Ask George: What’s your current fast-food indulgence?

What’s your current fast-food indulgence? —Joe S., St. Louis

In the five-plus years since this question was asked and answered in this space, a lot of newfangled, high-calorie creations have crossed our grease-stained desk: Burger King’s chicken nuggets, McDonald’s Arch Deluxe, Hardee’s Frisco Angus burger, and one that may have caused us to gain a pound just by pronouncing: Sauced and Loaded Spicy Triple Cheese & Bacon Fries from Jack in the Box.

Those distractions notwithstanding, with warmer weather on the doorstep, we’ll be hitting up Freddy’s for an original double burger with cheese and a turtle sundae, the latter requested “on hold,” meaning paid for in advance but prepared only after you give the go-ahead, a brilliant way to generate a tasty, add-on sale.

It seems that SLM’s dining team has a fondness for fast food as well:

Bill Burge: Looking at my budget over the last two years, it appears that Raising Cane’s is my family’s fast-food indulgence. How a restaurant can specialize in an item off the children’s menu, I’m not quite sure, but my daughter loves it, and despite my skepticism, I too can get down on some tenders. What I really want back, however, is the Ultimate Sriracha Chicken Slider from White Castle. That was the single greatest four bites of fast food there has ever been, and it’s “ultimate” variation added jalapeños for the extra tangy kick. It had an unholy number of calories for something so small, however, so maybe my late-night cravings are a little healthier rolling through Taco Bell (though they, too, did the unthinkable and killed off the Mexican pizza).

Dave Lowry: When it comes to comida rapida, it doesn’t get much more andale than the tacos at El Morelia Super Mercado every weekend. Put your order in at a counter, and by the time you’ve turned about and taken a couple of steps over to the kitchen, the tacos are already waiting for you, hot and ready to be dressed with salsa and a whole table of add-ons. We intend to explore the menu, but we always end up with those little corn tortillas stuffed with tripa. There’s just something about those chewy, crispy nubbins and that redolent earthy aroma, slathered in salsa verde that power blasts your taste buds. It ain’t for everyone, but for some of us, well, they don’t call us tripe-heads for nothing.

Emily Wasserman: If Shake Shack counts, it is by far my favorite! The burgers just taste better, and the shakes and cheese fries are phenomenal. If I’m on the road, I also like to partake in a Culver’s burger or two.

Ann Lemons Pollack: I have discovered that Jack in the Box has finally started doing the fish sandwich they used to do Back When—and I’m talking at least a decade. Double or single, but single is fine with me. The fish is hot and tender, and I enjoy it with a good slather of tartar sauce, cheese, and served in the mandatory Jack in the Box style of slightly squooshed.

Pat Eby: My current fast-food crush is Popeye’s 3-piece chicken deal – hot and spicy, of course, one breast, two wings, coleslaw, one biscuit with real butter, and some strawberry sweet stuff you squeeze from a packet.

Collin Preciado: I’ve been able to eliminate the majority of my offensive fast-food habits held over from my youth, but for a number of stress-related reasons, I have sanctioned the airport as an anything-goes zone. Once I’ve reassembled myself from the TSA checkpoint at Lambert, I beeline to Dunkin’, order some version of a breakfast sandwich, hash browns, a chocolate frosted donut (or two), a triple shot of espresso, and devour it in a quiet corner like Joey Chestnut on the Fourth of July.

Zach Gzehoviak: Five Guys burgers and fries. It’s all about the peanut oil fries for me and that they shovel extra into the brown to-go bag atop the rest of the order. Plus, the tin-foil wrapper on their burgers keeps the burgers hot and the cheese melted.

Holly Fann: I believe in each of us, even those whose virtue and goodness glow from within, there is a dark space. That darkness drives us to do terrible deeds, acts which swallow us in shame and self-torment. My dark space is my belly, and in moments of personal and professional weakness, only one thing can fill that void: two tacos for 99 cents at Jack in the Box. When explaining the long-standing success of Jack’s best menu item, GQ quipped, “Even the heights of mediocrity can flourish.” Mediocre or greatest fast-food achievement? First, take the dynamic contrast in textures: The tacos are always soggy on one side but with an edge like plastic Tupperware. The interpretation of meat, balanced with shreds of what might be lettuce—but has more of an “I accidentally got Easter basket grass in my mouth” sensation—is nothing short of imaginative genius. Supposedly, there is cheese in Jack’s tacos, but I have yet to witness this. But who cares about cheese? It’s the acrid vinegar taco sauce, the finishing touch, that makes those tacos worth almost a dollar. Surely, it was the suggestion of the master saucier who crafted the condiment to put the sauce inside the taco so that it gets all squished and squashed together, melding everything with a faint metallic taste. They are my go-to, my confidant, my friend during those dark hours of midnight to 2 a.m. Plus, you get two tacos, which is better than one taco and much better than no taco.

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