Amazed at the lack fast food chains in Austin (Early: coop, home)

[Jennibc]

I've never even heard of Shuggies. Where was it?

[TexasHorseLady]

I was wondering that myself. Not here in Austin, presumably?

Never mind, followed the link and evidently it was/is here in Austin. Sorry I missed it.

[buffy888]

Hopefully Torchy's will stick around even if Shuggie's closed. Fried avocado taco - yum!

[latikeriii]

Originally Posted by buffy888

Hopefully Torchy's will stick around even if Shuggie's closed. Fried avocado taco - yum!

I've heard great things about Torchy's, i'll be there in less than 2 weeks so i'll definitely have to try it out.

[twange]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

I've never even heard of Shuggies. Where was it?

Originally Posted by buffy888

Hopefully Torchy's will stick around even if Shuggie's closed. Fried avocado taco - yum!

Shuggies was a food trailer that made burgers and other fried foods. It was paired with Torchy's at the South Austin Trailer Park Eatery on S 1st (I live down the street from that place). While I'm sure that Shuggies competed on some level with other fast food, their problem as I saw it was their terrible pricing: almost $8 for a burger...and it wasn't all that great. Torchy's should be fine, but they might want to stop expanding so fast. There are two locations on S 1st alone, only about 1 mile apart( a trailer AND a full kitchen spot). Just too close. And now that Izzos is starting to establish themselves in their old trailer spot, they have more competition.

If you want some good, local fast food, try P.Terry's. There are a few locations. Good burgers and shakes.

If you are looking for some GREAT cupcakes, try Sugar Mama's up the street past La Mexicana Bakery. We have a "once-a-month only" rule about that place. I wouldn't be able to afford to buy new clothes(bigger) every month...

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

I'm really curious where you get the 42 seconds, can you provide a link to that information?

I'll do better and past some info on that here from "ehow"...

"McDonald's doesn't actually make their burger patties themselves; they have a number of outside companies that serve as their beef suppliers. McDonald's is the largest purchaser of beef in North America. When beef arrives at a McDonald's restaurant, it is frozen and already formed into patties. All McDonald's hamburgers are 100 percent beef with an 80/20 lean-to-fat ratio, meaning the burgers contain 20 percent fat before cooking. The beef used in the burgers comes from whole cuts of forequarter and flank meat from the cow. A regular McDonald's hamburger also contains salt, pepper, sour dill pickles, ketchup, mustard and the bun. The top part of the bun is called the crown and the bottom part the heel. The burgers at McDonald's are never flipped. They are grilled on a special electric griddle that cooks the patty from the top and the bottom. This decreases the cooking time: It takes just over 40 seconds to cook the frozen patty. Salt and pepper are added to the burger after cooking. While the patties are cooking, the buns are being toasted on a separate electric griddle. The cook uses a spatula to put the patty on the heel. The condiments and pickles are then added to the top of the patty and the crown is added. The burger is wrapped and slid into a heated serving unit, which the cashier then takes gives to the customer. The total time it takes to prepare a McDonald's hamburger, from the freezer to the customer's hands, is about a minute and a half." ----------------------------------------------------------------

I thought they were pre-cooked, but stand corrected......but that 42 sec prep time is pretty sad!.....what can you cook that is close to edible in 42 seconds?
Takes longer to pop "Hotpockets" in the microwave at home!

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by inthecut

I'll do better and past some info on that here from "ehow"...

"McDonald's doesn't actually make their burger patties themselves; they have a number of outside companies that serve as their beef suppliers. McDonald's is the largest purchaser of beef in North America. When beef arrives at a McDonald's restaurant, it is frozen and already formed into patties. All McDonald's hamburgers are 100 percent beef with an 80/20 lean-to-fat ratio, meaning the burgers contain 20 percent fat before cooking. The beef used in the burgers comes from whole cuts of forequarter and flank meat from the cow. A regular McDonald's hamburger also contains salt, pepper, sour dill pickles, ketchup, mustard and the bun. The top part of the bun is called the crown and the bottom part the heel. The burgers at McDonald's are never flipped. They are grilled on a special electric griddle that cooks the patty from the top and the bottom. This decreases the cooking time: It takes just over 40 seconds to cook the frozen patty. Salt and pepper are added to the burger after cooking. While the patties are cooking, the buns are being toasted on a separate electric griddle. The cook uses a spatula to put the patty on the heel. The condiments and pickles are then added to the top of the patty and the crown is added. The burger is wrapped and slid into a heated serving unit, which the cashier then takes gives to the customer. The total time it takes to prepare a McDonald's hamburger, from the freezer to the customer's hands, is about a minute and a half." ----------------------------------------------------------------

I thought they were pre-cooked, but stand corrected......but that 42 sec prep time is pretty sad!.....what can you cook that is close to edible in 42 seconds?
Takes longer to pop "Hotpockets" in the microwave at home!

It just means they've developed a more efficient way to cook 'em since I worked there. Good for them. Anyway, told you so (sorry, I couldn't resist!)

[twange]

Originally Posted by inthecut

I'll do better and past some info on that here from "ehow"...

"McDonald's doesn't actually make their burger patties themselves; they have a number of outside companies that serve as their beef suppliers. McDonald's is the largest purchaser of beef in North America. When beef arrives at a McDonald's restaurant, it is frozen and already formed into patties. All McDonald's hamburgers are 100 percent beef with an 80/20 lean-to-fat ratio, meaning the burgers contain 20 percent fat before cooking. The beef used in the burgers comes from whole cuts of forequarter and flank meat from the cow. A regular McDonald's hamburger also contains salt, pepper, sour dill pickles, ketchup, mustard and the bun. The top part of the bun is called the crown and the bottom part the heel. The burgers at McDonald's are never flipped. They are grilled on a special electric griddle that cooks the patty from the top and the bottom. This decreases the cooking time: It takes just over 40 seconds to cook the frozen patty. Salt and pepper are added to the burger after cooking. While the patties are cooking, the buns are being toasted on a separate electric griddle. The cook uses a spatula to put the patty on the heel. The condiments and pickles are then added to the top of the patty and the crown is added. The burger is wrapped and slid into a heated serving unit, which the cashier then takes gives to the customer. The total time it takes to prepare a McDonald's hamburger, from the freezer to the customer's hands, is about a minute and a half." ----------------------------------------------------------------

I thought they were pre-cooked, but stand corrected......but that 42 sec prep time is pretty sad!.....what can you cook that is close to edible in 42 seconds?
Takes longer to pop "Hotpockets" in the microwave at home!

That sounds like it was lifted out of Eric Schlossler's book "Fast Food Nation". A very worth-while read, BTW.

I'm embarrassed to say that I ate 2 MDs cheeseburgers last week while traveling. I haven't bought anything from them in about 5 years, so for me it was sort of a big thing. Anyway, I watched them prepare them and frankly, the whole process bummed me out. It was like watching someone on an assembly line rivet steel together. I guess I like to get some mega-corporate FF once in awhile to remind myself why I don't eat it very often.

I'm not judging anyone who likes it or reveres the process, I just think it's weird.

Detective Thorn: "You tell everybody. Listen to me, Hatcher. You've gotta tell them! Soylent Green is people! We've gotta stop them somehow!"

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by twange

That sounds like it was lifted out of Eric Schlossler's book "Fast Food Nation". A very worth-while read, BTW.

I'm embarrassed to say that I ate 2 MDs cheeseburgers last week while traveling. I haven't bought anything from them in about 5 years, so for me it was sort of a big thing. Anyway, I watched them prepare them and frankly, the whole process bummed me out. It was like watching someone on an assembly line rivet steel together. I guess I like to get some mega-corporate FF once in awhile to remind myself why I don't eat it very often.

I'm not judging anyone who likes it or reveres the process, I just think it's weird.

Detective Thorn: "You tell everybody. Listen to me, Hatcher. You've gotta tell them! Soylent Green is people! We've gotta stop them somehow!"

Well, think of the whole process.....big agriculture farms, hormones they shoot into animals, and all....plus 2/3rds of americans are obese or overweight....thats a lot more worrisome than how they technically mass produce fast food in restaurants.........

[Schnaiy]

Isn't that one of the contributing factors to the obesity problem in this country?: added hormones in the beef which is then consumed by people...if it's given to the cows to bulk them up??? Such an artificial way of growing food is going to have negative impact on the consumers (people).

Thanks for all of the interesting posts about the trailer fast food places - I'm wondering if their meat also has hormones added to it? Is most of the meat we buy in the supermarket like this? Makes me want to have my own chickens (raise them) and skip eating beef altogether. Although, I'm sure there's a local ordinance to prevent me from doing so.