Five Guys was founded in Arlington, Virginia, in 1986. There are now more than 300 Five Guys locations spread across 25 states. The menu is blissfully simple: burgers, hot dogs and fries. The regular burger has two thin patties, the “little” burger one. You can order your burger plain, with cheese, with bacon or with cheese and bacon. All of the other toppings are free. The list is standard, with raw jalapeño slices being the most exotic. The burgers are terrific, and the French fries are just about perfect. The whole operation is impressively efficient, fast food as it ought to be.
Johnny Rockets has corporatized the quintessential 1950s-style diner, serving up burgers and fries with a side of retro shtick for nostalgic St. Louis diners. The 25-year-old chain boasts more than 300 outlets, including some on board Royal Caribbean cruise ships and inside Yankee Stadium. Squint and you can almost imagine you're on Happy Days with the Fonz; each restaurant is replete with red vinyl booths, checkered tiles, and servers in paper hats and bow ties who will draw a smiley face with your ketchup. Besides the burgers and fries, there are hand-dipped shakes and malts, onion rings, hot dogs, chili, and salads, because even in the 1950s, people counted calories. Johnny Rockets is easy to find on Voice Places.
Price: $$ California Pizza Kitchen originated in Beverly Hills in 1985, riding the California cuisine wave that would come to define the culinary decade; the company now boasts 250 locations of casual sit-down eateries with modern, neutral decor and a casual-yet-upscale feel. A pioneer of envelope-pushing fusion pizzas, the chain claims to have invented the now-ubiquitous barbecue chicken pizza, an anchor of a menu that offers pies topped with everything from Thai-spiced chicken with peanut sauce and bean sprouts to bacon, avocado and mayo-dressed lettuce on three different crust options: original, honey-wheat or thin and crispy. Besides the namesake pizzas, CPK offers hungry St. Louis diners a full menu of California twist[s] on global flavors including enormous salads like the Spago-inspired Chinese Chicken and a so-right-now Quinoa and Arugula, plus other globe-trotting items ranging from Tuscan hummus and tortilla soup to fish tacos and cedar-plank salmon. Californ