In spite of what many of my readers may think, I generally try to eat healthy. I’m an advocate of eating healthy, organic, and local as much as possible. And occasionally, while visiting a fast food restaurant, I try to eat better. I know KFC has tried to make strides in cleaning up it’s nutrition act. But besides their grilled chicken and new side salad, there’s little on the menu in terms of health.

I was not in the mood for fried, and I didn’t have the time to pick through a grilled chicken. So I ordered a grilled version of KFC’s latest sandwich, the Doublicious.

Doublicious? Is this an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the Double Down? Tricky KFC, but not tricky enough.

The grilled Doublicious consists of a grilled chicken breast, some sort of white cheese, spicy sauce, and shredded lettuce all on a “sweet Haiwan Bread bun”. Not exactly healthy, but certainly better than the fried version topped with bacon.

As usual, this sandwich did not look anything like it’s photo.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked. As you should expect for a place that specializes in chicken, the breast actually tasted like a chicken breast, not a rubbery processed blob of rib and breast meat. The sauce was tangy/spicy, and the lettuce was pathetic. They could have at least put a tomato slice on there.

Nutritionally, the sandwich had 380 calories and 11 grams of fat. Not great, but not horrible. I saved myself 100 calories by opting for the grilled version.

Overall, the grilled Doublicious is a pretty mediocre sandwich. Honestly, I thought it would be much worse, but I can’t in my right mind give it much higher than a 2.

McDonald’s and Wendy’s top the list, each with Kid’s meals in the 800 calorie range.

Wow. I bet that’s as much as most children need to eat in a day. Parents, take note. Fast food should be treated as an occasional treat, don’t feed this stuff to your kids everyday.

The winner is Mel!

Congrats! Like it or not, you have a $5 Burger King Gift card.

The drawing was completely random, but I really did enjoy the comment about Red Burrito. Anything attached to a Hardees couldn’t be good.

Simply give your opinion of the worst fast food restaurant/chain. I’ll draw a winner over the next few days and announce it this weekend.

Thanks again to all those that have commented so far.

I recently stopped at a Chicago area chain specializing in the Italian beef, Buona Beef. They are a family owned chain specializing in Italian food around Chicago.

Buona Beef is a step above the typical fast food restaurant. I was struck by the cleanliness and modern decor. I always associate Italian beefs with the dreaded Chicago messy fast food/hot dog stands.

The counter features the daily specials elegantly laid out on plates.

I enjoy seeing all the specials, but am always slightly creeped out by the displays. Is the food real? Plastic? Artificially preserved? A took a closer look and discovered that this time, the food truly was real.

In my mind there was only one option for me to order. The Italian beef. I ordered the medium with both hot and sweet peppers, fries and a drink. The service was quick and friendly. They even brought my sandwich out on a plate.

It was hard to believe this was a medium. It was a big sandwich. The Italian beef “juice” was leaking through the wrapper before I even got it open.

The sandwich was solid. The ingredients were obviously high quality, the beef tender, and the combination hot and sweet peppers complimented the meat well. The hot peppers were giardiniera mix, a Chicago area staple. I’ve never been clear on what exactly “sweet” peppers are,  but these looked like a mixture of yellow and green peppers, that had been soaked in vinegar and sauteed .

Italian beefs are served on an Italian style white roll. They have a chewy, processed texture like a cheap sandwich bun from the grocery store. Buono Beef’s was no exception and fit the bill perfectly.

I did not get my sandwich “double dipped”, a process of dipping the sandwich roll back into the beef juice. Personally I don’t recommend going this route. It’s a heart attack waiting to happen and between the peppers and the beef, these sandwiches are wet enough already.

Buono beef’s fries were nothing remarkable, the kind of french fry you find at most chain restaurants. I’m not saying they were bad, just not remarkable.

I struggled to put this whole sandwich down. I can’t imagine anyone needing to order the large. Save yourself some money and minutes off your life and stick with the medium or the small.

Overall, Bueno Beef is a good stop if you’re looking to get your Italian beef on in a chain-like suburb-style setting. And if beef is not your thing, they’ve got plenty more on the menu.

Here are the rules. In honor of my post on the worst fast food restaurants, tell me your least favorite fast food restaurant and why. I’ll mail out the card to a random poster.

Warning: I’ve had this card sitting around for a long time. It doesn’t look to be expired, but I won’t be held responsible if it doesn’t work.

Contest ends next Wednesday. Happy posting!

McDonald’s New Angus Wraps:

Can you say gross? The Mushroom and Swiss looks particularly disgusting. I was hoping the Big Mac Snack Wrap would be the end of the burger wrap, but it must have done better than I predicted.

Cantina Tacos from Taco Bell:

Looks like Taco Bell is trying to copy authentic, taqueria style tacos. Good luck with that. I personally have no desire to order these. Luckily for me, if I want good, authentic tacos I just need to walk out my door in any direction. My neighborhood is packed with good taquerias.

If any one sees commercials for these posted online, let me know.

In Defense of Fast Food?

Finally, in a bit of brain twisting, mind-boggling food irony, UTNE Reader published an article called: In Praise of Fast Food. You know that got my attention.

In short, the article points out that “fast food” has long been an ideal of human kind, and that the current movement back to traditional/slow food is counter to human progress. Check out this excerpt:

For our ancestors, natural was something quite nasty. Natural often tasted bad. Fresh meat was rank and tough, fresh fruits inedibly sour, fresh vegetables bitter. Natural was unreliable. Fresh milk soured; eggs went rotten. Everywhere seasons of plenty were followed by seasons of hunger. Natural was also usually indigestible. Grains, which supplied 50 to 90 percent of the calories in most societies, have to be threshed, ground, and cooked to make them edible.

Excerpt from In Praise of Fast Food
by Rachel Laudan, from the book The Gastronomica Reader

She goes on to explain that industrial food may not be quite as bad as we make it out to be. I’ll save you the full summary, but this is great read for any foodie.

I think she makes valid points. I like natural foods, but there’s no way I’m giving up some of the great canned conveniences of modern times. Just think of Plumpy Nut, basically a mix of peanut butter and powdered milk, a miracle industrial food that is helping eliminate malnutrition and starvation in third world countries.

Probably the best example of this type of fast food stop is Superdawg® drive in, located on the far northwest side of Chicago. I’ve you’ve ever driven down Milwaukee Avenue into the city, there’s no doubt you’ve seen this historic landmark with it’s 12-foot hot dog sculptures on the roof. Superdawg was created as a labor of love by two high school sweethearts looking to make some money during their summer vacations. Luckily, they’ve posted the full history on their website.

Superdawg is a great stop on a hot summer afternoon. It still retains it’s 1950′s drive-in style, you can drive up and order through speakers and they’ll bring your food out to you. Or you can make your way to a hot little walk-up counter. You order through little sliding windows where you can watch the wonders happening in the kitchen.

The menu is the standard hot dog and burger offerings, but menu items have clever names like the Whoopsiedawg (A Chicago style Polish Sausage), the Supercheesie (a cheeseburger) and even the Whoopercheesie (A double cheeseburger).

On this particular visit I ordered a Whoopercheesie (I couldn’t resist the name) with fries, and a chocolate malt, my favorite summer treat. I know, I know, I’m at SuperDawg and I ordered a burger.

After a long hot wait, complete with crying toddlers and picture-snapping tourists, I was handed my box of food.

One of the best parts about SuperDawg is the packaging. The box has a very distinctive look. It matches the full SuperDawg motif, complete with the dancing hot dogs from the roof and a restatement of the menu items.

The opened box sectioned between the burger and fries. It comes with a pickle and a small pickled green tomato. Even the inside of the box is well designed with a list of menu items. Overall some of the best presentation I’ve seen from a fast food restaurant.

Their fries are of the crinkle variety but well done to a golden brown. This is a nice touch, especially considering that crinkle fries are often soft and mushy.

The Whoopercheesie was a well-crafted fast food burger. The meat is nothing exceptional and cooked like a “char” burger, well done through the middle.

The chocolate shake was not exceptional, but still tasty and the perfect desert on a hot summer Saturday.

SuperDawg is, in my opinion, the best classic hot dog/fast food stop in Chicago. Good food, great presentation, a unique experience and rich history make SuperDawg a must visit.

I wasn’t able to find anything online about this sandwich. It’s obviously a copy of Chick-fil-A’s chicken sandwich formula. White bun, friend chicken breast and pickles. I’m wondering if this is a Chicago area test. Has anyone else heard about this?