tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Maid-Rite
Owner -- Privately held
Primary Operating Region -- Primarily Iowa, with scattered locations in Midwestern states
Number of Locations -- 83 (2003)

Wife #1 wants to try our new Texas Roadhouse out.  "Do you think they'll be busy?"  she asks.

One way to find out.

So we drive over there.  Yes, they're busy.  There isn't a place to park in their lot.  In fact, people have taken to parking in the empty dirt lot next door.  The line is out the door.

So we go to the Maid-Rite across the street instead.

We order Maid-Rites (I ordered a Mega-Rite) and two chilis.  The chilis are served in a cup the size of a small Wendy's chili.  The chili tastes like Wendy's chili with a litle Burger King chili mixed in.  It costs triple what Wendy's chili does.

It's barely even warm.

Wife #1 complains.  The guy takes the chili cups into the back and returns a few minutes later.  We try the chili.

No difference.

He takes them back again.  We are finished with our sandwiches by the time he returns.  This time, mine is acceptably warm.  Not hot, but edible.  

Wife #1's isn't.  Again.

So I give her mine and eat hers.

She still doesn't think either one was hot enough.

So what's the deal?  Bad franchisee?  No...This is the COMPANY TRAINING STORE.  The flagship, if you will.  This is the store that will train other Maid-Rite franchisees how to screw up chili and charge a ridiculous price for it.

Floyd Angell created the "Maid-Rite" in 1926 in Muscatine.  It's simply a mixture of loose ground beef, seasonings and chopped onion served on a bun, served with a spoon. He started franchising the idea around the state a year later.  Maid-Rites have been a staple of the Iowa diet ever since, and is one of the oldest fast food franchise brands in the country.

Maid-Rite took an "owner/operator" approach to franchising, so most if not all franchisees have one location.  The original four franchisees, granted in the 1920's, are still in business, according to Maid-Rite's website (here's the second one, actually).  In fact, the vast majority of Maid-Rites have been in business for years.  Local Maid-Rites are often the heart of the towns they grace, especially at breakfast, when the farmers are either complaining about too much rain...or too little rain.  Menus and format vary widely depending on the franchisee (some are walk-up and some are full-service).  You will always find the loose-meat ground beef sandwich up for grabs, but the exact specifications of said sandwich (the type of bun or the condiments added) can very from location to location.  Part of the charm of Maid-Rite has always been the lack of a standard format.  For the first seven decades, no two Maid-Rites looked alike, and almost all of them had a very local feel.  But Maid-Rite's current ownership has been working to standardize, and has aspirations to franchise nationally.

The new restaurants are decorated in a red and silver diner theme that is so cliché, it's almost sad.  The modern standardized Maid-Rite menu also includes fries, onion rings, hot dogs, shakes, etc.  They're also serving fried chicken now.  Pretty much everything on the menu past the Maid-Rite sandwich and its variants is under inspired and overpriced.

If you really want to experience Maid-Rite, find a location that's been open thirty years or more.  Skip the new places completely.

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