Hmmm... I trend toward the bottom of the list... LOL
Probably because I'm cheap... That, and seems like the most numerous joints are also the lowest rated ones, but are the easiest to find since they're *everywhere*...
McD's gets a lot of our business when we travel, if for no other sake than cheapness and convenience. They're not as good as they used to be, and that's saying something, because they were never that great to begin with. I do like Jack in the Box a lot better, but they're plentiful in our area and practically nonexistent in others. Same with Whataburger, though basically the only thing I like on their menu anymore is the BBQ chicken strip sandwich on Texas toast, and of course their breakfast burritos (taquitos). Having to eat Whataburger practically every Friday and Saturday night for nearly 2 years when I was driving the debate team on the schoolbus (since they were the ONLY fast-food chain that would actually keep their lobby UNLOCKED after 10 pm, and it's impossible to drive a school bus through a drive-through, therefore WB was our ONLY choice since the kids generally ate between 11pm and midnight or even later depending on when/where the debate was!) kind of ruined it for me!
I prefer KFC "original" over Church's most of the time, but will get Church's chicken on occasion for "something different". Never been that impressed with Popeye's... Don't care for Chik-Fil-A... too darn expensive for what you get! I can spend $8 bucks or more in Chik-Fil-A and what you get on your tray isn't enough to fill a hollow tooth. Screw that... If I'm going to spend that kind of money, I'd rather put a little more with it and go someplace else and get better food and more of it! I'm sorta the same way about Burger King-- they're too expensive for what you get... at least McD's is cheap... (for the most part).
Never been impressed with Carl's Junior either... just 'meh' food. I prefer Sonic truth be told. I tried a "Steak N Shake" up in Tennessee... okay but not that memorable. We've been to Culver's in Indiana and they ARE very good, worth the time and money... never heard of most of the others except White Castle (which Betty UTTERLY DESPISES, and I've found less than memorable) and "Fuddruckers" which we do have a few around our area, but again-- $9 dollar cheeseburger-- forget it... I'd rather spend $13 bucks and have a good seafood plate at Red Lobster or something... heck there's some local steakhouses and cafe's that serve a full plate lunch for less than that! No way am I spending THAT kind of money on a friggin' burger!
Don't care for subs-- again... spend all that money for a friggin' COLD SANDWICH?? Not me... If I want a flippin cold sandwich, i'll get a package of ham or turkey cold cuts, a loaf of wheat bread, a little jar of sandwich spread or mustard, and a pack of American cheese and have sandwiches for 3-4 days for the cost of ONE flipping cold sandwich from one of those "Subway" type joints... At least Quiznos are toasted, so I WILL eat one of those every once in a blue moon... otherwise, FORGET IT! I DO really like the Arby's "French Dip" sandwich and of course their "chocolate flip" dessert pastries...
Burritos and Mexican... again, I trend to the cheapest... If I want "fast Mexican" food, it's pretty much Taco Bell here, for lack of alternatives. We DO enjoy Taco John when were up in Indiana and Kentucky, but we don't have them here. I'm not particularly fond of the "higher end" fast-food type Mexican/burrito joints on the list... We have "Freebirds" and "panera" joints here, but IMHO they're too expensive and again, if I'm going to spend THAT kind of money, I'll go to any number of GOOD local Mexican restaurants and have a FULL MEAL of REAL Mexican food for about the same money...
I notice no "fast seafood" joints were even ranked... We USED to have Captain D's and Long John Silvers... our LJS went broke and sat vacant a long time and now is a local mexican cafe, though we still have our Capt. D's. My folks used to LOVE eating there-- I was less impressed. It finally got to where I could count on having a case of the trots the next day after eating there, and a bad case of gas and gut pain that evening after eating there, probably because of the oil (not filtered or changed enough IMHO) so I quit eating there... haven't been in there in years. There's only TWO LJS's in the entire SW Houston region (within about 60 miles) and so we don't hardly ever have them either because they're both in Houston, and I DESPISE going into Houston if I can help it. We DO enjoy a good LJS when we're in Indiana or Kentucky though...
Later! OL JR