Fast Food
I have a lot of dietary restrictions and generally need things to be budget-friendly. I do not eat at Chik-fil-a nor Jack in the Box because of the kinds of oils they use. I don't tolerate the food there well.
In addition to eating at Little Caesar's and Chipotle, I also do fine with Burger King, Taco Bell, Panda Express and Wendy's.
I like their onion rings, fries, cheese sticks and sometimes they have a chicken sandwich on a potato bread bun. I have to limit wheat so being able to get a sandwich with a potato bread bun makes it possible for me to eat chicken sandwiches more often than I could if I had no choice but a wheat bun.
When I do get a burger or chicken sandwich, I typically get it with lettuce ONLY or lettuce and onions ONLY. If there are other toppings, I have those removed.
They have diet coke and I sometimes get coffee there.
I also do sometimes eat some of their breakfast items. I think McDonald's does a better quality bacon-egg biscuit but my family doesn't eat any of the lunch items from McDonald's and the Burger King where I currently live serves lunch ALL DAY and breakfast until like 10:30 a.m., so sometimes I get lunch for my kids and a breakfast sandwich for me because it's all from the same place and we are doing a meal early for some reason.
My sons like their chicken nuggets. I can eat them but I'm not a huge fan in part because their chicken nuggets were one of the few things I could eat at all with my second pregnancy, so months of eating them while nauseous associated the two things for me and I still can't look at a chicken nugget decades later without looking askance at it.
Which is to say I used to like their chicken nuggets more than I do now and my judgement of that food item is not some kind of objective nor reliable opinion. Draw your OWN conclusions about their nuggets.
Their online app and in-store kiosk are great. There's only ONE customization I like to do sometimes that can't be done that way, it can only be done by talking to a cashier and then it's still hard, and that's to swap out a soft shell for a hard shell on the potato taco.
The reason I like to do that sometimes is the hard shell is a corn shell and the soft shell is a wheat shell. I can eat unlimited amounts of corn but I cannot eat unlimited amounts of wheat, plus corn is not as acid as wheat and I am prone to being too acid.
Most of the time, I am eating something vegetarian with cheese, potatoes or beans as the main thing. I will eat beef tacos but not too often. Their beef is okay but I'm super picky about beef quality and eat semi-vegetarian anyway. I used to eat some chicken items there but I think one of them was discontinued. I no longer see it on the menu.
I usually get extra lettuce on my tacos. It's the cheapest fast food place where you can rely on the lettuce being fresh because they go through a LOT of it.
They do NOT have diet coke, which is my usual fast food drink. I usually get the Mango Brisk tea or a cup of water.
Sometimes I get coffee. At fast food places, I take my coffee black or sugar only. I get REAL sugar, not sugar substitutes. I don't get the creamer because it is NEVER real cream. It's a "food product" and -- just read the ingredient list. It is NOT real cream.
If I can get REAL CREAM, I will totally put that in coffee and drink it until I have a sugar crash. We used to do this at home when someone made German black forest cherry tort which is iced with real cream. Slice of cake, half a cup of coffee with HALF A CUP of real cream.
"Creamer" though: NOT REAL FOOD. Sorry, no.
These days, I sometimes add salt to my coffee. Fast food places don't typically have the best coffee. Adding a little salt cuts the bitterness without making it taste salty.
There are several dishes they have that I like and other than the above, it's a matter of personal preference. I'm not aware of any particular issues with their food quality.
I don't eat shrimp dishes because I'm allergic. I like to sometimes get their Sweet Fire chicken which has hot peppers and pineapple, both of which I consume "for medicinal purposes."
I have not been to a Panda Express in a long time because there isn't one where I currently live but my recollection is they have Diet Coke which is my usual drink at fast food places.
I've tried a few other things on their menu and nothing really grabs me. Not a huge fan of their fries. I don't recall what else I may have eaten there.
The beef patties there are good quality. If you like burgers and want to eat them routinely and are trying to eat better, I would say "Go to Wendy's instead of Burger King or McDonald's."
And they do have diet coke.
I am willing to get cheese or pepperoni pizza from 7-Eleven occasionally. I can't do it too often. Maybe once or twice a week for short stints. If I don't do it too often, hey, they will sell you a hot pizza at 2 a.m. when everything else is closed -- even during a pandemic when even the Denny's was closed at that hour.
I may have tried some of their other food items. I don't recall any specifics. This is not a suggestion that nothing else they sell is acceptable. I just don't have enough experience to say.
I also get hot deli food from Safeway (or sometimes COLD deli foods -- potato salad, chicken curry salad). We don't have a local Panda Express and this is where I get my fix sometimes for things like beef broccoli.
It's okay. It's not that great. (Panda Express should come to MY TOWN -- though not necessarily, you know, THIS TOWN because I'm not sure how much longer I want to live here.)
The main feature is I can go to ONE place, have a bite to eat and then do my shopping. I miss mall food courts. Eat and shop should be more of a thing.
As noted above, I like some of the breakfast items at McDonald's but not much else. They began doing all-day breakfast at some point and then I would go there sometimes in the afternoon and get like a bacon-egg biscuit, hash browns and salsa for the hash browns and sometimes apple pie. Breakfast for dinner was a BIG THING in my life when I was sicker because when I'm real sick I have a lot of trouble eating meat.
They do have diet coke.
In addition to eating at Little Caesar's and Chipotle, I also do fine with Burger King, Taco Bell, Panda Express and Wendy's.
Burger King
Ironically, I don't often eat burgers here. I am super picky about beef quality and I'm not a huge fan of burgers anyway. I have eaten burgers from Burger King, but I am usually eating something vegetarian or a chicken sandwich with fries.I like their onion rings, fries, cheese sticks and sometimes they have a chicken sandwich on a potato bread bun. I have to limit wheat so being able to get a sandwich with a potato bread bun makes it possible for me to eat chicken sandwiches more often than I could if I had no choice but a wheat bun.
When I do get a burger or chicken sandwich, I typically get it with lettuce ONLY or lettuce and onions ONLY. If there are other toppings, I have those removed.
They have diet coke and I sometimes get coffee there.
I also do sometimes eat some of their breakfast items. I think McDonald's does a better quality bacon-egg biscuit but my family doesn't eat any of the lunch items from McDonald's and the Burger King where I currently live serves lunch ALL DAY and breakfast until like 10:30 a.m., so sometimes I get lunch for my kids and a breakfast sandwich for me because it's all from the same place and we are doing a meal early for some reason.
My sons like their chicken nuggets. I can eat them but I'm not a huge fan in part because their chicken nuggets were one of the few things I could eat at all with my second pregnancy, so months of eating them while nauseous associated the two things for me and I still can't look at a chicken nugget decades later without looking askance at it.
Which is to say I used to like their chicken nuggets more than I do now and my judgement of that food item is not some kind of objective nor reliable opinion. Draw your OWN conclusions about their nuggets.
Taco Bell
I eat a lot of different things at Taco Bell. There's a variety of tacos, chalupas, quesadillas, burritos and breakfast items I eat there.Their online app and in-store kiosk are great. There's only ONE customization I like to do sometimes that can't be done that way, it can only be done by talking to a cashier and then it's still hard, and that's to swap out a soft shell for a hard shell on the potato taco.
The reason I like to do that sometimes is the hard shell is a corn shell and the soft shell is a wheat shell. I can eat unlimited amounts of corn but I cannot eat unlimited amounts of wheat, plus corn is not as acid as wheat and I am prone to being too acid.
Most of the time, I am eating something vegetarian with cheese, potatoes or beans as the main thing. I will eat beef tacos but not too often. Their beef is okay but I'm super picky about beef quality and eat semi-vegetarian anyway. I used to eat some chicken items there but I think one of them was discontinued. I no longer see it on the menu.
I usually get extra lettuce on my tacos. It's the cheapest fast food place where you can rely on the lettuce being fresh because they go through a LOT of it.
They do NOT have diet coke, which is my usual fast food drink. I usually get the Mango Brisk tea or a cup of water.
Sometimes I get coffee. At fast food places, I take my coffee black or sugar only. I get REAL sugar, not sugar substitutes. I don't get the creamer because it is NEVER real cream. It's a "food product" and -- just read the ingredient list. It is NOT real cream.
If I can get REAL CREAM, I will totally put that in coffee and drink it until I have a sugar crash. We used to do this at home when someone made German black forest cherry tort which is iced with real cream. Slice of cake, half a cup of coffee with HALF A CUP of real cream.
"Creamer" though: NOT REAL FOOD. Sorry, no.
These days, I sometimes add salt to my coffee. Fast food places don't typically have the best coffee. Adding a little salt cuts the bitterness without making it taste salty.
Panda Express
It's on a short list of places where I will eat beef regularly. If I only eat there occasionally, I will eat their "regular" beef items, like Beef Broccoli, but if I am eating there semi-frequently, I stick to the Angus Steak dish (IF I'm ordering beef) because it's a higher quality of beef.There are several dishes they have that I like and other than the above, it's a matter of personal preference. I'm not aware of any particular issues with their food quality.
I don't eat shrimp dishes because I'm allergic. I like to sometimes get their Sweet Fire chicken which has hot peppers and pineapple, both of which I consume "for medicinal purposes."
I have not been to a Panda Express in a long time because there isn't one where I currently live but my recollection is they have Diet Coke which is my usual drink at fast food places.
Wendy's Et Al
I do not go to Wendy's very often. There are basically two things I eat there: Baked potato and/or their smallest hamburger lettuce ONLY, extra extra lettuce. So like as much lettuce as burger.I've tried a few other things on their menu and nothing really grabs me. Not a huge fan of their fries. I don't recall what else I may have eaten there.
The beef patties there are good quality. If you like burgers and want to eat them routinely and are trying to eat better, I would say "Go to Wendy's instead of Burger King or McDonald's."
And they do have diet coke.
I am willing to get cheese or pepperoni pizza from 7-Eleven occasionally. I can't do it too often. Maybe once or twice a week for short stints. If I don't do it too often, hey, they will sell you a hot pizza at 2 a.m. when everything else is closed -- even during a pandemic when even the Denny's was closed at that hour.
I may have tried some of their other food items. I don't recall any specifics. This is not a suggestion that nothing else they sell is acceptable. I just don't have enough experience to say.
I also get hot deli food from Safeway (or sometimes COLD deli foods -- potato salad, chicken curry salad). We don't have a local Panda Express and this is where I get my fix sometimes for things like beef broccoli.
It's okay. It's not that great. (Panda Express should come to MY TOWN -- though not necessarily, you know, THIS TOWN because I'm not sure how much longer I want to live here.)
The main feature is I can go to ONE place, have a bite to eat and then do my shopping. I miss mall food courts. Eat and shop should be more of a thing.
As noted above, I like some of the breakfast items at McDonald's but not much else. They began doing all-day breakfast at some point and then I would go there sometimes in the afternoon and get like a bacon-egg biscuit, hash browns and salsa for the hash browns and sometimes apple pie. Breakfast for dinner was a BIG THING in my life when I was sicker because when I'm real sick I have a lot of trouble eating meat.
They do have diet coke.
