I Tried Unknown Fast Food Restaurants

Hi, can I take your order? >> Uh, yeah, one second.

The top five fast food restaurants made 115

billion dollars last year.

But, does that make them the best?

I mean, people have been debating this for years.

But, what if the best fast food restaurant was a place we've never heard of?

That's why today we're going to the most

unknown fast food restaurants

in America to see if they compete with the giants.

Some of these are historic one-of-one locations,

but others are just getting their start and they want to play in the big leagues.

So, let's get to the question.

Is the greatest fast food gem somewhere out there secretly hiding?

>> And can we find it? The search begins.

And we're starting in Lima, Ohio.

I haven't even heard of this place.

Koop's been around since 1923.

These guys are OGs.

And it's the third oldest fast food restaurant and you've probably never heard of it.

But, they've been around this long, so there's got to be a reason that they're still around.

They once had 400

locations, but it's been reduced to three.

Fun fact, the Wendy's founder went here when they were growing up and supposedly that inspired Wendy's.

So, in a way, they do play a big role in the fast food world.

Also, look at this line.

It's literally wrapping around the block.

So, surely it must be good.

So, we went in to order and the vibe is crazy here.

You kind of feel at home with the classic

bright seating, all the

uh babies in the corner.

Honestly, I can't compare the inside of this to any fast food spot I've ever seen.

It's almost like AI-generated.

But, anyway, we ordered a standard hamburger,

fish sandwich, and fries.

And it came out in 5 minutes for a grand total of $10.50.

So far, we're meeting the expectation

of a solid fast food spot.

>> But, we're starting with the unlikely

option, the fish sandwich.

First of all, no toast on the bun.

I've actually never been to a fast food place that doesn't toast the bun.

Toasting hasn't made its way out here quite yet. Cheers.

Crunch is there, but the flavor is not.

This could be so good.

I was coming here really hoping to be shocked, and I am.

Shocked at how little seasoning

there is on this sandwich. Tastes nothing.

The texture is nice, though.

I like the texture of the bun.

The fish is moist, but there's no salt. There's no flavor. There's no seasoning.

I mean, you know, I might as well just eat a bag of chips at that point.

That's not the end.

They have redemption here.

Let's try the fries.

These on the other hand are actually not bad.

This is like an OG McDonald's fry.

The flavor is good, the texture is perfect, great crisp, fluffy on the inside,

crispy on the outside.

They could possibly add maybe a little more, but I'm not going to deduct points.

This is a really good fast food French fry.

Great work, great work.

But, the most important part is yet to come.

This is the second

oldest fast food hamburger restaurant

in the world, second

only to White Castle.

Hamburgers must be good. Traditional toppings.

I got olives and banana peppers because I noticed that a lot of people

tend to order it that way here. It's not bad.

If your standard is cafeteria hamburger. I'm sorry.

To me, this is like a standard

hamburger and I don't mean standard in the sense of good, I mean standard

in the sense of fast food burgers.

There's not much my art on the meat.

It could use more salt, although the olives are resolving that.

So, the salt levels are actually pretty good.

I don't know, there's like so little to talk about in this hamburger.

It's definitely not going anywhere on my top 10 or my top 20 or my top 30.

But, it's not a horrible burger.

That said, we came all the way out here for a reason.

To see how they line up with the big dogs.

Do they line up? No.

It is better than one place, though. Whataburger.

In fact, everything is better than Whataburger.

This is better than Whataburger.

On to the next.

You might think this place is named Eat

by the fact that the very front door has a giant

sign that says Eat.

That is just what you do there.

This is Happy Days.

They're known for the iconic pork tenderloin sandwich.

We will eat that at the end.

I couldn't really compare to any existing

big dog fast food restaurants.

The closest comparison is Jack in the Box because of the random assortment of menu items.

It took roughly 10 minutes to come out.

But, to be fair, it was a big order.

Neither here nor there on speed.

But, first we're starting

with the patty melt.

I love a good patty melt.

I have a recipe for a patty melt in my cookbook.

New York Times best seller, by the way.

Link's in the description. Cheers.

This was not bad.

It was really close to being good.

The only issue, guys, there's no

salt in this at all. None. Zero.

What the is going on?

Everything about this was proper, though, besides

the fact that there's no salt.

I know you're thinking like, "Josh, give it a break."

It's the one thing

that is going to enhance the flavor of it.

You lose out on half the experience.

We got the fries next. These look promising.

I thought the fries at Kopi were better, more crispy, better seasoned. These aren't bad.

I mean, they're not incredible,

but they're not horrible. They're mid.

I'll still eat them though. Fritter next.

Could this be a

Yes, those are good. Weird.

This reminds me of the coconut griddle cakes that we had in Thailand,

but like an American fried corn version.

Super crunchy, almost like McDonald's chicken nugget crunch.

Seasoned with a little bit of salt, which is nice, but it's a salty

sweet contrast cuz the inside has this like custardy,

creamy, sweet corn filling

with actual pieces of corn.

This is a banger.

Hidden gem, but it's not over here.

It is the pork tenderloin sandwich.

And you might be thinking, is that the sole

of my granddad's boot in between two buns?

No, that is a flattened out pork tenderloin that is fried and has a tiny bun. Here we go. See that? That's ground meat.

That is not actually pork tenderloin.

The seasoning's not bad.

I like this more than the burger that I had at Kopi.

I can say that.

It could use a little bit of salt.

It could just use flavor in general.

I don't taste pork at all.

That said, I'm kind of into it.

I feel like I would eat this and be happy, but I'm not going

to like be blown away by it.

For cost and convenience,

I think this is pretty up there.

For the quality of the product you're getting, this feels like really low quality

food if I'm being honest.

Somehow feels lower quality than like an average fast food place.

I almost want to rate this.

It's a It's I'm not coming back.

We have a distinct goal here.

I want to find the hidden gems and I want to find the people

that can compete with the big dogs.

Can this place compete with the big dogs? No.

This is not a hidden gem, but I know they're out there and that's

what we're fighting for.

So, we move on.

So, we say goodbye to Ohio

and fly back home to Austin, Texas.

joined on our search by our channel favorite, Chef Christian.

Well, we're at Top Notch.

I've always wanted to go here.

It's considered an Austin classic.

The one interesting thing about this place is supposedly they're doing actual char-grilled

over charcoal burgers, which is really unique.

There's only one location.

Can I get just two cheeseburgers

served with the works?

And then just one order of fries and then that's it.

However, I can't resist getting a good old-fashioned

fish and shrimp platter while we're here.

Burgers ended up taking about 5 minutes and the seafood platter another seven.

Honestly, for seafood made to order, I'm not complaining.

And that clocked in to a total of $30.06,

which makes it middle of the pack for affordability. Not bad. Grab a fry.

These taste like what McDonald's fries used to taste like. So crisp.

Crazy to see such a small fast food joint putting out fries that to

me are gold standard

fast food style fries.

The burger on the other hand, I'm a little worried about.

First of all, this burger is cold, which I don't know how that's possible. Cheers.

That's what it is. Cheers.

Flavor-wise actually pretty good. >> Yeah.

This is like 10%

meat and then 90%

other sh- Flavor is outstanding. >> It tastes great.

Like it's seasoned nicely with salt.

This is like an old diner burger.

There's not a lot of fat in it.

There's not like juicy, fatty, rich meat.

It's sort of just like plain It's beefy.

>> I'm glad we didn't get the one with extra sauces.

Like this is simple.

The meat stands out.

Unfortunately, the meat wasn't warm or hot, but the flavor of the meat >> is there.

>> For a cold burger, I mean, I would eat this.

I'm having a fun time.

I would come here for that vibe.

So, we have the fried seafood platter comes with fried shrimp, fried fish, fries, toast, coleslaw. $14. Cheers.

Little oily, but nice.

Fried fish is banging.

I'm going to season so nicely and it's juicy.

>> You know, I actually love this.

In comparison to Long John Silver's, I think that this is comparable.

I don't think that it's honestly better or worse.

I think it is good though.

I know it sounds crazy, but I would come back for the seafood platter.

I don't know that I would be as allured by the burger.

If I was going to compare this to Burger King >> because that's really what

this is comparable to.

Burger King is doing char-grilled

burgers, but it's fake.

And they come cold just like theirs. These tasted better.

These actually tasted of charcoal because guess what? They're using charcoal.

So, they're beating the big dog, but we're moving on. We're at Buddies.

This place is an up-and-comer.

They're actually attempting to become one of the big dogs.

The question is do they have what it takes?

I do like this tossed season fries.

Wait, why is it season?

Wouldn't it be seasoned?

I got to say I love the simplicity of the menu.

There's only four items.

I have to give it an In-N-Out vibes.

Can we get two double classics

with cheese, the number three?

And can we do that with seasoned fries?

All right, you said it was going to be 30 to 40 minutes. No, thank you. Thank you.

Well, she apologized for the wait, which I thought was really nice.

I want to be clear, we did wait 15

minutes just to get to the order window.

And there how many cars were ahead of us? Three? Awesome, thank you.

That was a 30-minute drive-thru experience. Convenience, yes. Speed, no.

Affordability, $30 for two meals, I'm going to say it's it's on the high end. Grab a fry. Cheers.

Ooh, that was a good crunch.

I like >> That was a good crunch. Very good fry.

I feel like this is what Five Guys wanted to do with their seasoning.

>> Oh, Five Guys fries,

bottom of the barrel.

Yeah, these are phenomenal.

The crunch is good, the seasoning's nice, it's got a little spice, it's got

like a Cajun cumin spice to it.

And the salt levels are really nice, salty and crunchy.

We have a good start, but let's see how they go with the burgers. Mine's pretty seasoned.

>> Wow, they could have been You said it's pretty seasoned?

>> Mine's pretty seasoned, yeah.

There's zero salt on mine.

Do I have COVID?

Get the middle of mine. Marginally better. It's mid. I'm so annoyed.

Looking at this burger, I was like, this has got to be good.

I hate to say it, like I want to see Buddy succeed.

It was a huge

letdown in the burger.

And that's the mainstay.

They have four menu items, and guess what?

They're all the same thing with different toppings.

So really, they have one menu item, not including the fries.

>> Something like this that wants to compare themselves to like a Shake Shack, they're

not quite there yet.

>> There's a lot of things they need to work on.

I think that the potential is there.

Had they seasoned the burger properly,

had it been a little bit juicier, not so dry in the patty,

I think that I would have been more excited.

I don't think it's that hard to make a burger good.

And so when I have one that's that mid from a place that's like

emphasizing how it's artisanal

and crafted, my expectations

are high, and I felt kind of let down.

So, we move on.

I've always wanted to come here. It is Sandy's.

This is an Austin classic, but truly kind of a hidden gem, because many

Austinites don't know about it.

Most people in the US definitely don't know about it.

As far as I know, there's only ever been one.

Aesthetically, when you look at it, you're like, this is an old-school establishment.

Sandy's is exactly how fast food worked in the 40s and 60s.

A walk-up window, a tiny interior

kitchen, a short menu.

This is food designed for speed.

You know, McDonald's before all the efficiencies.

Now, while they did have a drive-thru, the order window looked too classic to

not order through it.

Took around 5 minutes to get our meal and it came out to $22.28.

All great markers of a great fastfood restaurant.

Could this be the hidden gem that we're searching for?

Starting with our fries.

It's like an average fastfood fry, a little dry, a little floury.

Overall, this french fry is below mid. It's not great.

It's really not great.

Hopefully the hamburger's better.

I can see the thickness, the girth on that bag.

I'm excited for this burger.

These are big, way bigger than I thought and this is the cheapest one.

This feels like Carl's Jr.

commercials where after they take a bite, they have to use their whole arm to wipe.

Supposedly, they won best burger in Austin.

This is truly so far away.

It's not even in the top 10.

Is it a bad burger? No.

Is it a good burger? No. It's missing flavor. I taste nothing.

>> It resembles a steamed burger. There's no myard. There's >> No myard.

The only mommy you get in here is tomato and mustard.

>> Maybe I overhyped it, but kind of a letdown.

But that's what this video is all about.

That's why we're going to unknown places.

Are they as good as people say they are or is it just because

of the vibe, of the nostalgia?

If I'm being real, this is a very, very, very, very, very average burger. It's bad. Thanks.

We have our Taco Bell comparison.

It is El Tacorito.

I call it El Tacorito

even though that's technically not the right pronunciation

because it was just what everybody called it when you went there.

By everybody, they were all white people.

This place special to me though.

I used to come here almost every morning.

If I was running the morning shift at any of the restaurants I ever

worked at, I always came here first.

I haven't been here in a very, very long time, I'm sad to say.

I think it's sleeper.

I'm hoping it still is.

Shall we dive in?

Yeah, let's do a pasty. That's tasty.

My one complaint though is it's not traditional pastor. It's not sliced.

It's like ground meat.

Maybe the chicken will redeem it for me.

Those are good, man.

>> the best chicken taco I've had in a while.

Those are seasoned nicely. They're fatty. They're not dry.

A lot of chicken tacos are dry, but that's because they use breast.

Now, let's try the quesadilla. Woah. Banger. Bang, bang, bang.

Compared to Taco Bell, slaughtered them.

Not even in the same playing field.

These are more comparable

to like a street food taco.

We got them in 4 minutes, and it's delicious.

>> You're eating this first thing in the morning before your shift, you got enough to pass lunch.

Now that we finally found something good, the question is, this is the OG,

they have a couple more locations,

should they be a big dog?

I think yes, I think they should be a big dog.

Although, if they became a big dog, would they be able to maintain this quality?

>> I mean, they're handling this with two guys who are probably 12 years old.

Imagine scaling that up.

I think they would kill it.

This is a banger of an unknown spot, but we're not stopping here.

So, we move on.

Next, we're heading to Los Angeles.

McDonald's got its start here before

becoming the giant it is today.

But, are there any upstarts

or hidden gems lurking,

waiting to break out?

To help me answer that question, I'm joined by my good friend Noel Miller,

not just a comedian,

but a man with zero food knowledge.

He has a good palate, and he can definitely operate

as the tasting voice of the people.

Okay, so we're at Brawley Hut. What's a brawley?

Well, they got umbrellas

everywhere, their sconces are umbrellas, the whole thing's shaped like an umbrella.

It's a UK term for an umbrella, I'm finding this out, and

I have no idea why they did that, but obviously did not help them

because they only have two locations.

The outside is rough, but I'm not going to judge a book by its

cover, cuz as soon as I walked in, there was a different story.

Nice little clean line,

everything was organized, I was feeling good.

The menu was super full, they have tons of options, even have breakfast,

hash browns, they have a real grill.

Got to be good, right?

>> After a 20-minute wait, we ended up paying $49.45

for two burritos and two sandwiches and fries.

It's also Ice Cube's favorite fast food restaurant, supposedly.

So, how good is it?

So, this is their most popular

item, it is the pastrami burrito.

I was expecting like slices of pastrami

and cheese, but the thing is, a sliced pastrami

inside of a burrito would not move like this, would not have this kind

of motion to it.

>> Doctors be like, "I'm good and cough."

Why the is there chili in this?

I don't know, but I don't hate it.

I got to be honest, it's not bad. It's decent.

All I'm tasting is chili and cheese.

This is like 50% chili, 50% pastrami.

But it's not bad.

Like I kind of like it. It's good.

If you like like a sort of soupy

bean and cheese burrito,

this is basically that but the meat version.

Okay, so we have the steak sandwich.

This was something that's ordered the most.

You have steak that is genuinely

so cooked its entire lineage

can feel the pain.

This is beyond well done. This is congratulations.

But maybe it's good.

This is a beef jerky sandwich.

>> Sorry, I almost suffocated to death. Mother of god.

>> It doesn't taste bad though. It doesn't.

>> As tough as the steak is, why do I want to keep eating it?

It's seasoned really nicely with salt.

Although this like quarter pound of lettuce on this is totally ruining it.

If there was an image in the dictionary

for mid, it would be an image of this sandwich.

You're not getting anything that special.

I wouldn't eat it again, but I don't hate it. I'm coming back.

>> I'm going to be a Brawly Hut every day.

You're a Brawly Hut?

I'm a Brawly Hut.

Wait, how are the fries? Oh, my bad.

I jumped the head.

I could use some salt on this.

It's like raw potato.

I'm going to be the of this video.

This could be good, but the lack of so many things.

Salt, texture, there's no crunch.

I'm here to show you all that as much as Josh might complain,

his still going to eat.

That's how you know he's still a big boy inside.

All right Brawly Hut, didn't hate it, didn't love it. Moving on.

We are at an unlikely

find because it wasn't on the list.

Thanks to Noel, we have this Storm Burger.

I think they only have one >> it's only one.

They want to be one of the big dogs.

We have classic Storm Burger.

It's got a great maillard, it's got a great toast.

Looks legit, I'm not going to lie.

I feel like Noel wouldn't steer me wrong, but there's only one way to

find out, so Cheers, dude.

I don't care what Josh says, this is my

It is really good.

If I were to compare this In-N-Out, this is better. That bun, bro.

I mean, from the sauce,

the maillard is perfect, the beef has a great texture.

If I wanted to be a real I would say like I would prefer

no lettuce on it because I think lettuce dilutes the flavor and I want

to taste more of this beautifully

crispy maillard seared beef.

>> I eat everything here because

uh it tastes like a human cooked it. It's a banger.

The french fries, give them a

I really don't want to sound like I'm glazing.

These are a peak fry. Peak.

There's almost like a little bit of a batter on them.

I normally don't love season fries cuz it feels like a cheat or a shortcut.

The potato itself isn't crispy, it's just the crust, right?

But this, this is both.

Like the crunch is insane.

They're seasoned perfectly with salt.

We're not doing ratings, but if I was going to rate these fries, I'd

give them like a 9.5. That's bananas.

And let me say this, if you don't know me, I know I know

I look like I don't eat.

I look like this because I'm such a picky little brat.

I don't want to eat it. That's me.

Unless it's this, then

It wasn't on the list, but I'm glad we went here because I can

see these guys becoming a top dog.

If you're watching, this is phenomenal. Moving on.

We are at Jim Dandy's.

It's a place with a logo

that made me say we have to go here.

And I thought, okay, so there's only one location, right?

There was once 30 locations.

They were booming, they were doing well, they were selling chicken.

It was obviously a great operation,

and then I don't know what the hell happened, but they stopped

and then went all the way down to one.

That means that there's still a salvageable

reason that they're here.

And I want to know why.

Let me describe the interior for you.

You know how when you go to a bank, they're worried about you stealing

the money, so sometimes

they'll count that money behind the glass

and they'll dish it out into a nice little container.

Banker opens the door, puts the money in, closes the door.

You open the other side, you get the money.

>> They will steal this chicken.

They will steal it for the chicken. They do.

>> It must be really good then.

I'm telling you it is.

That's how good this chicken is.

It only took about 8 minutes to get our order, and for the experience

we had, I'm not complaining.

And I want to clarify, we got a full meal.

Four-piece fried chicken, a full thing of french fries, and two fritters.

That comes in at $15 in LA.

Maybe that's why they're suffering.

They're charging reasonable prices.

They're not greedy enough.

>> to go for a fry first.

High school cafeteria fry. Chicken.

That is so hot. Cheers. That is hot.

Like they just fried this.

Not as greasy as I thought.

Wait, this is actually really good.

>> Because if I were to compare this to a KFC, right?

Cuz I would say this is KFC adjacent, they are them. They're stomping.

The salt level absolutely perfect.

Like to the limit.

But from a spice standpoint,

you got the garlic, the cayenne that's got a little bit of heat to it.

It's not too spicy.

I would like maybe a little bit more spiciness.

The flavor is delicious.

The best part is the chicken is not lost.

It works together in harmony.

This is a beautiful piece of chicken.

As someone who is on Josh's level in terms of like culinary

knowledge and experience, this chicken is good.

It's actually sad that this is the only location.

If they took this concept

and put these buildings

across America, I think they would

kill if they were all this good.

This tastes like home-style fried chicken.

I mean, my mom makes a really good fried chicken and this kind of

reminds me of hers.

We're going to try a fritter and then we're out.

I feel like this is either going to be really good or really bad,

so I'm just going to go for it. That's actually insane.

Jesus can take my left foot

cuz I'm getting diabetes today.

Unbelievably crispy on the outside,

super super soft and fluffy on the inside and it just like melts.

It's kind of like a cake donut, but way way way way way crispier.

It's like the fried chicken of donuts.

>> I have gone to premier coffee shops in LA, no names being named, that sell donuts.

None of them is good as this right here.

>> I ate the whole thing.

I'm going to have diarrhea later.

This is so awesome. Moving on.

Up next is an unknown

spot that actually has an insane

amount of influence on fast food today.

Glen Bell started El Taco

before completely ditching it to kickstart the Taco Bell empire.

This location before us is the last one to remain.

>> Is it better than Taco Bell or is there a reason

it was ditched by its creator?

>> We have these incredibly

liquid bean It's not bad,

but it's not good.

This is like the soup dumpling of burritos, though.

This would be good if the beans were actually like cooked

and had all sorts of flavor in them.

This just tastes like canned pureed beans.

>> I know I'm eating, but I don't taste

>> So the original Taco Bell is no longer open, but this could be the

closest version of the original crispy shell taco.

It looks like Taco Bell.

Yeah, it really does.

>> How do you feel about Taco Bell? What's your opinion?

>> I think they've done a great job

serving us rat meat for 40 years.

No, I I I love Taco Bell.

I eat it all the time. Iron stomach, man.

I put it >> See how they live up to it.

Kind of same as the burrito.

It's like I don't feel like I taste anything. You have COVID?

I was going to say maybe I have COVID.

That is Like the seasoning is not bad, but it's just there's no flavor.

All I taste is cold cheese and lettuce.

I can barely taste the meat.

The crunchy taco shell is really crunchy.

That I'll give it that.

The crunch is surprisingly good on it.

It makes me want to keep eating it.

And you're like, maybe the next bite will be more exciting.

But then you take that next bite and ooh, the crunch.

And then you keep chewing and you're like, oh, another letdown.

Until it's gone and you have no more self-respect

and you're sitting on the couch sweating.

And that is how Josh got fat.

>> The last thing is their cinnamon

This is about a hundred times better than anything we just ate.

Taco Bell, whatever that

is you're doing with the cinnamon twists, knock it off.

Go back to this.

>> Now I feel like I'm seeing the heart of Taco Bell and what it could have been.

Mid with something exciting at the end. Moving on.

We are at what could have been the biggest competitor

to KFC in the world.

Maybe even put them out of business.

Except, it's a sad story.

They were up to 300 locations. They're skyrocketing.

The food's doing well.

People are loving it.

But due to bad management, bankruptcy,

etc., they were reduced down to only two more locations.

The name, Pioneer Chicken.

I might add, the inside of this restaurant is actually pretty decently designed and

surprisingly clean for fast food.

The service was great.

The food came out in under five minutes.

I mean, we might have a big hidden gem here.

The branding looks good.

The chicken looks good.

The fries look good.

The inside is clean.

I mean, I'm kind of sad for them.

So, let's see if the redemption is here. So, banger.

Seasoned to the bone.

The crust is like glass.

I don't know how they're doing this.

This reminds me of Willie Mae's.

We went there and they had a better chicken.

This is better than Willie Mae's.

This is a fast food restaurant and they're outdoing, in my opinion,

what's supposed to be one of the best fried chicken restaurants in America.

I mean, this is bananas.

Yeah, that's how good it is.

That's all I can say is yeah.

You couldn't live in LA between the '70s

and '90s without seeing a Pioneer Chicken.

It's sad that this is one of the only ones.

I've lived in LA my whole life.

I'm ashamed to say I've never eaten Pioneer Chicken.

Mom, Dad, what the

God, the fries are great.

The fries are perfectly salted, perfectly crispy.

This is one of the best fast food experiences

I've had in a long time.

And if I got this in a nice restaurant and paid good money for

it, I would be happy.

You could go to Pioneer Chicken, put it on a nice plate with some

nice tableware, charge me 40 bucks for this, and I'd be like, "Yeah, this is good." This was $15.

Come on down to Pioneer Chicken.

Pioneer Chicken, kick it into high gear.

This is your chance to take it back.

Take back the win. Kill KFC, please.

We need good fast food restaurants.

Let me tell you right now, the Midwest

brain will not be able to handle this.

Shout out to all my people in the Midwest.

If they put one of these in your city, I promise you that diabetes

is coming twice as fast.

And that's what this video is all about.

We went to unknown fast food restaurants.

The whole point was to figure out, do the big dogs deserve their placement,

or are there little guys out there that are doing it better? And there are.

The reality is, you just got to go out and find them, and they're probably everywhere.

And I'm sure there were others that we didn't even cover.

So, that being said, love you, subscribe, bye.