• OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      They’re just weird because so many fast food chains come & ho the go in the US, it’s hard to even keep track - but Long John Silvers; a shitty fish & chips place which is never busy, never seems to have any customers at all, somehow stays in business.

          • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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            1 day ago

            you must be going to different longs johns silvers than any of the ones i’ve been to. i haven’t been in years, but it’s really a “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me multiple times over the course of my childhood because my dad fell in love with you and THAT’S IT no more chances”

            • tenchiken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 day ago

              There’s a lot of truth in the bit about which one you go to…

              Being a franchise, a LOT of the quality comes down to the management. My cousin was a manager and made a huge point of a meticulous tear down and cleaning of the fryers to a degree not “required”. He’d budget people and hours specifically for the extra cleaning.

              It showed BIG. Between the grease temperature recovering faster, excellent care about cleanliness through the shift etc, the food came out reliably fresh and not the disappointing greasy mess.

              It helped that by budgeting the time instead of just forcing workers to do it while busy with customers, which also prevents being able to take the fryer offline, they workers were better treated and as result hated their job less.

              I’ll absolutely say this is an outlier, and that in general most fast food is terrible, especially LJS. But if you find a good location, it can be awesome… Still going to be greasy of course, but in a good way instead.

              • PolarKraken@sh.itjust.works
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                18 hours ago

                Popeyes is this way too. One of their newish spicy chicken sandwiches, out of a well-run Popeyes? It’s legitimately a culinary delight, I would eat that sandwich over almost any I’ve ever had anywhere, not even just similarly priced ones.

                Poorly run ones, though, that same marvel of sandwich engineering is wholly forgettable. At best. Tell your cousin there’s a Popeyes near me that needs his brand of TLC!

            • GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today
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              1 day ago

              It’s the cracklins. Little crispy fried pieces of dough? Who doesn’t want those? Just ignore the offerings of frozen fish patties and go for the craving food.

                • GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today
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                  1 day ago

                  The hush puppies, yes, absolutely. I don’t know many places that have the little fritters available by the tubload though. They’re what potato chips dream of being.

          • baines@lemmy.cafe
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            1 day ago

            the last LJS I went to the fish was sopping wet in oil and still it was cold and the fish was semi-raw

            never again

            • Sibshops@lemm.ee
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              1 day ago

              I’m guessing that they didn’t cook it at the right temperature. They probably would have wanted you to let them know so they knew there was an issue.

      • M137@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        “come & ho the the US”

        How do you fick up that badly and not notice it?

    • mspencer712@programming.dev
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      2 days ago

      The available food is mostly things they can pop into the fryer: Think fish and chips, except you can also choose “planks” of chicken breast, or breaded shrimp, or little balls of seasoned dough called “hush puppies”.

      My wife hates them, and they’re an occasional guilty pleasure for me.

    • SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      It’s fast food that’s almost all fried sea food. And they’re like the cockroach of franchises, the few that are around tend to be in weird locations that have killed off everything but Long John’s.

    • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      They are not. The food is deep fried. The fish and chicken look and taste alike. You have to really pay attention to tell the difference. I really miss the local one. I would only eat there a few times a year but it was a nice option.

    • JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      Yeah, it’s very low quality. When I lived there, I’d get recommended LJS because I’m British, and they wanted to get my opinion on their fish and chips.
      They stopped talking about it after all the complaints. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a meal when I’ve given them chances, always ended up tossing most of it in the bin.

    • Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Americans don’t eat a lot of bseafood fast food or even in general. These are also not in every city like other chains so the locations are really far apart. They have a reputation of being a little sketchy/dirty. As others have mentioned you almost never see cars in the driver through or parking lots. With all that combined it’s hard to imagine how they stay in business.