Things I used to forget before I had a place to write them down...etc.

From Et cetera

There's an awful lot of money invested into paying people known as "food critics" to go around to all the nice restaurants in town and then offer their opinion on the quality of food, ambience and service in said establishment. Now, I don't have anything against food critics, really, but I am surprised that they are so sought after that every single newspaper has one, and some even have two. I think someone else's appreciation of food in fine restaurants is something that only connoisseurs who subscribe to food magazines should need to endure. Why does this appear in a newspaper for everyone to see?

Oddly enough, none of these restaurants intentionally get food critics to come and write an article about them. In fact, because there is such a following tied to food critics, each article they write ends up being FREE advertising for the restaurant. I wasn't aware that there was such a thing until I decided to do this section of the page and thought about it for awhile. Free advertising. Admittedly, not all of the advertising is exactly what the restaurant might want advertised. Nevertheless, you rarely read a very poor restaurant review. The truly horrible restaurants are either not reviewed by critics or demolished by the city for health reasons.

Anyway, getting to my point, it seems to me that the bulk of the people who read the newspaper (which I believe is a majority) do not eat at nice restaurants on a regular basis. Most people aren't interested in an article about Bagolac: Authentic Saigon Grill because it's not familiar to them. So I have come here to review some restaurants that most of us are quite a bit more familiar with: fast food. Oh yes, when was the last time you saw world-renowned food critic John Mariani wolfing down a Big Mac and saying "mm, yes, placid aftertaste; interacts well with the Sprite"? I think it would be refreshing. Given that so many people eat fast food, it may not necessarily be helpful in determining your daily meal, but wouldn't it be interesting to read a full-blown analysis of a fast food restaurant? I think it would. But then, I've been alone before.

In any case, below I offer a series of reviews of popular fast food restaurants in my region, some information about them, what to eat, what to avoid, where to park, expected drive-thru wait times and perhaps the answer to the age-old question of "who has the best fries?".