Tonight I decided to try jack-in-the-box for the first time...
And by god was it absolutely terrible. New restaurant, clean on the inside, tried 3 different things and I have to wonder, does anyone actually like jack-in-the-box? How are they still in business?
It helps to first be higher than giraffe pussy, then you get one of their late night munchie boxes (I like the burger with grilled cheeses for buns, or the chicken melt with hashbrowns on it) and several extra shitty tacos.
Here's my Jack-in-the-box story: In high school, Jack-in-the-box was just opening in our town for the first time. My friend group used to go there for the $1 Jumbo Jack. It was a first taste of adult freedom. Positive memories haha
I mean, it’s not great, but it’s not that awful. Pretty good for ending a night out and it’s cheap.
Is Wendy’s better? Yes, but go to a Wendy’s at 2am trying to gullet a Dave’s Double and you’re going to be sick. Jack has burgers that won’t upset your stomach and don’t sit as heavy.
I LOVE Jack-In-The-Box for what it is! It's for sure bottom-tier fast food, but for what you're paying, they make a damn good basic cheeseburger. I find the Jumbo Jack to be way better than whatever Wendy's calls their basic burger. At least at my particular local Jack's, the lettuce and tomato are always super fresh and crisp, surprising for a low-tier fast food joint. The Jack's in my neighborhood have long standing deal with the local sports team where if they hit a home run in a game, everyone in the city gets a free burger the next day!
You go there for the curly fries. Three tacos, large curly fries, and a medium shake, enough food to make me literally puke, all for $6.50. I used to go ice skating twice a week, and sometimes after skating and being exhausted and hungry, I would just pig out some Jack on the Box until I regretted it.
The one near my house had a broken shake machine for like 8 months, and I kind of stopped going after that. I just find it hilarious that the person who made that website making fun of McDonald's for always having broken ice cream machines put a note saying, "just go to Jack in the Box. Their ice cream machine is never broken." And I first saw that site while ours was broken.
I feel the same way with every fast food place i've ever been. Why would anyone eat at McDonald's, when it's not like some weird emergency where nothing else is open and you're starving. KFC is weird and greasy, they don't even try to make it look like food. Burger king is the same as McDonald's but their burger have a weird artificial smoke flavour which makes it even worse.
I like the sausage egg and cheese mcmuffins, I acknowledge that they are awful, but i still always get 2 when I leave for a trip in the morning. I've only gotten other things a few times to try to branch out, and both times I had diarrhea that night. Coincidence? Almost certainly. Will I stop getting mcmuffins on trip mornings? Certainly not.
To be fair McDonald’s has improved a lot in some of their food. Their quarter pounders are actually pretty damn good. But Big Macs and the like are still nasty. The one time I had kfc it was dry and tasteless. Other fast food isn’t so bad though
Huh… I never heard that before! Neat. It reminded me of Chipotle. They had that badddd year back in 2015 where it felt like every store had either E. Coli, or Norovirus.
Yep, so their solution was not to cook in stores anymore, making the food taste like the shit reheated crap it was, making me not go there anymore. Ever. Used to eat there minimum once a week cause it was close to work.
I’ll never understand how making your product demonstrably worse is seen as a good business move.
My family too. Arby's and Jack were places we never even considered going.
As an adult I've tried both, and my conclusion is Arby's tries to be Subway and Dairy Queen and does a mediocre job; Jack is like microwaveable gas station snacks.
Jack-in-the-Box is the only place that has caused me to throw out a milkshake because it was so bad. A milkshake. Those are, what, two ingredients? Somehow they managed to fuck it up so bad, it came out nasty. I wouldn't eat there again if it was free.
Jack is pretty crap overall but there are specific things that I like. Sourdough Jack, onion rings, jalapeño poppers, and some of the breakfast sandwiches, while my wife loves the tacos and crispy chicken sandwich.
Point is, most people find a few items they really like and/or have nostalgia for. Might be worth giving another chance. It also depends on the restaurant. The last place we lived, the local Jack was horrible. Where we are now, the Jack is the best I’ve ever had.
Jack in the Box is kind of hit-or-miss for me. There's a few items that they do really well, but a lot of the menu really just requires that you're in the mood specifically for something heavy and greasy. But they've really begun leaning pretty heavily into the "we make stoner food" shtick, which is why everything is deep fried and swimming in sauces.
Their breakfast sandwiches are usually pretty banging, though. In fact, I think they've got some of the best breakfast options out of any of the major fast food chains.
Never had anything good at JitB. They tried opening multiple stores in my hometown on two separate occasions that I know of and both times all the stores kept being shut down for several health code violations and then lack of business following them. No one seems to miss them that I’ve spoken with
You need to be ordering the tacos. Cheesy meatpaste tacos. They're amazing, cheap, and come in groups of 2. I recommend getting 4 for one person if that's all you're eating as there's not much to them.
Man now I want tacos.
Back in the day they used to have a bruschetta chicken ciabatta sandwich that was heavenly. I miss it.
It's terrible unless you're very drunk and then it's fine.
I live across from a McD's. There's often a line of cars to the end of the block (it has a very limited amount of space in the parking lot). I can never understand why people still go there, much less wait in line.
Burger King is the only fast food-fast food that I eat. Quality is almost always good. And then there's the better-in-class not-really-fast food-fast food: 5 Guys, Shake Shack (the good stuff).
Ugh, sorry to say I do like it. Maybe my brain is kind of filling in the flavor gaps from when I used to eat it as a teenager. I'll admit the quality has gone down but that's true of almost every fast food restaurant. My go-to items are the meat lovers burrito, spicy chicken sandwich, ultimate cheeseburger, sourdough jack, and their tacos. Their whole menu is pretty damn fatty so if that's a turn off don't bother trying anything else.