Jack In The Box

899 Veterans Blvd
Festus, Mo.
http://www.jackinthebox.com

Please take notice of the new and improved images!*

It was my turn to pick a place. I had several in my head, but I just couldn’t seem to wrap my tummy around any of them. So I decided to pay a return visit to a place that I’d liked before, and one that had an outstanding issue. Time to clear this up.

The Place:

Festus, above the interstate, blah, blah, blah, by now you’ll recognize that Festus has dozens of places to eat and most of them are within a small area right along Highway A above I-55.

Once again, hardly anyone there. Strange.

I’d been seeing commercials on TV for an ‘All-American Burger.' I decided to go with that before we even got there.

We stepped in and I noticed an improvement right away. In my last couple of reviews of this place I’d made note of the littered floors and tables and that how a place that wasn’t anywhere near really busy should be able to manage that basic function better. I’d even sent a note to management and they responded that they’d look into it.

It was spotless, the floor anyhow. A couple of the tables were not bussed, but only a couple, it could have been that the people that had used them had only recently left.

We stepped up to the line. Angel and Adam took a few minutes, I just stood there, bored with their sloth.

The Food:

Clean floor!

Angel finally decided, oddly enough, a salad. The Chicken Club salad to be exact, along with two of those nasty tacos that her and the boy like so well. Adam stepped up and ordered the Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger, which, as if made specifically for him, comes with no onions and no tomatoes. He added curly fries and two of those nasty tacos that he and his mother rave about. I tossed in my order, adding curly fries, and none of the nasty, deep-fried tacos.

We filled our drinks, Adam, root beer, Angel, a Diet Dr Pepper (because regular Dr. Pepper isn’t awful enough) and for a change, I bypassed the tea and poured a Coke. I had noticed the tea was that prefabricated, catered stuff a lot of local restaurants offer, and I knew it wouldn’t be very good. We found a table near the back.

Across from us was a young family, a young father and mother, and four young kids. The father in very good shape, high and tight haircut, strong, well maintained upper body, sleeveless workout shirt and long, baggy shorts. He stood most of the time when he talked, like an ambitious executive in a business meeting. The kids, aged between three and ten, three boys and a girl, sat dutifully. The youngest boy, the comedian, sat dunking his pancakes into his sticky syrup, making faces and odd noises. It’s the curse of being the youngest, you have to go for the slapstick laughs to get attention. The boys all had tight, short haircuts. When the food had first arrived the father stood and led them in a prayer. I was somewhat jealous; I’d never had my family in such obliging control. When I did occasionally take my own young kids out it was indistinguishable from complete chaos.

All-American

Our food took just a few minutes longer than seemed necessary, though we didn’t think much of it at the time. Angel played with her phone, as did Adam, I sat and watched the perfect family, growing angrier and more jealous by the moment. I wanted to punch the guy.

The young man that delivered our tray apologized. “Sorry for the wait, there was an accident in the kitchen.” He said, adding: “Here’s a couple of coupons for free tacos since you had to wait.”

“Oh.” I responded indignantly, as if I knew what he was talking about.

We separated things out, I started peeling back the wrapper on my burger.

Chicken Club Salad

“Weren’t there supposed to be two tacos each?” Adam asked his mother. I looked down, sure enough there were only two of the nasty, flat things on the tray.
“I’ll take care of it!” I stood and took charge, I could handle this, I could take care of my family just like that young father. I hoped he noticed.

The man behind the counter, older and in-charge looking, took my concern seriously and immediately started barking out that he need two more tacos ‘on the fly’ which I took to be Jack-speech for ‘not as part of an order.’

“We’ll get those right out to you sir.” He assured me. I felt in control, commanding, and somewhat manly.

Bacon Ultimate.

We dug in, it was pretty quiet. My burger was exactly what I expected. Excellent meat patties with just the right condiments. The curly fries were seasoned, a little stronger than I’d remembered them. I wished I’d had the regular ones instead.

Everyone grunted and snorted as the food was devoured. Angel broke apart one of the tacos and dispersed it on the  salad, like croutons. "The way to make tacos healthy, put them on a salad!" She said, I couldn't disagree. Well actually I could, I just didn't bother.We avoid a lot of fights by simply ignoring each others' outrageously stupid remarks.  Meanwhile, the perfect family was wrapping up, dad was wiping up spilled pancake syrup around the youngest boy's area. The little tyke was now in his mom’s generous lap making spitting noises at the others, they giggled in delight. They were making me sick.

The missing tacos were delivered, four of them. “Here’s a couple of extra for your inconvenience.” The young man said. Tacos are apparently the goodwill currency at Jack in the Box. Like tickets and tokens at Chuck E Cheese, only of real value within their own doors.

Taco

As the eating slowed down, I polled the family. “Real bacon, lots of tomatoes and cucumbers, and good, crispy chicken.” She said of her salad.

Adam nodded his head.
“Use your words!” I scolded him.

“I like a burger that doesn’t taste like a fast-food burger.” He mumbled, finally. “How was your all American burger?” He asked.

"As promised, not a hint of foreign influences.” I replied. It was indeed a good burger. The curly fries, well, I’ll just get regular fries next time. They were fine, just too flavory for the subtle burger.

Adam added more, surprisingly. “Top rung of the fast food chains.” He said of the overall experience.

Summary:

I’d expected the food to be good, it always is. I was impressed that the floor was near-spotless, but noticed a half-hour in that the table that was messy when we got there had still not been cleaned, arriving customers just avoided it. So there’s still an issue with cleaning the dining area. There was a noticeable improvement, but other chains I like don’t seem to have this problem so consistently.

The bill was twenty one and change, about right for a fast food place, even with the extra/missing tacos.

I’m not sure what the ‘accident’ was, but there were certainly a couple of service errors this visit. I won’t judge that too harshly, as it seems to be typical of fast-food places, sometimes orders get messed up, things are misplaced. I only hope they work harder to cut down on these though, so they really can stand out and above, to maintain the status of ‘top rung’.

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* New, improved photos!

I’ve had it with dimly lit restaurants. Rather, I’ve had it with trying to take photos in dimly lit restaurants with my overpriced/underpowered cell phone. It has no flash and pretty low resolution.

As I jealously scanned other food blogs this past couple of weeks I realized that other people’s blogs had nice, rich, colorful photography, whereas on this site the images were third rate at best. I could do better. I trained as a photographer as far back as in high school and have always prided myself on using good equipment and good technique to make good pictures. Some of my photos are even hanging in the local hospital. Life saving and comforting pictures, I’m capable of that.

Nikon Coolpix L3 with 'advanced'
flash suppression feature.

The problem was this. I have a good camera, a Nikon DSLR. Unfortunately it’s a bit large, expensive and bulky to be packing in and out of dives and fast food chains. Then I remembered my other camera, one I hadn’t used since I got the DSLR. It’s also a Nikon, but it’s a point and shoot, about six years old. I bought it as we were in the process of moving from Maryland to St. Louis. My good digital camera at that time, an awesome Olympus, had broken, suddenly and irreparably.  As luck would have it, as a going away gift, my co-workers in Maryland gave me a gift certificate for Ritz Camera. I used it to buy this little Nikon to serve me during the transition and until I could free up some bigger funds toward a DSLR.

It served well enough, as much as a point and shoot can, the delay between pushing the shutter button and the picture actually snapping was constantly frustrating. Taking action pictures of the dogs was damn near impossible. So when, a couple of years later, I bought the big one, the little Coolpix  unceremoniously went into a drawer. 

I remembered it this weekend. Then it took a while to find it, clean it up and get it going. I took some dimly lit room photos to test out its capability for its new job.

The big, bad D40

A point and shoot is rather middle-of-the-road. It lacks the precision of a more expensive camera. The lenses are smaller and not as crisp. The focus mechanism makes a few broad assumptions, and there are very few manual override capabilities. It’s made for snapshots, not art. The flash is tiny and hot. By hot, I mean it assumes you’re using the flash to take a picture of a room full of people. This is not what I’d be doing. I’d be focusing pretty close-up on a small area.I needed to cool off the flash, to keep it from looking like a full-assault, flash-bang grenade in small, dimly lit restaurants.

This is where old-fashioned, low tech solutions become handy.

If you look at the flash area of the camera, you’ll notice what looks like transparent tape holding a layer or two of white paper towel over the flash. That’s because that is what it is, a low-tech flash diffuser.

I tested various materials and shots, and this was the result. I tried it out for real Saturday night at Jack in the Box. The results were quite pleasing.

My hope is to continue to improve the quality of reporting to you, my loyal fans. Let me know what you think!

Jack in the Box

899 Veterans Blvd 

Festus, MO 
http://www.jackinthebox.com/ 

First, a fond farewell to one of my favorite lunch joints. Last week all four Casa Gallardo Restaurants in St. Louis shut their doors, citing a soft market. The location at Westport was, for nearly two years, pretty much a weekly habit for myself and a couple of co-workers. The service was excellent, they recognized us on site, didn’t even bother with menus, etc. They kept us fed and happy. That trio broke up several months ago, one of the three of us left for greener pastures. I only went back a couple more times after that, but they still remembered my order.

CG had been in business since 1975, so it was rather a shock to see them all shuttered just as the economy is reportedly rebounding.

I reviewed one of the other locations once, I didn’t care for it as much as Westport, but it still wasn’t too bad, and it did seem quite popular.

For this weekend’s meal, I’d announced earlier in the week that I was in the mood for a decent burger. Adam suggested Jack in the Box, as he and his lovely mother had been there recently, without me. Angel said she really, really enjoyed the cheeseburger she’d had there. So when Saturday evening arrived, I easily agreed to the choice. I hadn’t had a fast food burger in quite a while, I was eager. I’d only been to JiB twice before, and except for some minor complaints, enjoyed it.

The Place:

Above the Interstate in Festus, alongside nearly a dozen other dining choices, some good, some not so much. Fazoli’s Burger King, Bob Evans, Taco Bell, etc. We pulled in and went right in, we were the only customers at the time.

JiB is a little less plastic than other fast food places, in appearances a bit more upscale. Nicer tables, more refined décor. The sun was low in the sky, shining brightly on the table tops, which did the place no favors. I cringed a little noticing that nearly every table had a generous dusting of crumbs and other detritus. The angle of the light highlighted this sharply. As well, the floor was not quite debris free.

We ordered and loaded up on napkins, ketchup, etc., and found a tall table in the back.

The Food:

Bacon Ultimate Burger

I ordered the Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger, with seasoned curly fries and upped it to ‘medium’ Adam aped my order. Angel went back to the one she’d had previously, the Ultimate Cheeseburger, sans bacon.  She also requested straight fries, unseasoned. Adam filled up his cup with Dr. Pepper, Angel, her beloved Diet Dr. Pepper. I looked around and saw no tea. I asked about this at the counter, they took my cup and asked whether I wanted sweet or un-sweet. Of course I said un-sweet. “Lemon?” the lady then asked. “Why yes, please!” I answered. She disappeared around the corner for a moment. Upon her return she handed it to me and asked: “Would you like some sweetener packets with that?” I responded no, but thanks anyhow. She was obviously concerned about my sweetness intake.

Or, she was trying to kill me.

I sat down with my family and took a long swig and gagged. The tea was ridiculously sweet. I don’t mind sweet tea, I am from the south, but when you’re not expecting a nine to one sugar to tea ratio, it can be quite a shock.

I took it back to the counter where the lady confessed to attempted murder. (actually she apologized and said "My Fault.") Her manager was a little displeased but very apologetic as well, saying he’d added TWO lemon wedges to the replacement. I thanked him for his generosity and made sure to not make a big fuss.

On my return to the table I boasted of my kindness and patience over the issue, downplaying the hideous incident.  I sipped the tea and was quite pleased, it was not at all terrible.

We sat and waited a few more minutes playing with our cell phones. I’d just picked up a new one, the previous one, a hand-me-down, had finally died completely. I’d even switched service plans. I refused to agree to the two-year contract renewal and jacked up fees and service requirements that took a ‘free phone’ to over a hundred dollars once all the requirements for a ‘free upgrade’ could be met. We’ve been with this service provider for seven or eight years and we've decided to wean ourselves off of it. Especially with mine. I don’t use the cell phone very often, so it just made more sense to go with a pay-as-you-go, no contract option. I’ll rant more on this mess elsewhere.

The food arrived, I was hungry.

Double Cheeseburger with Taco

I pulled open the bun and found two small slices of bacon, just enough, and the burgers were topped with ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise. The meat patties were not greasy, in all a pretty decent looking sandwich.  JiB Advertizes 100% beef in its burgers, which is good. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to compare that to though, maybe the other chains add pigeon innards or cat meat to theirs, I can only assume as much. If I were guessing though I’d say that JiB uses a slightly higher lean/fat ratio than some of the others. These were not drippy or greasy, nor did it weigh me down with that bloated, gassy feeling afterward. (Knock-knock Burger King!)

The fries were a little disappointing. They tasted fine to me, though Angel doesn’t ask for the curly seasoned ones. She says they are too ‘seasony’. I’m pretty sure that’s not even a word. The problem I had with them was not the taters themselves, or the seasoning, but rather the extra small bits and chunks of fried matter, perhaps balls of seasoning.  Back in the olden times Long John Silver used to include crunchies with the fish. The crunchies were merely bits of loose fish batter that they scooped out of the deep fryer. I loved those things. The crunchies being served with the curly fries at JiB though were not as inviting, they perhaps spent more than one fry cycle in the oil.

But that’s the  sum total of the complaints, mostly minor ones at that.

Summary:

 JiB is fast becoming my favorite fast food burger joint. I’ve lost my love for Burger King and their recent tweaking of the food. JiB’s is just good, pretty darn good. I like that the burgers are less fatty, well-constructed and not too much or too little of anything.

The price is comparable to the other chains, our meal came in at around twenty three dollars. On a local level, I was disappointed that the tables hadn’t been wiped recently, especially since there were no other customers when we were there. There was plenty of staff and not much else going on. On review of my previous reviews, I discovered that the litter and un-wiped tables is a repeat offense. This might be a problem. I'll think I'll send a comment to the manager.
 Angel agreed: "Do send a review to them about the tables. It's something I've noticed too."

_________


!!!  Last minute update!! I did send a comment, and someone from JiB's Imperial HQ called me today, while I was driving . I let it go to voicemail since the choice between driving while distracted or chatting to a customer relations agent about slightly untidy fast-food franchises seemed obvious, their call was just not that important to me. I did call them back once I got home. They seemed genuinely concerned and assured me that since I had seen and documented the same infraction, months apart, they were taking it seriously and would be contacting the location. "To confirm that location, Mr. Bentley, That was in Fetus, Missouri?"
I snickered, she immediately caught the gaffe. "We pronounce it Festus here ma'am, that first 's' is kind of important."  I tried to sound righteously agitated.
I could almost hear her blush.
She then offered me an actual written apology and a gift certificate/coupon, which I politely declined. (Professional ethics; I has it!)
"Well, thank you for bringing this up to us Mr. Bentley." She said just before hanging up.
"It's just one of the many services I provide ma'am."

Jack in the Box

899 Veterans Boulevard
Festus, MO

http://www.jackinthebox.com

Note to new readers:  This review contains occasional vague references to previous articles.  It also contains rambling personal tangents that have little or nothing to do with the restaurant itself, but are part of a sporadic thread of background trivia. If you'd like to get yourself up to speed to enhance your reading experience please do so, all previous reviews are available in the left hand column of this page.

The unrelenting heat wave continued. I’d spent most of the day puppy-sitting at home while Angel made a trip to PetSmart to pimp some mutts for CARE (http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/MO337.html ). She took one of the dogs we’d been fostering for several months with her. We really like Eva, a small, sweet whippet–thin, cinnamon hued, boxer/mountain cur mix, but she really does deserve her own family. http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/19660406

Eva

  Angel fetched Eva from a rescue in Independence Mo. since she looked just like our own Deedee, and a little like Blue. Angel finds and goes after dogs with this general appearance whenever she can. One, a big boy named Rocko came from as far away as West Memphis Arkansas. Rescue operations trade dogs fairly often, there’s so many kenneled dogs that finding another rescue that has luck with certain types of dogs is almost as good as finding it a home.

We had several boarders in, so it was a little more work than our own five dogs take. One, a very young yellow lab named Tucker  needed to be let outside several times to avoid inevitable mishaps. I did sneak in an early HBA trip to Wally-world, but that and  dog-duty was about the extent of my day, until Adam got up. I took that opportunity to take a much-wanted and richly undeserved nap.

     It was Angel’s turn to choose the eatery, she mentioned that we hadn’t been to Jack’s in a while. I liked it the last time so I agreed. The heat makes original thinking and deciding very tough for me, so I was game for just about anything. I wasn’t all that hungry anyhow. Chili for breakfast, general lethargy throughout the day, along with the oppressive heat made me pretty much meal-ambivalent.

The Place:

Atop the hill overlooking the interstate, next to Taco Bell, Fazoli’s and a half dozen other fast-food boxes. The place was nearly empty, none of the joints on the hill were really rocking. Angel had mentioned on the way that Jack served breakfast 24/7. That seemed appropriate since my nap had been long and very heavy. I like Jack’s burgers, but once again, for you the fans, I decided to try something different.

I scanned the various breakfast offerings, not really a big variety, sandwiches, wraps, etc. I finally settled on the ‘Ultimate Sausage Combo’ only because it didn’t have ham. I usually like ham, but my delicate, yet handsome chili-laced tummy seemed to jerk away from the very notion of it this evening, I don’t know why.

There was no tea. I’d had a soda/pop/coke earlier in the day and didn’t really want another, but the only other option was lemonade, usually too-sweet, so I got a Coke anyhow.

Angel placed her order, Adam his, and we filled our drink cups and found a table in the back corner.

A broom and dust pan leaned against one of the empty tables, no person attached. It would have been nice if there had been as the floor was littered up noticeably more than it needed to be. A couple of the tables could have used some attention as well, but weren’t getting any either. The only other customers were a young couple with a small child. The child, true to its own nature was refusing to eat its meal. “Finish your meat so we can go home.” The mommy kept calmly coaxing the sticky little imp. That went on for at least fifteen minutes, though it seemed much longer. I don’t really care for small children, their doting young parents even less.

I asked Angel what she ordered, she told me, adding that she thought she was going to get a chicken sandwich until she saw the giant poster depicting one. “It just didn’t look very good, too processed-looking.” I didn't see the picture, but understood the issue. Chicken on a sandwich should look at least a little like actual chicken, not like a large McNugget.

The Food:

Angel had ordered the Sirloin Swiss burger, Adam, the Spicy Chicken. They each also got two tacos, which they love and I detest. Their orders were sided by curly fries, my breakfast sandwich with hash browns. The young lady that delivered the food tray asked if we needed any sauces.

“Do you have any sauerkraut?”I innocently asked.*

The table roared, the girl grinned, obviously confused, but came back professionally. “No, I’m afraid not.” She answered, faking amusement at the inside joke.

I dumped out my six or eight flat hash brown bites, essentially two-inch-long, flat tator-tots. They seemed kind of dark and felt heavy. I unwrapped the sandwich and was a little disappointed. The sausage, egg and cheese were on a standard hamburger bun. The sausage was flattened to fit the bun all the way to the rim, so it looked and felt like a cheeseburger. This made the first couple of bites a bit odd. It looked like a burger, felt like a burger so the initial taste was somewhat confusing to my taste buds' primal instincts. There was nothing really bad about it, but I usually take my sausage sandwiches on biscuits. The hash browns were indeed as I’d feared, heavy, too greasy, so I didn’t finish them. Angel kindly shared her ample curly fries. My meal was not especially satisfying though I can’t blame it completely on the meal itself. I was still struggling with occasional aftershocks from the breakfast chili, I was uncomfortable in the heat and I was sipping a too-sweet, bubbly Coke. I quit drinking pop/soda/cokes with meals a long time ago due to the fact that they overpower a meal in sweetness and bloating factor.

Angel and Adam didn’t have any problems though. They tore through their tacos and sandwiches like pros.

As objectively as I can though I will say that Jack’s breakfast offering was on its own merit, in every way inferior to Hardee’s. Hardees has real, home-made-like, biscuit-sized biscuits and sausage-sized sausage. That combination just seems right to this southern-bred eye and tongue. Their tator-rounds (thin tots) are to die for. If I want a fast-food breakfast sandwich, Hardees is my first choice. Now that I’ve tried it, I’d say Jack in the Box is like twenty fifth, or ninetieth, wherever the bottom might be.

Summary:

Don’t take this one lousy review as a total condemnation of the place. Their burgers are quite good. Angel and Adam tell me those disgusting, meat-pasty tacos are great and the atmosphere/sanitation is usually better than the more popular chains. On this day though, this particular store was not at its best. Too much litter on the floor, too many tables left un-cleaned, even though there was no rush going on, quite the opposite in fact. Clean your floors and tables folks, is that too much to ask?

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* This is one of those references to previous reviews I mentioned in slanty print above. This particular one goes back to June, 2011, titled 'Kim's Cafe V'.

Jack in the Box

Festus MO

I’d never been to a Jack in the Box, ever. I haven’t been deliberately avoiding it, just a matter of not being near one when I was looking for a bite to eat. That and the fact that there are a lot of places that just do not have JITB’s; SW MO, Kentucky and Maryland specifically, the places where I’ve lived most of my stunningly handsome life. The Metro St. Louis area is crawling with them though.

The chain’s roots start in California in 1951. At that time there were many burger joints, most of them the car-hop type. Jack had a different idea. Rather than have people going in and out delivering orders to cars, they created an intercom system that you could drive right up to, shout your order into and then pull forward to a window and pick up your order… Yeah, JITB invented the drive-up burger window. Since the outdoor intercom was in a clown head, the kids just loved it . Rodney Allen Rippey became famous in the 70’s for his JITB commercials ("It's too big-a-eat!") and you know what that did for HIS career. (That pretty much was his career)

As a stunningly handsome youth I recall Johnny Carson making jokes about the place, but had no idea of what made JITB different from other places.

The first time I recall actually wanting to go there was fairly recent. It was a commercial with small-person cowboys on small horses herding ‘cows the size of schnauzers’ to advertise their ‘Mini Sirloin Burgers.’ I was hooked.

The Place:

Above the interstate in Festus, near everything else, including that disgusting Fazoli’s.

The place was very clean inside and a little more upscale than your typical injection-molded-plastic fast food joints. There were actual tables and chairs, many of them Bistro styled (tall ones). The counter was likewise clean and shiny. I read through the overhead menu, saw the mini-sirloin combo, and decided. I did notice that they offered quite a unique and diverse menu. Salads, all day breakfasts, teriyaki bowls, pastrami sandwiches, pita pockets, along with their more traditional burgers. We placed our orders and were handed big foam cups. We sat at one of the Bistro tables and discussed global economic conditions, climate change, unrest in Somalia, the floods in Pakistan, The STL Cardinals’ dismal season, and the general decline of societal values.

Actually I don’t recall what we discussed, if anything. I did look around and took note of the casual, subdued look and feel of the interior. The tables and chairs were almost classy, rust colored tops with black trim. The walls were a comfortable, but forgettable pastel shade. What was clear though was that they kept it all very clean.

The food:

I had ordered Combo #3, three mini sirloin burgers and seasoned curly fries. Angel, the #12 Chicken strips and seasoned curly fries, Adam #11, spicy chicken sandwich and seasoned curly fries. We all also ordered the same side, two tacos for ninety-nine cents. I’d heard a lot about their tacos, Angel, Adam, and even Tyler (Angel’s adult son in Springfield) have raved about them.

They have other kinds of fries, but that didn’t matter since they had seasoned curly fries. Seasoned and curly is how fries should be made, this is a rule. If you want fries the proper thing to do is to have them in the following order according to availability.

1. Seasoned curly fries

2. Curly fries

3. Crinkle fries

4. Standard fries

5. Shoestring fries

6. Someone else’s fries

7. Thick/Texas fries

8. Any style fries found under your car seat.

This is not debatable.

From the self-serve drink fountain Angel tested the lemonade while I searched around for tea. There was no tea. Angel seemed satisfied with the lemonade and filled her cup telling me that it was just a little tart, not too sweet. I poured a little myself, concurred with her assessment and filled it up. I only sometimes like lemonade, it has to be just right. This stuff was pretty close. Adam poured himself a tall Coke.

Our food was delivered within a few minutes, just as we entered a lively debate over Lindsay Lohan’s current rehab situation. (Actually I still don’t recall exactly what we talked about)

I tried one of the curly fries first, it was exceptional. Long and crunchy, and fresh. JITB makes their food to order, it doesn’t sit around under radioactive heat lamps getting all soft and radioactive-y.

The three burgers were each slightly bigger than a White Castle slider. (or ‘gas-powered diarrhea pill’ as it is also known) They were thicker and the buns were unexpectedly and pleasantly toasted. It sounds like a small thing but a toasted bun is about three and a half times better than a soft doughy one. I bit into one and my taste buds all shouted together as one, in unison, and at the same time ‘STEAK!’ Whereas other FF burgers have a not-always-unpleasant greasy taste this actually tasted like a pretty good steak, certainly more lean than a quarter pounder. It was pre-condiment-ized with just a little ketchup, cheese and onions. With the toasted bun I’d say it was definitely the better FF burger I’ve had lately. The patty was not wafer thin, it appeared hand pressed, irregular shaped, indicating made from fresh rather than factory pressed and frozen. I don’t know that for sure, but whatever they did, it seemed fresh.

Angel was satisfied with her chicken strips, but only so. “Not my favorite.” she said. She didn’t care much for the breading, citing DQ’s as being better. (She also said McD’s were better but I reminded her of my ‘No McDonald’s Comparisons Allowed’ policy. This policy is in place because McD’s is owned and operated by Satan. Who else could make fries that irresistible? Genesis would be more believable today if Eve was in fact tempted by a McDonald’s French fry rather than an apple. (An Apple? I mean Sheesh, who couldn’t pass up a mere apple even if it was from the ‘tree of knowledge of good and evil’?) Anyway, McDonalds is owned and operated by Satan and should be avoided altogether, just trust me on that.

Adam didn’t say much, but seemed to enjoy his sandwich thoroughly.

The Tacos:

Here’s where we diverge on opinion. I bit into my taco and was not impressed, at all. Angel and Adam plowed into theirs as if they were the best tacos this side of Iowa. The tacos looked kind of funny, thin, almost flat. They were crispy and the edges were kind of pinched together. The filling was Spartan; meat, shredded cheese and lettuce. By meat, I mean ‘meat’ in air-quotes. There was a rumor floating around on the interwebs that these tacos are in fact vegetarian friendly. They are not. The so-called ‘nutrition information’ clearly shows beef as the number one ingredient but also mentions soy protein. This concoction is sometimes referred to as meat-paste. Unlike loose ground beef, the meat-paste spreads like peanut butter and stays inside the shell better, like meat-spackle. Also included in the meat-paste ingredient was ‘spices’. This is where I had the problem. The crunchy shell was fine, the lettuce a little weak, the cheese, white and thick-shredded was nearly tasteless and the meat paste was, in my well reasoned opinion, too salty. I’m sure there were other spices since I looked it up, but all I got was salt and maybe a little chili powder. It wasn’t nasty, I just did not want any more. I gave my second one to Adam which he saved for later. Don’t scream at me, it’s simply a matter of taste though my opinion is of course superior and more stunningly attractive. (In order to keep the meat from falling out with home tacos, I use refried beans as a binder.)

Summary:

The meal came in at just under twenty four dollars. Not too bad. We could have gotten similar meals at Burger King, DQ, or that unmentionable place for a little less, but they would not have been as unique and good. The housekeeping standards at JITB appears to be superior to all the others (on average) and the quality of the food (except for the meat-paste) is a little better. Tea would have been nice, it may be that I just couldn’t find it.

Later I noticed something was missing, that greasy queasy feeling my precious little tummy gets after eating at a fast food joint. Bonus!

I’d certainly recommend JITB, and will go back… It’s like a FF burger joint, but without the snotty-nosed screaming babies and the trash on the floor.