Place: Arby's
Lunch: Smokehouse Brisket sandwich, potato cakes, Pepsi
YESTERDAY AT ARBY'S: Went in, ordered my usual large Beef n' Cheddar.
Mediocre Counter Girl: "The number 9?"
(The number 9 is a non Beef n' Cheddar roast beef.)
Me: "The large Beef n' Cheddar."
Mediocre Counter Girl: "Oh, the Beef n' Cheddar."
Me: "Right. Large."
Mediocre Counter Girl: "Large?"
Manager, behind her: "Sir, do you mean the Max?"
Apparently, they've changed the names of their sandwiches. What was called "large" the last time I was here is called "Max" now. And just like the counter help at Hardee's and Taco John's have proven on many occasions, the minute they make a little change, the counter help immediately forgets the previous names ever existed.
And yet I'm back today anyway, because after I got my food, I noticed the new LTO offering known as the "Smokehouse Brisket", and I had to try it. But to be fair, I'm now at a completely different Arby's. Because there's like seventy Arby's within a ten minute drive of my office.
The ordering process is uneventful. But then they call my name, I head to the counter to pick up my food, and there's nothing there. There is an elderly man walking off with what appears to be my order, though. And he is.
Frowning Counter Girl: "Wait...aren't YOU Sam?"
Me: "Yep."
Frowning Counter Girl: "Sir! That's not your food!"
He's ignoring her, so I intervene. "Sir, that's actually MY food."
Elderly Food Thief: "Oh! It is? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
He gives me the tray. Frowning Counter Girl produces his food. He slowly shuffles back to the counter.
All is well. Especially with this sandwich. If you like smoky, this one's for you. It probably gets a lot of its flavor from sodium, unfortunately (though Arby's claims the brisket is smoked for 13 hours). In any case, it's really tasty. The smoked gouda cheese only helps. It also has crispy onion strings, barbecue sauce, and mayo. It may be the second best briskety thing I've ever had (behind Taco Cabana's Brisket Tacos). I'll be grabbing a lot of these while it's around.
In a non-lunch related food note, Hardee's finally put a chicken biscuit breakfast sandwich on their menu, something I've been screaming at them to do for years. Tried it this morning. And it's a home run. Perfectly buttery. Just awesome.
The new Fall TV season is underway. With several of my regular shows from last season cancelled, and the fact I'm now antenna only (I gave up satellite last Spring), I gave a few new shows a try this week. And checked out my usual returning ones. Here's some random thoughts. I'll skip "Bones" and "Sleepy Hollow" since I ranted about them in the last blog post.
The Blacklist: It would be a milestone on NBC's part to have a show I'll actually watch regularly. I can't remember the last time such a show existed. I will occasionally watch "Community", but not regularly, though it has its moments of brilliance. In the case of "The Blacklist", I tuned in because of James Spader. And I like what I see. It's clear this guy can run over the feds and manipulate them in any way he wants. He has an agenda. So I'm in so far.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: This was the most interesting of the new shows. I didn't get to see it on Tuesday because my favorite band was performing in the state (which they never ever do) and I don't own a DVR. But ABC repeated the debut last night, so I got to watch it anyway. Thanks for not making me buy a DVR, ABC. Anyway, I'm in with this one too. It feels sort of like a US version of "Torchwood", but that's okay. Sorry, NCIS. You''ve lost me to new time slot competition.
Criminal Minds: So there's a serial killer, and people die and stuff and...you know, I really just have this on in the background while I read Twitter or something. It's the same show every week, really. But nothing else is on, so...
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: This show is REALLY going through the motions anymore. I wish they'd cancelled this one and kept CSI:NY and moved it to Wednesday nights.
And...uh...that's about it. I'll check out the new "Ironside" when it debuts (they did a 2-hour "Law & Order" this week) and "Arrow", my favorite show on currently, starts Season 2 in two weeks.
Other than that, it's movies and football.
