So me and Adrian have had discussions about this, I can’t remember if I mentioned it. In my mind, there are clearly classes of restaurants. Even among fast food. Like, at the bottom, you have your McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack In The Box. I would say that Jack In The Box is slightly higher than McDonald’s, because they offer more higher items, if that makes any sense, like Teriyaki Bowls and Chicken Fajita Pitas and whatever. But they’re in the same class. Ditto Arby’s.
But then, in my mind, you have your slightly higher class. In my mind, this is where KFC comes in. I’m not exactly sure what the distinction is, but the fact that you need utensils and the extent of their side dishes has a lot to do with it.
The question is, where does El Pollo Loco come in? EPL is definitely better than KFC quality wise, but to me they’re still in the same class. This is almost indisputable. They have exact correlations. Both have side dishes, just different. KFC also has sandwiches – El Pollo Loco has burritos. KFC biscuits, EPL tortillas. I dunno, to me it’s obvious, but some disagree.
Above that come places like Baja Fresh and Una Mas. Kind of semi-fast food. I’d put Wasabi here also. I think Boston Market also.
I don’t really have a point, just saying this is how I arrange the classes of fast food.