Has anyone else noticed that the "healthier" fast food is going away? A few years ago, we had an outburst of stands where you could get real, non-fried food with the ease of a McDonald's and at a price not far above Wendy's. We're talking about rotisserie chicken or actual carved turkey plus real, fresh side dishes. There are times when I'm hurrying from meeting to meeting and I have to grab a fast lunch. As I have a long list of food allergies and intolerances, I don't like to experiment. I like to know what I'm going to get, and it often helps me to know of the location of (or to stumble across) a Koo Koo Roo, a Kenny Rogers Roasters or a Boston Market. It's especially beneficial when I'm on unfamiliar turf. Coming across one of those businesses can be a lifesaver.
But the trend is away from them. All six of the Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants I used to frequent (five in Southern California, one in Las Vegas) have closed. In fact, if I read their website correctly, there's only one left in the continental United States, and it's in Maryland. Many of them have turned into outlets of the Wienerschnitzel chain, which is a perfect example of the kind of place I'm trying to avoid.
Koo Koo Roo, which is a West Coast chain, has downsized considerably, shrinking from more than forty outlets to a mere eighteen. Late in 2003, they were purchased out of bankruptcy by the Fuddrucker's chain, which added burgers and fries to the menus in those stores where the kitchen was large enough to accomodate the extra equipment. Koo Koo Roo was once founded on the principle of avoiding burgers and fries, and now that cuisine seems to be effecting a hostile takeover. Many Koo Koo Roo outlets that once served me well are gone and I fear that more will close or just turn into Fuddrucker's. Some of them are already halfway there.
Another takeover by a burger magnate has occurred with the Boston Market chain, which was acquired by McDonald's a few years ago. Boston Market has been especially useful when I've been on trips to other cities. On my recent visit to Scottsdale, for instance, Carolyn and I were driving to the airport, searching for a place en route that would serve up a quick, edible lunch that wasn't Happy Meal fare. I didn't want a Burger King and I didn't want to gamble on an unknown establishment. When we came across a Boston Market, that was it. Their roast turkey is a pretty good option when one needs to eat and their "sweet garlic rotisserie chicken" is better than it sounds.
So why do I have the feeling Boston Market is not long for this world? Because this probably wasn't a restaurant deal. It was more likely a real estate deal. The success of McDonald's was only in part because of its development of fast, easy ways to prep burgers, fries and McNuggets. A lot of it was due to shrewd real estate acquisitions, anticipating property trends and securing key parcels of land for low prices. Boston Market, to the extent it had any success at all, operated the same way, skillfully figuring out where a fast food place might do well amidst new area development and securing a prime location before someone else could. McDonald's didn't acquire the failing Boston Market business to keep things the same way. They're probably going to use most or all of those valuable locales for the other, new wave chains that McDonald's is nurturing, like Donato's Pizza and the Chipotle Mexican Grills. I can't and don't want to eat at either of those.
Not all that long ago, rotisserie chicken and fresh vegetables was the coming thing in fast food. Now, all the chains that offer that are in trouble and the big success stories are things like Carl's Jr's Six Dollar Western Bacon Cheeseburger, which contains a lovely 1,080 calories, half of them from fat. (My usual entree at Koo Koo Roo — two chicken breasts, original style — contains about a third of that.) We keep reading stories about how overweight and out of shape America is getting. There's as good a benchmark as anything.