Fast Food NYC: Fast Food & Casual Dining in New York City

If you're used to visiting a Calexico cart rather than a restaurant, you'll be surprised how fancy this sit-down restaurant looks. Aside from plenty of tables there is also a long bar which is stocked to full-service levels.

Takeout available and delivery will be sometime soon if this store plans to match its Waterfront District counterpart's service levels.

For now it's probably a good idea to give them a call before heading out: 347-763-2129

Perkins Family Restaurant and Bakery only has three locations in New York City, all on Staten Island. Since I was enjoying a very nice Saturday by taking the Staten Island Ferry, I figured I'd do something very random and have lunch here. This location is located right by the Old Town SIR station, which is only about a ten-minute ride from the St. George Ferry Terminal.

Long story short it's a chain version of the diners you see all across NYC, but with some perks (no pun intended).

First off, Perkins has a very large desert menu and sells entire pies for takeout by the register. The layout of the restaurant is essentially two mirror-image opposite L-shapes with the register/sales counter and waiting area taking up the center and the bathrooms and kitchen taking up the upper corners.

I was seated immediately and given the extremely large menu (even by diner standards). It actually took me a good ten minutes to choose what to order. What's interesting about the menu is that, since this is a chain, the calorie counts are posted, and, since this is a diner, you can actually find about how many calories you're taking in when you visit the mom-and-pop diners.

Needless to say, the calorie counts scared me away from getting fries (~600cal) with my turkey club sandwich (~800 cal), so instead I chose a side salad (~150 cal).

The service was very friendly (my Diet Coke was refilled twice without asking) and quick. Both the sandwich and salad were very tasty. The turkey club is my usual diner order, so I was able to compare, and Perkins' was a notch above what I'm used to. The salad was also better than expected. Let's face it, at a diners you often get a some old semi-brown salad with very little dark green. Perkins' salad wasn't world-class, but it was fresh.

Just about all the meals will run you about $10 - $11 with a drink and tax. Overall this is a very decent place to have a meal.

Sad news to report out of Coney Island: Kenny Rogers Roasters Express inside Nathan's, perhaps the last place on the East Coast to get KRR chicken, is being disassembled. Nathan's Famous had retained the right to sell KRR as a part of its sale of the chain to its  Philippine franchiser in 2008, but ultimately, with very little remaining brand recognition, it probably wasn't worth continuing the operation. Nathan's is already using the counter to sell its own specialties, from hot dogs to chicken and fish sandwiches.

Barring any other Nathan's still selling KRR (I know of none), it now seems the only place you can still savor its chicken in the United States is at the Ontario Mills mall in Ontario, California. Miami Subs, also previously owned by Nathan's Famous, has also removed any mention of KRR from its online menu.

However, in New York City the concept of multi-branded food courts run by restaurant management companies is nothing new. For decades these companies, such as Riese Restaurants have run multi-brand food courts, primarily catering to the corporate lunch crowd, in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, as well as Downtown Brooklyn.

Unlike their modern suburban counterparts, the New York City food courts are generally parent-company independent. Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs may be paired with a Roy Rogers, a KFC may be paired with a Dunkin' Donuts and a Subway.

A gleaming example of diverse fast food experience is offered at the food court on the corner of 44th Street & 8th Avenue, two blocks north of the Port Authority Bus Terminal and a block west of Times Square. Here four chains (Subway, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, Nathan's Famous, and Church's Chicken), as well as a pizza counter, are all under one roof. It is furthermore of note that this is Church's Chicken's only location in New York City, and one of the very few of Arthur Treacher's*.

The entire food court was overhauled in early 2009 and now boasts a very clean interior.

In-N-Out Burger, a highly-regarded, simple burger chain, only stretches as far east as Nevada and Colorado. Their statement on franchising will probably keep it this way:

Let's face it: New York City is the capital of borderline cease-and-desist fast food clones. There was the "Subs Ur Way" in a yellow-and-green color scheme in Greenpoint (which lasted all of two months), and, of course, the infamous hundreds of KFC brand capitlizers, be it Kennedy Fried Chicken, Kansas Fried Chicken, or even New Kantaky Fried Chicken.

Enter Fresh-N-Fast, our new In-N-Out clone, which opened its first location by the corner of 23rd St & Park Avenue South.

In-N-Out Menu Board by roboppy via Flickr

Finally, let's get to how the food actually tastes and what the experience is like. Long story short, the burger was very good (perhaps a notch under Shake Shack) and the fries were world class (similar to but a notch above Five Guys). Price was comparable to the other "upscale burger chains", a double cheeseburger and fries will cost you around $8.50. The service staff appeared somewhat confused overall - at one point it seemed they thought they had already cleared my order. The kicker was when the cashier was asked if "Animal Style" was offered here. The response was "Oh, like In-N-Out?" While you can't get "Animal Style" exactly like In-N-Out, the nearly-identical special sauce and liquid cheese is offered on the side.

Address: 31-43 Steinway St, Astoria, Queens (Steinway Section) - G,R,V to Steinway St.

I visited on opening night and a corporate manager from San Diego was present, still mentioning rules to the staff and providing other guidance. I was immediately informed that I could get a six-inch sub, chips, and a drink for $5. I went for the turkey club, which was carefully prepared. In fact, the mustard, the only sauce I chose, was spread across the bread with a knife. An interesting vegetable available was alfalfa sprouts, which I also chose.

Unfortunately the sandwich photo I took was mysteriously lost by my TweetDeck iPhone app. The sandwich was large and certainly tasted refreshingly different than Subway or Quiznos - the closest comparison would be Jimmy John's, a 875-store chain of sub shops mostly found in college towns.

I highly recommend giving Submarina a try. You can even have a dessert from Häagen Dazs at the conclusion of your meal!

The long-awaited "World's Most Beautiful Arby's" opened last Thursday on the Fulton Mall. Aside from the amazing historic interior, this Arby's also features an "Arby's Express" counter by the entrance which is generally line-less and only serves cold sandwiches.

If you want any of the traditional menu items you must queue up along the right wall and place your order at the back counter. You then receive an order number and then wait for your order to the left side.

This Arby's features suburban-style self-serve soda fountains and sauce pumps. There's even a "ring if the service was great" bell by the door on your way out. Ring it and the entire staff will shout "thanks guest you're the best." Cute, but it can get a little ridiculous during the heavy lunch crowd.

Overall I was very satisfied with my Large Beef & Cheddar Combo order on the day after the grand opening.

At first glance Frisby looks like you're average fast food chicken chain: There are brightly-lit signs out front, posters advertising product everywhere, and even a mascot. However, the experience is somewhat different.

I always stand out when I wander into a fast food establishment for the first time. I stand there, neck strained upward, glancing at the menuboard for several minutes. This tradition was interrupted today as the manager handed me a printed out menu.

Frisby's menu consists of fried chicken items and sides. I ordered a combo of chicken wings and fries. However, Frisby's definition of "chicken wings" is not in tune with the common U.S. fast food definition: They are literally big fried wings of chicken.

After placing my order (and paying the $7.99 plus tax) the experience became truly unique. I was given beverage cup and a metal pole with a number attached to it and asked to sit down. I filled up my cup with Diet Pepsi, not even bothering with a lid or straw. I also grabbed some napkins and then sat down at a table.

Almost immediately a member of the staff came over and placed down a placemat, which was essentially a tray liner. I also received three packets of honey, two packets of ketchup, more napkins, a lid, a straw, and, the best part, two plastic gloves! About a minute later the same staff member brought me my food on a tray, which she unloaded onto my placemat.

I was a bit bewildered by the gloves. I obviously recognized their purpose, but the idea of eating with them on seemed very strange to me. I compromised with my inner-anxiety and put one on, leaving my other hand in the more accustomed uncovered state.

The chicken with honey tasted quite great, while the fries were average. I got through the meal rather quickly and cleanly (the glove served its role well). I was not responsible for clearing off my table, something I'm quite used to from my days in  Germany and Austria.

Ultimately, a dinner at Frisby is worth experiencing. I plan on returning again in the near future to try something else off the menu, especially the extensive side dish list.

Traditional fast food chains don't exactly have a great image in New York City. They are generally associates with 1980s decor, overflowing trash bins, dirty tables, long food and bathroom lines, and poor and slow service. This seems to have been the accepted norm for over two decades, but a recent wave of hip (and clean) chains such as Chipotle, Qdoba, and Baja Fresh is starting to shift expectations.