Growing up in Corner Brook, Newfoundland (pop. 22,000), A&W was what we had during the 70s. McDonalds finally hit our city by the early 1980s, but damned if I remember the prices. Mom and dad were the ones paying!

Taco Bell had mini-tacos and mini-burritos for $0.39, those were awesome.

there was a taco bell at the halfway point between me and the shore as a kid (shore was 2 hours away) We always stopped. I think it was the closest taco bell in jersey to me at the time. But the rareness made it so special.

But what I really remeber was how spanish the menu was. It wasnt a Burrito Supreme, but a Burrito El Grande.

my favorite next to plain Tacos as a kid was the Chilito, this eventually became a Chili Cheese burrito before being removed from the menu

My chilhood died a little when Taco bell lost that foreign mystery to their menu

I miss the McDLT sandwich, despite me giving up McDonalds almost a year ago.

And don't even tempt me with the McLobster or McRib! Hell, I even enjoyedt he McPizza.

Did I mention I worked at my McDonalds for 4 years?

McLobster-
Never hit my way or the McPizza for that matter

Is the MCDLT the hot Side Hot the Cold Side Cold.

I liked it but the cold side always got warm under the lamp and seemed like a poor mans whopper

Definitely the hot side hot cold side cold burger.

The trick was to always order it as a grill order, preferably without something rather than extra. That way they needed to make it to order and you always got it fresh of the grill. If you wanted extra something they could just take it from the heating area (damn, I used to know the lingo) and add it then and there.

That trick is applicable to pretty much any fast food joint or meal I would imagine.

good trick to know

A & W is still decent food. I go there every so often. Up until the mid 80s the one closest to me was still a drive in style. People would pull up and eat in their cars. The remade them to better compete with McDonald's. Here at least it worked.

I wish they never released their root beer for sale in stores. It seemed so much better when you could only get it at the A&W.

And I still eat there too. Damn good.

Wendy's is the best fast food burger buy I have access to. But A & W definitely comes in as a close second. Though lately I eat more A & W breakfast's than anything else. Love their french toast. Shame the price has jumped so high. 7 years ago I could get a double order of french toast and small milk for less than $5. Now if I get the same order, minus the milk, it costs me close to $10. But it's very filling.

1) Dave W., a woman I grew up with is married to the former executive chef at McDonald's. His claim to fame is that he invented the McDLT. (He is now the executive chef at Quizno's, which is why they moved to Denver a couple of years back.)

2) Some of you appear to be much older than I originally realized. I'm just sayin'.

3) If you are sober, and it is not between the hours of 12:00 and 5:00 AM, you have no business being at White Castle.

4) I think several of you are making up this "Burger Chef" thing. Never heard of it.

5) Whatever happened to Checkers? Great chicken sammich, great fries. And they all seem to be gone now.

6) I live in a Chicago suburb, and I regularly chastise anyone who lives here and eats at Taco Bell because, you see, one can buy REAL Mexican food here for almost the same amount of money. People who live in Wyoming or Montana or Utah or other places where authentic Mexican food is not readily available get a grudging pass.

7) I don't eat a lot of fast food (especially during the last few months), but if I do get a craving, it's for Chicken McNuggets. I too remember when they debuted back in the early 1980's, and how popular they were right out of the gate. I think they mix some crack cocaine into the batter, or something.

Never heard of burger chef either, but I do have a Checkers down the street. I live outside of DC for the reference

We have Checkers here too. (Tampa.)

My Mother-In Law has Checkers in Ocala, FL.
The McDonald's in Mamaroneck, NY looked like this when I was young.

Here, Checkers is called RALLY'S. And I remember Burger Chef as well.

I bet he wasn't in that Quiznos commercial with those fakers!

I'm 37, and Burger Chef was THE fast food place for us kids. I'm guessing they must have been regional maybe? They had the coolest kids meals, called Fun Meals (McDonalds Happy Meal came much later, and we all thought it was a rip off), with little cardboard punchouts for each part of the meal, and a toy of course. Their mascots were Burger Chef and Jeff, a source of more than a little teasing for me growing up let me tell you. I remember being crushed when they closed.

McDonalds is your kind of place...
Hamburgers in your face...
Pickles between your toes...
French fries up your nose.

And don't forget the mi-ilk shakes...
They come from polluted lakes.

McDonalds is your kind of place!

I can remember when the only McDonalds in the UK was in London - (thats how old and decrepit I am) -the only fast food then was fish and chips - although I dimly remember Col. Saunders being around.
Not many fat kids then either!

I had to look up the lyrics to this old Burger King jingle:

Hold the pickles hold the lettuce
Special orders don’t upset us
All we ask is that you let us
Serve it your way

Of course, my friends and I used these alternate lyrics:

Hold the pickles hold the lettuce
Shut up, lady/Don’t upset us
All we ask is that you let us
Throw it away