The "Running on Empty" food review guy was pleasantly surprised about how good he thought it was. Probably my favorite ROE review... that guy is so funny. I can't embed from this phone. SR, can you help me? [Reply]
There is one Hardee's that we are aware of, about 15 miles from our house. Saturday or Sunday, we take our H-Ds out for breakfast there if the weather is good. If not, we take a Jeep and go. Have been doing that for several years now. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
Huh, way back in the 80s, we'd cook 1/4# 8 at a time [fit a topsider]. Usually 1 swiss for every 7 american cheese.
The bun would get toasted, the cheese placed, the meat seasoned, and everything boxed and put in a moist heat space for up to 20 minutes.
From there, sandwiches were made to order.
During rush, we'd fill the run between cook line and front line with the various burgers offered, then start filling the heat space with 'generic' meat/bun/cheese packages. During off time, we wouldn't even put condiments or vegetables on a burger until it was ordered [made to order].
Ah, the old Top-Sided Cookers and Production Control Cabinet. I remember those days. I actually started before that when they had a chain broiler and used the grill only for breakfast. I remember back when we used to hold sandwiches that were completely dressed. Very few special orders back then. You would have to write the special on a slip of paper and give it to the "Production Caller" in the back. Ah, the good old days. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
Hardees and Carls both formed from existing franchises, then joined forces after their regional brands were established.
Hardees started up as a burger stand for towns too small for McDs, then bought up a bunch of Burger C-h-efs in the SE.
Carls started as an LA hot dog stand and expanded to barbecue before getting passed on to sons [Carl's 'Jr'] and switching to burgers.
Now they're both [along with Red Burrito] under CKE, Carl [that Carl] Karcher Enterprises.
For a bit before CKE acquired them, Hardees also owned Rax Roast Beef and Roy Rogers Chicken.
They didn't actually join forces, CKE (Carl Karcher Enterprises) bought Hardee's. They tried to convert a bunch of the Hardee's to Carl's in the midwest, but each time, sales tanked. Carl's just didn't resonate in the midwest. Their advertising was much more "cutting edge" for the conservative Hardee's customer. They ended up converting most of them back to Hardee's and now run with separate, but the same brand. When CKE came in, they looked at getting rid of a lot of the Hardee's people. It wasn't a joint venture by any means.
And yes, they did buy Burger Ch-ef. In fact, that is where I started when I was 16. Though, it wasn't just in the SE. The ones I worked at were in NW Ohio. [Reply]
Originally Posted by threebag02:
You ever try Freddy's Frozen Custard?
I've had it - based on overall value - Steak & Shake is the better choice IMO. It's okay though. Still will find me going to Culvers or S&S before Freddy's tho. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
Carls started as an LA hot dog stand and expanded to barbecue before getting passed on to sons [Carl's 'Jr'] and switching to burgers.
That's actually not exactly true.
After Carl expanded to BBQ, he opened up two smaller restaurants which were dubbed "Carl's, Jr.", as they were much smaller in size compared to the original restaurant.
When I visited LA in the 80's, Carl's, Jr. was better known for its guacamole chicken sandwich than their burgers. When I moved here in the early 90's, the quality had nearly dropped off a cliff.
Since they've been the same as Hardees, the food is just meh. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jallmon:
There is one Hardee's that we are aware of, about 15 miles from our house. Saturday or Sunday, we take our H-Ds out for breakfast there if the weather is good. If not, we take a Jeep and go. Have been doing that for several years now.
Our Hardees is about 32ish miles from here. Used to be one 35 miles the other direction, but its long gone. Closed the doors in maybe 2005ish? I may be wrong on the date, but a long time ago.
The Carl's Jr in the Austin area is selling single Western Bacon Cheeseburgers for a buck on Wednesdays for the next couple of weeks. My son is on the way to pick up a half dozen now! :-) [Reply]
