By Buntoro

Well, of course, after comparing the different styles and offerings of Fast Food restaurants between the American and the Indonesian version, I think we should now try to go deeper into the American Fast Food restaurants here (In the good old USA). Without trying to bash any restaurant chains or food, I am trying to give you all a list of American Fast Food restaurants with their website information as well as some recommendations of what to get and what not to get at that restaurant. As a disclaimer, I am not paid by any of the restaurants listed and you don’t have to agree or follow my recommendations.  FYI, these suggestions are based on my personal taste so it may not apply to everyone in the same way. 

Attached below here are the list of some major or better known American style fast food restaurants that I compiled. I decided to categorize them into different groups based on their food offerings. The list is complete with a brief description of the restaurant, their website address (if known), their best menus’ deals (If known and available) and also what to get and not to get based on my humble opinion (your preference may be different than mine but that’s okay).

Burgers and Sandwiches Fast Food Restaurants

McDonald’s

Who doesn’t know McDonald’s? It’s a well known fast food restaurant, even in Indonesia. The chain is  often referred as the golden arches (Due to the yellow arch shaped M logo), and it is known for its Happy Meal and McCafe offerings as well as its Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). In case if you don’t know, McDonald’s restaurant was originally started in 1940 in San Bernardino CA in Southern California as an independent restaurant by Dick and Mac McDonald. Ray Kroc, a Multimixer salesman visited the restaurant and later became their franchise agent. Kroc then created McDonald’s System, Inc in 1955 and six years later he acquired the rights for the restaurant from the McDonald’s brothers for $2.7 million (Source: McDonald’s website). In the United States, McDonald’s is one of the most well known fast food restaurant chains. It also has the second largest number of restaurants in the United States from the statistics of QSR magazine, the restaurant industry specialist. McDonald’s is also the largest fast food restaurant chains in the United States by sales volume in 2016 based on their latest data (Retrieved online on July 12, 2018 from https://www.qsrmagazine.com/content/qsr50-2017-top-50-chart). In fact, McDonald’s have been the leader in sales for many years in a row in the United States. It is also the global leader in revenue based on 2017 data from Forbes magazine (Retrieved online on July 12, 2018 from https://www.forbes.com/pictures/591c79084bbe6f1b730a5811/2017-global-2000-restaura/#5e5e62d56d2a )

Website: www.mcdonalds.com

Best Menu Deals: $ 1 any sandwich, BOGO McCafe, BOGO Pies (from McDonald’s app), $1.99 Filet-o-Fish (Seasonal),$3 Happy Meal (current price without any specials), Coffee (for seniors 55+)

What to get here: Filet-o-Fish sandwiches, Happy Meals, Cones, Pies, Deluxe Breakfast Platter (California only), Iced Caramel Macchiato (Sweeter than Starbucks Coffee, closer to my taste)

What not to get here: Their iced coffee (Try the ones at Jack in the Box or Starbucks Coffee instead), to their beef burgers, which is not up to par in term of taste and value to price, except the new fresh beef burgers which is acceptable taste wise (If you like burgers, you should try In-N-Out or Wendy’s for their fresh never frozen beef. You could also try Carl’s Jr for their humongous burgers sizes) and their chicken nuggets (This opinion is based on the taste of the nuggets compared to the same offering from competitors). At $3.50 for 6 pieces of nuggets, it’s also not worth it value (Chick-fil-A sells 6 pieces of nuggets for $3), unless you buy $3 happy meals with 4 piece nuggets.

Wendy’s

Wendy’s may not be a very familiar name for Indonesians, especially those who lived outside Jakarta as I believe now Wendy’s restaurants are only available in Jakarta and it’s proximity. However, there used to be a Wendy’s restaurants in Surabaya in the 1990s but I believe they are closed due to non performance after the economic crisis in 1997-1998. Wendy’s was born when Dave Thomas opens the first Wendy’s® restaurant in Columbus, Ohio in 1969. Dave later opened the second Wendy’s in 1970 in the same city before he started his first Canadian restaurant in 1975. From then on, Wendy’s grew into the giant chain it is right now (Source: Wendy’s website). In the tough fast food competition, Wendy’s is also battling for the destination for Chicken Sandwich with their Crispy Chicken Sandwich. Also, although not as well known as In-N-Out, Wendy’s restaurants in the United States are also proud to always use fresh, never frozen beef just like In-N-Out. Statistically, Wendy’s is the fourth largest fast food restaurant by sales volume in the United States based on 2016 data from QSR magazine (Retrieved online on July 12, 2018 from https://www.qsrmagazine.com/content/qsr50-2017-top-50-chart). As if the time of this guide is written, the 2017 data is not yet released by the QSR.

Website: www.wendys.com

Best Menu Deals: $ 4 for 4 (current price without any specials), BOGO deals (From mail based coupons), $2 off any premium salad (From survey), Keychain with free Frosty for a year.

What to get here: Frosty, their burgers and salads.

What not to get here: Their Chili soup (No, not because of the finger scandal, but they do taste watery down and not as good as canned soup).

Carl’s Jr.

During my last visit to Indonesia, I noticed that Carl’s Jr. restaurant chains are growing in Indonesia. Carl’s Jr. chain started in Southern California and its headquarter is still in Southern California. The chain is known for their humongous size burgers (Especially when compared to McDonald’s size). For at least 12 years, Carl’s Jr. is also known in the USA for their racy ads in TV featuring scantily clad models, staring with Paris Hilton’s racy ad in 2005, although the practice was stopped in early 2017 because their boss think sex no longer helps increase sales (Source: Washington Post. Retrieved online on July 18, 2018 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/03/30/carls-jr-sex-no-longer-sells/ ). Some of their famous offerings are the Famous Star burgers and their Six Dollars Burgers.

Website: www.carlsjr.com

Best Menu Deals: BOGO Famous Star, BOGO Six dollars burgers (from mail based coupon ad), $1.29 small fries (Get the Criss cut fries)

What to get here: Six dollars burgers, Famous Star burgers, Criss cut fries

What not to get here: Their Kid’s Meal AKA “Carl’s Cool Kids Menu” (Not worth it for the full price, no toys and mediocre value. If I could, I would probably call it “Carl’s Not Cool Kids Menu” instead)

Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box may be an unfamiliar name for Indonesians as there is no current Jack in the Box franchise restaurant in Indonesia yet. The chain is also started in Southern California, from San Diego to be exact. The restaurant was started in 1951 by Robert E. Peterson and it then expanded from then on (Source: Jack in the Box website). San Diego is also where its headquarter currently located. The chain is known for their all day breakfast. Some of their famous menu are their Jumbo Jack, their cheap tacos and their croissants. Jack in the Box is also known for its creepy mascot, a man in a suit with a ping-pong ball as a head, in the TV ads. This Jack in the Box mascot was listed as the third creepiest mascots in a Time Magazine article in 2011 (Source: Time Magazine. Retrieved online on July 18, 2018 from http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2090074_2090076_2090072,00.html ).

Website: www.jackinthebox.com

Best Menu Deals: 2 croissant for $ 4  (current price without any special coupons), BOGO croissant and sandwiches (from mail based coupon ad).

What to get here: Their croissants and their Iced Coffee (Pretty good)

What not to get here: Their Kid’s Meal (Terrible value), Fish Sandwich (Seasonal item but it doesn’t taste very good, McDonald’s Filet-o-Fish is much better)

Burger King

Burger King chain is probably better known in Indonesia than some others as there are already a few franchisee restaurants open in Indonesia (in Jakarta area). While Burger King is famously known for their Whopper burgers, the chain also claimed to be the place for the Original Chicken Sandwich since 1979, as indicated in their website (Retrieved online July 16, 2018 from https://www.bk.com/menu-item/original-chicken-sandwich ). Burger King is ranked fifth in sales volume in the United States based on 2016 QSR data.

Website: www.burgerking.com

Best Menu Deals: $ 3.49 or 2 cheeseburgers combo, 50 cents cone (current price without any special coupons),

What to get here: Their Whopper burgers, fries, Cones (How can you mess up a cone?)

What not to get here: Their Chicken Fries (No, not because of the health concerns, they just taste pretty nasty to my taste).

Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A is one of the fastest growing fast food restaurants in the United States. The chain is reported to be number  five among the fastest growing fast food restaurant chains in the United States based on Business Insider data in 2017 (Retrieved online from http://www.businessinsider.com/fastest-growing-restaurant-chains-in-the-us-2017-2017-6 ). The chain was originally started in the East Coast of the United States, in the suburban area of Atlanta, Georgia. Chick-fil-A is known for it’s chicken sandwiches. The restaurant is also known to close on Sundays, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas days, per the corporate policy.

Website: www.chickfila.com

Best Menu Deals: BOGO Sandwiches (from mail based coupon ad), 6 pieces chicken nuggets (regular price, cheaper and better than McDonald’s)

What to get here: Sandwiches, chicken nuggets and waffle cut fries, Kid’s meal, Cones, Shakes

What not to get here: None (All their menu selections are pretty decent in value and taste)

In-N-Out

In-N-Out restaurants started in Southern California as a drive thru only fast food restaurant in Baldwin Park, California. The restaurant is  mostly known in California, but it is slowly expanding to Arizona, Nevada, Utah , Texas and Oregon. The chain is a family owned chain, they do not offer franchise. In-N-Out is famous for their fresh never frozen beef patties and their freshly cut fries (Cut right in front of you in their restaurants). The restaurant is owned by the Snyder family and its headquarter is currently in Irvine, CA.

Website: www.in-n-out.com

Best Menu Deals: N/A (They never advertised or give away coupons), except for grand opening day special vouchers.

What to get here: Their burgers (fresh, never frozen) and freshly cut fries (Pretty good although they never issue any coupons)

What not to get here: Their shakes (Watery, not a good value, get the shakes at Chick-fil-A or  Jack in the Box).

Arby’s

I remember long ago, there was an Arby’s franchise in Surabaya but they now closed for business. Arby’s is famous for their roast beef sandwiches and they are one of the few chains who don’t go into the burger business. Arby’s restaurant chains is used to be owned by Wendy’s/Arby’s Corporation, but they recently sold their shares to private investor, Roark Capital in 2011 after many years of poor performance (Based on Time Magazine’s data, retrieved online on July 16, 2018 from http://business.time.com/2011/06/14/why-wendys-cant-stomach-any-more-arbys/ )

Website: www.arbys.com

Best Menu Deals: Their specialty, roast beef sandwich BOGO

What to get here: Their roast beef sandwiches, salad and fries. And if you are an adventurer, try their crème brulee shakes too. Their seasonal gyros are also pretty decent for fast food

What not to get here: Their cinnamon rolls (For the price, you can get a much better quality cinnamon rolls at Cinnabon).

Subway

Subway is the leader in the submarine style sandwich fast food in the United States. It is called submarine style because the bread is long and skinny like a  submarine (unlike some other sandwiches which are served on around or oval bread). Although many Subway restaurants may have unassuming look, Subway chain is the largest fast food chain restaurants in the United States  by the number of locations as wells the second largest restaurant by sales volume (Based on the 2016 QSR data). Because of lack of data from Subway’s official site, I am not sure if there are any Subway franchise restaurants in Indonesia or not right now, but I am sure there used to be a Subway restaurant in Surabaya also, but I heard that it was already closed for a while when I went back to Surabaya in 2017.

Website: www.subway.com

Best Menu Deals: Their BOGO sandwiches (with coupons) 

What to get here: Their tuna sandwiches (Some people may hate this, but I think it is my only choice if I go to the Subway).

What not to get here: Their chicken (Kind of nasty IMHO, Quiznos chicken used to be much better)

Quiznos

Quiznos is a smaller fast food chain serving submarine style sandwiches, just like Subway. I believe Quiznos products and offerings were better than Subway (I said they were because I only based on my data from the time when I still run the franchise), however Quiznos corporate management is incompetent in my honest opinion. Honestly, I probably have a love and hate relationship with  Quiznos since I used to own and run a Quiznos. I noticed many Quiznos franchise restaurants in Southern California closed in the past ten years, partly because of increase in the food cost and bad locations. IMHO, the bad location is partly due to  corporate lack of due diligence in approving franchise locations. I personally also think it was partly due corporate’s lack of support for their franchisees such as lack of advertising, as well as the corporate greed in keeping profit from the food cost from being passed on to the franchisees. On a side note, I believe someone opened a Quiznos franchise in Indonesia not long ago, I am not sure how well it fares since Quiznos website often listed closed locations.

Website: www.quiznos.com

Best Menu Deals: Their BOGO sandwiches (with coupons) 

What to get here: Their Chicken Carbonara and Prime rib sandwiches (As long as they still use the real products from corporate, since I noticed some Quiznos in Southern California didn’t use the real Quiznos products because they are too expensive compared to the products available from regular food wholesale). I also love their soups (Clam Chowder, Chicken and Corn and even their Chili), their flat bread and their bread bowl (Not sure if they still serve them since the closest Quiznos in my area closed like 5 years ago).

What not to get here: The salads probably (FYI, I used to own a Quiznos franchise myself and I noticed that most franchise owners often cheat on the freshness of their products, especially salad).

Sonic’s Drive In

Sonic Drive In is one of the few remaining Drive-In fast food chains in California. The chain may have their employees on roller skates, but not all restaurants are that way.

Website: www.sonicdrivein.com

Best Menu Deals: Their 50 cents corn dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches, $1 small smoothies (Seasonal offers)

What to get here: Their grilled cheese sandwiches

What not to get here: The shakes or smoothies (Quite expensive at regular price).

Wienerschnitzel

Wienerschnitzel is one fast food restaurant chain which serve mostly hot dogs and some burgers. Most of their location also have Foster Freeze products like Sundaes, Cones and Root Beer Floats. Their older location has an A-Frame shape in which cars can drive through the restaurant. They are known for their cheap chili dogs

Website: www.wienerschnitzel.com

Best Menu Deals: Their daily specials , mostly desserts (No coupons needed). Their 5 for $ 5.95 chili dogs 

What to get here: Their corn dogs, their cones, their pastrami sandwich (If you like Pastrami) and sundaes (Especially during special price).

What not to get here: The fries (mediocre), banana splits (Well, it’s not banana split for me if there’s no three different flavors of ice cream)

Chicken Fast Food Restaurants

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

Just like the name, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) chain in the United States sell their own version of Kentucky fried chicken as their main product offering. As you probably already know, the chain was started in Kentucky by Colonel Sanders, whose figure often grace KFC restaurants, who sells fried chicken spiced and cooked according to what he called as his secret fried chicken recipe. However, for those of you who have been to KFC in Indonesia, you will see a different menu since KFC restaurants in the USA don’t sell rice dishes and some of the local Indonesian food variants (like perkedel).

Website: www.kfc.com

Best Menu Deals: $5 Fill Ups

What to get here: Fried Chicken (Both Original or Crispy), Coleslaw, Mashed potatoes.

What not to get here: Their bone-in wings (Somewhat tasteless and too pricey)

Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen (Popeye’s)

Popeye’s is also another fast food chain which sell fried Chicken also, but their chicken is Louisiana’s style. There are some other smaller Louisiana style fried chicken chains but Popeye’s is the largest and the most known among them. Just like the other Louisiana style fried chicken chains, Popeye’s specialty is in their spicy Cajun style Louisiana friend chicken. 

Website: www.popeyes.com

Best Menu Deals: Tuesday Special: $1.99 for two prices of leg and thigh.

What to get here: Fried Chicken, Sweet Tea (If you like sweet tea)

What not to get here: Their mashed potatoes, the gravy tastes too peppery. Their strawberries and crème pie (You can get the same product for much cheaper at McDonald’s).

El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco (A Spanish phrase which literally means the Crazy Chicken) is one fast food chain specialized in Mexican style citrus marinated grilled chicken. The chain is originally from Mexico. Their first restaurant was opened in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico in the 1970s, but they later expanded to the United States in 1980s. 

Website: www.elpolloloco.com

Best Menu Deals: $7 free entrée with any entrée purchase (From app), Free entrée when you buy $10or more (From mail based coupon)

What to get here: Their chicken, macaroni and cheese

What not to get here: Their burritos, you better off getting them at the local Taqueria or small mom and pop Mexican restaurants.

Raising Cane’s

Raising Cane’s is one of the newest fast food restaurant chains offering Southern style fried chicken which expanded into the Southern California’s market. The chain is currently listed as the fastest growing fast food chain based on Business Insider data in 2017 (Retrieved online from http://www.businessinsider.com/fastest-growing-restaurant-chains-in-the-us-2017-2017-6 ). There are only few Raising Cane’s restaurants in Southern California as of this time.

Website: www.raisingcanes.com

Best deals: No known coupons or deals known yet.

What to get here: Their chicken fingers, crinkle cut fries and Texas toast.

What not to get here: The chicken sandwich (So and so, Chick-fil-A can do better)

Asian style Fast Food

Panda Express

Panda Express is definitely the forerunner of the Asian style fast food restaurant chains, one of a few local chains which managed to grow into a national level fast food chain. Their restaurant concept is pretty simple, an affordable American style Chinese fast food. Their food is served in the steam table just like the other Chinese fast food place. The chain started as a sit-down restaurant in Pasadena, California as Panda Inn, the family owned restaurant was struggling but their luck turned to the better when one of their loyal customers, Pat Donahue, whose family owned Glendale Galleria offered them a chance to open a quick serve model of Panda Inn in Galleria’s new food court. When they decided to go with the idea, Panda Express was born (Source: Business Insider. Retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://amp.businessinsider.com/how-panda-express-was-created-2016-6). The Cherng family opens their first Panda Express in Glendale, California in 1983 and from then on, the chain grows into a chain with locations from coast to coast and all over the world (Source: Panda Express website. Retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://www.pandaexpress.com/ourfamilystory/about ). Nowadays, Panda Express is the largest Asian style fast food chain in the United States. It is currently listed as the only Asian fast food chain, ranked as number 22, from the QSR Top 50 list of 2017 (Retrieved online on July 16, 2018 from https://www.qsrmagazine.com/reports/2017-qsr-50 ). One side note about the QSR data, 2017 QSR Top 50 list is actually based on the same 2016 data.

Website: www.pandaexpress.com

What to get here: Their signature orange chicken dish and Beijing Beef, both are my favorites. I also found their Angus Beef and Fried Shrimp entrees to be quite decent (although it carries the extra charge)

What not to get here: Their chicken teriyaki {Usually is pretty dry and tasteless). Their egg rolls is often too old (Get the egg rolls from Vietnamese restaurants instead)

Pick Up Stick

Well, you can say that Pick Up Stix is a Panda Express wannabe. Yes, it is also another fast food chain specializing in Chinese style fast food although they tried to differentiate their offering by promising a freshly work item for every order, so don’t expect to see a steam table when you go to the Pick Up Stix restaurant. The chain also started in Southern California but I noticed that the chain is slowly disappearing from the Southern California fast food landscape, perhaps partly due to tough economy in the last 10 years or so.

Website: www.pickupstix.com

Best deals: BOGO Tuesday and cheap Wonton on Wednesdays (Not advertised, but still honored in some Restaurants)

What to get here: Their freshly work Thai Sweet Chili Shrimp 

What not to get here: Orange Chicken (They’re okay but not as good as Panda Express)

Yoshinoya

Most Indonesians are probably already familiar with Yoshinoya since they also have restaurants in Indonesia. Yoshinoya is a fast food chain whose main focus is the Japanese inspired foos. The chain is originally from Japan before it expanded to other parts of the world. Today, there are more than 2,000 Yoshinoya locations worldwide, serving more than 500,000 delicious bowls daily (Source: Yoshinoya America website. Retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://www.yoshinoyaamerica.com/our-story ). Yoshinoya in the United States have a slightly different menu than their Indonesian restaurants, but they still sell their original Beef Bowl (gyudon) and Chicken Teriyaki Bowl which are their specialty. Yoshinoya in the USA offer some local menu variations like Orange Chicken, Shrimp Bowl, Lemon Pepper Grilled Fish and seasonally Louisiana’s style Lobster Bowl.

Website: www.yoshinoyaamerica.com

Best deals: BOGO Entrees (From mail based coupons)

What to get here: Their beef bowl and chicken teriyaki bowl

What not to get here: Their lobster bowl (A New Orleans wannabe, but not quite up to par)

WaBa Grill

WaBa Grill is another Asian inspired fast food chain specializing in rice dishes and teriyaki, similar to Yoshinoya but WaBa only serve teriyaki style beef not the Yoshinoya’s gyudon style beef bowl. The hain tried to position itself as the healthier alternative with their “Eat Smart, Be Healthy”slogan. The chain claimed to always use real fruit and vegetables to make their sauce. WaBa Grill also claimed that they always use boneless, skinless chicken, never frozen and fat trimmed. They also claim that their Salmon is always wild Alaskan and certified responsible and sustainable (Source: WaBa Grill website. Retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://www.wabagrill.com/menu ). WaBa Grill is one of the fastest growing Asian fast food chain according to the research from Technomic, a market research firm (Quoted from Splinter, retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://splinternews.com/here-are-the-3-fastest-growing-restaurants-serving-asia-1793848268 ).

Website: www.WaBaGrill.com

Best deals: BOGO Entrees (From mail based coupons), 2 Chicken Bowl for $10.98 (Current special price).

What to get here: Their teriyaki bowl. I like Salmon so it’s one my favorite choice every time I go to a Teriyaki place.

What not to get here: Salad (Not worth it price wise, unless you really like salads or on diet)

The Flame Broiler

The Flame Broiler is also another Asian style fast food chain with teriyaki as their main product offering, similar to WaBa Grill. Flame Broiler also claimed to be the healthier place for the Asian style Teriyaki rice bowls. The chain claimed to exist to serve delicious, healthy food with honest, simple ingredients. Flame Broiler competes using their ingredients as a striking point, as they proudly mentioned that their chicken is all natural chicken, their beef is choice Angus Beef and their tofu is organic tofu (Source: Flame Broiler website. Retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://flamebroilerusa.com/menu/ ). The chain is also proud with their corporate responsibility in which they claimed that the founder of the chain will sponsor 2 children in need for each location of Flame Broiler. The Website claimed there are 180 locations of Flame Broiler open for business (Source: Flame Broiler website. Retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://flamebroilerusa.com/our-story/ ). The chain is also listed as one of the fastest growing fast food chain in Asian segment, according to the data from Technomic (Quoted from Splinter, retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://splinternews.com/here-are-the-3-fastest-growing-restaurants-serving-asia-1793848268).

Website: www.flamebroilerusa.com

Best deals: N/A (No known coupons as of yet)

What to get here: Nothing, everything is mediocre. Their portion is also too small for the price (Maybe because they use fancy expensive ingredients but the taste is just so and so in my opinion).

What not to get here: Everything, too pricey for the portion and the taste. Well, YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary (Maybe because I am not a healthy conscious person… :-p)

Mexican Style Fast Food Restaurants

Taco Bell

Taco Bell is one fast food restaurant chain which sell Mexican style food, such as tacos, burritos, quesadillas etc. However, Taco Bell is not from Mexico, it’s a local chain started by an American named Glenn Bell who is neither a Mexican nor a person of Hispanic descents. Glenn Bell first started his business by selling hot dogs in San Bernardino, California before he struck his fortune when he opened  a small taco stand in Downey, California which he called Taco Bell. The small taco stand located in Firestone Boulevard was a success as the area was a booking area in 1962 (From Huffington Post, retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6818968) . Based on the latest QSR data, Taco Bell is now sixth largest fast food chain in the USA based on sales volume (QSR magazine, retrieved online on July 17,2018 from https://www.qsrmagazine.com/content/qsr50-2017-top-50-chart).

Website: www.tacobell.com

Best deals: BOGO deals and $ off (From coupons), $5 special combo (Seasonal)

What to get here: Their $5 specials, Chalupas and Gorditas

What not to get here: Tacos (Ironically)

Del Taco

Del Taco is also another Mexican style fast food chain that is competing with the market leader in that segment, Taco Bell. Del Taco’s first restaurant was opened in Yermo, California in 1964, and the company went public in 2015 with 550 restaurants in 16 States (Source: Del Taco website. Retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://www.deltaco.com/history ). The chain is known to compete against Taco Bell by selling the products cheaper, that’s why Jay Leno, the former Tonight Show host often joked about Del Taco as “it’s just like Taco Bell but even cheaper.” When Taco Bell launched their $1 deals, Del Taco also advertised for their “Buck and Under” items (Source: Del Taco website. Retrieved online on July 17, 2018 from https://www.deltaco.com/index.php?page=menu_items&category=buck-and-under). Quality wise, I think Taco Bell is still slightly ahead.

Website: www.deltaco.com

Best deals: BOGO Items (From mail based coupons), Buck and Under menu items.

What to get here: Their quesadillas

What not to get here: Tacos or Burittos (They’re cheaper but they are also not as good as other local Mexican chains or mom and pop’s owned Mexican fast food restaurants)

Rubios

Website: www.rubios.com 

Best deals: BOGO Entrees (From mail based coupons)

What to get here: Their beer battered fish burritos

What not to get here: Their other burritos or tacos (Not as tasty as others)

Chipotle

Website: www.chipotle.com 

Best deals: BOGO Entrees (From mail based coupons)

What to get here: Their beer battered fish burritos

King Taco

Website: www.kingtaco.com

Best deals: N/A (No known coupons as of yet)

What to get here: Their burritos and their salsas

What not to get here: Not known yet, so far all is good

Molcasalsa

Website: Unknown

Best deals: N/A (No known coupons as of yet)

What to get here: Their adobada, their fish burritos, their Super Fries

What not to get here: Their fries by itself (Too greasy and not good)

Pizza Fast Food Restaurants

Pizza Hut

Website: www.pizzahut.com

Best deals: $6 Pasta Tuesdays and 60 cents Wings Wednesdays (No coupons necessary). $6.99 any two topping large pizza (Online only), 

What to get here: Their pan pizza, their pasta, bread sticks and wings

What not to get here: Their hand tossed pizza

Domino’s

Website: www.dominos.com

Best deals: $7.99 any 3-topping large pizza (Carry out orders only, no delivery)

What to get here: Their hand tossed pizza

What not to get here: Their pan pizza (mediocre compared to Pizza Hut)

Papa John’s

Website: www.papajohns.com

Best deals: 50% off any pizza (Email offers), Free pizza (Seasonal and Local Deals only)

What to get here: Their All Meats Pizza

What not to get here: Anchovies (If your wife hates it)

Little Caesars

Website: www.littlecaeasars.com

Best deals: N/A (No known coupons as of yet)

What to get here: Their $5 large pizza

What not to get here: The bread sticks (Not as good as Pizza Hut)

Mediterranean / Middle Eastern style Fast Food Restaurants

Daphne’s California Greek Restaurant

Website: www.daphnes.biz

Best deals: BOGO Entrees (From mail based coupons)

What to get here: Their Entrees are generally pretty good

What not to get here: Their baklava is mediocre

The Halal Guys

Website: www.thehalalguys.com

Best deals: Free drinks (By signing up for their reward card which is free)

What to get here: Nothing, all food is mediocre at best (Beef is dry, hummus is underwhelming)

What not to get here: Everything. All mediocre food, go to Masis Kabob for a much better food. Even Arby’s have a much better gyros.

Massis Kabob

Website: www.massiskabob.com

Best deals: N/A (No known coupons as of yet)

What to get here: Their beef Koubideh, Chicken breast Barq, Chicken Kabob, Idaho Trouts and falafels.

What not to get here: Not known yet, so far all is good

Hawaiian style Fast Food Restaurants

Ono Hawaiian BBQ

Website: www.onohawaiianbbq.com

Best deals: N/A (No known coupons as of yet)

What to get here: Their teriyaki chicken and beef (Well, how bad can you mess barbeque chicken or beef?)

What not to get here: Not known yet, so far all is just barely over mediocrity.

Wahoo’s Fish Tacos

Website: www.kingtaco.com

Best deals: N/A (No known coupons as of yet)

What to get here: Their fish burritos

What not to get here: Not known yet, so far all is good

Maui Hawaiian Barbeque

Website: www.mauihawaiianbbq.com

Best deals: N/A (No known coupons as of yet)

What to get here: Their BBQ Mix, Chicken Combos, Spam Musubi

What not to get here: Their Saimin (Hawaiian style ramen), pretty mediocre.

By Buntoro

First of all, I have to admit that I may not be qualified to write about food in the United States since most of my experience in the United States is limited to the State of California only, both Northern California and Southern California, although I did travel to many other parts of the States as a tourist. Despite my shortcomings, as a food lover, albeit not a foodie, I braved myself to share my limited experience with food in the United States as a simple introduction for Indonesian Newbies who plan to study, stay or permanently migrate to the United States.

To the general Indonesian public, the term fast food itself is probably inseparable from the United States as the forerunners and some of the most well known names of fast food restaurant chains in Indonesia are fast food chains from the US, such as McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut.

True, fast food was probably not born in the United States but throughout the past few decades, fast food entrepreneurs in the United States influenced and contributed new concepts and colors to the history of fast food restaurants with their innovations such as the Drive In, Carhops and Drive Thru. Unfortunately, in the recent years, the popularity and the numbers of  Drive In and Carhop restaurants in the United States has dropped significantly with the rise of Drive Thru concept which was actually started in the banking  industry.  The first drive-through restaurant was created in 1947 by Sheldon “Red” Chaney, operator of Red’s Giant Hamburg in Springfield, Missouri (Based on data from Time Magazine, retrieved online from http://amp.timeinc.net/time/money/3478752/drive-thru-fast-food-fast-casual). 

Later, the In-N-Out restaurant in Southern California in 1948 became successful with their drive thru centric business, in which the drive thru concept was later adopted alsoby other chain restaurants like Jack in the Box and Wendy’s. However, the larger fast food chains like McDonald’s actually came behind when it comes to drive thru since they opened their first drive thru in 1970s (Based on data from The History Channel, retrieved online from http://www.history.com/news/fries-with-that-a-brief-history-of-drive-thru-dining ). Despite the decline of Drive-In concept, you can still find some Drive-In restaurants even in California under Sonic brands (Unfortunately, most A&W restaurants I have been in California were Drive Thru only, not Drive In like some of their siblings in the Southwest, Midwest and East Coast as well as Canada.

Now, back to the topic, I am fully aware that this guide is not meant to be a history or a text book but a simple guide for fellow Indonesian Newbies (pretty much just like me 20 years ago), but I would like to include some brief history including the Drive In restaurants for those who love classic American movies and who were wondering if they can experience Drive-In restaurants. Yes, I have to admit that I did try to locate Drive-In restaurants in California when I first came to the United States and I was somewhat disappointed  I  find them. I was fooled by Hollywood movies. The other reason I mentioned this is also because I love history.  Although I can’t be called a true history buff, but I like to know the history because I believe we all can learn from history.

Back to our expectations, when you go to the United States, please be aware that the American style fast food restaurants you are familiar with in Indonesia do not always reflect the restaurants here in the United States. To be continued.

Here are some list of misconceptions and/or differences between American fast food restaurants in Indonesia and the ones in the United States.

1. Classy or not?

First of all, most Indonesians in Indonesia consider that most American style fast food restaurants in Indonesia are high class or at least higher class food restaurants (unlikregulaar “warung” but sadly that is not always the case in the United States. In fact, many people consider fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, KFC and Pizza Hut as lower class restaurants or some even called them as junk food restaurants with lower quality food and/or ingredients. In fact, many of the higher class residents of the United States prefer slow food served in Sit-Down restaurants or home cooked meals than fast food restaurants.

1. Upper Middle Class restaurants or not?

My second observation is that American fast food restaurants in Indonesia cater mostly to the upper and middle class as  evident from their prime locations as well as their clienteles or customers of the restaurants. However that’s not always the case I’m the United States. While it is true that many fast food restaurants here are located in free standing buildings and shopping malls but most of the customers of fast food restaurants in the United States are from the poorer parts of the society, mostly from the lower class and some middle class folks. True, there are some rich folks who love fast food, you may even heard news about some celebrities who visited fast food restaurants too but they are a minority, both in numbers and frequencies.

However, nowadays as the fast food restaurants continue to evolve, there are some newer fast food restaurants and chains who tried to go against the notion that fast food restaurants only offer lower quality food made from low quality ingredients by offering higher quality  food and ingredients. One of such restaurants is a fast food chain called In-N-Out, a smaller chain started in Southern California which brags their fresh never frozen beef and freshly cut fries. Another example of the newer fast food restaurants which advertised higher quality food is Chick-fil-A, a chick sandwich franchise chain which originated from the east coast state of Georgia. Even McDonald’s restaurants are now trying to push their higher quality menus.

1. Same menus or not?

I  hate to disappoint you guys, but unfortunately the answer is no, the menus in a version of American fast food restaurants are not the same with the menus they offer here in the United States. Sad but true.

Here are some examples:

1. McDonald’s (McD)

When we go to  McDonald’s restaurant in Indonesia, some of us would expect to order Fried Chicken with rice combo or something along that line but you will not be able to order such menu here in American McDonald’s restaurants. In fact, you will not find any Fried Chicken leg or thigh in any  McD restaurants in the United States simply because the restaurants here mostly focused on selling burgers just like the original restaurant. Yes, Yes, you can still get McChicken sandwich and even some Fried chicken tenders at McD here but they will not be the same as the good old crispy bone-in Fried chicken that you commonly find at Indonesian style McDonald’s.

If you ask about Fried chicken at a McDonald’s restaurant, they probably will try to refer you to KFC or Popeye’s restaurants nearby, but if you ever have gut to ask for rice, the cashier will probably roll his or her eyes and think that you may be crazy. Yes, if you want spicy chicken, you should look for a Popeye’s restaurant instead, although they don’t serve rice, they do sell spicy bone-in Chicken similar to the ones sold at McDonald’s in Indonesia (They’re actually better at Popeye’s in my humble opinion).

But then again, in case if you still miss the point, allow me to just to state the obvious fact: McD restaurants in the United States do not sell rice dishes.

Honestly, if you really want Rice dishes, you should NOT go to McDonald’s in the United States, instead please go to Chinese restaurants or other Asian style food establishments. With that said, once again please do not expect your McDonald’s in the United States to sell Bulgogi Beef Rice dishes like the McDonald’s in Indonesia. If you want Bulgogi rice, you should go to Korean restaurant for that, I can guarantee you that you  probably don’t want to eat McDonald’s Bulgogi rice anymore once you tried the real Korean Bulgogi at the real Korean restaurant. And you are craving for Teriyaki Chicken Rice  similar to the ones in Indonesia’s version of McDonald’s, I suggest that you go to Japanese restaurant for that, some places have better Teriyaki compare to McDonald’s ones. 

Lastly, please do not even attempt to find Indonesian style food like Nasi Uduk at your nearby McDonald’s in the USA either. Frankly even at some Indonesian restaurants here, you probably will have a hard time to find the ones that specifically serve Nasi Uduk (They may sell Nasi Bungkus or other Nasi dishes, but not necessarily Nasi Uduk). And once again please be aware that McDonald’s here don’t sell Bubur Ayam (Chicken Porridge) either, please visit your nearby Indonesian restaurant which may sell them (Call them first since they may not sell the dish). If you still can’t find it, you can probably try  some Hong Kong  style Chinese restaurants which sell similar porridge dishes but they are usually pork based.

1. Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

Just like its name, KFC restaurants in the United States still sell their famous original fried chicken just like they did in Indonesia, however some of their side dishes are different from the side dishes you commonly find in Indonesian style KFC. Once again, similar to McDonald’s, if you go to KFC restaurants in the United States, please do not order rice dishes either, they do not serve rice. Also, you may also feel disappointed, just like me, when you found out that KFC restaurants here do not sell soup or “perkedel” unlike the ones in Indonesia. Please do not embarrass yourself by trying to order them. Your only option to satisfy your craving for perkedel is only from Indonesian restaurants, some of which sell perkedel (We will go through this more in depth later when we come to the Indonesian food choices).

1. Pizza Hut

Now, how about Pizza Hut? Well, yes, Pizza Hut is still selling Pizza in their restaurants in the United States but so not expect them to be the same as the pizza hut restaurants you know in Indonesia. Firstly, most Pizza Hut locations in the United States cannot be classified as restaurants but more like stores because they mostly focused on take-out orders so they will not have seating area for you to dine-in. Secondly, do not expect them to sell salad or offer salad buffet. Those are unique to the Indonesian version of Pizza Hut.

Back to the main topic, so in short, fast food in the United States may not look like the same fast food restaurant you are familiar with in Indonesia, for better or worse.

The above examples may indicate that US fast food restaurants may be worse than their “brothers” or “sisters” restaurants in Indonesia but here are some interesting things in which US fast food restaurants are superior compared to the Indonesian version.

1. Free Refills on Soft Drinks/Premade Tea

Well, if you haven’t been in a US fast food restaurant in the United States, you’re probably very happy when you find out that you can get your own refills on Soft Drinks or some other drinks (mostly the premade ones). I know that nothing is free in Indonesia. One other thing is that you don’t have to spend more money to buy more soda, say if for some reason you bought a cup of Dr. Pepper soda and you later realize that you don’t really like Dr. Peppers taste for example, you could just ask the restaurant workers to replace your drink with other soda flavor if the soda machine is not already easily accessible outside the counter. In fact, most fast food restaurants in the United States that I have visited have their soda machine outside so you could refills or replace your drinks with any flavor you want. 

Most of the newer fast food restaurants (and the newly remodeled ones) even have modern soda machine where you can choose from 100s of kind of soda. FYI, the machine is made by the Coca-Cola company, so don’t expect any Pepsi products (Pepsi, Mountain Dew etc.). I found these machines at most Wendy’s and Jack in the Box in Southern California. And not only soda, some restaurants also have pre made tea (sweetened or unsweetened) available for refills like McDonald’s (with their infamous Sweet Tea), Subway, Quiznos and El Pollo Loco. Some El Pollo Loco restauranta (which sell Mexican Style Marinated Chicken) in Southern California even have their premade horchata (sweet rice drink, similar to air tajin) available for refills. 

FYI, as a side note based on my experience running a restaurant, the soft drink is the item with the highest profit margin in the restaurant industry business. The average cost for 16 oz. Cup of soda (The medium size cup) was about 10-15 cents based on the expense data from 2006. I am not familiar with today’s wholesale price list but in my assumption, even with inflation adjustment, the cost of the medium cup of soda cannot be more than 40 cents. That’s why Costco can sell their soda with free refills for only 59 cents.

1. Free sauces (on most restaurants)

Once again, this is probably one of the very well known fact about American Fast Food. Yes, free sauce is available with (or sometimes without purchase – if you are brave enough) in most fast food restaurants. Why do I say that? Because often times, those sauces are usually available at the condiments area near the soda fountain machine so they are also pretty much accessible even to those folks who just visit the restaurant, and they both necessarily need to buy food there (Honestly, I don’t encourage this, but some people actually get them for free if you’re not afraid of being shamed). 

I know this may sound strange in Indonesia because some people would probably take all the sauces from the restaurants if they were in Indonesia. In Indonesia, who doesn’t want free Ranch sauce?  In fact I know some Indonesians here who like to get free dipping sauces from fast food restaurants to use at home, such as to compliment Chinese style fried chicken or other deep fried food. However, I have to warn you guys that  it may be illegal to grab those  without any purchase, the  manager on duty may reprimand your action or even call the police for those (It rarely happens but it does happen once in a while). FYI (For Your Information), I believe the people who took some sauces home that I mentioned above actually bought some food and get some extra sauces (or dressings in the American language).

Because of similar abuses, some fast food restaurants no longer put their dressings in such location due to multiple abuse, perhaps from some immigrants like us…. Sigh. However, if you like to try it, some of the best places to get free dipping sauces that I found is some Jack in the Box restaurants in Southern California (not all), and Chick-fil-A restaurants where some condiments like fancy packages of Heinz ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise etc. are available in the condiments counter, you can also request for some special dressings from the crew members just by asking. 

And if you are wondering about the condiments in the fast food giant, Mc Donald’s, unfortunately you probably will not find any condiments freely available in McDonald’s restaurants except some ketchup (in the older McDonald’s settings) but you can always ask for them from their crew members. Note, some McDonald’s restaurants I have been to in other states outside California MAY charge you for the condiments (I experienced that during my recent visit to Las Vegas, Nevada).

1. You can get a refund if you don’t like your food. 

Your satisfaction is guaranteed. This is one of the best things that I appreciate the American company for. In the United States, generally you can refund almost anything even the food that you already ate. Although there’s no written rules, most restaurant establishments in the United States adhere to the rule. At first, some if you may find it funny or ridiculous, but it’s the truth here in the United States. If you don’t like your food or if you think your food is made incorrectly, even if you think that your food tastes “funny” in your opinion (That is one of the excuses I heard from my customers during my time running my Quiznos), you can request for a refund or replacement, even after you ate your food partially. 

Usually, the manager will ask for the reason and he usually will offer you a replacement food which is often accompanied with additional freebies for your inconveniences. For example, if you buy a burger at Wendy’s and you didn’t like it, they may offer you to remake the food or give you a different food choices like sandwiches or salad, even though they may cost  more than your original purchase amount. If you take their offers, they may even give you free Frosty (Wendy’s milk based frozen dessert) or cookie. But, you can also refuse their offer and opt to get a refund instead. Depending on the issues and/or circumstances of your complaint, depending on the manager or whether they think it’s a real issue other not, the manager may even give you a coupon or voucher for a free food or dessert if you decide to come back. They usually give that voucher if they think your complaint is legit and they basically give you the voucher because they want you back to their restaurant. I personally have used such method when I was running the restaurant, it was a good policy to keep the customers happy.

Sadly, this good old policy has been through numerous abuses that some fast food restaurants are becoming more reluctant to issue refund for such problems. One time, a Wendy’s restaurant in California was sued by a customer who claimed that they found a finger in their Chili soup, the manager on duty had already offered the customer with a generous offer but the lady refused as she insisted for a higher payout. After being investigated, the lady was found to be lying, she planted the finger in her soup. (News link courtesy of Fox News Bay Area:   http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/01/19/couple-sentenced-in-wendy-finger-fraud.html). 

In my own experience, I also noticed that sometimes certain older people often took advantage of this policy to get free food from fast food establishment. In such cases, usually the manager is more lenient because they knew that some older people have limited income but I once heard that sometimes a good manager has to say no to such requests, especially if it happens repeatedly by the same people at the same restaurants.

Honestly, I ran into similar cases personally when I run a Quiznos restaurant in 2006 where I had to remade or refund sandwiches made for my customers, some of them were older folks, just because they said that they didn’t like them. As a restauranteur, this is a policy which may cause restaurant owner to lose money, but on the other hand, it’s also a policy which put customers first and therefore it can keep customers happy and make them coming back. Now whether you are on the side of the restauranteur or the customers, whether you like it or not, it’s the American way and it doesn’t seem like the policy is going away anytime soon despite many abuses. 

Now, what would happen if you ask for a refund for a half eaten food in restaurants in Indonesia? At the very leat, you probably would get an earful of berated words from the restaurant owner or workers instead.

1. (Possible) free food (if you know how to)

When I say free food here is really free food (although some may require a small purchase). And here I am not talking about the “free food” you get if you complain to the restaurant like what I explained in the point above. This is a legit free food offer and here is how you can get them. Some of these offers are real “free food” without any purchase necessary, but most of them require some purchase (Often a small amount). 

Free offers with purchase can be Buy One Get One (BOGO) offers, a certain fix price or a few dollar off. BOGO offers itself can be a totally Buy One Get One Free (BOGO free) offers, or BOGO with a small amount (like Buy One Get One for 1 penny), or even BOGO a certain percentage off (For example, Buy One Get One 50% off).

There are eight most common ways to get free food  from fast food restaurants in the United States:

1. Through survey 

When you buy food at fast food restaurants here, you should get a receipt, and usually behind the receipt or underneath it, there will be an invitation to give feedback  or fill out their surveys. The receipt will tell you what you would get if you complete their  surveys, in which you may be entitled to get a free food or some other special offers once you complete the survey. There may be time restrictions in which you can redeem your offer, though.

1. By calling their customer service number

Although it’s somewhat outdated, some fast food restaurants still offer customer service through their toll free numbers. These numbers are not corporate numbers and it was  intended to collect information from their customers about their experience in their restaurants. People mostly call these numbers to report unsatisfactory experiences and the customer service representatives often offer free food redeemable only at the specific restaurant where they reported to have had problems with. These corporate coupons are usually always honored, even at the independently owned restaurants or at the airport and mall based restaurants. I am quite certain about this, because when I run a franchise restaurants, I was told to always accept corporate coupons, even though it may hurt my bottom line. If I don’t accept it, the corporate may penalize me in one way or another.

1. From coupons

Some people in Indonesia may not be familiar with coupon and couponing culture in the United States, but couponing can really save you some money. Coupon is a piece of paper issued by the corporate office or the manufacturer of the products which can be redeemed in store or in restaurants (the details and limitations are usually outlined in the bottom of the coupon itself in small prints). Generally, all coupons have expiration dates and there may be restrictions in their usage, especially restaurant coupons. Most restaurant coupons have small prints specifying that they are only valid at participating restaurants (so, don’t be surprised if you go to a certain restaurant and they said that they don’t participate in the coupon). Most restaurants in the airports and inside the shopping malls usually do not accept corporate coupons.

 Some people here  saying that couponing is not only the act of collecting and using coupons but it is actually the art of getting, collecting and using coupons. Even with the advance of internet and social media culture, couponing fanatics still thrive well in the world wide web from couponing and deal sites like Krazy Coupon Lady (www.KrazyCouponLady.com), Totally Target (www.TotallyTarget.com) , Hip 2 Save (www.Hip2Save.com) or I Heart CVS ( www.iHeartCVS.com) and many others.

1. By signing up for their official email mailing list

Well, some people may think that the toll free number is already outdated, so the corporate now also offer freebies for their customers when they signed up for their email mailing list.

1. From their official app 

These days, with the widespread usage of cell phones (also known as the “hand phone” in Indonesia), I found some of the best offer from fast food restaurants in the United States is from their own app. I will try to go through some of them later on.

One thing to note is that, sometimes, these free offers may be seasonal or limited to certain day or week and they often have expiration dates. Most app offer require purchase also. Some apps are offering 100% free offers, without any purchases required, although they’re usually only available when you first install the app, mostly to entice more people to download their apps.

1. Through special promotion from other media.

Sometimes, fast food restaurants will offer free food on certain dates via their advertisement on TV or radio platform. However, with the proliferation of internet and social media, some restaurants also announce their promotional offer through Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram. The free offer is sometimes also limited to a certain number of people (For example: Offer is limited to  the first 100 people standing in line), or only available during certain hours of the day (For example: Only available from 3pm to 5pm), and it often comes with disclaimers such as: Valid at Participating restaurants only, or While Supplies last.

1. During the restaurant grand opening day

Not many people know this, but many restaurants offer special freebies during their grand opening day.  One of the most known restaurants to offer these kinds of freebies are Chick-fil-A. The offer is also limited to the first few number of people standing in line during their grand opening day, but usually the offer is pretty good such as free food for 1 year which is not bad at all considering the average combo price from both restaurants are about $8 (based on California’s price). Well, if you do stand in line and manage to get the special voucher, you can easily save thousands of dollars if you don’t mind eating Chick-fil-A everyday in the year.

1. On specific free food days

Certain fast food restaurants do give away free food on certain days or specific dates. One of the most well known one is the Chick-fil-A which offers free food without any purchase necessary on their Cow Appreciation Day, which is July 10. There’s one catch though, you will have to dress up like a cow to be eligible. Good luck with your “mooing” actions.

1. Free water.

Well, some people may consider that free water is nothing worth mentioning. At first, I didn’t plan to list it here but then I decided to list it anyway. Some people may take it for granted that we in the United States (especially California) can get free water in restaurants, but I remember that there were uproars many years ago in Northern California when McDonald’s restaurants there decided to charge 10 cents for the water because they said it cost them something even to provide the free water (I believe they mentioned the cost of the phone is or paper cup). After the uproars, I believe there is a law in California (not sure what law exactly since I can’t find the reference), which specified that restaurants in California must provide free cup of water (mostly filtered tap water) to customers unless they only have bottles of water.

I personally love this policy because I simply cannot eat without drinking (which some people actually can). I believe this policy had saved me tons of money because I didn’t have to buy any drinks at most restaurants. FYI, most restaurants drinks cost in $3-$5 in average and  I am also a fast drinker (non alcoholic beverages only by the way), so if I have to buy for every cup of drinks I gulped during my restaurants visit,  I probably would have to spend more money on the water than on the food (I usually drink at least 3 cups of water in most restaurants, but can be more if the restaurants serve spicy food). Also, I think it’s a good thing that they have free water that I don’t have to buy soda or other sugary drinka all the time. Heck, even without the soda, my waistline doesn’t get smaller either, but at least it’s not getting much bigger.

Just be careful though, even though your cup of water may be free but if you decided to fill your water cup with soda from the soda machine, like many people did actually, you may be considered stealing the soda and you may be charged for it. There were news a while ago about a McDonald’s restaurant in Springdale, Arkansas who filed a charge for its customer who filled his water cup with soda (Website news link courtesy of the Eatery: https://www.eater.com/2016/4/21/11477448/mcdonalds-arrest-soda-water-cup).

As a side note, I actually missed this free water policy when I went back to Indonesia last time. On several occasions when I ate out at restaurants in Indonesia, I replied “water” when I was asked what I want to drink. I got a few rolled eyes from my relatives and a confused look from the workers who took the order.  Then I had to change it to hot tea with sugar or other drinks. I always forget that there is no free water cup in Indonesia, and if there is, they may not be drinkable anyway. 

Now, after reading the freebies from American style fast food restaurants above, which one do you like better? The Indonesian version or the “Land of the Free” version? 

INTRODUCTION

When I first stepped my feet in California, I have to admit that I was somewhat confused of what to eat here because of the wide variety of food available here in the United States, especially California. I first found it surprising because I not only found the typical “American food” as I used to know them when I was still living in Indonesia.  Anyway, the very first restaurant I visited in the US is… a Chinese  restaurant in the vicinity of Monterey Park,  California. But, even then, I was very surprised because I could hardly recognize the Chinese  food in the United States. The restaurant had a small steam table choices in the front display case but I could hardly recognize any of the food there. For once, they didn’t look like the typical Chinese  food that I was used to eat in Indonesia. 

Not sure why, but I used to associate Chinese food with CapCay (There is no food like that in the USA, but the dish is basically a stir-fried mixed vegetables, Indonesian style), Tami Goreng (Deep fried thick egg noodles with stir fried vegetables, Indonesian style), Fu Yung Hai (Indonesian style Chinese food omelette with crab meat and seafood fillings) or Cah Kangkung (Garlic seasoned stir-fried On-Choy), perhaps because those are some of my favorite Chinese food in Indonesia.

But then, as I faced the impatient look of the lady serving the steam table, I noticed there were few vegetable dishes but at that time I didn’t recognize the vegetables, for sure it’s not Kangkung (Which I later found to be known as On Choy or Ong Choi in America). There were also some stir fried food with combination of meat and vegetables, but they were pretty much mystery dishes to me too at that point. What kind of Chinese food is that? Is it good? Even the names didn’t ring a bell since the names were quite strange to me at that time. What the hell is Kung Pao Chicken? What is twice cooked pork? Spicy or not? 

Anyway, after looking at the display for a while and to avoid further embarrassment, since the lady was already looking somewhat impatient, I decided to choose the easiest choice, the roast duck which was hung inside the case next to the steam table. At that time, I thought that was the safest choice for me. At least I know it is a roast duck, how bad can someone mess up a roast duck? Plus, roast duck dishes were actually considered higher class or more expensive among the other dishes of Chinese food in Indonesia because they’re usually only available from Hong Kong style restaurant.

I admit that not every Indonesians experience the same confusion like myself, I guess some Indonesians were more knowledgeable than me  when it comes to food in the United States. However, later on, I   actually met some other Indonesian friends who actually had similar embarrassing moments when they first ordered food due to their lack of knowledge of the food and food culture the United States (not Chinese food though), especially when they  first came to the United States. Later on, those embarrassing moments can become icebreakers in conversations among Indonesians, some people even happily joked around about his or her silly experience. But even then, from my own experience, I found that those incidents  were not all funny when it happened. In fact, they were somewhat embarrassing. One of the reasons I decided to write this eating guide is obviously to help fellow newcomers from Indonesia from experiencing similar incident. 

I am aware that this eating guide is far from perfect, but I sincerely hope that this short guide would at least help some readers from falling into similar predicament, whether they be fellow Indonesians who are visiting or studying or moving to the United States. I also thank all friends who have spared their precious time to help me finish this guide. I am also thankful to the readers for reading this guide. Once again, this guide is not perfect but I hope that this guide would at least help increase your knowledge about food and food culture in the United States, and hopefully none of you will experience food related culture shock embarrassment just like the humbling experience that I went through.

As a disclaimer, I once again want to reiterate that I am not a food expert by any means, I am just a person who enjoys eating food from different parts of the world. However, in order not to keep the guide as honest and legit as possible, I am also striving to provide related references for information I provided. Another disclosure is that the experience that I shared with you guys here is based on my personal experience while I live in the United States, and all data provided here is valid currently at the time of writing. Most of the data provided here is based on my personal experience living in San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California for about 6 years and 10 plus years in the greater Los Angeles area in Southern California.

To make it easier, I would like to separate the guides in several categories:

1. American Fast Food (Indonesia vs American style)
2. American Fast Food (The good and bad)
3. Slow-Food or Sit-down restaurant Food (American style restaurants)
4. Indonesian Food
5. Other ethnic Food (From all over the world)
6. Halal Food
7. Café, Bakery and Dessert Options

I completely understand that the limited classification above is not perfect, simply because of the wide variety of category in food world, especially for the foodies. However, due to time constraint and limited schedule, I decided to simplify it based on the above category, without any intention to degrade any other ethnic food. Once again, I apologize in advance for any  mistakes, errors and/or omissions in this short writing.

Last but not least, I would like to once again express my gratitude to all readers, I sincerely hope that you all can benefit from this guide and I also hope that this guide will help brothers and sisters in your journey and adventure in the smorgasbord world of food culture in the United States.

Peace,

-Buntoro

fast food

ˈˌfas(t) ˈˌfo͞od/

noun

noun: fast food; modifier noun: fast-food

1. food that can be prepared quickly and easily and is sold in restaurants and snack bars as a quick meal or to be taken out.

“a fast-food restaurant”

–++++++

Cartoon

(General idea: An Indonesian tried to get the spicy chicken rice dish package from McDonald’s in the USA. Because PEDAS and PANAS is the same word in English, HOT. The Indonesian then ask, “Do you sell HOT chicken?” The restaurant worker politely replies, “Sir, all our chicken is hot per the state law.” Not satisfied with the answer, he then ask again, “No, I mean, do you sell chicken that is really really HOT?” While gesturing and acting as if his mouth is burning. The restaurant worker replies again, “Sir, the temperature of our food follows the government standard for food safety. We cannot sell any products which is too hot that it burns your tongue.” The Indonesian is confused with the answer.)