One of the great things about traveling across
the country is discovering new foods. However, when the trip is over and we return home,
we start to long for that fast food we had on vacation. Unlike fast-food chains such
as McDonald's, Burger King and KFC, these restaurants are local or regionally specific.
With that in mind here are 10 Regional Only Fast Food Restaurants We Wish Were Everywhere. Cook Out A relatively new fast food kid on the block,
Cook Out opened its first restaurant in the late 1980s in Greensboro, North Carolina,
which is fairly recent in the fast-food world. They boast a great range of tasty food; from
burgers and hotdogs to chicken sandwiches and North Carolina bbq to freshly made shakes.
Even Quesadillas are on the menu. All this comfort food can be finished off with a great
tasting Cheerwine float. Having all our favorite comfort food covered, Cook Out is also kind
on the pocket as their prices are lower than most other restaurants for the food you get.
Low prices and great food, no wonder Cook Out is so popular down south. Since opening
the first Cook Out in North Carolina, this burger joint has expanded to Alabama, Georgia,
Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, and Maryland. Unfortunately,
that's as far as Cook Out has expanded as of now. We'd love to see this southern fast
food restaurant where we live. Portillo's There are certain cities that are synonymous
with certain foods; Philadelphia and cheesesteak sandwiches, New York-style bagels, Po Boys
and New Orleans, and Hot dogs from Chicago. All of those cities take their food very seriously
and none more so than the people from Chicago and their beloved hot dog. There is even a
genuine science when making a hot dog in Chicago as each hot dog must have the perfect OBR,
which stands for Optimal Bite Ratio of toppings. The hot dog must also be an all-beef frankfurter
on a sesame seed bun with an array of toppings. Those things are a must to create this culinary
legend! Because of their dedication to this food, you can imagine how good and popular
fast-food chain Portillo's is. Starting out as a simple hot dog stand called the 'Dog
House,' it quickly developed into the restaurant we know and love today. Over the last few
decades, Portillo's developed at such a rate that the company was bought out for a billion
dollars. That's one expensive hot dog! Now the chain is looking to expand outside of
its native Illinois with restaurants in Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota, and Alabama
with plans of more branches in the works. If hot dogs aren't your thing then you should
try their famous Cake Shakes. Chocolate or vanilla shakes blended with a slice of their
chocolate cake. The restaurants themselves offer a slice of classic Americana as each
one is decked out in a theme from a different decade with plenty of pop culture from that
decade, as well as pictures of stars who have enjoyed Portillo's tasty Chicago style hot
dogs. Jack's With over 50 years in the fast-food business,
Jack's Family Restaurant has become a much-loved fixture in the Alabama area. Famous for its
big burgers, Chicken Fingers, hand-scooped milkshakes, and its biscuits, Jack's is a
lot of people's go-to restaurant when they want tasty fast food. Known for its great
food and fresh ingredients, Jack's actually makes their own biscuits from scratch in-store
every day, as well as grinding their own coffee and hand-breading their chicken - which is
always a good sign of quality fast food. Originally Jack's was not only one of the first fast-food
restaurants in Alabama but it was also one of the cheapest as you could get a coke for
10 cents, Burger and Fries for 15 cents and a 20 cent fish on a bun. Times may have changed
and food is more expensive, but Jack's still holds its own against any of the bigger and
more famous fast-food chains when it comes to great-tasting burgers. At the moment Jack's
Family Restaurant only operates in four states; Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee.
That may be a long way for a lot of people to go, but if you listen to the local Alabama
Jack's fans, their burgers are well worth the journey. Biscuitville If you are looking for some great southern
food with an extra portion of southern charm, then look no further than Biscuitville. Located
in North Carolina and Virginia, Biscuitville does exactly what you would expect from the
name: great tasting biscuits. Not only that but the biscuits are made fresh and from scratch,
in-store and are ready every 15 minutes. Biscuitville also offers a range of great southern food
such as grits, hashbrowns, homestyle gravy, and the southern sensation Cheerwine soda.
Incidentally, when Biscuitville first opened, known then as Mountainbrook Fresh Bread and
Milk, it actually sold primarily pizza. It then changed its name to Pizzaville and started
to add biscuits to the menu. Owner, Maurice Jennings noticed that his biscuits were the
biggest seller and that the breakfast rush was the busiest time of day. Wanting to capitalize
on the breakfast trade, Jennings opened a biscuit focused restaurant, Biscuitville,
and he concentrated on making fresh, great-tasting biscuits. The rest, as they say, is history.
Now the pride of North Carolina and Virginia, Biscuitville is definitely worth a stop if
you are in that part of the country as everything tastes that little bit better on a biscuit. Pal's Pal's Sudden Service, or Pal's for short,
is a fast-food restaurant chain in Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The first thing you
notice about these restaurants is the architecture and the outsides of the buildings. Plastered
with fun and large statues of food items, Pal's lets you know exactly what kind of food
they offer before you even pull up to one. Oversized burgers, hot dogs, fries, shakes
all stuffed full of toppings, is exactly what you get inside Pal's. Fred 'Pal' Barger opened
the first Pal's in Tennessee back in the 1950s. Barger actually took inspiration from Ray
Kroc and the big changes McDonald's was having on the food industry at the time. Besides
big, tasty food, Pal's passion lies in customer care. They take customer service seriously,
not just for the customers but for the staff too as they like to create a great place for
people to work. This was shown to be true as Pal's was the first winner of the Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award. An award that is given for excellence in performance
and is handed out by the President. That's what we want to see more of; big, fun food
and a passion for great workers and customer care. Sadly, it's a long way to Tennessee,
we'll just have to hope that one day they'll branch out and put a Pal's in every state. Runza On our list of 10 regional only fast-food
restaurants, we wish were everywhere, you'll notice a lot the chains are very similar.
Selling burgers, fries, hot dogs, etc. We now come to a chain that puts its own spin
on fast food. Runza is a big Nebraskan fast food legend. Named after its sandwich, which
was brought over by Volga Germans from Russia, the Runza sandwich is stuffed with ground
beef, pork, cabbage, onions, and sauerkraut. This perfect sandwich to go has been described
as a 'warm and toasty burger burrito.' That's the best of both worlds, which can only be
a good thing. Runza also does other food such as burgers, crinkle-cut fries, cinnamon rolls,
and even chili, just to name a few. As amazing as a Runza sandwich with crinkle-cut fries
sounds, you have to go to Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa or Kansas to enjoy it. Runza pride themselves
on keeping their 'local' feel to their restaurants so Runza doesn't look to be going national
anytime soon. So it's off to Nebraska we go! Braum's If you are looking for a truly local and family-run
fast food chain then look no further than Braum's. This Oklahoma ice cream legend has
been a must-have fast food item for decades. Anyone that has not been to Oklahoma may not
have heard of Braum's but you should. Braum's is one of the few fast-food chains that still
makes, produces and manufactures all its own products. Their main farm is in Turtle,
Oklahoma in which they herd their own cows in order to process the milk to make their
own ice cream. It is also the site of their main bakery for which they produce their own
baked goods for each restaurant. This is one of the reasons why Braum's has not expanded
to the rest of the country as they have a rule that they won't open a restaurant outside
of a 300-mile limit to their farm. That way they can produce fresh food and deliver it
to each location. Braum's doesn't franchise either, unlike most fast-food chains, it instead
likes to keep all its restaurants under the same family in order to maintain its high
standards of fresh, homemade food. Because of the 300-mile rule Braum's has, the chain
is limited to certain areas. As well as Oklahoma, Braum's has restaurants in Texas, Kansas,
Arkansas, and Missouri. Zaxby's The fast-food scene is overwhelmed with burger
joints. There are so many restaurants that offer great tasting burgers that the market
is flooded with them. While this is good news for burger fans as we have plenty of choices,
one of the most popular US foods remains the humble chicken. With foods like chicken wings,
legs, and tenders, chicken is as popular as ever but the fast-food world doesn't seem
to care about this. While there are some good chicken places out there, there is room for
a truly great chicken place to take the country by storm and reignite our love of tasty chicken.
One candidate for this is Zaxby's. While many Northerners may not have tasted or even heard
of Zaxby's, it is quickly becoming one of the big boys in chicken fast food. From a
single restaurant in Georgia, Zaxby's is growing at an alarming rate; it now has over 900 hundred
outlets across the southern US. Having a restaurant more styled on the likes of TGI Fridays rather
than a traditional fast food place is one reason it has become so popular. The other
reason is simple; they make great tasting food. Concentrating on wings and breaded tenders,
each with specialized sauces ranging from Asian infused, tomato-based and classic buffalo
style, Zaxby's has a great concept for a fast food restaurant and even better-tasting food.
We hope this company continues to expand at the rate it has so we can see some Zaxby's
stores nationwide. Arthur Treacher's Fish And Chips And now for something completely different.
When most of us think of good fast food, we normally turn our minds to burgers, hot dogs,
pizzas and fried chicken. However, there is one more option for great fast food if you
are willing to go outside the fast-food box that is. Fish and Chips, that famous British
dish, has found a home in the unlikely state of Ohio. The restaurant is named after the
actor Arthur Treacher; he was in The Merv Griffin show and played Jeeves the butler
in several Shirley Temple films, for anyone who doesn't know. Arthur Treacher's Fish and
Chips serves up plenty of deep-fried seafood wrapped in their signature Beer-Batter and
served with big, chunky fries, or chips we should say. While this fish and chips restaurant
is mainly in Ohio, some outlets have popped up in New York and New Jersey. Maybe fish
and chips may not be everyone's first choice when it comes to fast food but Arthur Treacher's
Fish and Chips does give us a slice of British cuisine if ever we want something a bit more
unique than the average fast food meal. Unless of course, we want a trip across the pond?
We think a trip to Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips will be a bit easier and cheaper. Skyline Chili There is no food out there that is more regionally
specific than Cincinnati Chili. In fact, we are hard pressed to find this item on any
menu outside of Ohio. If you are looking to try Cincinnati style chili then Skyline Chili
is probably the best place to start. Founded by a Greek immigrant, Nicholas Lambrinides,
back in the 1940s, Lambrinides had one thing in mind and that was to bring his family's
chili recipe to the world. While 'Greek' may not be the first word that springs to mind
when we think of chili, Lambrinides's chili started to attract attention, so he opened
Skyline Chili. Taking its name from the Cincinnati skyline, the chili became a big crowd-pleaser.
The difference between the chili that most people know and Cincinnati chili is all to
do with the sauce. Cincinnati chili is more of a Mediterranean spiced sauce that a lot
of people would pair with pasta than rice, which is exactly what you get in Skyline Chili.
Big bowls of chili with heapings of spaghetti, cheese, beans, and onion is just the meal
to please anyone's belly. Then there is their version of the Chili dog which is a traditional
Chili dog, or Coney dog but piled high with Cincinnati Chili. Out of all the fast-food
restaurants on our list, we hope that Skyline Chili makes it out of its region the most
as the country really needs to try Cincinnati Chili and then fall in love with it. Fall in love with more great videos - just
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My out of town friends are about 50/50 if they love it or hate it. The ones who love it REALLY love it though.
I absolutely hate these videos that constantly intersperse random pop culture clips that are only vaguely related to the content in order to give their content the illusion of personality.
Now I want some Skyline.
Didn’t know Arthur Treachers was still in business. Used to go to the one in Mt. Washington when I was s kid. When it closed down I never did see it anywhere else around town.
Jesus the way that woman was eating it makes me want to write her a letter
From the YouTube comments: "Go to Steak and Shake they have the same Cincinnati chili"