Love Me Some Whataburger

[GVF]

It’s definitely not cheap but they aren’t stingy with the fries.

We learned that the hard way. Sfter our first trip to 5G, we started ordering only 1 fries. Love real fries. We also learned to lay off those roasted peanuts while waiting on our food.

 

[the_todd]

Don’t know if it’s been discussed, but they’re putting an in-&-out here in powell. Going in the old steak n shake building on Emory

 

[GVF]

Don’t know if it’s been discussed, but they’re putting an in-&-out here in powell. Going in the old steak n shake building on Emory

There was a time not teribly long ago that Steak N Shake could have been regarded as an excellent burger. Used to love them. Expecially the shoe string fries. Our local store has had a severe decline in quality. On the turn of a dime, there business has tanked. Parking is just as empty as the nasty IHOP next door. Cracker Barrell quality has declined as well. Only the pancakes remain unfettered. The highly regarded hash brown casserole is now dog food at best. And prolly pisses off the dog.

 

[hog88]

There was a time not teribly long ago that Steak N Shake could have been regarded as an excellent burger. Used to love them. Expecially the shoe string fries. Our local store has had a severe decline in quality. On the turn of a dime, there business has tanked. Parking is just as empty as the nasty IHOP next door. Cracker Barrell quality has declined as well. Only the pancakes remain unfettered. The highly regarded hash brown casserole is now dog food at best. And prolly pisses off the dog.

When CB got rid of the breakfast pork chop I knew they were on the decline.

 

[GVF]

When CB got rid of the breakfast pork chop I knew they were on the decline.

Yeah not sure what happened with them. A few of the menu items are still good. But, overall the food quality isn't up to snuff for them.

There was a time we would do Ryan's/Shoney's type joints after sunday church. But, those food buffets have been off the calendar for a good while. Golden Coral over in Anderson, SC was just dirty if you got a glimpse through an open kitchen door. More food on the floors than the buffet trays. And that chocolate fountain. He** No!

At the local shoney's one time, we were in line. Sunday after church was hot bar one side, breakfast bar one side. Dude was in line in front of us with a mile high plate. Dipped his biscuit in the gravy pan while in line and was leaning over the bar eating it like a clown so as not to let the gravy drip. Like that was courteous. Then he double dipped. And he was a preacher. An obese one. We put our stuff down and left. Haven't been to anyones food buffet joint since. Back in the day before all these specialty burger joints popped up, Shoney's was a good burger. But, then again for us old timers, alot of today's nasty eateries were yesterday's gems. I'm wanting to say it's Cherokee. NC that still has an original Big Boy.

Arby's new burger is pretty respectable.

 

[hog88]

Yeah not sure what happened with them. A few of the menu items are still good. But, overall the food quality isn't up to snuff for them.

There was a time we would do Ryan's/Shoney's type joints after sunday church. But, those food buffets have been off the calendar for a good while. Golden Coral over in Anderson, SC was just dirty if you got a glimpse through an open kitchen door. More food on the floors than the buffet trays. And that chocolate fountain. He** No!

At the local shoney's one time, we were in line. Sunday after church was hot bar one side, breakfast bar one side. Dude was in line in front of us with a mile high plate. Dipped his biscuit in the gravy pan while in line and was leaning over the bar eating it like a clown so as not to let the gravy drip. Like that was courteous. Then he double dipped. And he was a preacher. An obese one. We put our stuff down and left. Haven't been to anyones food buffet joint since. Back in the day before all these specialty burger joints popped up, Shoney's was a good burger. But, then again for us old timers, alot of today's nasty eateries were yesterday's gems. I'm wanting to say it's Cherokee. NC that still has an original Big Boy.

Arby's new burger is pretty respectable.

When I was a kid Shoneys breakfast buffet was the bomb.

 

[GVF]

I haven't

When I was a kid Shoneys breakfast buffet was the bomb.

Most of their menu was really good at one time. The Friday/Saturday seafood thingy was real good.

The good ole days before tradititional power restaurants started sucking. My hometown Shoney's was great back in the day. Even into the 90's before I moved it was still packed out all the time. Prob around that time or soon after I think I recall a string of corporate struggles, and Shoney's and Big Boy parted, etc. Prob when they sarted to decline.

My hometown, Griffin, GA, had a very rare Chick-Fil-A when they first came around the area. It was a CFA Diner. The Dwarf House. The CFA moniker was later added to the name. And was the birthplace of the original CFA sandwich, and what today's CFA franchises grew out of. Ours could have been the CFA Dwarf Hosue and not an original Dwarf House. All the specialty locations like Dwarf House/Truett Grill/Truett CFA, etc., are only GA based locations mostly around greater ATL. In Fayetteville, you get the only location of Truett's Luau. Opened in 2013 at age 92 cuse of his trip to Hawaii. Tropical spin on CFA items and other southern items. Having grown up in close proximity to him and his beginnings, he was a very interesting person.

But, I digress. This is a burger thread.

 

[C-south]

There was a time not teribly long ago that Steak N Shake could have been regarded as an excellent burger. Used to love them. Expecially the shoe string fries. Our local store has had a severe decline in quality. On the turn of a dime, there business has tanked. Parking is just as empty as the nasty IHOP next door. Cracker Barrell quality has declined as well. Only the pancakes remain unfettered. The highly regarded hash brown casserole is now dog food at best. And prolly pisses off the dog.

Some Cracker Barrel food is sometimes decent but they advertise so it all looks way better than it is. It’s sad that some people think this is the best of home cooked food.

 

[hndog609]

When I was a kid Shoneys breakfast buffet was the bomb.

There was many a late night out back in the day when our gang would roll into the Shoney's Midnight Breakfast Bar. After a hard bit of partying the SMBB was awesome. We'd hit that like a swarm of locusts.

 

[GVF]

Some Cracker Barrel food is sometimes decent but they advertise so it all looks way better than it is. It’s sad that some people think this is the best of home cooked food.

IMO, it never has been tops. I've always liked CB in general, though not a blind fanatic about the food. More so for breakfast than other meals. We stopped at one off I-75 somewhere in ATL area recently that was just not good all around. There are certain offerings that could be regarded good+, but most are run of the mill average eating. The fried chicken can easily be bested by BoJangles (which I regard highly for fast food chicken well above Popeyes). I do think they do well on the chicken livers though. They are pretty good. But, the T-Mart chicken livers down on the corner of TnTech campus are still better. As well as the gas station Chester branded fried chicken. It's the conept that puts them over on folks. Kinda like the Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge. More notoriety than good. Even The Apple Barn was sub par on our last trip to the Smokies. At most of these places, the local GM is the difference in the big chains. The local Applebee's GM is the reason the Cookeville location closed. Couldn't pass an inspection. Local inspectors shut it down. It's now the best Mexican in town. Same with Longhorn. Have liked it quite well in hte past, just not in Cookeville. For the money it costs, I'll go to Roadhouse. The only dependably good chain steakhouse for the money when your spending $85 plus for a family of 3. Roadhouse never fails. O'Charley's is prob still good, but Roadhouse went in next door, so now we always end up there. Don't see how Logan's stays around. They only fill up when Roadhouse/O'Charley's/Longhorn/Outback fill up. Outback and Olive garden are off the list. If we somehow end up at an outback, it's only the salmon or pork chop for me. THe steaks are so so. Thankfully Cookeville has two excellent local italian joints and OG is not a stop. We also have some other top notch local eateries, so one can bypass chains all-together if you choose.

Having said that CB is on a store refresh run getting underway. Updating the unchanged original interior, brightening it up a bit in the dining hall. Updating seating to include booth and banquette soft seating. Our company is making some of the new casework/counters and the booth seating for these store projects. I think the menu will incur some refreshing as well when each store is updated. A couple FL locations, and some Nashville area stores are up first. They did a test market refresh maybe in Lebanon or Mt. Juliet that is the base for the updates.

I remember Victoria Station in Nashville when my sister was at Lipsomb in the ealry 80's. It was really good at the time. By late 80's the chain was gone all over.

 

[GVF]

There was many a late night out back in the day when our gang would roll into the Shoney's Midnight Breakfast Bar. After a hard bit of partying the SMBB was awesome. We'd hit that like a swarm of locusts.

Patty Melt at the Waffle House was my post club staple.