Fast Food Discussion: Mexican Pizza at Taco Bell

[Vanadium 50]

gyros

Mmmm...mystery meat! Cryptozoology on a pita!

 

[vela]

Today is National Gyro Day, coincidentally.

 

[kyphysics]

Subway has had them in the past ; maybe still does. I have not checked lately.

I definitely would have missed that, b/c I haven't eaten at Subway in about 10 years or so. They started skimping on my toppings and made it a hassle to get enough of what I wanted, so I just stopped going there.

They started shaving those cucumber, tomato, onion, olives, etc. slices so thin that I had to ask for more and more toppings and the associates would just sprinkle a tiny bit each time. I'd have to say I want more...more...more...it felt embarrassing, so I just stopped going.

I also think Subway's veggies weren't as fresh as advertised. I went to Panera instead for my fresh/healthier fix.

I have no plans to go to a Subway again. lol

 

[kyphysics]

Today is National Gyro Day, coincidentally.

This reminds me:

I don't recommend Arby's Greek Gyros. There was more lettuce and veggies in mine than meat. The meat itself was not very flavorful (needed better seasoning). The "wrap bread" was not very flavorful. It was puffy/thick and soft in a way that I did not like...it felt too "doughy" - like getting a huge mouthful that overwhelms the veggie and meat ingredient taste.

Lastly, the supposed tzatziki sauce didn't taste like the ones I've gotten elsewhere. This almost had a mayonnaise-like quality to it.

If I was super duper craving a Greek Gyro and hadn't had one in ages and there was no other place left on Earth, except Arby's, then I'd buy one again there. It wasn't horrible by any means. It was just below average to me. Cheap price, though. Without the 2 for $6 coupon I had, Arby's had their own deal of 2 for $7. They were big in size...I'll give them that. The ingredients and their proportion/ratio-sizing just didn't taste right or go together well in harmony to me.

Verdict: 4/10

 

[kyphysics]

It's a little after 1:30 AM.

I'm hungry. I have only frozen food in the fridge that I don't want to eat. I have blackened bananas, some almonds, and cereal outside the fridge.

I want something healthy like a salad. Or a tuna sandwich. Is there any reason why the ONLY places open this late are all unhealthy fast food options?

 

[symbolipoint]

It's a little after 1:30 AM.

I'm hungry. I have only frozen food in the fridge that I don't want to eat. I have blackened bananas, some almonds, and cereal outside the fridge.

I want something healthy like a salad. Or a tuna sandwich. Is there any reason why the ONLY places open this late are all unhealthy fast food options?

That is a complicated sociological and economics question.

Plan for the future. Can you cook simple things? Buy the food items from a grocery store, cook the things ahead of time that you could want for later, and refridgerate or freeze what you cooked. Take your portions later, reheat if needed, and eat. You can consider this fast-food, but prepared earlier.

 

[pinball1970]

It's a little after 1:30 AM.

I'm hungry. I have only frozen food in the fridge that I don't want to eat. I have blackened bananas, some almonds, and cereal outside the fridge.

I want something healthy like a salad. Or a tuna sandwich. Is there any reason why the ONLY places open this late are all unhealthy fast food options?

Demand.
No one is wanting to dial out for a tuna sandwich at 1am.

Plus people who are awake at that time and hungry tend to be students/young people coming back from a club, parties.
Alcohol Fuelled hunger, pizza, curry, kebabs. Unhealthy stuff.

I never remember any of us craving a salad after a night out it was always unhealthy cr4p.

Older people (like me now) regard that sort of food as a treat, it is full of stuff that is not good so it cannot be regular. So I suppose the trade caters for people who occasionally dabble and drunken students rather than salad eaters.

 

[kyphysics]

Demand.
No one is wanting to dial out for a tuna sandwich at 1am.

Plus people who are awake at that time and hungry tend to be students/young people coming back from a club, parties.
Alcohol Fuelled hunger, pizza, curry, kebabs. Unhealthy stuff.

I am skeptical of the lack of demand.

I think sometimes we go where there are options. I DON'T want to eat Taco Bell or McDonalds for late-night all the time. Yet, I often do, b/c they are the only places open near me.

IF I had more options with a healthier option, I'd do it! Open a Panera until 2AM? ...I'll eat there over fast food. Open a Chipotle until 2AM...I'm there! See what I mean?

Maybe...the demand is not as much...but I'd bet there is enough demand to still be profitable. I swear Chipotle at 2am would be 1,000x better than Taco Bell. On the other hand, I can understand why an Outback Steakhouse isn't open at 2AM...No one is eating such a heavy meal that late/early.

 

[pinball1970]

I am skeptical of the lack of demand.

I think sometimes we go where there are options. I DON'T want to eat Taco Bell or McDonalds for late-night all the time. Yet, I often do, b/c they are the only places open near me.

IF I had more options with a healthier option, I'd do it! Open a Panera until 2AM? ...I'll eat there over fast food. Open a Chipotle until 2AM...I'm there! See what I mean?

Maybe...the demand is not as much...but I'd bet there is enough demand to still be profitable. I swear Chipotle at 2am would be 1,000x better than Taco Bell. On the other hand, I can understand why an Outback Steakhouse isn't open at 2AM...No one is eating such a heavy meal that late/early.

If you are right about demand you could clean up if you opened a shop that made sandwiches and did healthy only fast food.
I don't know any in my area.
Mind you I can't remember being hungry at 1.30am and looking for options.
Early 90s!

 

[kyphysics]

If you are right about demand you could clean up if you opened a shop that made sandwiches and did healthy only fast food.
I don't know any in my area.
Mind you I can't remember being hungry at 1.30am and looking for options.
Early 90s!

I need capital to open my late-night/24-hour healthy food spot.

I need a city that has a solid middle-class with preferably a hospital or university nearby (providing economic stability and lots of late-night workers/students).

I need a catchy name for my spot too.

 

[kyphysics]

That is a complicated sociological and economics question.

Plan for the future. Can you cook simple things? Buy the food items from a grocery store, cook the things ahead of time that you could want for later, and refridgerate or freeze what you cooked. Take your portions later, reheat if needed, and eat. You can consider this fast-food, but prepared earlier.

I'm going to stock up on fresh veggie garnishes tomorrow to make ham and/or fried egg sandwiches.

My fridge is pretty bare. I've honestly been blowing so much $$$ on beer/wine + fast food lately and not eating in enough. This will be good for my budget. Going to buy lots of cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, and onions. I've enjoyed making fried egg and/or sliced ham sandwiches with them as toppings/garnishes in the past. Throw in some mayo or spicy mustard and I'll be fine late night.

I honestly need to check my finances. Bar hopping ($100/night) is killing my savings on weekends. It's fun...we sometimes get Waffle House or Taco Bell at 2-3AM to finish off the night, but it's unhealthy nutrition-wise and money-wise.

As I've said above, I spend so much money on late-night food that IF there were convenient healthy options around more often, they'd make a killing off of my wallet.

 

[kyphysics]

Tried the limited time Pizza Hut Detroit style pizza today (double-pepperoni). Came out to $14.99 ($12.99 w/o tax).

Taste and quality-wise, it was great. Would I pay $14.99 for it again?. . .probably not.

I'd pay $12.99 at most. It's also not entirely what I'd consider deep dish. I've definitely gotten deep dish style pizzas elsewhere with much thicker/deeper crusts. Pizza Hut's version is just "slightly" deep. lol

Not bad. Price aside, I'd rate it a 8/10. Factoring in price, it's a 7/10. Nonetheless, I'd prefer Jet's Pizza's Detroit style over PH.

 

[kyphysics]

Kroger has 8-piece $5 fried chicken every now and then. Bought some today.

Total steal. I'm sure they lose money on this and use it to suck you into buy other stuff.

 

[hutchphd]

I'm sure they lose money on this and use it to suck you into buy other stuff.

Known in the retail world as a loss-leader. MMMM... fried chicken..... It begs the question: how do you figure the optimum price for such a device?. Clearly there is a sweet spot, but I haven't a clue as to how one would figure it out.

 

[kyphysics]

Known in the retail world as a loss-leader. MMMM... fried chicken..... It begs the question: how do you figure the optimum price for such a device?. Clearly there is a sweet spot, but I haven't a clue as to how one would figure it out.

I don't know, but if I bought the same thing from Hardee's, it'd cost me $12.99 probably.

Kroger also doesn't limit the amount you can buy. Although, I suppose a natural limit would be the size of your freezer/fridge.

I'm fine to just buy the fried chicken and nothing else.

 

[kyphysics]

I bought a large Chick-Fil-A mac-n-cheese today w/o looking at price first.

Was shocked it was $7 and some change. I'm conflicted. I love their mac-n-cheese. 9/10 in my book. It's the best in the fast food game, imho. But it's expensive. I guess I have to treat this as a luxury going forward.

Even the Deluxe sandwiches at CFA are less than $7. It's their most expensive "entree-like" item from what I can tell.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I need...I need.,..I need

Gumption.

 

[JT Smith]

My wife turned me on to salads. I mean, of course I'd eaten them before but she got me to really crave them. Would I buy them from McDonalds if they sold them? No way. Because I know what that would mean in terms of freshness, quality, and price too.

And convenience. I do have to go to the market to buy fresh vegetables frequently. But once they're in the refrigerator it's dead easy to chop up a big salad. We go with Persian cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, red bell peppers, tomatoes (if there are good ones available), rocket. A few other things rotate in and out.

It takes me maybe 5 minutes to make two huge salads. We eat them about 6 nights a week now. It would not be faster to get them from a fast food place. And there's just no way they would measure up.

 

[JT Smith]

My wife also turned me on to whisky. I couldn't stand the thought of it after one time drinking it till I puked as a teenager. But she retrained me. Salads and whisky, sort of like good and evil.

 

[Algr]

They started shaving those cucumber, tomato, onion, olives, etc. slices so thin that I had to ask for more and more toppings and the associates would just sprinkle a tiny bit each time. I'd have to say I want more...more...more...it felt embarrassing, so I just stopped going.

I used to like Subway salads, but the last time I ordered one the guy brought out a tray that that was the size of a side salad at McDonalds. I just walked out. Their “foot-long” subs are under 10 inches too.

This will be good for my budget. Going to buy lots of cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, and onions.

Yea, if you want to eat healthy at night, nothing beets a well stocked refrigerator. So you have to plan ahead and deal with the occasional waste if you start developing normal sleep habits.

Unfortunately I question wether my cooking is any more healthy then fast food.

 

[hutchphd]

And convenience. I do have to go to the market to buy fresh vegetables frequently. But once they're in the refrigerator it's dead easy to chop up a big salad. We go with Persian cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, red bell peppers, tomatoes (if there are good ones available), rocket. A few other things rotate in and out.

May I also recommend including cooked beans ( garbanzos, red beans, black beans ) and whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat, bulghur wheat, pearled barley) and lightly cooked veg into your salad rotation. Also fruits and nuts. You can even use canned tomatoes (during winter) if you are clever. Some of these hardier salads can refrigerate for a day and get better for it. ...Add leafy stuff at serving time if desired.

 

[JT Smith]

May I also recommend including cooked beans ( garbanzos, red beans, black beans ) and whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat, bulghur wheat, pearled barley) and lightly cooked veg into your salad rotation. Also fruits and nuts. You can even use canned tomatoes (during winter) if you are clever. Some of these hardier salads can refrigerate for a day and get better for it. ...Add leafy stuff at serving time if desired.

Yes, there is nearly endless variation and for us it has changed over time. Toasted pine nuts, pomegranate, and chopped beets are in our current list of optional add-ons. The main thing is freshness. And we like 'em big. A salad like the ones I make would probably cost $30 each in a restaurant. But I've never seen anything like them served anywhere so it's just a wild guess.

A salad from a late night fast food place? Give me a break!

 

[symbolipoint]

A salad from a late night fast food place? Give me a break!

That comment especially I liked.

For myself, I've very little interest in "salads". I eat vegetables because I know they are healthy but I choose vegetables with some vigorous character, like stuff I could cut chop and cook with heat: for example, carrots, brussels sprouts, kale,... and like that. This stuff is not usually fast-food available, so person must cook the stuff himself.

 

[hmmm27]

Gotta ask : do toasted pine nuts taste like a pine tree smells ?

Awhile back, I tried a pesto pasta dish at a restaurant : it was fantastic and actually smelled of pine trees.

Never since, and don't ask what my home-made pesto tastes like.

 

[JT Smith]

Gotta ask : do toasted pine nuts taste like a pine tree smells ?

Awhile back, I tried a pesto pasta dish at a restaurant : it was fantastic and actually smelled of pine trees.

Never since, and don't ask what my home-made pesto tastes like.

Not in my experience. I buy pine nuts raw and toast them in a pan and they just have a nice, nutty aroma.

Do pine cones smell like a pine tree? I suspect that the aroma we think of as "pine" is mostly from the wood and needles. Fresh cut pine wood is incredibly aromatic. As an aside, there is a species of pine in the California Sierra Nevada that has bark that smells like vanilla, at least sometimes.

I wonder if you just had pesto made with a particularly aromatic basil. Or maybe they also used other herbs in the pesto. Rosemary has a pine-like aroma.

 

[JT Smith]

For myself, I've very little interest in "salads". I eat vegetables because I know they are healthy but I choose vegetables with some vigorous character, like stuff I could cut chop and cook with heat: for example, carrots, brussels sprouts, kale,... and like that. This stuff is not usually fast-food available, so person must cook the stuff himself.

I've had carrots and broccoli and zucchini as fast food in Japan... coated in batter and deep fried.

Some food courts I've encountered that have ethnic food stalls include cooked vegetables. But it's sure not standard, at least around here.

Whole Foods carries a line of salads under the brand name "Urban Remedy". They're expensive prepackaged salads with a list of ingredients that sounds pretty good. But they look horrible in their little plastic boxes. A good salad is perishable. How would the fast food guys do it?

 

[symbolipoint]

I've had carrots and broccoli and zucchini as fast food in Japan... coated in batter and deep fried.

Some food courts I've encountered that have ethnic food stalls include cooked vegetables. But it's sure not standard, at least around here.

Whole Foods carries a line of salads under the brand name "Urban Remedy". They're expensive prepackaged salads with a list of ingredients that sounds pretty good. But they look horrible in their little plastic boxes. A good salad is perishable. How would the fast food guys do it?

At one time, several years ago, Popeye's, which is a fast-food type shop (several of them), did serve a few cooked vegetables and they were nice - when they were served at those shops. Unfortunately not anymore.

 

[kyphysics]

Had McDonald's hotcakes (3 pancakes) for $4.13 this morning.

Good (butter + syrup over hotcakes = heaven). But pricey. They feel very airy and not so filling. I give them 8/10.

For that price, I think I'd still prefer Chick-Fil-A's chicken biscuit (despite their shrinkflation), which I rate as 9.5/10.

 

[kyphysics]

FWIW, the hotcakes + sausage option is $5.50. I refuse, b/c the sausage patty is so thin nowadays and mine is frequently burnt and dry. I only buy hotcakes alone.

 

[symbolipoint]

Posts #'s 168 and 169 -
Another reason to learn to make your own pancakes, which you can adjust the quality to your liking and have for lower price (but then this is no longer Fast Food).

 

[kyphysics]

Posts #'s 168 and 169 -
Another reason to learn to make your own pancakes, which you can adjust the quality to your liking and have for lower price (but then this is no longer Fast Food).

Maybe I should try. I did recently make my own brownies. They cost less than $2 from a mix and the proportion size was about the same as the Chick-Fil-A $17 party pack. Saved $15.

Admittedly, CFA's tasted better.

You're right, though. That wouldn't be news for the fast food thread. This is devoted to eating OUT.

 

[JT Smith]

Making decent pancakes is pretty easy. Making really good ones is harder.

As for cost, the dry ingredients are super cheap even if you buy a boxed mix. The Trader Joes stuff I used this morning (by coincidence I made myself a big pancake this a.m.) doesn't require milk, just an egg and water. The eggs were from Whole Foods so the egg cost more than the dry mix. The maple syrup was by far the most expensive part as I use it liberally. Probably +$1 right there, so maybe $2 for the whole thing.

My guess is that McDonald's doesn't have maple syrup.

 

[kyphysics]

Making decent pancakes is pretty easy. Making really good ones is harder.

As for cost, the dry ingredients are super cheap even if you buy a boxed mix. The Trader Joes stuff I used this morning (by coincidence I made myself a big pancake this a.m.) doesn't require milk, just an egg and water. The eggs were from Whole Foods so the egg cost more than the dry mix. The maple syrup was by far the most expensive part as I use it liberally. Probably +$1 right there, so maybe $2 for the whole thing.

My guess is that McDonald's doesn't have maple syrup.

The reason I eat out a lot is that it's non-laborious all-around. I eat and throw my food bag in the garbage. No pots and pans to clean. No dishes. . . .The cleaning, for me, is worse than the actual cooking.

Cooking can be therapeutic/fun. Cleaning after a long day of work or right before work (when your mind is trying to prep) is not ideal for me. I know I pay more eating out, but it's a convenience factor.

The thing is...I spend very little on other areas of my life. Some people spend big bucks on their car...clothing...gadgets, etc. I'm a minimalist on that stuff. My one big spend area is food (eating out). I enjoy it and like that I don't have to "work."

 

[JT Smith]

I'm like you in that I also don't spend very much money on car, clothing, and gadgets. I have a 25 year old car, a 10 year old computer, and my clothes are mostly jeans and free t-shirts. I cook not to save money. I cook primarily so that I can have high quality food and also have control over the specific ingredients. I also hate cleaning but tossing out endless wrappers, bags, and boxes wouldn't be an improvement.

When quality takes a backseat to convenience... well that's fast food in a nutshell, isn't it?

 

[kyphysics]

I'm like you in that I also don't spend very much money on car, clothing, and gadgets. I have a 25 year old car, a 10 year old computer, and my clothes are mostly jeans and free t-shirts. I cook not to save money. I cook primarily so that I can have high quality food and also have control over the specific ingredients. I also hate cleaning but tossing out endless wrappers, bags, and boxes wouldn't be an improvement.

When quality takes a backseat to convenience... well that's fast food in a nutshell, isn't it?

I agree most fast food is pretty bad for you. But, I have to think Chick-Fil-A is one of the heathier (even if in relative terms) ones.

It's my Go To place (3-4x a week). I don't have that disgusting weighed down feel afterwards with places like Burger King, Hardees, Popeye's, and the like.

Maybe it's cheaper to cook at home and pack a lunch vs. eating there, but it's the best bang for your buck + not unhealthy + super tasty place I know of. The manager knows me by name. I've developed a fun rapport with her.