They’re just weird because so many fast food chains come & ho thego in 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.
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"
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.