tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Krystal
Owner -- The Krystal Company
Primary Operating Region -- Southeast
Number of Locations -- 420 (2006)

My favorite thing about Krystal is their restaurant locator on their website.  Too many chains have a locator that you enter an address into and it comes back saying something like "no locations in your area" past a distance of as little as 20 miles.  Yeah, I KNOW that.  So where's the closest one?  I'll determine if it's worth the trip or not.  But the Krystal website will peg me a location as long as I'm within 999 miles of one.  Even so, That's STILL too short as far as I'm concerned.  If I want to know the closest Krystal restaurant to Fairbanks, Alaska, why shouldn't I be allowed to find out as easily as somebody who lives within a block of one? 

Anyway, I found one just 436 miles away.  The one I actually went to was even further as I had other things to do in the area.

“Can I help you sir?”  “No.”  Now, I didn’t say no…The girl behind the girl at the counter who asked if she could help me said it.  But apparently she was talking about something else.  I found it rather funny, but they didn’t.  They just stared at me like they wished I’d go away. I get that a lot. but I hardly ever actually leave.

So I ordered.  

“Is that to stay?”  “Yes”.  So should I take it as a hint they packed up my order in a to-go bag anyway?  Probably.  I stay anyway.  

The bag is clear so you can see everything inside.  Krystal notes on the bag that this new and improved design helps the customer easily verify the order is correct.  But if I didn’t order it to go, I guess it’s a moot point anyway.  

Krystal is the longest lasting White Castle clone around.  That makes them one of the oldest fast food burger chains in the country.  They get credited occasionally for being the second oldest chain, but Maid Rite has been around longer.  (You could argue that Maid Rite's "loose meat" isn't really a burger, I suppose.)  Even Krystal won't put an exact number on where they'd rank there, which I imagine is partly "we don't really know for sure" and partly "if we said we were second oldest, we'd have to admit White Castle is the oldest, and we NEVER say the words 'White Castle' publicly".  

The company started in 1932 doing pretty much everything that White Castle did, right down to using a name that signified clean and pure.  Their smartest move was to niche out a market away from any White Castle territories.  It was the clones who broke that rule who White Castle sued.  White Castle basically left the others alone.  Today, Krystal is a staple of the South and growing.  The inevitable overlap of a Krystal and White Castle market has happened.  But both company's menus have grown in different directions, and aside from offering little square sandwiches, each company stands out as a unique identity.

The Krystal burger is a White Castle without the five holes and with mustard.  So you’d think they wouldn’t taste that much different.  You’d be wrong.  Krystal's beef  is actually kind of plain tasting in comparison to the White Castle.  The mustard provides a significant amount of the flavor.  I guess it paid for White Castle to patent that five-hole one-sided cooking idea.

Krystal has chili dogs called “pups”.  They’re called “pups” because they’re small…Cincinnati chili joint sized.  The first time I had one, it sucked.  Really really bad.  But the second time I had one at another location, it was really good.  The chili and cheese mix there came off tasting like Taco Bell's old chili-cheese burrito.  Plus, this location put mustard on the bun, which seemed to go far in improving the taste.   Krystal has a really good corn dog too.

Krystal's "Chik" chicken sandwiches are outstanding when the chicken is hot, fresh, and not overcooked.  I must emphasize the "hot, fresh, and not overcooked part" because I've gotten them lukewarm, stiff, and stale before.

Krystal's growth has been increased over the past decade thanks to franchising, which was first offered in 1990.  Krystal's hopped on several bandwagons over the years including the double-drive-thru concept ("Krystal Kwiks", the first franchised outlets).  Krystal is toying around with free Wi-Fi access at some stores.  Krystals are available in grocery stores around the South, just like White Castles.  And the chain wants to grow.  Expansion will go as far as franchisees will take it.

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