Great budget fastfood chains

[ExcuseMyIgnorance]

In your opinion, what would be a great but cheap fastfood place.

[corn18]

I guess it depends on what your definition of great is.

Inexpensive (most food / calories for the money):

1. Frischs
2. Taco Bell

Best value (good food for not a lot of money):

1. In N Out
2. Chipotle
3. Panera

[disneysteve]

In your opinion, what would be a great but cheap fastfood place.

In my opinion, you should avoid fast food restaurants and pretty much all of the casual restaurant chain food as much as you possibly can.

If you want to eat out, choose local, family/chef-owned places. That doesn't have to mean expensive. It could be a little pizza joint or an Italian place or an authentic Mexican restaurant. Just make it a place that cooks their food from scratch onsite as opposed to the chains that are serving overly processed frozen crap.

If the budget is tight, trim your spending somewhere else. Your health is more important.

[FLA]

we don't have this in NY but have gone a ton when in Florida- Sweet Tomatoes salad and soup, pasta bar. Huge salad bar. Also, this might be call Soup Plantation in other areas. The ones we have been to has something for everyone, when asked, "where should we eat?", it's always there. They have coupons all the time, like 3 adult meals for $20. Always been very clean. I would love one up here

[disneysteve]

we don't have this in NY but have gone a ton when in Florida- Sweet Tomatoes salad and soup, pasta bar. Huge salad bar. Also, this might be call Soup Plantation in other areas. The ones we have been to has something for everyone, when asked, "where should we eat?", it's always there. They have coupons all the time, like 3 adult meals for $20. Always been very clean. I would love one up here

We LOVE Sweet Tomatoes. We usually eat there twice each time we're in Florida. I so wish they would expand into New Jersey or even PA or DE. I would drive a reasonable distance to eat there.

[autoxer]

Just make it a place that cooks their food from scratch onsite as opposed to the chains that are serving overly processed frozen crap.

Chipotle is a fast food joint with a focus on quality ingredients. They have become much larger than the local family owned joint, but they still have good core values. It's pretty much the only fast food joint that I will eat at.

[disneysteve]

Chipotle is a fast food joint with a focus on quality ingredients. They have become much larger than the local family owned joint, but they still have good core values. It's pretty much the only fast food joint that I will eat at.

There are definitely a few chains that manage to maintain good quality, like Sweet Tomatoes already mentioned. They are few and far between though.

[FLA]

my son, the first summer he worked, would end the day at Chipotle, since he had "worked hard". But he was spending $15 a day there, that seems like a lot for a fast food place, maybe he was getting two burritos, who knows. By the end of summer, he couldn't understand why he had so little left. $15 5xwk when you're working less than minimum wage and the gas to drive to another town more than 15 miles away to get your Chipotle, and big spender treating his friends to Chipotle, I had to show him just how much he had spent at Chipotle. The rest went towards guitar stuff. Not a penny saved for college or a car. That wouldn't have flown in my house, which he knew, so he practically ran to his dad's when he was old enough to work, lol. Totally learned his lesson, shockingly, he is a different kid now, he contributes to the 403B at the nursing home where he waits tables. hmmmmm, am I off topic again? sorry!

[disneysteve]

my son, the first summer he worked, would end the day at Chipotle, since he had "worked hard". But he was spending $15 a day there

I work in a poor area. I frequently see my patients eating fast food. Along with the health impact of that decision, I always also point out the huge financial impact. Fast food is expensive! It is far cheaper to eat healthy than to eat that garbage.

[FLA]

I work in a poor area. I frequently see my patients eating fast food. Along with the health impact of that decision, I always also point out the huge financial impact. Fast food is expensive! It is far cheaper to eat healthy than to eat that garbage.

I used to work in the poor section of our city. It had to be really hard to eat healthy there, the nearest grocery was across downtown and into the other really poor part of the city. Long bus trip and a transfer, plus the hassle of carrying bags. I can see why they walk to a bodega on their street and end up with expensive junk food. And of course, there was a McDonald's and such.

Why do we have town planners? The last grocery in that side of the city closed when I was a kid. We bend over backwards to win nano tech bids but we can't create an incentive for a grocery to start up in poor neighborhood? Creating jobs and providing healthier options.

That's one reason I get so upset about people judging those who use SNAP to buy the junk at the bodega. Do they have to take a bus, transfer, shop at the grocery, and lug it all home? It takes half a day practically.