#restaurant chains

In-N-Out improves the quality of their food

In-N-Out improves the quality of their food

What kind of what kind of potatoes does McDonald's use for their fries?

The Night It Ran Out of Everything, at Five Guys

Six o'clock on a Friday evening, National Cheeseburger Day, and the Five Guys on SE Mill Plain Boulevard in Vancouver, Washington had already run out of buns. And lettuce. And…

The Dan Dan Noodles at Dough Zone

Dinner was at Dough Zone, the dumpling chain's outpost on Mill Plain in Vancouver, Washington — and the dish that won the night wasn't one of the dumplings at all. It was the Dan…

The Correct Way to Eat Pho, at Pho Hung

Lunch was a bowl of beef pho at Pho Hung, on SE 82nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon — the kind of restaurant most people drive past a hundred times before they ever walk in. Green…

The Cheapest Tacos on the Planet (Possibly Not Beef)

Decent fast food. That's the whole review, really, before I dress it up with anything else — Jack in the Box, the location on NE 117th in Vancouver, Washington, on a Friday night…

The Time It Beat In-N-Out, at Habit

Half past six on a Monday evening at Habit Burger & Grill on NE Vancouver Plaza Drive, in Vancouver, Washington, and the burger on the tray in front of me didn't cost anything. A…

The Mild Fish Sauce, at Broken Rice

Dinner was the Broken Rice plate at Broken Rice, a yellow trailer parked off 82nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon — grilled pork over rice, which is exactly what the name promises once…

Dress It Yourself, at Philly Bilmos

Dinner tonight was the Italian sub at Philly Bilmos, a cheesesteak shop in Vancouver, Washington — and the sandwich I'd point someone to isn't the one in the name. This is, I…

A Dry Ribeye and a Long Wait, at Black Angus Steakhouse

We sat down at Black Angus Steakhouse on East 13th Street in Vancouver, Washington, a little before six on a Tuesday, and I want to say up front that nobody who worked there was…

O-M-Cheese, and a Water Hole That Isn't Anymore

The Applebee's on SE 2nd Circle in Vancouver, Washington, has a new line over the door this year — Welcome Back! — and a window etched with the word Neighborhood, the same rebrand…

Mad Love and a Seattle Corner, at Red Robin

A quarter to six on a Friday, the last of the July sun still full on the front of the building, and I took a picture of a Red Robin sign. I want to be honest about how that felt,…

A Good Burger and a Locked Gate, at Dick's Primal Kitchen

I want to be careful about the order I tell this in, because the order is the whole problem. The food was good. The car was locked in a lot overnight. Those two facts belong to…

Fully Involved, at Firehouse Subs

Dinner last night was a New York Steamer at Firehouse Subs in Vancouver, Washington, which is the kind of sentence that requires no further explanation to anyone who already…