Gourmet Fast Food?
 

I just ate at Pei Wei tonight ( really good AZN food, they have them in AZ, dunno about anywhere else) and it go me thinking, how is "fast food" defined? There are a number of resturants like Pei Wei, Chipotle, and various sandwhich places which most people would consider to be fast food, but I don't feel like these places are comparable to McDonalds/BK/Wendys. The quality of food is much better, and its normal to wait at least 10 minutes for your food at a place like Pei Wei.

Should these kinds of places still be considered fast food? Or is Pei Wei a "sitdown resturant"? ( people bring your food out to you, but everyone orders at a counter) Or is it something else, gourmet fast food/a quick-sitdown resturant?

( also what is your favorite thing to get at these kind of places, please include those I haven't named)

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

Check the nutrition, namely sodium levels.

Anything with that much salt isn't gourmet in my book.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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Check the nutrition, namely sodium levels.

Anything with that much salt isn't gourmet in my book.

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http://picture.yatego.com/images/454...9.6/257102.jpg

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

I think you'd be surprised.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

I think McDonalds owns Chipotle & Pei Wei, so it's all fast food to me. Don't bother checking nutrition values, there are none.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

Pei Wei sounds pretty good. There's one near me too. Thanks for the tip.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

Chipotle isn't owned by McDonald's anymore; it was spun off a while ago. Although McDonald's might still hold a significant stake in Chipotle.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

The definition of a fast-food place is a restaurant with a drive-thru. I haven't been to these places, but there ya go.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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The definition of a fast-food place is a restaurant with a drive-thru. I haven't been to these places, but there ya go.

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I think fast-food is anywhere where you can/do order at a counter rather than with a waitress/waiter, and the restaurant gives you the food at the counter as opposed to bringing it to you.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

yeah, obv fast food doesn't require a drive thru, though a drive thru is sufficient (assuming it's not just a carryout drive-thru). a hot dog street vendor sells fast food.

wiki says "Fast food is food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, such as TV dinners, typically the term refers to food which is cooked in bulk in advance, kept warm or reheated to order, and sold ready-to-eat from an outlet."

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

pei wei is definitely not fast food.

chipotle is more questionable, but i think mexican food only counts as fast food if it is bueno, bell, ...etc.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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The definition of a fast-food place is a restaurant with a drive-thru. I haven't been to these places, but there ya go.

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I think fast-food is anywhere where you can/do order at a counter rather than with a waitress/waiter, and the restaurant gives you the food at the counter as opposed to bringing it to you.

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I thought fast food was a place where uc anjstufegetfood orderedfastasDSSDASDAFASKASDasdfk

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

"Gourmet" fast-food joints (e.g., Pei Wei, Chipotle) were created as a "healthy" alternative for loyal and devoted mid-heavyweight porkers who already jammed their hardened arteries full of McD's, BK, Wendy's, etc.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

Quiznos FTW

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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The definition of a fast-food place is a restaurant with a drive-thru. I haven't been to these places, but there ya go.

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You might want to look up the definition of "definition".

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9...refrontwl4.jpg

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/6...ivethrujj6.jpg

BTW here are two drive-throughs where the food takes 24 hours to cook.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

fwiw, I just met with the st louis county health inspector last week, and I had to classify my place, it is full service, but I was curious as to how it worked and what the classifications meant, they were full-service, deli, fast food, and a couple others. A fast food place is anywhere that you order at a counter, and pick it up at a counter, it has to have a drive through otherwise its considered a deli.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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fwiw, I just met with the st louis county health inspector last week, and I had to classify my place, it is full service, but I was curious as to how it worked and what the classifications meant, they were full-service, deli, fast food, and a couple others. A fast food place is anywhere that you order at a counter, and pick it up at a counter, it has to have a drive through otherwise its considered a deli.

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Almost no mcdonalds,BK,wendys etc in manahatten have drive thrus.So they should be considered delis?

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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fwiw, I just met with the st louis county health inspector last week, and I had to classify my place, it is full service, but I was curious as to how it worked and what the classifications meant, they were full-service, deli, fast food, and a couple others. A fast food place is anywhere that you order at a counter, and pick it up at a counter, it has to have a drive through otherwise its considered a deli.

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Almost no mcdonalds,BK,wendys etc in manahatten have drive thrus.So they should be considered delis?

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The laws vary state by state, so I dont know what they classify them as. You can also check more than one classification though, there are hard and fast rules, but there is overlap. They just look for different things depending on what classifications you check.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

Isn't Pei Wei owned by PF Changs?

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

I think the industry classification that encompasses both Chipotle and Burger King is "quick service." This refers to any restaurant where you receive your food at a counter, as opposed to a "table service" restaurant.

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Almost no mcdonalds,BK,wendys etc in manahatten have drive thrus.So they should be considered delis?

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There is at least one drive thru McDonald's in Manhattan. It's at 10th Avenue & 34th Street, and it's a travesty. Google StreetView image here.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

yea that was the only one I could ever think of
I used to work in a catering hall nearby sneak out mid shift go to mcdonalds and get my studying done there for that weeks tests.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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Isn't Pei Wei owned by PF Changs?

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I think so, at least that is what I have heard. PF Changs is just a lot "fancier", more expensive, and not much better in terms of food quality imo

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

How good is Pei Wei? I'm feeling like some asian food...

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

Pei Wei is the best non-sitdown asian resturant I've ever been to me. Much better than koyoto bowl, panda expres, etc. imo

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

Pei Wei is owned by the creators of Ruths Chris Steakhouse and PF Changs.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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Pei Wei is owned by the creators of Ruths Chris Steakhouse and PF Changs.

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I don't think Ruth's Chris is correct. The PF in PF Chang's stands for Paul Fleming, who started Fleming's steakhouses among other restaurant endeavors. They are based out of here and I think Fleming's are located nationwide now. Pei Wei's are too, I believe. The original location for all three was in or near Downtown Scottsdale. Pei Weis were thought up several years after Chang's as a mid-priced alternative to capture the niche between fast food and fine dining.

I'm pretty sure there is zero difference between the food at PF Chang's and Pei Wei, you just pay extra for the atmosphere at the former.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

To settle the Chipotle/McDonald's debate - McDonald's completely divested its investment in Chipotle about a year ago, I believe.

Also, restaurants like Chipotle, and Pei Wei, I guess, though I've never been there, are considered "fast casual." I believe Cosi and Panera both fall under this category as well. I used to work at an alcohol/food trade mag, and this is how they referred to these restaurants.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

The industry terms are Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) for fast food and Quick Casual Restaurant (or Fast Casual) for the Chipotle's, Baja Fresh's, etc. I used to work in advertising for Taco Bell. Quick Casual restaurants weren't considered direct competitors to QSR's.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

fast food = quality food quickly

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

http://www.peiwei.com/nutrition.htm

Nutrition values for peiwei. They don't list sodium. Also, laughable that most entrees have 2 servings. Whatever, man.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

A few years ago I got into a heated argument with my friends, who considered Fuddruckers fast food. Thoughts?

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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A few years ago I got into a heated argument with my friends, who considered Fuddruckers fast food. Thoughts?

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Having never been there I'm unsure. Can you describe the experience? Do you order at a counter?

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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Pei Wei sounds pretty good. There's one near me too. Thanks for the tip.

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I can't believe that no one picked up on this.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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Pei Wei sounds pretty good. There's one near me too. Thanks for the tip.

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I can't believe that no one picked up on this.

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Please elaborate.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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A few years ago I got into a heated argument with my friends, who considered Fuddruckers fast food. Thoughts?

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Fuddruckers is as much fast food as Chili's or TGI Friday's are. Which is to say it isn't. Although all three suck horribly.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

Mmm, I can't abide the Fuddrucker's hate. I probably go there only once every couple of years even though there are two pretty close but I always come away thinking that it was a pretty damned good burger, their condiment bar is impressive, and you can get some really good nacho cheese for your fries (just what my fat ass needs, but mixed with ketchup it's awesome, and the fries are some pretty tasty potato wedges).

I definitely don't think it fits the criteria of fast food either, which I loosely define as any place or chain where you can buy food out of a window.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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Mmm, I can't abide the Fuddrucker's hate. I probably go there only once every couple of years even though there are two pretty close but I always come away thinking that it was a pretty damned good burger, their condiment bar is impressive, and you can get some really good nacho cheese for your fries (just what my fat ass needs, but mixed with ketchup it's awesome, and the fries are some pretty tasty potato wedges).

I definitely don't think it fits the criteria of fast food either, which I loosely define as any place or chain where you can buy food out of a window.

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So you order while seated at a table?

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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Mmm, I can't abide the Fuddrucker's hate. I probably go there only once every couple of years even though there are two pretty close but I always come away thinking that it was a pretty damned good burger, their condiment bar is impressive, and you can get some really good nacho cheese for your fries (just what my fat ass needs, but mixed with ketchup it's awesome, and the fries are some pretty tasty potato wedges).

I definitely don't think it fits the criteria of fast food either, which I loosely define as any place or chain where you can buy food out of a window.

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So you order while seated at a table?

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Unless I'm confusing Fuddrucker's with another restaurant, isn't it just like a casual chain restaurant - seated by a hostess, burgers for $7, etc?

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

The ones out here - and I assume everywhere - you order prior to getting seated, so you stand in a line. Sort of like Pei Wei, actually. Your food is not taken to your table, they call out your number or name and you have to go get it. Which is fine because you'd be up anyway to dress up your burger.

Re: Gourmet Fast Food?
 

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Pei Wei sounds pretty good. There's one near me too. Thanks for the tip.

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I can't believe that no one picked up on this.

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Please elaborate.

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i don't tip + me saying thanks for the tip = funny?

guess not though.