• Zron@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The elderly keep many disappointing restaurants afloat.

      There’s a place by my house that has aggressively mediocre food. Every dish on the menu is merely edible, nothing to rave about. The sphaghetti tasted like Chef Boyardee, the steaks are under seasoned, the fish is overcooked, burgers are decent but always dry, gyro platter and sandwich are served with watery tzatziki that ruins the otherwise pre prepared meat, and the entire breakfast menu is always served just slightly warm. This place has like 150 menu items and does none of them well.

      The only reason I go there is because I take my grandfather out for dinner twice a month. I ask him where he wants to go, and half the time he wants to go there. I have taken him to good restaurants but he doesn’t like the selection. He wants to be able to pick from 200 choices in one spot, even if none of these are particularly good.

  • frostysauce@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The one in the photo looks delightfully old school. I bet they still have the bell you can ring by the exit door!

      • niktemadur@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        If this was analogous to the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, what would be the equivalent historical point?
        Elagabalus? Maybe that time the title of emperor went to the biggest bidder and the guy lasted for a day? We need a Rough Roman Meme for this.

  • ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    My parents used to take me there as a kid for the all you can eat peel and eat shrimp. Holy fuck the amount of shrimp I could eat, baskets everywhere… I still love shrimp and prawns, more than crab even (I apologize to all my Maryland family).

  • Aeri@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    When I was a small child I loved Long John Silver’s but now that I’m an adult I tried it once and it was so fucking oily that I feel like if they weren’t in the United States they would be getting invaded by them.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I think they’re in the same bucket as Red Lobster and KFC. Used to be fantastic, spent a couple of decades trimming corners until all that was left was the grease.

    • syreus@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The smell of LJS actually gives me a headache. Nothing else does this to me the same way.

    • Hugin@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      A fast food restaurant that mostly does fried fish. It’s named after the pirate in the famous novel Treasure Island.

  • _lilith@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I had a cat that I found in a dumpster eating a taco during a hurricane. I only found her because she was yelling at the taco while she ate it. That cat, that I have seen eat every living and non living thing imaginable, refused to eat long john silvers fish

  • GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today
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    2 months ago

    My partner randomly had a craving for it, and for the life of me I cannot understand why. We had to drive way the heck out of our way to go get some, and it was the most hilarious experience to observe from the car. Two new friends, four fish fillets, and apparently some very odd looks as the offered drugs were rebuffed, my partner comes back in and off we go, leaving the strange place tucked in the corner of two apartment complexes behind.

  • ...m...@ttrpg.network
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    2 months ago

    …i haven’t eaten long john silvers in at least fourty years, but i always liked their crispies…

    • mspencer712@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      The available food is mostly things they can pop into the fryer: Think fish and chips, except you can also choose “planks” of chicken breast, or breaded shrimp, or little balls of seasoned dough called “hush puppies”.

      My wife hates them, and they’re an occasional guilty pleasure for me.

    • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      They are not. The food is deep fried. The fish and chicken look and taste alike. You have to really pay attention to tell the difference. I really miss the local one. I would only eat there a few times a year but it was a nice option.

    • JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      Yeah, it’s very low quality. When I lived there, I’d get recommended LJS because I’m British, and they wanted to get my opinion on their fish and chips.
      They stopped talking about it after all the complaints. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a meal when I’ve given them chances, always ended up tossing most of it in the bin.

    • Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Americans don’t eat a lot of bseafood fast food or even in general. These are also not in every city like other chains so the locations are really far apart. They have a reputation of being a little sketchy/dirty. As others have mentioned you almost never see cars in the driver through or parking lots. With all that combined it’s hard to imagine how they stay in business.

    • OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      They’re just weird because so many fast food chains come & ho the the US, it’s hard to even keep track - but Long John Silvers; a shitty fish & chips place which is never busy, never seems to have any customers at all, somehow stays in business.

          • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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            2 months ago

            you must be going to different longs johns silvers than any of the ones i’ve been to. i haven’t been in years, but it’s really a “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me multiple times over the course of my childhood because my dad fell in love with you and THAT’S IT no more chances”

            • GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today
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              2 months ago

              It’s the cracklins. Little crispy fried pieces of dough? Who doesn’t want those? Just ignore the offerings of frozen fish patties and go for the craving food.

                • GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today
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                  2 months ago

                  The hush puppies, yes, absolutely. I don’t know many places that have the little fritters available by the tubload though. They’re what potato chips dream of being.

            • tenchiken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              2 months ago

              There’s a lot of truth in the bit about which one you go to…

              Being a franchise, a LOT of the quality comes down to the management. My cousin was a manager and made a huge point of a meticulous tear down and cleaning of the fryers to a degree not “required”. He’d budget people and hours specifically for the extra cleaning.

              It showed BIG. Between the grease temperature recovering faster, excellent care about cleanliness through the shift etc, the food came out reliably fresh and not the disappointing greasy mess.

              It helped that by budgeting the time instead of just forcing workers to do it while busy with customers, which also prevents being able to take the fryer offline, they workers were better treated and as result hated their job less.

              I’ll absolutely say this is an outlier, and that in general most fast food is terrible, especially LJS. But if you find a good location, it can be awesome… Still going to be greasy of course, but in a good way instead.

              • PolarKraken@sh.itjust.works
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                2 months ago

                Popeyes is this way too. One of their newish spicy chicken sandwiches, out of a well-run Popeyes? It’s legitimately a culinary delight, I would eat that sandwich over almost any I’ve ever had anywhere, not even just similarly priced ones.

                Poorly run ones, though, that same marvel of sandwich engineering is wholly forgettable. At best. Tell your cousin there’s a Popeyes near me that needs his brand of TLC!

          • baines@lemmy.cafe
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            2 months ago

            the last LJS I went to the fish was sopping wet in oil and still it was cold and the fish was semi-raw

            never again

    • SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      It’s fast food that’s almost all fried sea food. And they’re like the cockroach of franchises, the few that are around tend to be in weird locations that have killed off everything but Long John’s.