Best resturants to have in service plazas?

[HighwayStar]

Digging around I could not find this exact subject, so here it goes. Placing here as it seems marginally topical.

Specifically for the use case of  highway service plazas, where there are perhaps 4 venues available, what are your favorite existing restaurants that are used and/or ones that you would like to have in plazas?

[Max Rockatansky]

The only one I ever recall going to with regularity was the Dunkin Donuts stores on Florida's Turnpike.  I really dig breakfast food as is and they rarely ever had super long lines.  Carl's Jr./Hardee's would be another I have utilized on with frequency on the Ohio Turnpike.

Aside from that I'd probably throw in two higher volume brands to draw traffic away from the brands I would go to. 

[1995hoo]

Roy Rogers
Arby's (which I haven't seen in a service plaza)
Nathan's
Some sort of pizza by the slice place

[tolbs17]

Chick-fil-A. I love their food

[HighwayStar]

Roy Rogers
Arby's (which I haven't seen in a service plaza)
Nathan's
Some sort of pizza by the slice place

Roy Rogers is a hidden gem.

[Scott5114]

Pick four? McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell.

Chick-fil-A. I love their food

Oh, that's a really great idea. Having the service plaza be completely useless 14% of the time. 

[HighwayStar]

Pick four? McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell.

Chick-fil-A. I love their food

Oh, that's a really great idea. Having the service plaza be completely useless 14% of the time. 

It is only 1 of 4 restaurants.

And actually most of them are not open 24/7 anyway.

How about this, Chick-Fil-A stays open an extra 2 hours each day the rest of the week so they have the same total hours. Problem solved.

[Scott5114]

Pick four? McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell.

Chick-fil-A. I love their food

Oh, that's a really great idea. Having the service plaza be completely useless 14% of the time. 

It is only 1 of 4 restaurants.

And actually most of them are not open 24/7 anyway.

How about this, Chick-Fil-A stays open an extra 2 hours each day the rest of the week so they have the same total hours. Problem solved.

The only thing he mentioned is Chick-Fil-A, which implies he wants the service plaza to simply have four of them.

[Max Rockatansky]

I can't be the only one who thinks Jesus Chicken is incredibly overrated?

My other two now that I've had a chance to think about it; Culver's and Quiznos.

[HighwayStar]

I can't be the only one who thinks Jesus Chicken is incredibly overrated?

Never heard of them

[1995hoo]

I can't be the only one who thinks Jesus Chicken is incredibly overrated?

Never heard of them

Wouldn't it be Jesus Pollo?

[HighwayStar]

I can't be the only one who thinks Jesus Chicken is incredibly overrated?

Never heard of them

Wouldn't it be Jesus Pollo?

Jesus Pollo and Taco Bar
(under new management)

[oscar]

I second Roy Rogers as an option. Also throw Tim Hortons into the mix, for northern-tier toll roads in the states where TH already operates (a few toll plazas already have them).

[Scott5114]

I can't be the only one who thinks Jesus Chicken is incredibly overrated?

I like it a fair amount, but their political bullshit makes it so that I eat there far more rarely than I would otherwise (the guilty conscience makes the chicken much less appetizing), and I have to make sure I throw the trash away discreetly because my wife disapproves of them even more than I do. If they would just revert to baseline corporate evil like the other fast food chains, they'd be part of the regular rotation.

When Norman had a Zaxby's, that could actually usually slake any Chick-Fil-A craving, but they closed down (probably because they put it on that awful stretch of Main Street where successfully executing a left turn is a Herculean endeavor). If I'm going to drive to Moore for chicken, I may as well go the extra couple of miles and hit up Popeye's on I-240.

[Max Rockatansky]

I can't be the only one who thinks Jesus Chicken is incredibly overrated?

I like it a fair amount, but their political bullshit makes it so that I eat there far more rarely than I would otherwise (the guilty conscience makes the chicken much less appetizing), and I have to make sure I throw the trash away discreetly because my wife disapproves of them even more than I do. If they would just revert to baseline corporate evil like the other fast food chains, they'd be part of the regular rotation.

When Norman had a Zaxby's, that could actually usually slake any Chick-Fil-A craving, but they closed down (probably because they put it on that awful stretch of Main Street where successfully executing a left turn is a Herculean endeavor). If I'm going to drive to Moore for chicken, I may as well go the extra couple of miles and hit up Popeye's on I-240.

Their political stuff aside what really turns me away from them is the huge crowds I have to contend with for food.  The food itself is fine but I always feel like there is a better/equal and more convenient chicken options that aren't hard to obtain.  In'n'Out has similar line issue (and arguably politics) but I've found it easier to bypass by going into the restaurant or going at the secret 10 AM opening.

[J N Winkler]

I don't know Jesus Chicken, but won't eat at Chick-fil-A for the usual political reasons.  I do like Popeyes, but have doubts as to its suitability for a service plaza since even a three-piece chicken dinner is enough to make me sleepy.  I don't need my autonomic nervous system going into rest-and-digest/feed-and-breed mode while I'm trying to handle a vehicle moving at 75.

[ozarkman417]

Some sort of pizza by the slice place

The pizza by the slice place of choice appears to be Sbarro, present in service plazas in Northern Illinois, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

[Big John]

Roy Rogers
Arby's (which I haven't seen in a service plaza)
Nathan's
Some sort of pizza by the slice place

I recall seeing one in Indiana.

[webny99]

Also throw Tim Hortons into the mix, for northern-tier toll roads in the states where TH already operates (a few toll plazas already have them).

Yes! The Seneca Travel Plaza has one, and there are probably others on the Thruway. That and Wendy's, Arby's, and either a sub chain or pizza place would round out my top four.

[dlsterner]

Let's see ...

Roy Rogers  (can't believe I'm actually agreeing with HighwayStar)
Hardee's
Zaxby's  (or similar - to be able to get chicken on a Sunday)
Quizno's

As a fifth "wild card" choice, perhaps a pizza-by-the-slice place (like Sbarro).

And for those who have never heard of "Jesus Chicken" - you do realize it's just a derisive nickname for Chik-Fil-A?

[SkyPesos]

I do like Popeyes, but have doubts as to its suitability for a service plaza since even a three-piece chicken dinner is enough to make me sleepy. 

One Ohio Turnpike service plaza have a Popeyes

[J N Winkler]

And for those who have never heard of "Jesus Chicken" - you do realize it's just a derisive nickname for Chik-Fil-A?

I learned that after I posted.  There's no shortage of locally based fast-food fried chicken chains, so I assumed Jesus Chicken was one such.

[webny99]

And for those who have never heard of "Jesus Chicken" - you do realize it's just a derisive nickname for Chik-Fil-A?

I learned that after I posted.  There's no shortage of locally based fast-food fried chicken chains, so I assumed Jesus Chicken was one such.

Same here. In fact, I just learned that after reading this post. But then again, I find the whole subject extraordinarily tiring, untenable, and ultimately unnecessary. A quick re-read of the general timeline of events only strengthens that feeling, to the point that I'm downright disgusted with the fact that it's still brought up almost a decade later.

As for the actual food at Chick Fil A, I already stated my opinion about that in another thread - largely overrated, except for their breakfast - so I'm pretty much in agreement with Max:

Their political stuff aside what really turns me away from them is the huge crowds I have to contend with for food.  The food itself is fine but I always feel like there is a better/equal and more convenient chicken options that aren't hard to obtain.

[Flint1979]

I say like Roy Rogers, Wendy's, Pizza Hut Express, Popeyes.

[roadman65]

And for those who have never heard of "Jesus Chicken" - you do realize it's just a derisive nickname for Chik-Fil-A?

I learned that after I posted.  There's no shortage of locally based fast-food fried chicken chains, so I assumed Jesus Chicken was one such.

I'm guessing that with the Closed on Sunday business practice is why most plazas won't contract them? 

Yet in Florida Mall in Orlando, FL they used to be in the Food Court despite that they didn't open on Sunday.  However the mall verses a toll road open 24/7 is apples and pears.