And now, for something completely different
Time for an odd aside--a fast food review.
Rally's (or Checkers Drive-in Restaurants, as they are known in some parts of the country) has always had a special place in my heart for a few reasons.
1) They have amazing loaded fries. Cheese, bacon, and ranch. Or chili. Or whatever. Amazing fries.
2) Until a year or two ago, they had this double buffalo chicken sandwich with a fantastic authentic buffalo wing sauce (with a Frank's RedHot base). This is now gone, and I am sad. It has cut down on my visits to Rally's dramatically.
And, the kicker point, 3) they are open until like 3-4 AM. I recall taking a break from New Years' festivities a few years ago (during which I'm fairly sure almost everyone in the room had their own bottle of champagne) to crash Rally's drive-through some time after the ball dropped. Way better than a late-night Taco Bell run.
A while back, Rally's started offering "classic wings." I am a huge buffalo wing fan. My two favorite foods are buffalo wings and sushi, and I go back and forth on which of those two wins out depending on my mood. One of these days I am going to go to Buffalo, NY to eat "real" buffalo wings, but I grew up eating "imitations" and have found them to be perfectly satisfactory on the whole. Needless to say, I was skeptical about the quality of buffalo wings to be found at a joint that is a) a drive-through only with no real sit-down portion, b) open until 4 AM and c) generally trying to sell me not one but two double monster bacon pepper jack cardiovascular terror cheeseburgers for $4. As a general rule, if you go to Rally's and have ordered only one menu item it must be an oversight, because everything on the value menu is listed by the price for two such items, and while two cheeseburgers or two hot dogs for $2 really is equivalent to having a basic dollar menu, it really does look like they are trying to get you to drive away with twice as much food as you expected to buy.
The other night we hit the nearby Rally's because it was late and Ashley wanted some fries. I decided none of the sandwiches was what I wanted and figured I'd be adventurous, ordering a 5-piece wing combo with the "angry buffalo" sauce (they have five different flavors, including a cool Parmesan).
I was sufficiently impressed that I stopped by again tonight on the way home from work to pick up a box of ten.
Anyway, now that I am done eating them and can type without thoroughly ruining my keyboard. Rally's wings. Honestly? Almost as good as BW-3, which is generally considered to be the wing chain outside of NY. The main drawback is that they are slightly greasier, but I felt that this was not a terrible problem. And the "angry buffalo" flavor has an excellent, authentic buffalo wing flavor that is respectably hot. They are somewhat pricey for fast food, at around $8 (tax included) for a box of 10 wings. But the quality is comparable to sit-down restaurant wings (maybe they're a little smaller, but that's variable) and you can get them at the drive through in a couple minutes and don't have to worry about tipping anyone, which shaves a few bucks off the total bill.
So if you have a Rally's/Checkers in the neighborhood and you too were skeptical about drive-through joint buffalo wings--I suggest giving them another look.
Rally's (or Checkers Drive-in Restaurants, as they are known in some parts of the country) has always had a special place in my heart for a few reasons.
1) They have amazing loaded fries. Cheese, bacon, and ranch. Or chili. Or whatever. Amazing fries.
2) Until a year or two ago, they had this double buffalo chicken sandwich with a fantastic authentic buffalo wing sauce (with a Frank's RedHot base). This is now gone, and I am sad. It has cut down on my visits to Rally's dramatically.
And, the kicker point, 3) they are open until like 3-4 AM. I recall taking a break from New Years' festivities a few years ago (during which I'm fairly sure almost everyone in the room had their own bottle of champagne) to crash Rally's drive-through some time after the ball dropped. Way better than a late-night Taco Bell run.
A while back, Rally's started offering "classic wings." I am a huge buffalo wing fan. My two favorite foods are buffalo wings and sushi, and I go back and forth on which of those two wins out depending on my mood. One of these days I am going to go to Buffalo, NY to eat "real" buffalo wings, but I grew up eating "imitations" and have found them to be perfectly satisfactory on the whole. Needless to say, I was skeptical about the quality of buffalo wings to be found at a joint that is a) a drive-through only with no real sit-down portion, b) open until 4 AM and c) generally trying to sell me not one but two double monster bacon pepper jack cardiovascular terror cheeseburgers for $4. As a general rule, if you go to Rally's and have ordered only one menu item it must be an oversight, because everything on the value menu is listed by the price for two such items, and while two cheeseburgers or two hot dogs for $2 really is equivalent to having a basic dollar menu, it really does look like they are trying to get you to drive away with twice as much food as you expected to buy.
The other night we hit the nearby Rally's because it was late and Ashley wanted some fries. I decided none of the sandwiches was what I wanted and figured I'd be adventurous, ordering a 5-piece wing combo with the "angry buffalo" sauce (they have five different flavors, including a cool Parmesan).
I was sufficiently impressed that I stopped by again tonight on the way home from work to pick up a box of ten.
Anyway, now that I am done eating them and can type without thoroughly ruining my keyboard. Rally's wings. Honestly? Almost as good as BW-3, which is generally considered to be the wing chain outside of NY. The main drawback is that they are slightly greasier, but I felt that this was not a terrible problem. And the "angry buffalo" flavor has an excellent, authentic buffalo wing flavor that is respectably hot. They are somewhat pricey for fast food, at around $8 (tax included) for a box of 10 wings. But the quality is comparable to sit-down restaurant wings (maybe they're a little smaller, but that's variable) and you can get them at the drive through in a couple minutes and don't have to worry about tipping anyone, which shaves a few bucks off the total bill.
So if you have a Rally's/Checkers in the neighborhood and you too were skeptical about drive-through joint buffalo wings--I suggest giving them another look.