We all know the feeling; you’ve been driving for a number of hours, your stomach is starting to growl, and up ahead in the distance, you see an old weathered sign, or perhaps it’s neon, advertising some type of fast food joint. You pull over, coast into the parking lot, and play intestinal Russian roulette with whatever food you happen to be served.
Frank Bruni, of the New York Times, recently did just that. Bruni embarked on a road trip that, “spanned 9 days, 15 states, 3,650 miles, and 42 visits to 35 different restaurants.” His goal was to “single out the best fast food from familiar national chains, relatively unfamiliar regional chains and tiny local chains,” across America.
As the Time’s restaurant critic, Bruni, is not accustomed to such dives and unhealthy gluttony. Nonetheless, he took on his challenge with relish (no pun intended) and dove in enthusiastically.
The resulting article is a rather hilarious encounter with America’s fast food obsession, its automobile culture, indigestion, and mounds of brightly colored fast food trash.
Over the course of his journey, Bruni manages to narrow down a top ten list of best foods encountered on his adventure. I can’t say I entirely agree with his taste, however, since he bashed the heavenly chili at Tommy’s and lost my respect in the last paragraph of the main article.