone would prefer a tortilla to good bread or flank and skirt steak to a porterhouse or filet. Even though I like BBQ, brisket is about as cheap of a cut of beef you can buy. My other pet peeve is , Why doesn't anyone serve real butter?
                                         
                                        #20
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