LDI Vegas and cheeseburgers...

White castle in Washington state is about as likely as an In n' Out on the east coast
 
I think if you buy burgers from a chain (Mickey's, Burger King, White castle, etc) for minimal $, it's only fair to expect these burgers to rate below that of Five Guys or the local $$$ burger joints. I generally make a point to stop by White Castle when I'm in Indy to order up jalapeno burgers and the chicken rings. Why? Because we don't have 'em in Ft Wayne and I like 'em! They aren't great, but they are good, IMHO-

Now, let's eat!
 
You know the whole local burger vs national chain thing is really interesting. I've never even heard of "Smash Burger", "Meatheads", "Steak n Shake", "Culver's", or "Walleye dinner" But I'm sure like the regional burgers here in the Northwest, they all put out a better burger than any of the really big chains. As a chain get's larger the uniqueness of the burger and it's quality goes down at an abysmal rate.
A walleye is a pike, like a large trout, only meaner. Found in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and north. Filleted and batter fried. If you ever get to Wisconsin in the summer try to find a Friday night fish fry. They're all over. Go to a really small town, and the farther north you are the better. Kind of like an east coast clam bake (I think). Or if you're around in the winter get a limburger sandwich and a brandy alexander (to ward off the chill). Or a bratwurst.

The rest are chains throughout the midwest. Culver's started in Wisconsin. So did Jimmy John's (like Subway only better). I don't know where Meatheads started. There's only one I know of. Smashburger has more places, but IMO not as good.
 
Jimmy John's has taken over the Seattle area in the last couple years. They are everywhere these days. It's so weird how long it takes for eastern chains to move to the Northwest. There are millions of people out here we build air planes, software, and run Amazon and T-Mobile from here. It's like people back there think we still ride horses, battle bears, and trade furs with the natives.
 
Wait, you don't battle bears? Woah... Hold on a sec... This is quite a shock... My entire worldview is now in question.
 
A walleye is a pike, like a large trout, only meaner. Found in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and north. Filleted and batter fried. If you ever get to Wisconsin in the summer try to find a Friday night fish fry. They're all over. Go to a really small town, and the farther north you are the better. Kind of like an east coast clam bake (I think). Or if you're around in the winter get a limburger sandwich and a brandy alexander (to ward off the chill). Or a bratwurst.

We've got lots of walleye and perch in Ohio too. In fact my home town is the walleye capital of the world.....along with something like 6 other places that also claim it.

Speaking of chains, since I moved to Rhode Island I've been seriously lacking bdubs wings. They didn't have any closer than Connecticut. But they just finally opened one in ri and one in mass about an hour from me.
 
All this talk about burgers is making me crave a Whataburger. It's a good thing I'm heading to Dallas tomorrow! I've driven to Texarkana before for once since there are none in Arkansas.
 
I think food chains tend to be slow to expand because it's so expensive to get the exact same ingredients from one area to another. That's why you don't find Jack-In-The-Box east of the Mississippi. And there's the money issue. Getting funding for restaurants, even franchises, is tough. Krispy Kreme is likely part of the reason.
 
I think food chains tend to be slow to expand because it's so expensive to get the exact same ingredients from one area to another.

That's the excuse that In-N-Out Burger always uses but I don't buy it. This isn't the 1800's. We have refrigeration and automobiles. No burger joint is using lettuce grown out behind the store. There are cows all over this country. People on both coasts know how to bake bread and make cheese. Yes it's hard to grow a tomato in Milwaukee in January... but I guarantee that there are restaurants in the area that somehow magically still serve a BLT.

I think the big issue is competing with the established chains already in the region. Here in Seattle we have Wendy's, Burger King, McDonalds, and Jack in the box (all of them kind of lame). Carl's Jr. and Sonic are knocking on the door opening up a locations around the state. But no stores directly in the Seattle area yet. My guess is they are moving in slowly trying to steal little bits of the existing burger joint's business to establish themselves. As word of mouth spreads about them they slowly expand.

Krispy Kreme is an interesting example as well. I first experienced Krispy Kreme in Vegas. We knew nothing about the place other than it was supposed to be good. When we were there they were out of Original Glazed. The customers coming in were flipping out about how that could be allowed to happen. We were confused. Then we looked around us and there were table after table of families who had come to Krispy Kreme to buy a dozen donuts and sit down and eat the box as a family. That just doesn't happen in Seattle. When we finally got a Krispy Kreme there was a huge deal and people lined up for hours to get a donut. But once they had tried them word quickly spread that "They were fine but ______ is better". Today there are 3 or 4 stores in the area and they are mostly empty.
 
That's the excuse that In-N-Out Burger always uses but I don't buy it. This isn't the 1800's. We have refrigeration and automobiles. No burger joint is using lettuce grown out behind the store. There are cows all over this country. People on both coasts know how to bake bread and make cheese. Yes it's hard to grow a tomato in Milwaukee in January... but I guarantee that there are restaurants in the area that somehow magically still serve a BLT.

I think the big issue is competing with the established chains already in the region. Here in Seattle we have Wendy's, Burger King, McDonalds, and Jack in the box (all of them kind of lame). Carl's Jr. and Sonic are knocking on the door opening up a locations around the state. But no stores directly in the Seattle area yet. My guess is they are moving in slowly trying to steal little bits of the existing burger joint's business to establish themselves. As word of mouth spreads about them they slowly expand.

Krispy Kreme is an interesting example as well. I first experienced Krispy Kreme in Vegas. We knew nothing about the place other than it was supposed to be good. When we were there they were out of Original Glazed. The customers coming in were flipping out about how that could be allowed to happen. We were confused. Then we looked around us and there were table after table of families who had come to Krispy Kreme to buy a dozen donuts and sit down and eat the box as a family. That just doesn't happen in Seattle. When we finally got a Krispy Kreme there was a huge deal and people lined up for hours to get a donut. But once they had tried them word quickly spread that "They were fine but ______ is better". Today there are 3 or 4 stores in the area and they are mostly empty.

Moving food is a lot more expensive than bolts. Refrigeration costs a ton. So local sourcing to present a uniform product is challenging. Plus there's paper goods. Consistent management and staffing, etc. And advertising. On and on.

As for Krispy Kreme, they cooked the books to fuel their expansion. They were able to borrow tons because of fraud. And then most stores in the expanded territory went bust. Their hot off the line donuts are a treat. But their menu just isn't sustainable.
 
For a few fantastic years we had Pizzeria Uno on the West coast. Seattle, Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego... I think LA and maybe even Portland. The place was always full and they had to be making good money being the only real Chicago style pizza out here. Then all of them mysteriously closed at the same time. I was told by the manager of the one left in San Francisco that they were all owned by one guy and he went to jail for embezzlement or some sort of financial fraud. So even though they were highly successful, they are all gone. Lame.

Uno if you are listening, I'm still waiting faithfully with my heart broken for you to return to Seattle. :(
 
That's the excuse that In-N-Out Burger always uses but I don't buy it. This isn't the 1800's. We have refrigeration and automobiles. No burger joint is using lettuce grown out behind the store. There are cows all over this country. People on both coasts know how to bake bread and make cheese. Yes it's hard to grow a tomato in Milwaukee in January... but I guarantee that there are restaurants in the area that somehow magically still serve a BLT.

In addition the the expense of refrigerated transport, refrigerated fresh foods lose quality with time and handling. Yes you can get beef, lettuce, and tomato anywhere in the country, but the quality availible and the prices will vary considerably. Of course quality and cost of fresh ingreients also varies considerably with season.
 

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