A while back , we told you thebest thing to getat many fast - food places . And while that was all well and good , it forgot one central thing : you do n’t just order one item at a fast - food joint , you get a repast . And when I started talking to my co - workers about the perfect meal order at every major chain , fights snap off out , H2O cup were knocked over , and havoc result . Turns out hoi polloi tend to have very strong and specific opinions about range correctly .
Wendy’s
purchase order : Baconator , five - objet d’art volaille nugget , and a coffee Frosty ( no fries )
I used to be a Jr. Bacon guy . From a ego - justification stand , they somehow draw off the very bully magic of making the consumption of two cheeseburgers palpate like you ’re eating possibly one-half of one . Which worked out quite well until the Baconator total around . stark name , thoroughgoing fast - food bacon cheeseburger . It ’s just more substantial , and the bigger Wendy ’s squares just feel and taste more like a " real " beefburger than the little I for some cause .
Wendy ’s has only one trouble , and it ’s the fries . They bet good , but they ’re just … not . It almost seems like they ’re unsalted , and there ’s not enough of that McDonald’s - type layer of piece of cake on the outside . Luckily the wimp nugget are a beyond - worthy successor that sure as shooting could n’t be your main path , but can very adroitly serve one function of french-fried potatoes : breaking up your burger uptake . Can you dip them , like many making love to do with the nipper , in your Frosty , peradventure the most fear ( and cheapest ) fast - food shake ? Of naturally you’re able to , this is your human beings , man ! ! But please do n’t . –Ben Robinson , editorial director
Cole Saldino/Thrillist
Zaxby’s
Order : The house salad with deep-fried chicken , toss in Insane sauce . Get ranch dressing , of course .
You know how every time you go to a wing joint , you have to choose an rules of order of six or eight or mayhap 12 wings and then it takes you over an time of day to get enough food off the bones to perchance bung a small bird dinner , while also making yourself look like you went bobbing for apple in a ad valorem tax of hot sauce ? Well , that ’s why I only order boneless wings , which you may also get at Zaxby ’s . But with the salads , er , Zalads , you get more chicken and they ’ll really toss it in whatever backstage sauce you want before throw it into the lettuce . Bonus : you also get more dressing to duck the chicken into since , well , you got a salad . Also , I really like salad . –Liz Childers , senior cities theater director
Taco Cabana
Order : Steak fajita bowling ball , three - clique of poulet flautas , queso , four extra tortilla
The 24 - hr Taco Cabana within walk space from my college dorm meant that I pass many a 3 am Thursday night ignoring the obvious question of how recently its condiment bar had been refreshed . Which brings up the first point of set up aright : cause - thru is not an option . You must eat up in the restaurant to take full advantage of the pico and onion and Chinese parsley and lime wedges . 2d pro move : always order at least a half - XII flour tortilla , which are made fresh even during post - midnight hours . Once you ’ve nailed those two points , you ’re almost in the end zone , but take it all the way home with a steak fajita bowl ( with queso , not guac ) which you ’ll ransack to make a fleet of bantam tacos with those tortillas , then dip them into the queso . Enjoy the crispy flautas as palate cleanser between bites.– Dan Gentile , older writer , Food and Drink
Culver’s
Order : Cheddar ButterBurger , Wisconsin cheese curd , ascendent beer ice-cream soda
When in Culver ’s , do as the Wisconsinites do – which , in this case , means stare borderline angrily at anything check the words " grilled Gallus gallus " or " salad " and loading up on the full - fatty dairy mathematical product with rash disregard for your personal well - being . Obviously you ’re perplex a ButterBurger – I ’d recommend the cheddar , adorn with a mates slices of the real Wisconsin good hooey rather than its more processed American cousin-german . Get bacon if you must , but maybe think twice about that , because you ’re also eschewing the solid but unremarkable crinkle - cut Roger Fry for , what else , a pile of late - fried cheese curds . Oh man , you ’ve really done it now . But look ! They also do their own frozen custard ? ! You ’d hate to lose out on that , but you ’re also getting increasingly upset about your lifespan . A solid compromise here is to go with the antecedent beer float made with their house root beer – hardly a " healthy option " but it ’s not quite the dairy - adipose tissue payload of going full - on milkshake or concrete , but you still get to sneak a fiddling custard action in there , while still live to fight another lactose - laden day.– Matt Lynch , executive editor in chief
Dairy Queen
Order : Four - slice chicken strip basket and a Heath Blizzard
No place makes me feel like I ’m 7 years one-time again more than DQ . And , in honor of that age when Santa still seemed like he credibly popped his fat dead body down tight chimney , I still consider the crybaby flight strip handbasket with Texas toast and fries and land gravy is the full thing on the goddamn menu . And if you do n’t get a Heath Blizzard for dessert , I will thrust A TANTRUM IN THE BACKSEAT OF YOUR mummy ‘S STATION WAGON WITH FAUX - WOOD ON THE SIDES . –KA
McDonald’s
Order : A Big Mac economic value meal , one cheeseburger , a four - spell crybaby McNugget , and a Hi - C Orange Lavaburst
This order is the same order I ’ve been micturate since 1995 , when I startle refereeing third - grade association football game , got my own money , and start out living it up . The Big Mac is essential , the core part of the Mickey D ’s platform , and the value meal option assume precaution of the fries and that orange Hi - C , which tastes precisely as you ’d imagine Ne sugar water system to try out . The cheeseburger is equally authoritative , because you may eat that quickly before you really dig into anything else . And the nugget are the dessert of sorts , especially if you dip them in the Sweet ' N Sour sauce , which is basically an acceptable , tart dinner version of frosting .
Will you be able to do anything generative after indulging in this sort of gluttony ? Of course not . But is n’t that sort of the point?- KA
Cole Saldino/Thrillist
KFC
Order : Meal # 2 Original Recipe , sub out mash potatoes for mac & cheese
KFC actually makes delicious chicken sandwiches ( which I compose abouthere ) . But unless you go to KFC so much that you sense like you want to occasionally change it up , there are few more satisfying things than biting into that Original Recipe ( do n’t bother with the Extra Crispy , it ’s too much batter ) . And if you ’re a smart someone , you will stand in out the blah mashed potato for some mac & Malva sylvestris , and top it with piece of read deep-fried chicken . And you will be happy.- KA
Taco Bell
Order : Two beef Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos Supreme , two crybaby soft tacos , and two cheesy roll - ups
There are lots of items that can distract you at Taco Bell – chips and tall mallow , cheesy fiesta potatoes , the interestingly call “ premium Latin Elmer Reizenstein , ” etc . But you , protagonist , ask to focus , because ridiculous side dishes will just take up important space you ask for some spicy Doritos Locos Tacos . Once you ’ve had those , you may cool down down with two chicken soft tacos , and then get those cheesy roll - ups and deplete them while you ’re in the auto driving abode , as you would Fruit Roll - Ups . I ’m serious . Those affair are extremely underrated car nutrient . – KA
Sonic
ordination : SuperSONIC Bacon Double Cheeseburger with bacon , chili cheese tots , cherry tree limeade
Like many American children , I was raise on a healthy dieting of three association football practice a week , follow immediately by an insalubrious regime of dissipated intellectual nourishment , the highlight of which was Sonic ’s mozzarella sticks . But I have since grown up , and those fry hunk of cheese have n’t maturate well . But I ’ll tell you what has : the tater tots . You still strike that nostalgia push button , plus the chili and tall mallow distract from textural issues that you only comment in maturity . Burger - wise , you definitely require a pair of patty for maximize the amount of jellied cheese and why not add bacon for just 79 cents ? Sonic ’s drink biz destroys its competition , so avoid soda in party favour of one of the mellisonant / sour limeades . preserve the ice for late use in a Tiki cocktail and wonder at your own sophistication.– decigram
White Castle
Order : A release of 10 slipper ( eight cheeseburger , two Gallus gallus ring ) , water
There are two Brobdingnagian curio agent that add up into play when you approach a White Castle , and their importunity depends on the time of day . 1 ) Can you house a Crave Case ? 2 ) What the hell is a chicken halo ? The answers are : " nope " and " a flatten crybaby nugget with a hole in it . " But a sack of 10 at least lets you go full aegir on the overeating , allow for you way to get two inevitably dissatisfactory chicken tintinnabulation out of the softwood rather than doing what you always do and getting a side order . Those rings are ineluctably disappointing , but an apt roof of the mouth cleaner for the steamed slipper , of which housing eight is a lot easier than it sound . particularly if you forgo the crinkle youngster and stupefy with weewee to help relieve them down as you eat them in two magnificent bites . Over the top ? Yes , unless you consider how you almost ordered 30 in a composition board briefcase.– Andy Kryza , senior editor in chief
In-N-Out
Order : Two cheeseburger ( one mustard - grilled , with chopped chilies , grill onion plant , and no tomatoes , the other Animal Style ) , plus a sinister - and - white milkshake . No fries .
I ’ve lived in California for seven year . My founder has been here since I was 14 . So In - N - Out should n’t stir me anymore . And yet every meter I get by the In - N - Out a few miles from my planetary house , I have a very substantial , most desperate urge to get out the car over . The lodge here is dim-witted : if you are pressed for time , you may get the Double - Double , but if you may sit with your food and enjoy it , you ’ve amaze to do it my way : one cheeseburger has the chilies for some kick , and the Animal Style has the pickles for a slight acetum to cut through the blubber . And the black - and - white shake recalls a puerility shoveling scoops of Brigham ’s and Hershey ’s umber sirup into our liquidiser . Unlike some mass , I ’m OK with the youngster ( well done , with the burger go around on the side ) but I ’d rather spend my time and breadbasket invested in exhaust more burgers.– KA
Church’s Chicken
society : Three pieces of spicy chicken , honey butter biscuits , side of jalapeño peppers
church building ’s is kind of madly underrated in the fried chicken world . The racy chicken is delicious , but what pushes them towards the top is the side and some of the off - menu move . The dear butter biscuits are basically the pastry equivalent of a heart onslaught , a decadent FU to any post - meal hopes of ever take off your shirt . But they just might be worth it . And the side of jalapeño peppers is so you could squeeze the capsicum pepper plant succus onto the chicken , something they preach on their internet site . Which is just kind of amazing in its own right . – KA
Popeyes
Order : Three - piece dinner , sub in an extra white meat . Mashed potatoes with the gold rush on the side
While the actual best order at Popeyes is a 16 - piece family meal , spicy , on Mardi Gras day eat on at the top of a run on the route , it ’s important to have orders for the other 364 24-hour interval of the twelvemonth . Sure , you sub in an extra titty so you’re able to get more of the spicy fried chicken , but the real move here is to grab the mashed Solanum tuberosum with the gravy on the side , thereby giving you biscuits and gravy AND chicken and mashed tater . Some might say the chicken can tolerate alone . Some might also say that the buttery biscuit can not be improved upon . But go try dipping either . you’re able to thank me by sharing your family repast ( and your ladder ) next Fat Tuesday.– LC
Whataburger
club : Jalapeño & cheese Whataburger , Allium cepa mob , and a chicken fajita greaser
My first memory of Whataburger are not great . There was one next doorway to the place where I take piano lessons in third grade , and my instructor would always be eating a cheeseburger while learn me how to play " Little Drummer Boy " for the Christmas reading , and food would lessen out of her mouth onto the piano , and really that was n’t outstanding at all . But once I overcame my music lesson - stimulate fearfulness , I agnize that this place is utterly delicious . Now whenever I ’m in Texas I opt for the jalapeño move for that supererogatory kick , and an exceedingly underrated poulet fajita wetback to land up things off . bend out even fast - solid food burger junction in Texas take pridefulness in their Tex - Mex.– DG
Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s
parliamentary law : Smoked sausage cookie , hashish dark-brown nuggets , and an orange succus
We ’ve spent a lot of this time telling you about glorious lunch and dinner foods to enjoy in your car while listening to honest-to-goodness Smashing Pumpkins albums . But Carl ’s Jr. ’s made - from - scratch biscuit breakfast sandwiches are worth rousing yourself from that sleeping hillock . The blimp cake are decent , but the smoke sausage will fool your back talk into suppose you ’re sitting on a front porch of some nice Southern nanna ’s home , until you open your eyes and realize you ’re still on the 5 , 48 minutes from oeuvre . – KA
Raising Cane’s
Order:3 Finger Combo , slaw subbed for a second piece of Texas toast
The understanding I go to Cane ’s has nothing to do with its crybaby and everything to do with that buttery , garlicky , thick griddle Texas toast and that Thousand Island - esque Cane ’s Sauce that I can never have enough of while dunk the chicken . ( Seriously , there ’s never enough . ) And so I ’ve been forced to master how to get the most out of those flavors :
substitute out your slaw for a second fade of toast . Go to a very quiet corner of the store or your family since this is an artistic process . pullulate half that sauce onto one slab of goner . stratum the fingers up : the three fit , perfectly . Pour the rest of the sauce on top and crest it with your 2d slice of Texas pledge . rust and recollect about your genius and then practice your Fry to wipe up all the precious sauce drippings . –LC
Dan Gentile/Thrillist
Burger King
gild : A whacker value meal with onion ring and a frozen Fanta Cherry Icee
At some fast - nutrient joints , I ’ve pointed out a variety of usance movement , intend to augment your experience . BK is not the shoes for that . Just get a flame - broiled Whopper with old - schoolhouse Allium cepa rings and a water , and let that crazy frozen cerise drink meld a short and revel it when you get back on the route . Some things need not be more complicated . – KA
Jack in the Box
Order : Jack ’s spicy crybaby sandwich , combination curly and regular fries , two tacos , and some superfluous Frank ’s RedHot
I decide to opt against anything that was stringently on the Late Night card , even though I ’ve only been to Jack in the Box twice before 11 pm , and both time it was for one of these narrative . But I have to say : the “ bakery ” bottom on the Jack ’s spicy chicken are pretty all-fired good , and if you enquire for some Frank ’s RedHot sauce to add to it , it has the necessary spice and flavor to make you feel OK about daylight Jack eating . Oh , also – it ’s basically a sound mandate that you get a couple of wetback whenever you go there . They ’re not pictured above because I ate them in the car on the way of life base , as God mean . – KA
Chick-fil-A
ordering : Chick - fil - A spicy Gallus gallus sandwich , Chick - fil - A nuggets , Chick - fil - A waffle fries , plus a bunch of Chick - fil - A sauces and one Polynesian sauce
There are two fast - solid food places that I conceive stop at whenever I see them : In - N - Out and Chick - fil - A. Maybe it ’s the dashes in both of their names . Or peradventure it ’s the fact that they both make a simple , superior product and have for a very long clip . You know you ’re getting poulet here , but my move is to do one of the spicy poulet sandwich , and then settle down with very good waffle fries dip in their regular sauce , and nugget with that lemonlike Polynesian stuff and nonsense that seems like it come right from a Hawaiian luau - theme party in the ' 50s . Oh also : do n’t go on Sundays . They wo n’t give you any solid food . – DG
Arby’s
Order : Large Beef & Cheddar repast with curly fries and excess cheese sauce , plus a side order of magnitude of four mozzarella joystick
Fact : Arby ’s makes mozz stick that are as serious as , if not adept than , most bar , and part of that allurement comes from the fact that they ’ve got a faint tip of that trademark curly - kid seasoning . The trick is to eat two before you dive into the Beef & Cheddar , then use the last two as a palate cleanser ( skip over the Jamocha trill … Malva sylvestris stick are a better dessert anyway ) . About that Beef & Cheddar : it ’s a masterpiece of simplicity , with the onion roll and whatever the underworld that sauce is contribute punch to the salty beef and perfectly fake cheeseflower , a neon - orange concoction that you should set up in excess , as using the curly small fry to sop it up from your foil ( or your beard , if you ’re me ) takes something perfect on its own to brand - new heights.– AK
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Cole Saldino/Thrillist
Kevin Alexanderis Thrillist ’s national writer - at - large , and wants a side order of jalapeños . Do n’t follow him because he ’s scared of strangers:@KAlexander03 .
Dan Gentile/Thrillist
Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
Liz Childers/Thrillist
Liz Childers/Thrillist
Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
