Love me some Dutch Babies from Original Pancake House

If I'm ever anywhere there is a Mellow Mushroom I try to hit it up. It's the best chain pizza I've ever had...

blasphemy

I've never had a Freebird burrito outside of College Station, Ft Worth, or Houston, but it baffles me how anyone thats had one can even compare it to the ratshit that Chipotle sells.

Rudy's in Round Rock is still the best damn BBQ I've ever had. Anytime I'm remotely close, I'm stopping.

Was just in Houston and had Rudy's! Good call. I was like "we're going to a gas station for lunch"?

And it was awesome. Brisket and sausage, doesn't get better than what they had. Maybe some better sides, but hey... they know what they do best.

Del Taco needs to be on there. there actually used to be one about an hour away, but it folded.

Danny and Clydes from New Orleans could/should be on there. Certainly not the best po-boys in town, but the combination of price/quality/convenience is something that I sincerely miss.

Loved Wawa when I spent a lot of time NoVA, PA, and Jersey. They are just now getting some near me in Florida and lovin it.

But speaking of Wawa....does that really count as a "restaurant"? I mean they have food & probably a booth or so (at least the ones I've seen) but I think thats stretching it a bit.

Hmm...haven't spent enough time near either place to be any use.

Wawa DEFINITELY needs to be a national chain. My girlfriend was floored by the sandwiches at a 'gas station'. Better than most sandwiches in the Atlanta area. Whataburger needs to be in more places as well.

I will also say that Milo's (Alabama hamburger chain) needs to be in far, far more states. That place is heavenly!

At least mine is an image.

Whataburger. Just like you like it.

delicious

Taco John's is waaaaaayyyyy better than Taco Bell.
Its a Midwest chain. There is one in Coaralville, Iowa, One outside Kansas City, One in Cape Girardeau, MO and one in Sikeston, MO. There used to be one near Rend lake in Illinois. But I was there a long time ago.

Yes, I am a Taco Johns fanatic.

True story. I was in Coralville, eating at Taco Johns. We were visiting family. The manager came out and was talking to a couple at a table near us. They lived in the Chicagoland area. They were driving out west. The woman told the manager that she went to the Univ. of Iowa, and whenever they drive West they make sure they stop at Taco John's.

Great eats.

I was going to say the same thing as Blackie, I've traveled in most of the country and have seen DQ, Wild Wings, Sonic and Cracker Barrel nearly everywhere.

Plus, of the 32 chains listed, we had or currently have half of them here in Colorado.

I know I've said this before but being from California, I still don't understand the In-n-Out cult - it's not that good, esp. compared to some of the other burger places on that map.

It's funny; I somehow didn't really become all that cognizant of Rita's until a handful of years ago - even though the original Rita's was based essentially in my back yard growing up.

I always just considered them a 7-Eleven competitor. Of course we're talking 25-30 years ago.

This. Thoroughly underwhelmed by In-n-Out.

I was that way the first time I had one. But I made a road trip last summer down to California to visit relatives and tried it again, and it clicked for me. Not sure I can really put a finger on it.

For me, hamburgers come in a variety of niches - there's your high-quality, handcrafted premium burgers like you might get at a really good bar 'n grill or specialty high-end burger place or nice restaurant. Then there's your good, but definitely fast-food style hamburger. I probably like Fatburger better than In 'N Out, but even within this niche I think they both are great at different things.

Then there's your cheap, super-fast burger that you want to gobble down when you've had a few drinks and need to fill your belly. There's a local chain in Seattle that does this better than anyone: Dick's Drive In. You'd never confuse this with a "great" hamburger, but there are times when there's no burger you'd rather have.

I've actually made a few purchases from that dispensary.

Freebirds has been around much longer than Chipotle.


The best thing at Original Pancake House is the 49er flapjacks. Get them with some chocolate chips on the side, layer the chocolate chips in and then roll it up like a crepe. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Generally with In-n-out, which I'm not a huge fan, is that you don't feel like a fatass after eating it. Everything is fresh tasting with it, which most places don't seem to have.

I'm not a huge fan because no fast food place is worth 20 minutes waiting in line for.

The motel I stay at when I go to Atlantic City is right next to a Wawa, I'd get some kind of italian sandwich on a toasted bagel every night on the way back home from the casino, I really really liked it. I had nothing for comparison for awhile, but we have Sheetz down here in NC now, which follows the same concept, but none of the food is remotely close to Wawa.

My bad- they were just opening the Corpus location while I was down there, and Chipotle knockoffs have been popping up all over Ohio (the loathsome Hot Head Burritos and the subpar Jojutla's), so I just assumed they were part of all that.

Bert Zaxby!? Tell him he's fired! /Diamonds Are Forever

tucker, great to see some classic Colorado photos in there. One of them is mine or at least an update of the one of my best sellers when I used to be a professional photographer many years ago.

Re: Regional Restaurants

Several of those on the list are very good (i.e., Famous Dave's, Chick Fil-A), at least original (White Castle - say what you will, it was the 1st fast food chain and makes an original-tasting "burger"), or major regional favorites I can see expats of the various states longing for at least nostalgically (Waffle House). Others at least have a few great items you can't get everywhere in the country (Bojangles' Sweet Tea and Biscuits --- oh, man, the biscuits -- can't be found in the Midwest).

But I'm from Iowa, which is home, I believe, of Pizza Ranch.

And what the bloody heck were they thinking? The food it atrocious. Pizza? Heck, frozen stuff tastes better, by a long shot, and most of the other stuff on the buffet comes from a can. Original? Hardly. It's just a buffet. Iowa favorite? Oh, gosh, I hope not. Yes, a lot of people like their chicken, and putting fried chicken and pizza (if you can call it that) on the same buffet might be original, but no, no, no, no. If you come to Iowa, please do NOT eat at a Pizza Ranch, and help we few Iowans with actual taste put that disgraceful business out of business.

Iowa's gas-station franchise, Casey's, however, makes a decent cheap pizza (for gas station fare, anyway).

But Pizza Ranch? No.

END RANT :)

That is fantastic - kudos to him!

Which one? You can't just drop that in there and not identify it dude.

Picture 3 are the Torres del Paines. I actually think I stayed at the ranch where the photo was taken. There is some awesome hiking down there. You can hike right upto the base of those spires which is an awesome sight.

No. 15 and especially No. 16 have some very bad Photoshop work. No. 16 is an affront against photography --- you can see the gaping hole between the town skyline and the mountain range. No. 15 looks like a couple of photos stitched together ... there is a very bad seam just right of the house.

Haha yeah - no 16 is horrible. I just noticed that.

Party pooper.

I'll back you up on this (except for the part about Famous Dave's being any good at all -- sweat shop BBQ). Pizza Ranch entered the KC market last year and is pretty bad. I'd rather spend half the money at a pig trough like Cici's or Pizza Street than eat at Pizza Ranch. The fried chicken isn't half bad, but the pizza is horrible.

I'm missing the issue with #16. Is it the snowfield/glacier in the middle? The rooflines look ok.

here's a similar pic taken at a different time of the year of Telluride.

On 15 isn't that a shadow?

#14 has some effects added though I wouldn't classify it as a true photoshop.

Kind of a shame really. Such a natural wonder it really doesnt need the touch up.

To me, there is a noticeable difference in the proportion of the mountains to the town. In both those winter scapes, it looks as though the background has been brought forward. The hill behind the town also looks unnaturally altered and out of proportion. Maybe it's legit, but both look doctored to me.

Granted, every single one of these photos are digitally altered in some way to enhance their beauty.

I just wish there were more Qdoba around.

The type of lens used has a big effect on what the picture looks like, without any kind of digital altering occurring.

Oh my.

Makes more sense than sriracha vodka.

Of the restaurants on that map...

In N Out - My favorite burger chain. I like it better than Five Guys and what MrBug said about it being fresh tasting definitely applies.

Einstein Bros. Bagels - Not sure why this is on the list. They're the blandest bagel place I've ever eaten and so not worthy of this apparent hype.

Dairy Queen - Love the Blizzards and the Dilly Bars.

Famous Dave's - This is really franchise dependent. I've had phenomenal Famous Dave's and I've had mediocre ones. Overall though, yeah, pretty damn good ribs place.

Chick-Fil-A - Chicken sandwich and waffle fries = crack goodness. It's the one restaurant I really, really wish we had in Las Vegas.

Golden Corral - Gross, even by buffet standards, and that's saying something.

Dunkin' Donuts - The coffee isn't very good, but really, it's all about the donuts, which are great. Strawberry frosted, FTW.

White Castle - I've found that White Castle in the South is pretty good. Outside of that region, it's been bad whenever I've had it. Don't know why that's the case, but it is, for me anyway.

Cracker Barrel - Nasty. Will never, ever eat at one again.

How common is Five Guys? I am a huge fan of their burgers.

Okay. You're fucking dead to me now.

Casey's makes GREAT pizza. I love their Taco Pizza. Fantastic. I live about 20 minutes from a Casey's. And my daughters really like their breakfast pizza.

And he doesn't like Cracker Barrel! What's up with that?

And Chick-Fil-A is totally overrated. For Spicy Chicken sandwich, Wendy's wipes the floor with Chick-Fil-A.