Fine Dining - Jack in the Box: See-Through Tacos, Clown Mascot, and Legendary Curly Fries

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey kids, do you like Jack in the Box? It's the only fast food chain with a mascot based on a kid's toy. If you've ever looked at someone in a suit and wondered how they might look with a giant smiling ball for a head, Jack in the Box has got you covered. It's not just the goofiness of their spokesperson bringing people far and wide to Jay and the B. It's the fact that you can get burgers, tacos, or breakfast all day, even for dinner and beyond, into the wee hours of the night. But, is Jack in the Box any good?

Starting point is 00:00:30 We ate there today and felt positive and negative emotions about it. The Sour Patch Kids Lemonade was the perfect sip for a hot day, but the tacos were so greasy I could literally see through the shell. Outside of the box thinking with menu items, great. Outside of the box menu items, not always great. The curly fries at Jack in the Box lived up to their legendary status, but the ordering kiosk was a special level of evil that I felt personally targeted. This week on the show, Septemberger continues.

Starting point is 00:01:01 We'll review Jack in the Box's burger before it goes face-to-face with Wendy's next week, but first, I'll go all around my cobbler's bench with my expertise as the monkey chases your weasel of curiosity so that you too may know everything I've learned about Jack in the Box. Then, we'll tell you, boys and girls, what we and the people of Yelps think about the Jack in the Box we went to today. Stay tuned. This is the Fine Dining Podcast. It's a fire up that grin and fry up your soul

Starting point is 00:01:56 We're looking for something that's better than mediocre It's time for a perfect September Yes, it's time for the test that can only one Victor of the first September Yeah, we're looking for some perfection of a bun Just be the best burger that you can be Somewhere between heaven an excelsie, I can see that hunger is in your life.

Starting point is 00:02:27 You're going for glory with a side of the fright. It's Susset Burger. Cobbler's. Yeah. You know, like the pop goes the weasel song. That all jack in the boxes are set to. It was a reach. No, that was good.

Starting point is 00:02:49 That was good. It needed a little explaining, but it was good. Like most the best jokes, too. Exactly. You've got to explain it just a tiny bit. And then, wow, what a zinger. Hello, and welcome to the Fine Dining Podcast, the quest to compare all restaurants to Chili's. I am your host, Michael Ornellis, and it's Septemberger, my annual hamburger tournament, pitting eight burger chains against one another until a winner is declared at the end of the month.

Starting point is 00:03:14 There's still time to fill out a tournament bracket. Just click the link in the description of this episode, or go to Fine Diningpodcast.com. As a reminder, the winner will get bragging rights, a rap song written about them or any food or restaurant-related thing of their choice, and they can choose any American chain restaurant I've yet to cover, and I'll do an episode on it during season four of the podcast. This week on the show, we will be talking about Jack in the Box, and I have the pleasure of being joined by a superstar from the Ragmop and Goose Puppet Adoption Agency. He's the worker that goes berserker. He brings the stings. He thrives in the hive. And I assume his favorite band is either wings or queen or just Beyonce, Queen B.

Starting point is 00:03:58 He shows us how cool it is to be a puppet. It's honey. Hey. Thank you so much for having me, Michael. Yeah, thanks for coming on. And actually, it's the B-52s. Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.

Starting point is 00:04:10 Thanks for joining me. How are you feeling after a meal at Jack in the Box? Oh, I've definitely got the Jack sweats right now. It is full on. Yeah. I am not okay. Yeah, no. I don't think anybody is after going in there.

Starting point is 00:04:25 No, like there was just a collective sound of panting inside. Yeah, yeah. It was definitely a shuffle in and definitely a shuffle out when you were done. You know, it's a, oh, man, I apologize to anyone out there if you hear any gurgles or burps or anything like that while this podcast is going on. And we might edit that out, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. But it is all part of the process.

Starting point is 00:04:47 It's part of the creative process. I totally get it. of this show. Yeah. Okay. Do you have a specific history with Jack in the Box? Had you been before? Oh, it has been years since I've been to a Jack in the Box.

Starting point is 00:04:59 As far as my history and my background with Jack in the Box, let me take you back to 2009. Okay. You would get done with a high school event and it's late at night. There's not many places to eat and you don't have much money. So you're looking for something cheap, something quick, and you're going for two tacos for 99 cents. That was my go-to.

Starting point is 00:05:23 I love that you didn't say something good. You just said something cheap and something quick. You need the fillers, okay? Those things are fillers. Because I don't know if they actually can be classified as food. I don't believe so. There was a particular item that when I put it back in the bag, I was like, I need a hazmat suit.

Starting point is 00:05:41 Yeah, and my personal history in the jack-in-the-box is pretty minimal. I think I've only been like once or twice while like my dad would drive me around and be like, I'm in the mood for tacos, which would strike him maybe once every two years or something. I was like, is this the one that had kangaroo meat in it? And he was like, oh, it was horse meat. The other white meat. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:06:06 So needless to say, I haven't been much. And this was my first time having their burgers. So to put them in a burger tournament, this was new uncharted territory for me. Yeah. Honestly, I really cannot, for a fact, say that I have had a jack-in-the-box burger before this. Yeah. I really don't know if that's something I have actually put myself through until today. Until today. Yeah. And you did it thrice today. Oof. I definitely started off strong with finishing my half of the first burger. But after that, it was not finishing any of it.

Starting point is 00:06:41 No. Nor did it deserve it. No. No, no. No. No. Yeah, we'll get into it more. We're going to review it all later. But before that, do you want to know the history of Jack in the Box? There is nothing. I would love to hear more. All right, we're going to jump into this week's Eat Deets.

Starting point is 00:07:03 Hello, my children. Before we dive properly into the Jack in the Box episode, I do want to make you aware of another podcast that, if you like this one, I think you'll really like that one. It's called Candy Is Dan. They take what I do with chain restaurants and apply it to different candy brands. They're the only podcast in the world devoted entirely to reviewing candy. It's hosted by Greg Gonzalez, Beto Sistos, and Daniel Zafron, three longtime best friends slash comedians slash candy obsessives.

Starting point is 00:07:33 Each episode, they pick a different candy, give its history, and then taste and review it on air with all the mouth sounds mercifully edited out. Each episode then ends with a candy-related game. name. They've done an episode on Snickers and found out it was named after a horse. They discovered the connection Butterfingers have to the atomic bomb. They tasted way too many peach rings with Comedy Bang Bang and S&L's Carl Tart. If you love candy, you're going to love this show. They cover all the candies you loved from your childhood and so much more. Find Candy is Dandy, the Candy Review Podcast Anywhere. Podcasts are found.

Starting point is 00:08:14 Eatery Details. Jack in the Box was founded in 1951 by Robert O. Peterson in San Diego, California. It began as a small drive-thru hamburger stand with a fun clown theme inspired by the Jack in the Box toy, where customers ordered through a talking clownhead speaker, a futuristic idea at the time. I feel like in the beginning there was a surprise, you must. might not like this. It, like, who greenlit this? That's what I mean is the jack in the box as the thing.

Starting point is 00:08:53 It was a surprise that would scare you. That is the origin of this place. Yeah. Yeah. Because you don't know. Is it going to pop out now? And I feel like that's how it is after you eat. You're like, is this going to stay?

Starting point is 00:09:07 You know it's going to, you know that it's going to pop out of you at some point, but you don't know when. Is it going to be gas? The, uh. The similarities between the Jack in the Box cuisine and a xenomorph are not few. There are many, many connections there. Yes, yes, absolutely. Have you seen the alien movies? I've seen some of them.

Starting point is 00:09:30 You know, my little BIs can't always take all that. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, I'm a fan. Sigourney Weaver, always good in my books. You know, and anyone who can rock a jumpsuit, you know? Oh, absolutely. You've got to have a good jumpsuit. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:09:43 It's just a classic staple. Over the years, Jack in the Box introduced creative menu items that set it apart. It was the first fast food chain to offer a breakfast sandwich, the breakfast Jack in 1969. And it's famous for quirky favorites like its crunchy tacos, an unusual item for a burger chain that became a cult hit with hundreds of millions sold each year. I'm so glad to hear that it's actually, from the beginning, they have thought outside the box. you know it's not like it was a oh hey it's the 90s we got to figure out how to be relevant it's like no no no the first to have breakfast sandwich is actually very surprising to hear yeah yeah i did not believe that i think uh their full menu feels like uh something impulsive yes absolutely yeah it's no one is turning down a thought in the uh writer's room of jack in the box hey what if what if for the new season we try an egg roll have you had red bulls let's make it different Yeah

Starting point is 00:10:47 That was one where When I pulled into the parking lot And saw on the side of the building A giant poster of it A giant poster I was like Yeah we're doing that And we're not gonna like it Oh did we do it

Starting point is 00:11:01 Yeah The chain expanded rapidly In the 1960s and 1970s Growing from its California roots To over a thousand locations in locations across the west and southwest. It even pushed into other regions, but by the late 1970s, Jack in the Box pulled back and closed many East Coast stores to refocus on its stronger Western markets.

Starting point is 00:11:23 Oh, interesting. The East Coast wasn't really taken to the outside the box thinking, I guess. No, they are stuck in their ways. But admirable that they acknowledged a bunch of failure and decided like, hey, look, we're not giving up entirely. We know that we're a banger in this part of this. the nation. Let's, uh, let's regroup. Let's regroup. Let's, let's think about what we could do differently. And boy, did they do that. It's, it's both their, their strong suit and their

Starting point is 00:11:52 Achilles heel. Yeah, exactly. They're their own worst enemies. Like, in a way, your little intro up top was the defining, like, it was the epitome of what Jack in the Box is. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's, it really, uh, it's creative, but should they be. But should they be? Should we have a kid's toy of a clown scaring them? You know, these are all questions to ask. Also, let's talk about they thought that a clown head speaker was futuristic. Hey, I'm all for that.

Starting point is 00:12:25 I think that's great. Let's get rid of the electronics and make it more of an experience. It's just like, I want to look like I'm yelling into a guy. I want to sit in my car and argue with a man. Just with makeup. Love it. The company's mascot, Jack, is a man in a business suit with a big round clown head, and he's at the center of Jack in the Box's most famous ads. In a beloved 1995 campaign, Jack's Back, this playful character returned as the fictional CEO, and since then, he starred in countless funny commercials, one of the longest running ad campaigns in fast food history.

Starting point is 00:13:07 Honestly, some of the best toys, and there has been no other car antenna ball that has been more iconic than the Jack in the Box antenna ball. I got that boy right there. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, the different themes they would do, they had like movie crossovers they would do with him, all sorts of stuff. And I think that was a huge part of 80s and 90s of seeing Jack in the Box antenna balls. Because I didn't grow up on Jack in the Box, I have no. familiarity with the fact that they even had like toys for oh honestly I didn't even recognize that they had kids meals oh uh I can still see it's a bendy Jack he had a red shirt blue pants and he had the yellow hat you know okay it was just the bendy arms and you could just contort him however you want yeah that was like I to me that's one of the most iconic uh toys that they had in 1993 Jack in the Box faced a terrible food safety crisis when undercooked hamburgers caused a may

Starting point is 00:14:07 E. coli outbreak. Hundreds of people became very ill and four children tragically passed away, nearly bankrupting the company, but this led to industry-wide improvements in cooking standards and stricter food safety rules to protect customers. Yeah, you caused harm. That is such an intense headline to have about your restaurant. Less severe when McDonald's, somebody was burned by the coffee, and then they had to add the warning to coffee. You know. I mean, all warnings are there because someone did something kind of dumb. Someone ate too quickly.

Starting point is 00:14:42 Someone did something too quickly. Someone ate the toy. It's all of it. And then all of a sudden it said, don't eat the toy. Don't eat the toys. Well, I thought that was obvious. Nope. That looked like a real chicken nugget.

Starting point is 00:14:54 But it wasn't. Oh, I have one of those too. Oh, we are killing it. Yes. Oh, fantastic. Boom. I would eat that. I would, too.

Starting point is 00:15:06 Jack in the bar. was a pioneer in drive-through technology and convenience. It was one of the first fast food chains to use a two-way intercom speaker for ordering way back in 1951, which made service much faster. Ever since, Jack in the Box has embraced drive-through culture. Many locations are open 24-7, catering to customers who want quick meals without leaving the car. Again, doesn't say good. No, no, just quick. Just fast.

Starting point is 00:15:34 Just quick, and you don't have to get out of your car. You want a filler? We got you. We got you. You need calories? Oh, we got you. Boy, do they. Boy, howdy. I didn't look at the calorie counts on anything, did you? When I went to refill my drink, I saw the full, you know, menu list item where they list off all the nutritional calories, all that type of stuff. And I think I was too afraid to look at it. Yeah, I think that's the right way to go is just kind of like put your hand up like you don't want to be recognized. Yeah. But like to not see the calorie counts. Yeah, definitely the blissful ignorance of just, you know what, I'm just going to eat this and we're going to move on from here.

Starting point is 00:16:12 Yeah, filler. Yeah. The company changed ownership a few times as it grew. In 1968, the founder sold Jack in the Box to the Ralston Purina Company, better known for pet food, which seems. That is really concerning. Seems on brand. I don't like that fact at all. That makes it feel like the tacos are.

Starting point is 00:16:34 not tacos at all. I think the tacos make it feel like the tacos are not tacos at all. If we're being real. And, you know, I've heard stories of people feeding their burgers to their pets. And this and the pets being like, I'm good.

Starting point is 00:16:51 It's throwing it up. No, but I feel like this just shines a whole other light on that as a as an option. That it's curing. Oh, no. Oh, no. But it ultimately helped fuel the chain's expansion. Ralston Purina later sold the brand to its own managers in 1985, and by 1987, Jack in the Box was an independent, publicly traded company again with around 900 restaurants nationwide.

Starting point is 00:17:16 Good for them. Good for them. Which almost feels like Purina of all companies, like, pet food was just like, oh, this is what you do? You can have it back. They didn't want it on their record anymore. They're like, you know what, we're good. We're good. You guys can have it back. We're pet food, not whatever this is. They get classified as food. Yeah. Jack in the Box is a filler. Yeah. Jack in the Box hasn't been afraid to reinvent itself.

Starting point is 00:17:47 In 1980, it famously aired a commercial that literally blew up the Jack in the Box clown mascot to show a new focus on adult customers instead of kids. Imagine being like, kids, not only are we leaving you behind, we're blowing up. the mascot that you love. Oh, this just shows the level of decisions that have been made at Jack in the Box. And the bar just keeps getting higher and higher, honestly. A few years later, in 1985, the company even tried a new name, Loneray Jacks, to sound more upscale, but fans disliked it. And the chain quickly brought back the original Jack in the Box name in 1986. Yeah, you can't hide.

Starting point is 00:18:31 You can't change your name and try and hide. are they thinking? Monterey Jacks. That just sounds like a cheese place. Yeah. Or like a weird Tommy Bahamas type of thing. I don't know. It sounds like they sell boat shoes. Yeah, that's what it doesn't sound like a restaurant. It just sounds like, yeah, it sounds like boat shoes and Hawaiian shirts. Come on down to Monterey Jacks. Like, it's where you have bachelor parties. You have bachelor parties at Monterey Jacks. We got you. What stays in Monterey Jacks. Oh, wait. What happens in Monterey Jacks stays in Monterey Jacks. No, what stays in Monterey Jacks. No, what stays in Monterey Jacks. it happens in Monterey Chess.

Starting point is 00:19:06 It makes no sense. Doesn't need to. The brand's offbeat style and varied menu have given it a special place in American fast food culture. Jack in the Box is known for mixing things up, where else can you get a burger-fried tacos and a pancake at the same drive-thru? It's weirdly addictive tacos have sparked debate,

Starting point is 00:19:28 even newspapers have written about how people both love and hate them, and the chain's humorous ads, plus late. night menu, like the Munchy Meals, have made it a favorite stop for night owls and young fans looking for a fun food fix. I feel like it's very apparent of just everything that they do. The menu items, they are really trying their hardest to be something different. And I guess it's still working for them. Let's take a second and just pitch, what's the next thing they should add to their menu? Oh, that's good.

Starting point is 00:20:01 Okay. Because, like, I'm thinking and I'm like, they can. kind of have everything, and no way am I suggesting spaghetti. Yeah, but you say that, and we saw an egg roll on the menu, and that is something that is just not in fast food burger places. Yeah, they were like, how different is an egg roll from a churro, really? It's a long brown tube, and it's like, look, just because you do one doesn't mean you can do the other. Jack in the box, stop it. You don't need to.

Starting point is 00:20:33 My biggest fear is that they're going to get into like the soup game. And I just don't want that. No, no, no. You can't do fast food soup. That's just because how are you supposed to serve that one? Does it come in a coffee cup? Fast casual is like the bottom end of where you can start doing soup. Like Panera is like, okay, they can do soup.

Starting point is 00:20:54 They can get away with soup. Oh, okay. Hear me out. Smoothies. Wouldn't hate it. But. I don't know if I trust it. But Red Bull.

Starting point is 00:21:03 Let me finish. It's a whole meal in a smoothie. It's the burger, fries, and drink. It's a meal replacement. It's a meal replacement smoothie. I guarantee you we're going to get to that point. It's just like burger and almond butter. You want the, you want the jack smooth?

Starting point is 00:21:20 Get it in the smooth jack. The smooth jack. That's it. See, it already just sounds like something on their menu. Screw it. Let's call it the Monterey Jack. The Monterey Jack. Jack in the box is.

Starting point is 00:21:33 still going strong after over 70 years. As of 2025, it operates more than 2,200 restaurants across 21 U.S. states and even expanded into Mexico again, serving up its signature burgers, tacos, and creative snacks. The company continues to grow and experiment while maintaining the playful customer-friendly vibe that has made it a familiar name in the fast food world. Oh, just hearing the amount of restaurants there are makes my stomach move. Yeah. Because that's, oh, that's so much filler being put out there. Like the place that you and I went today that did to us what it did to us, there are 2,200 more out there for people to have the same day that we just had. Oh, I just, Jack in the Box, keeping Tums in business since 1951. Yeah. And that'll do it for

Starting point is 00:22:30 this week's Eat Deeks. So now that we know the history of Jack in the Box, let's review it. Let's start off by talking everything we would say was good about Jack in the Box. Oh, okay. And this is good. I knew that you could. This is good. Both of us felt very strongly about the Sour Patch Kids lemonade. Yeah. It sounded like something where I was, I was kind of looking down my nose at it.

Starting point is 00:23:09 I was like, okay, a candy lemonade, you know, this is going to be way too sugary. This is going to be just a bit crazy. It'll taste fine. I was wrong. These flavors blended magnificently. It was really good. It was a little worrying too because you had that like the, what do you call it, umbrae or like gradient juice drink.

Starting point is 00:23:32 It needed to be mixed. It was like lemonade up top and then like a red syrup at the bottom, took my, uh, my straw and I did the little swirly cue and it mixed into something nearing perfection, dare I say. No. I mean, I have it down as on a hot day, I would be searching that out. Yeah. So I gave it a very high raise on that. So yeah, well, what did you give it? I ended up actually giving it a 10. You gave it a 10. I gave it a 10. I gave it a 9. Oh, okay, which there was room for improvement. There was room for improvement. Okay. Mostly just like the, I think the mixed syrupy nature of it made it feel to me. Like there was like a psychological effect of like, this isn't going to be good for me. you like what you said at the beginning you totally if you had not mixed it you could have possibly gotten just the all sugar rush rush and then it would have just been regular lemonade probably past that yeah so it it definitely could have been worse yeah yeah um but it benefited it blended so well

Starting point is 00:24:37 together i wrote that it was just a delightful sip of candy oh how beautiful um so yeah get it now like if if you if you can get to a jack in the box i would say this is like this is like worth going out of your way for it's it's a lemonade it's not super expensive or anything like that so yeah high marks i would actually like i would challenge jack in the box to make that into a frozen drink i think would be like an icy like an icy yeah yeah i think that could be like an extra level of like hot day delicious refreshing drink sure i'd go for it i'd try it uh i had in the good the curly fries. Oh, yeah, same.

Starting point is 00:25:21 Which Jack in the Box is known for these. I feel like when you bring up Jack in the Box to people, they talk the tacos, not necessarily as good, but they mention that they get them. They have them. And they say, you have to get the curly fries. Yep. And I think curly fries in general are a little bit overrated. They're all seasoned the exact same.

Starting point is 00:25:45 It's like that mix of like garlic powder, onion. powder, paprika, cayenne, and, I don't know, some fifth thing. But, like, you know, it's the same assortment of spices. Yeah. Something about the Jack in the Box curly fry stood, you know, head and shoulders above the rest. I thought that this lived up to the mythos created by the Jack in the Box curly fry. I totally agree with you. And there was but one caveat on my.

Starting point is 00:26:18 final score. Yeah. Because there was this little bit of onion ring that was in there. In the bag? In the bag. And I ate a fry that was like really fried next to it. And for some reason, that fry tasted like shrimp. Which it should not.

Starting point is 00:26:34 No. So that was the only thing that was like, ooh, okay, something's weird. Something's off. So yeah. Just getting a blast of seafood in your curly fried. And they don't have seafood at all. That's the scary part. Yeah, you're right.

Starting point is 00:26:46 There's no shrimp on the menu. So that's why it's. like this should not taste like shrimp at all yeah uh you know if we were at long john silvers get it totally understand yeah you know yeah so that that was the only uh downgrade on my score on that i didn't realize that yeah there should be no seafood in sight no oh so yeah so i gave it a 9.0 i i gave it an 8.5 i thought it was like it was it was it was great it was honestly i would call it like it's it's at the cusp of excellence yeah i like that i like that it was it was also We didn't get to it right away, but it was still perfectly crisp.

Starting point is 00:27:21 See, and that's the point. A lot of times with fries, it can either be too soft and not enough crisp. This had that good ratio of soft potato to crispy outside shell. That's what you want. Yeah. It's what fries need to be. I have one more thing in the guy. I have one more thing.

Starting point is 00:27:39 And I think we both have the same thing. On three, one, two, three, chiro bites. Yes, absolutely. The churro bites were so. So good. So good. Like, I even said when we were eating it, I think this is better than some actual full-on fresh churros. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:27:56 I have been to Disneyland and I have had some churros that have been probably sitting in that cart for a little too long. Yeah. And they're a little too tough. Yes. But the other thing that helped with these that made them even more delicious was the filling. Yeah, they were like hollowed out and had like a softer cinnamony. Creamy filling something type of thing. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:28:17 Yeah. It just worked on all levels because the outside gave you the crunch, the inside gave you the softness, similar to our ideal fry. And everything was like the right amount cinnamon and sugar. Yeah. Like just not too much sugar. Great balance. Yeah. Not too sweet.

Starting point is 00:28:33 But like it was just all perfect ratios. Oh, so good. I didn't expect when I came to Jack in the box to have three items eight or higher. Honestly, very surprising. But I went. I'm going nine out of ten on these. Oh, okay, we're close. I had eight point final on them.

Starting point is 00:28:52 Yeah, yeah. Only because we were eating other things and by the time we got to them, they were a little bit cold. I think if we had had them fresh, I probably would have been at nine. Yeah. So, yeah, I think we're on the same page. It could have been 9.5. Like, genuinely, yeah.

Starting point is 00:29:06 If I'm near a jack in the box, I might have like a little thought bubble emerge from my head that goes, churros? Remember how good they were? Churros, do you want these? Yeah. Do we make this decision right now? Yeah, I think I think you do. And in true Jack at the Box fashion, there will be no one to tell me no.

Starting point is 00:29:21 No. And then I have one other thing in good that's not food related. Oh, okay. Because most of the service experience is going to go in the not good just because of the setup. Yeah. But there was a cashier that I interacted with a couple times. I picked up my order from her. She was very pleasant.

Starting point is 00:29:40 She did seem rushed. Like she just was doing a lot. I think she was manning the drive through, whatever. Yeah. But as soon as like I had her attention, even though I could tell she was busy, I never felt like she was trying to get away from like, okay, get it out. Like, what do you need? I felt like she actually like connected and gave me the time of day to be like, hey, can I get a plastic fork to cut our burger? Can I get, you know, some extra straws? Whatever it was. She was very pleasant, very nice. Yeah. Now that you mention it, I did have one interaction with, I think, the same woman. And it was just, we were waiting on another order. And I just went up, I said, hey, you know, we're waiting on these fries. Without batting, looking, she was just like, yeah, I got you.

Starting point is 00:30:25 Don't worry. Yeah. And just put them together and gave, definitely gave some extra fries in that order. So, yeah. So that was nice in the one interaction we got with someone at the counter. And especially in like that kind of frazzled environment. I've been to so many fast food places where like the last thing they want is someone coming up and adding a request to their to-do list.

Starting point is 00:30:48 And honestly, like, I don't blame them. I'm not like holding it against fast food workers for not being enthused because they're expected to do so much so quickly with so little appreciation. You know, I went to Carl's Jr. and watched the cashier have a milkshake thrown at them. You know, there's so much that they have to put up with. Yeah, that's terrible. That should never in any job should you deal with any of that.

Starting point is 00:31:09 So, yeah. It makes the most sense for it to happen in a job where you sell milkshakes. Sure. Yes. Like, imagine at your bank teller job. You have a milkshake thrown at you. But those are the stories you expect to hear from, you know, bottom of the barrel. Right.

Starting point is 00:31:24 Right. But all that to say, I understand why a fast food worker can become jaded. And the fact that she seemed to have a very chill attitude and was just like, you know, hey, I got you. I like that. I like that. It's such a breath of fresh air. Yeah. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:31:44 I like that. That is all of the good elements for me. That was it. Yeah. All right. Well, we got to dive into the deep end. We got to talk about some negative things. We're going to go to everything.

Starting point is 00:31:55 That was not good. Let's see. I'm not so good. I'm not quite sure about. It could have done without it. Something brings down the mood. This is just not very good. Let's see.

Starting point is 00:32:12 Where do I start? Why don't we start at the start, the ordering kiosk? Oh. This was a nightmare. Not a fan of the electronic ordering kiosk. On principle, I am not either. I don't like it. I love human interaction.

Starting point is 00:32:28 Yes. And it's so much easier to just be like, hey, no cheese, then to find which submenu you have to go in. And then we find one where it's like, this burger requires cheese. As if the only way it comes. comes is already with cheese like you there's no process of putting it on yeah that it is just like nope this comes frozen with cheese which honestly it might it could be it might it might i don't put it against uh i don't put it i don't put it i don't put them above that that's the kind of out of box thinking we expect from check the box like freeze it with the cheese literally out the box

Starting point is 00:33:04 just out the box it's the whole burger is just frozen all together yeah yeah um so like we have this menu and you know we're eating we're a little group of of individuals trying to snack trying to make sure everyone's dietary needs are tended to and everyone leaves with a full belly and it's rushing us through elements of like we're browsing and it's like are you still there yeah yeah i'm still here i'm i'm moving like i'm touching the thing and there were uh you know multiple drink menu like the way it was sorted was just kind of all over the place it was a lot yeah it was a lot I didn't like it uh and I felt uh kind of personally attacked by it I I went in circles enough that it felt like my own personal purgatory yeah yeah yeah no I I I okay for a company that started

Starting point is 00:34:02 with the innovation of talking to a clown to order I feel like we've gone so far from that to where they're treating it like I'm a clown yeah you're yelling at me you're now the clowns Yeah. That have to be forced to use these things. It's not, it's not pleasant. Yeah. It's not, it's not inducing towards society and making friends, making people laugh, having a moment with somebody, you know? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:34:26 These are the things that we, we earn for. They are robbing us of that. Absolutely. They are thieves. All right. I don't want to be like a downer, but just talking about like the vibes of the place. Oh. I didn't love it.

Starting point is 00:34:40 No. it definitely felt like a a bygone era like it's it had its time and has not been updated or changed since the heyday you know it was like things

Starting point is 00:34:53 this is going to be a weird comparison okay it wasn't sun faded but it's it felt sun faded I hear that I absolutely hear like this is like even though it wasn't a jack in the box in the middle of nowhere this felt like a

Starting point is 00:35:10 like a road trip jack in the box yeah there was definitely uh there was one poster on the inside that caught my eye because it it wasn't necessarily advertising anything it was just a very up close shot of a burger and didn't really seem like a burger they have it was just a picture of a bird it was in the vein of like the 90s taco bell art it was like the idea of a burger but it was just like here's a burger it's something you want yeah but and it's something thing we have. We don't have this one. No. No, no, no. But here it is. Yeah. It was the embodiment of acid reflux.

Starting point is 00:35:48 Yes. It was just like there's some grease there. There's the feeling of groans. Yes. Even though you might not hear them, you could feel them from everybody. And by the way, the entire clientele was construction workers. Yes, absolutely. That was a very interesting. It was us in construction. Yeah, that was that was very interesting that's like, yeah, that's what they're choosing for their lunch. break is to put themselves through Jack in the box and then go back to work. When you're filling concrete, you need filler for food. That's

Starting point is 00:36:18 exactly it. That's what it is. They know filler and that was it. That was it. They like their food like they like their cement. Cement. Cement. Just good quality cement. All right, we may as well get into it. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:36:38 I'm just going to jump in. Supreme croissant. Neither supreme nor a croissant. Misleading on two levels. Misleading on all fronts. Yeah, it definitely the picture looked more of a fluffy croissant, and I felt like this was the croissant that you get from a bakery at the end of the day, or these are the day-old croissants that have been smushed at the bottom of the pile.

Starting point is 00:37:05 Yeah. It definitely needed something to it. My takeaway from it was, I think it could have used maple syrup. I think it needed a moisture element for sure. Yeah. Because this had ham, egg, bacon, croissant, in quotes. Yes. And it was just so dry.

Starting point is 00:37:29 Yeah. I would have done with, I could have done with an aoli. I could have done with a jam. I could have done with a syrup. Oh, you're getting fancy with a jam. Oh, a jam. Jam would be delicious. If you've never done McDonald's breakfast sandwiches and done like the strawberry jam, it's a game-changing.

Starting point is 00:37:44 I'm more of a fig jam myself when it comes to like a breakfast jam. Yeah. That's that's me. I hear you on that. That's a very interesting add-on that would have been welcomed easily. Because like the sweet and savory, I think, really goes well usually with ham. So, yeah, it could have been. And maybe they do serve packets of strawberry jelly on the side.

Starting point is 00:38:08 But the fact that it doesn't come de facto in it, I think it should. Yeah. And it definitely, there was no reason to go back and try it. No, I don't, I'm not convinced that I need to try and fix this. No, no, no, no. Sometimes a broken thing is just broken. Just afterthoughts. That's all.

Starting point is 00:38:25 Yeah. All right. So there were a couple things I hated. Oh, yeah. And I'm going to go in from the better of the two to the worst of the two. Okay, okay. the Red Bull Barry Purple Days Infusion. So Red Bull infusion is already crazy.

Starting point is 00:38:44 Yep. For like a soda type drink. To call it Barry Purple Days, like, hey, we're going to put you out of it. Oh, no. As an implication. And I definitely had an expectation of what it would look like. And it did not. It did not meet that.

Starting point is 00:39:04 It was definitely. What did you see? I saw, let's see. So it was the Barry Red Bull Days. It started off in a dark color that maybe, maybe, could be said to be a dark berry color. However, it over time with the ice got more and more gray. It just got clearer and clearer that it was gray the whole time. It was just gray the whole time.

Starting point is 00:39:35 This looked like, you know, an art class when you go rinse your brushes? Yes. This was like that. This is the end color when you have mixed all of them. And then you keep adding water because you just need more water. And that was it. Because that paintbrush ain't getting clean. No, no, no.

Starting point is 00:39:53 Oh, man, that's a perfect example. And then the taste of it was like mildly unleaded. Yeah, my notes were hints of berry with jet fuel. Yeah. Yeah. It was just, oh, yeah, it was, it was, it just, it was, it was, it just, it was, it was, it just, it was, it was, it just, it was, this might be the worst drink I've had on the podcast. Interesting. I, I, I, I, I was a, I think I was just a little more, because I, okay, I finished it.

Starting point is 00:40:24 I did finish it. I don't know if it was out of the, the, the, anything liking it or if I was just like an accomplishment. I'm going to finish this. It's going to come out of you. later but like from your pores i'm reminded of you're going to look like when rudy juliani's hair dye leaked down his face that's what it was that's what you're going to look like no i'm i'm reminded of uh it was a honey i shrunk the kids movie it was the second one and there was an invention in that they were making you no i wish no there was a they were inventing things this is it was a i was it

Starting point is 00:41:00 not sorry it was the third one it was the newer not honey i shrunk the kids It's not honey. I blew up the kid. It was the third one, whichever one that was. Honey, I left the kid the same size. Honey, we shrunk ourselves. I think is what it was. Yeah. But they were inventors. And in that, they invented a bioluminescent drink that was for construction workers that they would drink and it would make them glow so they could do nightwork. This is what that drink was. Capitalistic grind. I feel like when I'm going to relieve myself of this drink, there will be a glowing something that comes out because it was just. radioactive in some way. And we know it's consumed by construction workers. Exactly. So this is great. I feel like it's just proving my point.

Starting point is 00:41:45 Yeah. Yeah. This thing was not good. Yeah. Oh, and I gave it a 3.0. And I think that's a very generous, honestly. And I think that was just more because as I let it sit, it tasted more like water. Which water's a great drink. Yes, exactly. So I think the water really helped it out in that. the only time of beverage being diluted is a plus very welcomed at that moment yeah normally i get no ice in my drink because i just want it to be that flavor and not watered down yeah this i could not get enough ice yeah this needs to be a slushy exactly yes um okay and then the thing that i hated most of all you know it you can you can say it with me oh three two one egg roll oh oh yeah that is the right sound no it uh we both had the so you took a bite first yes and i went off of that i i took in what your face made i struggled to swallow it yeah yeah i i literally felt like

Starting point is 00:42:49 i would be committing it to my body like oh i was just like you you don't deserve this but also i'm not going to spit it out in front of company it felt like adding spackle to your stomach like It's just going to be layered on there for years to come. Yeah. Yeah. What I wrote is this was next level bad. This was like an AI approximation of an egg roll. I love that.

Starting point is 00:43:14 Like what AI thinks an agriol should be. It had six fingers. Like this was bad. This was a bad egg roll. Absolutely. Very bad egg roll. I just put very salty. because there was something about

Starting point is 00:43:33 and that's the deal it's like I think very salty is actually a not the proper explanation because it's not necessarily that it was salt I was tasting something about it left a haunting sense of salt in me

Starting point is 00:43:49 that it's just I don't know if I will ever recover from whatever amount of sodium was in that like it didn't taste too much like salt but it had like an occult element of salt. Oh, yes. It's like it had been

Starting point is 00:44:02 indoctrinated in salt its entire life. There was a circle around a star Yes, and it's just salt on the table. Yes, exactly. Oh, it was just

Starting point is 00:44:11 and in the faces I think that we both made were just the the utmost review of it. There was no need for words. It was remorse. Yes.

Starting point is 00:44:23 It was remorse. Absolutely. Zero out of ten. I went zero. This isn't food. This isn't edible. this is a zero out of 10 food item shame on you jack in the box and you know what and this is I'm changing my notes because I did have a one forgetting that I could put a zero I thought like one was like the lowest I could but I forgot yeah I could give a zero and that is a zero do me a favor and just give a shame on you jack in the box Jack in the box shame on you yeah this is too much outside the box thinking deserved deserved stay in your lane egg rules are Not your lane.

Starting point is 00:45:01 Tacos, we're fine with that. Waffles, whatever else I'm fine with. But when it comes to that, like, if that's going to be the only type of Chinese food that you have on the menu, just don't. Yeah, just don't. Don't do it. Yeah. Yeah. And honestly, and don't take that as an endorsement to add more Chinese food.

Starting point is 00:45:19 No, no, no, no, no. That's not the answer. I don't want to strike that from the record. I don't want anything like that on there. We do not want to see what Jack in the box Chau Main is like. Oh, no, no, no, no. Oh, yeah. I know I will already be haunted by that small bite of egg roll that I took.

Starting point is 00:45:35 Yes. And yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How do bees eat? You know, we just collect things on our legs and store them for later. It's quite delicious, which I'm probably going to have to wash myself because it probably still has egg roll on me. Ugh. Ugh. You won't be able to fly. Hey, hey, stop eating your leg. Yep, yep. Yep. That's egg roll. Yeah. Oh, salt. Cursed again. Oh, haunted. just absolutely haunted

Starting point is 00:46:00 I had one more in this section I had two more Oh okay Okay we probably One of them is probably my one is probably on yours I would say too I bet

Starting point is 00:46:13 Well I had a taco Oh I had the taco Oh well we'll get into the taco bit Because that was There's different things for me Yeah on that But my last one on mind

Starting point is 00:46:25 Was the jumbo jack So I also have the jumbo jack here but given that it's in the burger tournament, we're going to put it in a different order. Fair enough. Okay. But we will get to the jumbo jack. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:46:35 I want to talk about my take on the taco. Yeah, you give your take. My taco takes. Your taco take. Textural nightmare. The grease made the shell translucent like underneath a domino's pizza, how the box gets. I,

Starting point is 00:46:50 I, look, we got four tacos, two with cheese, two without. And I was able to take. tell which ones had cheese, not by opening the taco, but by looking through the taco. It was actually transparent. It was not the way any food should be, and it still tasted fine. The sauce was good. I went three and a half out of ten, but about the texture and the see-throughness was not reminiscent of something that I should be putting in body. Fair enough. Yeah. And I think cheese is a generous term. It was just more, I did not taste

Starting point is 00:47:37 cheese. If you had given me one that didn't have cheese, I probably would have thought cheese was in it. Yeah. Because of just the flavors alone. Sure. Now, my experience is a little different from yours. Do you have it in the just there? I have it in the just there. All right. Well, then, we're going to go into that section. Yeah. Everything that was just there. I'll go ahead and I'll go ahead and start with that is just there. I'll go ahead and start with that since we're leaving off on tacos. Yep.

Starting point is 00:48:12 For me, and I stated this before, but the, it gave, okay, the only reason I gave it a higher rating is merely because of nostalgia that I had, which is very, that I have. I have a lot of places that, like, they just scratch an itch that only not. nostalgia can. Yeah. It's not even a flavor. It is nostalgia. It's just the nostalgia of it because it really, it was a time machine. It transported me back to a different time. And it still tasted the exact same. The taste to me was no different from, oh man, that was almost 15 years ago. So it's knowing that, it definitely played a difference in my scoring. Did it score very high? Still no. It still is very low in scoring. Yeah. Because objective.

Starting point is 00:48:58 effectively, it's terrible. It's a terrible taco. I have had so many tacos that are so good. And anybody that does know ragmopping goose, I constantly talk about how I want tacos. Tacos are one of my number one things. I love them. Do you have a favorite taco place? Oh, and I, hmm, okay, tacos to Madre. Tacos my mother. Talkos my mother. Watch your mouth, buddy. They are delicious. Oh my goodness. They're the they're like the little street tacos, which, you know, they're absolutely good and they come with the extra tortillas so you know whatever falls off becomes another taco which i love i think that's a very economical way of eating tacos sure you know um because then you get surprised taco or you get mixed taco you mix all what you have left over into one taco oh i think

Starting point is 00:49:47 that's actually called a garbage taco right oh load me up i think i love it yeah call me waste management look i've made a whole podcast about eating garbage so it's like and we're definitely talking about it now yeah but yeah the these these tacos the nostalgia for me okay i put it at a higher score of 8.0 okay that's just the nostalgia okay okay but the actual food and the the uh the actual taco itself was a 3.7 okay okay and then so evening out it came to a 5.8 okay yeah that's that's where i landed i that's where i landed like well let me throw in one more it's a 5.8 oh i know that makes a difference yeah it's not even on the high end of 5.8 no no of all the 5.8s it could be it's the lowest barely made it to 5.8 uh yeah that's not a yeah

Starting point is 00:50:51 i i don't need the taco again fair enough it's not a flower i want to land on if you know what I mean. And listen, and we had one taco left over. Okay, because you get two. Yeah. So we had four. Okay, you, you ate most of one. I ate a whole one. I did finish one, but I could not go back and eat that other one. Yeah. So that is also telling on how it ended up landing in the end. Yeah. In general, I am different than I was at the start of this meal. I feel like my body chemistry has changed. Yeah. I feel like my mental. State has like, I feel like I've gone through the hero's journey a little bit. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Where like I return but changed. Oh, yeah.

Starting point is 00:51:36 You made a mistake. I made a mistake. Yeah. Yeah. And here we are now. Yeah. And I think the tacos factored into that to where my genuine thought when I finished it was like, I don't get why people crave this.

Starting point is 00:51:51 It's one of those things where I used to crave them back in the day. Yeah. And I have the memory of them. Yeah. the memory still does not outweigh anything or like the craving is not outweighing anything all of it is just like you know what I'm good it's now a story yeah it's now a thing it's memory it won't be a

Starting point is 00:52:12 reoccurrence in my life yeah oh all I have down here now are Septemberger burgers yeah that's I'm left with anything else no I that was my only thing that was there was just the burger selection the burger selection and the the I don't want to say the taco. I just want to say the nostalgia, the memory of the taco. That's what I have listed. All right. Well, then

Starting point is 00:52:36 it's competition time. We need to like, we need to go up against Wendy's. You're the underdog. Jack in the box is the underdog. It's the number eight seed in the tournament. And so we started off with the sourdough Jack. But before

Starting point is 00:52:52 we can really get into the tournament, we need to get into the competitive atmosphere. Fear. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, honey, I'm going to ask you to assume the role of Jack in the Box, and I want you to call out your opponent, Wendy's. Listen here, you red-headed stepchild. I'm coming for you. I was established in 1951. I was 18 when you came on to the game. So what does that make you? That makes you my little sibling that just wants to follow in my footsteps. Does it make you good? No.

Starting point is 00:53:26 Who makes Patty Square? The bun to meat ratio is so off. It's ridiculous. I can't take it. And what happens when you take those square patties? And you stack up six of them. What do you have? A box. Yeah, that's right. You have a box. You're trying to emulate what I've already done, and you can't even do that right. Because what can you do? Chili. Bake potato. Who wants fast food, baked potato, and cheese. Chili. No one. I can't even talk about your burgers, honestly. It just makes me sick. Ugh. What else do I have to say about you? So much. You have no idea. Wendy, it makes me think of Peter Pan. Wendy wanted to become an adult. Who wants that? No one. Okay? You stay a kid as long as you can. We're all about the toys. The clowns. We're here to clown around. and that's who we are because we are Jack in the box

Starting point is 00:54:29 and we think outside the box while you live in it. The box, that is. Thank you. Very good. Thank you. All right, now I feel like competition is running through my veins.

Starting point is 00:54:45 You have no idea how much adrenaline you just shot into my bloodstream. Oh, that's just the Red Bull. I just had a sip. You had a sip. I had a whole can. I had a whole can. a whole thing. It's all, I'm all gray inside. It's amazing.

Starting point is 00:55:00 Woo, I'm fired up. All right. So let's start with the round one burger. This is going to be the thing going up against next week, the Dave's single. Oh, for us, it is the number one on the jack in the box menu, the sourdough jack. Oh, yep, yep. So the sourdough jack comes on a toasted sourdough bread. It's got tomato, onion, ketchup, burger, maybe some mayo. I don't know. It's questionable. It was hard to tell. It was pink, so I assume it was mayo plus ketchup mixed together, aka fry sauce, if the right ratio. Yes.

Starting point is 00:55:39 I thought that when I bit into this, I was ready to be impressed. And then I waited. And the taste materialized. Yes. It went from a really good first impress. Buttery bread. Boatery bread. Boastery toasted bread.

Starting point is 00:55:59 Coasted well. Who doesn't love buttery toasted bread? Sourdough? It's so good. Yeah. But what's beneath that? Oh. Burger meat?

Starting point is 00:56:07 Nothing. That is very, very uninspiring. Yes. A tomato that was just there to take control and dominate. Oh, it completely dominated the conversation of eating. It wasn't a team player. All you had was tomato. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:56:23 If you told me nothing else was on there but tomato. I would believe you. You did just eat a tomato. That's it. Okay. I thought so. I thought this was a trick. I really did.

Starting point is 00:56:32 Because there was no lettuce. There's no, just tomato, whatever sauce that was or wasn't. And the buttery sourdough bread. And there was one slice of onion that was like in the wrapper. It wasn't even in the sandwich. I don't think I got onion at all. I think onion was only on your end. Which makes me wonder, was this the inside of the onion ring that came

Starting point is 00:56:55 your fries, or was this supposed to be in it, but they just gave so little onion that only one of us got to experience? Because I got a bite where I did put it on there. And I was like, oh, this does add something, but it's still not great. Oh, yeah. It was a very lackluster flavor. Yeah. Chewability.

Starting point is 00:57:16 All of it. Just me. Yeah. My score for the sourdough jack is, uh, is, a 4.96. Oh. This was very mediocre and just under the good side of mediocre. I gave a 4.10.

Starting point is 00:57:36 Just barely made it past four for me. And I don't know if it was, you know, you got onion. I don't believe I got onion. Onion would have added one more flavor for me. Yeah. Because I didn't have that extra, it was just all I tasted was tomato and beige. that was it okay speaking of beige yeah this was the brownest meal oh yeah i've ever eaten in my life yeah churros burgers supreme croissant yeah egg roll yeah taco but with like a translucent brown shell

Starting point is 00:58:16 this was just like they should rename jack in the box oopsall brown that that should be what the theme of the restaurant is. We give you all the brown food. Oops, all brown. And one black drink. I would say, I think Taco Bell already took oops all brown. Hey. Hey, coming at you, Taco Bell. Coming at you. All right. So when you average your 4.10 with my 4.96 doing real quick head math, I think that averages out to... Is that a 4.5? 4.53? Yeah. I think that sounds right. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:58:55 Yeah. So 4.53 is the score that Dave single will need to advance in Septemberger next week. Yeah. Stay tuned next week and we'll see how that goes. Okay. We mentioned that we didn't like the jumbo jack. It would be in the not good. We are in the just there, but we've got that Septemberger momentum going.

Starting point is 00:59:14 And while we're not going to give scores, I do want to preview what we thought. I didn't really care for the jumbo jack. It was unmanageable in a lot of ways. Unmanageable is a good way of putting it in the fact that it just fell apart. I felt like this burger was mad at me. The sea was angry that day, folks, it was like the burger was. You know when you're in high school and you have someone that you're like friends with, but it's kind of dramatic and there's just like occasionally they're moody towards you and you don't know what you did. That's how I felt that this burger was to me.

Starting point is 00:59:48 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it definitely was holding a grudge in some way, shape, or form. Yeah, it wasn't holding its form, that's for sure. No, that thing was sliding all over the place. It was slipping and sliding. It was hard to even just like, if you, it was definitely one that you could not set down. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:00:04 Because if you set it down for some reason, it moved on its own. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It was just uninspired. The bun was dry. The burger was dry. It just needed something about it.

Starting point is 01:00:15 And seasoning? Seasoning. seasoning would have been very welcomed moisture even though it had a sauce like it's just crazy yeah how can something be dry with sauce yeah it was uh i think it was the bun i think the bun was the main the bun was like the black hole that was just absorbing everything yeah like when people say they're like bread spongy they mean like texture not like the actual function of a sponge yes where it takes all the moisture i believe the the english call it stodgy where it's like more that like, oh, that's not quite what it's supposed to be.

Starting point is 01:00:51 Yeah. Yeah. I can see why, despite being named the jumbo jack, I can see why it's not the number one on the menu. Yeah. No, it doesn't need that place. Everything else is like an experimental burger. Very true.

Starting point is 01:01:03 It's like a melt like the sourdough jack or it's like their smash burger menu. Yeah, this is the only one that's just a straightforward burger. Yeah. And then they have variations on it. You can get like a junior jack or, you know, can get. True. Or add bacon or whatever. But like at their core, it's the standard burger.

Starting point is 01:01:22 Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then the third burger that we ate is the bacon buttery smashed jack. Yes. This one had a different style of bread of bun. I couldn't just. I don't think they actually stated what it was.

Starting point is 01:01:39 Yeah. I don't think it was brioche. Just had a different look. Different look. It looked a little bit like a pretzel bun. but it definitely was not. It didn't taste pretzily. It had the visualness of having that kind of like square top type of thing of like a pretzel bun or like a king's Hawaiian bun.

Starting point is 01:01:58 It had something like that. It had curves. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. In the way a pretzel bun does, it was like, it's a good looking bun, you know what I'm saying? But I guess we were also going off the picture. I feel like the burger that actually came didn't necessarily represent that picture. Yeah. Because there was confusion on if it was the burger.

Starting point is 01:02:16 we thought it was. There was a lot of confusion. Yeah. Because, like, one of our burgers was supposed to come with, like, a garlic mayo or garlic aoli. Supposedly. And I couldn't tell you which one it was. I suspect it was this one based on the taste. And then this one was also allegedly a smash burger.

Starting point is 01:02:33 Yeah. Yeah. And it was very hard to tell. We, you and I have both had our fair share of smash burgers. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And in Krispy.

Starting point is 01:02:44 Yeah. That's the game. Yeah. definitely you can tell it has been smashed down this was as if it had been poured into a mold yes that someone said this is a mold of smash burger this was an AI approximation of that's what it is that's all it is is just AI saying that it is AI approximated food that's all it is yeah yeah uh I didn't like this uh I had bacon on my half of it.

Starting point is 01:03:17 That's right. I don't believe yours did. I still don't think bacon was on it at all. I think you were lying about the bun and the lettuce were nice. I did like the bun. And the lettuce, I thought, gave a good crunch. Yes. The tomato was fine.

Starting point is 01:03:34 It didn't dominate the way that it did in the sourdough jack because I think the lettuce here actually, like, this is the most work I've ever seen lettuce put in on a burger. to wear like an enhanced flavor. I want you all to think about that. This was a burger that the flavor was enhanced by lettuce. Which is like 90% water. So as we're back to. Water is great. Water is great. Water improves jack in the box.

Starting point is 01:04:04 Jack in the box is to be consumed like the Nathan's hot dog eating contest. Just dunk everything in water. It'll help it go down. Separate it from the bun, you know. Yeah Let me make sure I have Let's see But this is fine

Starting point is 01:04:22 This is just there Oh that's I had flavors came through Separately Yeah It didn't work together No it was like Okay

Starting point is 01:04:31 Here is nothing That's the bun Here is lettuce Tomato I feel like this is sauce But it doesn't taste like Suss And then that was the same way

Starting point is 01:04:43 With the paddy I felt like it was a paddy but there was no way to tell. Yeah. Yeah. Like you literally pointed to the texture of it and you're like, maybe it's a smashed burger because it's like bumpy. Exactly.

Starting point is 01:04:56 It's like it had rounded weird edges. It wasn't like it was a classic burger patty. Yeah. So yeah. So yeah, not great, but not terrible. Yeah. So if I'm going back, this was my highest scoring of the burgers. Oh, okay.

Starting point is 01:05:13 But not by much. Yeah, yeah. Still not impressive. Jack in the box for a burger place is not, like, don't go for the burgers. No. Go for the churros and the Sour Patch Kids lemonade and then get curly fries. Yeah, yeah. Once you have the curly fries, that's all you need.

Starting point is 01:05:31 Yeah, you do not need an entree at Jack in the Box. Yeah. Your experience will be improved by avoiding entrees at Jack in the Box. Yeah, maybe explore the chicken options. Yes, we did not do that. And the only thing I was really interested in was the, chicken and waffles. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 01:05:48 I would explore that. Yeah, waffle sticks, yeah, which is like great. Make it more handheld for me. Yeah, yeah. So yeah. Cool. Well, that is all of the elements of dining at Jack in the Box for me. Is that it for you?

Starting point is 01:06:02 I believe so. Okay. I think that's a thorough picture of our experience at Jack in the Box. But our opinions aren't the only ones that matter. It's important to give everyone a voice. So we're going to turn to Yelp and see what others are saying. about the jack-in-the-box we went to in this week's Yelp from Strangers. We need a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers.

Starting point is 01:06:26 A one-star, two-star, three-star, four or five-ye. So get a little yelp, a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers. A little yelp, a little yelp. Give us those complaints while you literally white and die. Yel! This is Yelp from Strangers, our segment where we turn to Yelp and read out our favorite. One, two, three, four, and five star Yelp reviews of the very restaurant that we went to. Honey, do you mind if I start us off first?

Starting point is 01:07:06 Yeah, I'm also just surprised that there's five-star reviews. Two-star review. This is a two-star review from Adam K from Los Angeles, California. July 23, 23rd, 2023. Sorry, Jack in the Box. I love you, but it's going to be a bad review. Oh, got to love the preference. I'm just like, all right, let's get it.

Starting point is 01:07:28 Rolling up my sleeve. Here we go. No holding back now, Jack. Why do we go to Jack in the Box? Because it's open 24 hours. That's why. Sometimes you just need an oversized burger, tacos, and churros at 11 p.m., you know? Yep.

Starting point is 01:07:45 Sometimes your spouse is pregnant and she demands churros, you know? I like how churros, yeah. I agree with that. I could see that being a want. I don't even need to be pregnant to demand churros. And I like Jack in the Box. Oh. So why such a low score?

Starting point is 01:08:02 Well, because the dining room is often closed and the drive-thru is often closed. I've been here more than once where the restaurant was just closed. What? I should let him know this jack in the box is open from 6 a.m. to midnight. So, like, this isn't a 24-7 jack-in-the-box. Okay, so they're just confusing it in general.

Starting point is 01:08:28 Yeah, yeah. Like, they've forgotten that you can look up the hours of operation and a very easy search. Yeah. You can find them on the door to the establishment. Shocker. Yeah. Sometimes you'll come by

Starting point is 01:08:41 and there will be a traffic cone in the drive. through. What? I love all these whats. What is he? Stone Cold Steve Austin. The whole overview of this review is just like he's talking. This is like a monologue for like a night show or something like that. Add to that, the drive through is poorly laid out. The parking lot is in disrepair and you have the recipe for a disaster. How poor, how can a drive-thru be poorly laid out. I will say when I was leaving backing out of my spot, there was another person who had a very large truck kind of parked behind me. Okay. And so even though I have a pretty

Starting point is 01:09:24 decent turn radius on my car, I did struggle. And then as I was trying to leave the parking lot, not go through the drive-through, but go past it and take a right out. I was stuck in the drive-through line until such a point that I was able to get out. Okay. Okay. I don't disagree with the critique of the parking lot. Okay. I guess it's just how they put it as the drive-thru was poorly laid out. It's like, I think there needs to be a little more context that it's the overall parking lot and drive-through. Yeah, the parking lot is small. That's what it is. Got it. Okay. Anyways, the parking lot is in disrepair and you have the recipe for a disaster, but I still love you.

Starting point is 01:10:02 Oh, how sweet. That's it. That's it. That's the whole review. Okay. Yeah. I mean, they sound like a fan for life, you know, no matter what is thrown at, them they're gonna their pregnant wife is gonna want churros they're gonna want those churros sometimes i want that yeah i get it i get it i do get it yeah five star review this is from j b to lucca lake los angeles california and this is what's interesting december 23rd 24 so close to christmas almost christmas almost christmas it's like what's the last meal i want before holiday meal yeah that's this is what you want and jack in the box is appropriate to label a last meal yeah absolutely absolutely Absolutely. Okay, so J.B. says, five stars. In my younger days, this was my location, or Taco Bell. I used this location for delivery in the past. My son in his 30s is here and wanted me to pick up food when I'm in an Uber on my way home. Okay. I'm trying to play out the series of events here. None of that needed to be shared.

Starting point is 01:11:12 No, no, no, no. My son's in town. I'm in an Uber and he wants food. Well, we've already started it off with stating another restaurant that you love in the middle of it. This is my go-to spot. This is my go place. Or a chocolate spot. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:11:27 So there's, okay, so let's put ourselves in there. So their son in his 30s, which is great. We need to know how old he is. Yes. This 30s wanted me to pick up food while I'm in an Uber on my way home. Also, it's like the son. of my third in his 30s is that a thing where you're like judging like he's in his 30s yeah he hasn't grown out of my son in his 30s is here to pick up food well i'm in an uber yeah um and who knows

Starting point is 01:11:56 maybe he works there yeah maybe that's what it is okay this is where it gets a little weird as well it gets weirder it's been a long time for me and i was ordering from the back seat of a black Goonie Gugu I saw that When I picked this review I have no idea What it means

Starting point is 01:12:18 I was wondering if you might What is a black Gooney Googoo? I Okay so I don't know Like Uber black maybe Maybe

Starting point is 01:12:29 Uber Like a Maybe that's a Gooney was supposed to be Uber But why Gougu Why Gougu Why Gugu That's J.B

Starting point is 01:12:38 You need to tell us Why Gougou No, J.B. Why goo-goo? What is a goony? What is a goon? What is a goo? Why was goo-goo needed after the guni? Why? Why? Okay. So then they said, this employee tonight was beyond fantastic. That's nice. That's good to hear, actually. I like that. Patient and, in all capitals, funny. Yep. He's so funny. I'm still laughing. Wow. I wish I could have tipped them. Wow. So many questions, honestly. Oh, wait, what's this that's being pulled up right now? Goonie Goo Goo. For some reason, Goonigoo is referenced in an Eddie Murphy standup. And we're talking about Eddie Murphy Raw in the red leather jumpsuit.

Starting point is 01:13:29 Hold on. Are you, like, hooked up to the internet? Like, what is, did you just have the, did you just have this uploaded into your consciousness? I had to get the database in my mind. Did you join? did you join the hive mind oh oh for i don't know the full reference but that seems to be something if you google guinea gougu eddie murphy like raw standup comes up i don't know what that means still but but we have a we have it we have at least an idea i guess we have found the map on

Starting point is 01:14:03 the back of the declaration of independence we have not followed it yet oh the treasure is there It's right there. Some reason Antarctica? Yeah, we just need Benjamin Franklin's glasses. And we'll be able to figure this out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's J.B.'s five-star review of this jack-in-the-box. How about those two Yelp reviews?

Starting point is 01:14:24 You can get three more over at my Patreon, the extended Yelp from Strangers segment, at patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. In addition to that, you can get a free full fine dining episode. every single month. That covers a restaurant that is exclusive to Patreon. Recently, I've done

Starting point is 01:14:43 Boston Market. I went to one of the 16 remaining in the country all the way in New York City. It was not great, but I got to cover it. And for September,

Starting point is 01:14:53 the Septemberger semifinals and finals episode will be my exclusive Patreon episode. However, it will be free. All you have to do is go to the Patreon to hear it.

Starting point is 01:15:04 Otherwise, you're going to have to wait an additional week to hear how the tournament ends. That's patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. Thanks so much. Hope to see you there, dinamaniacs. Okay, honey, we're going to score Jack in the Box,

Starting point is 01:15:19 but I've been doing this podcast a long time. I've gone to over 100 restaurants to develop this scale, the Chotchke of Mediocrity. It's your first time here on the Fine Dining Podcast. And I mean, no offense by this. You're just not as calibrated as I am. Fair enough. It would thrill me to have you talk

Starting point is 01:15:37 about the far ends of your personal dining experiences, something that you would call the worst restaurant meal you've ever had, as well as the best that you can remember in order to calibrate. Is that all right with you? Yeah, absolutely. No, yeah. You've got to know where everybody comes from. All right.

Starting point is 01:15:51 We're going to take a quick stop at the Calibration Station. All right. Calibration Station, comparing this meal to the best or the worst. Calibration Station. Chugger, chugger, All right, your best restaurant experience, your worst restaurant experience, whichever one you want to start with, but let's hear your zero out of 10 and your 10 out of 10. Okay.

Starting point is 01:16:19 What do you prefer? Do you want to hear worst or best? Whichever one you're most passionate about. Ooh, okay. You know what? I'm going to go best first. All right. And we're going to save the worst for last.

Starting point is 01:16:30 My best meal I've ever had was a sushi restaurant in insurance. Herman Oaks. It is called sushi note. And it is a omicasse style sushi restaurant. It had the best tasting fish I have ever had in my life. Freshly brought in every day. Just beautiful. They had a blue crab that was delicious, crunchy but soft. Everything you desire. The atmosphere was beautiful. The service was amazing. The pairings of of drinks with your meal was just fantastic. Have not had a better meal since. Interesting.

Starting point is 01:17:15 What's your, your like go-to sushi, like fish type that you like? Now, I'm a big salmon belly guy. Oh, okay, okay. This was more of like a, it was an anniversary dinner type of thing or like a special occasion dinner.

Starting point is 01:17:29 So it was on the pricier side. So it's not something I would go to very often. But if I am going to have sushi, I am going towards a nice actually blue crab honestly yeah sorry or soft shell crab any of those types of things are like if you do it right you do it right yeah and I love it

Starting point is 01:17:51 amazing yeah and that's not too far from me I might yeah definitely check it out that to my radar it is beautiful the worst meal it is a place that is no longer in existence Ooh, I wonder if we have the same zero. We ate there at a little place called the Empire Center in Burbank. Is it hometown buffet? Hometown buffet.

Starting point is 01:18:19 Hometown buffet. No way. It is the worst restaurant I've ever been to. Oh, my gosh. It was one of those things where it's like the memory of it. You have to be like, oh, I remember these types of places. Maybe we should go check it out and see if it's still, you know, a memory-inducing place.

Starting point is 01:18:36 Yeah. And let me tell you, it is a memory-inducing place. Because that was the worst experience I've had with food in so many years. Yeah. Oh. Let me tell you, I had a breakfast buffet there. Oh. Which breakfast is a layup.

Starting point is 01:18:57 Yeah. No, that's easy. It's easy. Hotels do that. And they don't even have like full service like kitchens necessarily. They just leave stuff on a counter. Yeah. They make you make your own waffles.

Starting point is 01:19:08 You know, that's how little they do. They put you through labor. Yes. Hometown buffet, it was like, all I remember was it being salty and me being mad at my friend that suggested it on the drive home. Yes. I've blocked everything else out about it. Yeah. But like, I ate a good sampling of every.

Starting point is 01:19:25 Anyways, this is your story. But like, I'm so passionately like, I'm with you. I'm with you on this. Yeah. Because it's the deal with the buffet is you have to try. a lot of stuff. Yeah. You have to,

Starting point is 01:19:35 like, there's so many things to try it. You have, in order to get your money's worth, you got to try a little bit of everything. And I thought it was, you know, we talked about a tan or beige meal.

Starting point is 01:19:46 Yeah. This was a tan and beige meal. It was, yeah. It, oh, I tried popcorn shrimp. I tried all the different things that cut brisket, the cut whatever,

Starting point is 01:19:57 and it was just all so terrible. And nothing hit. And it was also, I think it was also what added to the experience is the aftermath. Mm. The aftermath of the meal. You are bloated. You feel nauseous. You feel like less of a person when you leave there.

Starting point is 01:20:19 Or a bee. Or a bee. Listen, I felt so much less of who I was. I considered myself less of a person. It was just awful. Yeah. And no wonder. It is closed and no longer in existence.

Starting point is 01:20:35 Yeah. Well, somewhere between an anniversary splurge at an omicasse and feeling like less of a person. When you're not even a person. Lies today's meal at Jack in the Box. Yes. We need to put it through the Chili's test. It's not to set scale. Will it pass?

Starting point is 01:21:02 Oh, will it pass? is it the worst is the best let's put it to the chilies test anything better than chilies is objectively a good restaurant anything not as good as chilies is objectively a bad restaurant fair enough jack in the box is one of those yeah let's talk about it okay jack in the box would you like me to deliver this to you or am i delivering this to the audience at home you know deliver it to jack himself i think he needs to hear this that's fair jack i respect you you wear a suit that's respectable you run a business you know how to make us laugh Jack in the box has a dine-in experience one I really don't like ordering from the kiosks yeah we want the personal experience

Starting point is 01:21:49 we want the jack-in-the-box the way we want the Albertos that are at Jack-in-the-box my wife is what I want to hear it's being able to have a conversation with someone the ability to make a joke you know, to greet someone, to have someone greet you.

Starting point is 01:22:05 It's what we all want in an experience. It's what we want in fast food. When it comes to your food. You okay? I'm just getting emotional. Food is a, food is an experience. It should be an experience. This was an experience that will not be forgotten,

Starting point is 01:22:28 but not in the way that you think. Jack in the box for thinking. outside the box maybe it's time to come back in the box maybe it's time to rain it in maybe it's time to think about what it is you're doing and do better be better be the jack that we once knew that we once loved 2.7 yeah i felt that in my bones yeah i think jack in the box is ever so slightly better than you said to where it's like negligible like we pretty much had the same experience i i had a few items that i went in today and i loved yeah three three items that i loved that's pretty good that's really good and yet so many things that drastically disappointed me

Starting point is 01:23:31 that made me feel uh gross that made me like like i caught my reflection on the red bull drink container and i didn't recognize and i didn't like who i saw i didn't like it yeah no i shouldn't be happening no no no i should not be having the jack sweats right now but you do but i am having the jack sweats right now jack in the box 2.83. Oh, yeah. When you put my score together with Honey's score, Jack in the box,

Starting point is 01:24:07 you're going up on the Chochie of Mediocrity at a 2. 0.7. Oh, yeah. 100% agree with that. I don't think there's another place that they should be. Do I want them to be somewhere else? Absolutely. I mean, we all want better for these people.

Starting point is 01:24:31 places we do we do because why would i want to experience something not great no but as it stands jack in the box slightly below subway in kfc below a very bad experience at medieval times that i had oh i'm so sorry about that but above gattie town wing street shonies and white castle oh yeah not in great company no jack in the box you're not a good restaurant you are officially not as good as Chili's. Not as good as Chili's. Objectively not so good. Okay.

Starting point is 01:25:07 So next week, Septemberger is going to roll on with the number one seed, Wendy's. Jack in the Box's competition in this tournament. That's who the sourdough jack will be competing with. That'll be next week. Honey, thank you so much for joining me this week. Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure. No. The pleasure was all mine, aside from the food. That was not a pleasure, but the company that you shared with us at the table was fantastic. And again, a perfect representation of how we need that person to puppet or person to person contact. Of course. It is what is truly needed in these times. Yes. But you know what is not needed?

Starting point is 01:25:56 Most of their menu. Most of their menu. Most of their menu. Awesome. Well, if you want to tell people where they can find you on social media, where you'd like them to follow you, et cetera, et cetera. Hey, I'm Honey Butter Popcorn. I'm the BEO of Ragmop and Goose, the Puppet Adoption Agency. You can find us at ragmop and goose.com. You can find us on all social medias at Ragmop and Goose. We have a live improv show that we do at UCB bi-monthly. That's really fun. It's an all-ages show where we ask parents or adults for a movie title, and then we ask kids to fill in things. the blanks. And then we have puppets acted out with one human guest. Uh, it's a fantastic time. But yeah, we do all sorts of stuff. We're kind of like all over the place. You want meditation videos? You got them. Check out YouTube. You want, um, you want jokes. Check out our social media. Every Monday. I'm putting out a dad joke that makes me crack up laugh. And I hope it makes you laugh. But more importantly, I'm laughing at them. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. And you can follow this show on

Starting point is 01:26:53 Instagram and TikTok at Fine Dining Podcast. You can follow me on blue sky, find dining podcast. You can follow me on Blue Sky, Fine Dining Podcast.Besky. dot social. You can join the conversation on my Discord. I'm very accessible. You can chat with me. You can tell me that I'm wrong about Jack in the box. You'll be wrong if you do so, but you can.

Starting point is 01:27:10 I, I'm here. So come chat with me, come chat with us. It's a fun place to just talk food, life, share pet photos, all that good stuff. And I have a Patreon. If you want an exclusive episode every single month, the episode at the end of September will be the Septemberger semifinals and finals episode so you can find out who wins the tournament. That will be free.

Starting point is 01:27:34 You do not need to pay for the Patreon to access that. You just have to go there to find it. And you can still submit your brackets. If you want me to write a rap song about you or any restaurant or food related thing, you want me to write a rap about how much I love cheese, I'll do it. I'll look dead behind the eyes when I perform it, but I'll do it. that is within your control so get those brackets in there will be a winner even if the bracket even if no one submits a fully correct bracket i will just do a drawing

Starting point is 01:28:04 it'll be fun uh thanks so much for watching that is another one in the books i will see you next week have a fine day well there's another one in the books we judge the service up to the cooks and while we may have gotten a couple of dirty love No, the journey can never stop Now from the bottom down to the top We got a new embo And everything's on lock And that's because chimneys

Starting point is 01:28:36 To the letter to the tea It's the public on the stone mediocrity, octetie So now we got a brand new kind of test That's the ones we got to know Could we shivering on the air? Triple dip, we got the ribs are main course. Something little in the middle.

Starting point is 01:28:59 It's gone. Now it's got to be the lock for what we use when we put things up on the charge gate. We are today. So there's another one in the books, yeah, there's another one in the folks, and we will see you next a week and next a week, and next week, baby.

Fine Dining - Jack in the Box: See-Through Tacos, Clown Mascot, and Legendary Curly Fries

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