Carl’s Jr. — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

While I haven't reviewed any fast-food onion rings in many moons, I'm familiar enough with the scene to know the standard protocol, and the presentation for the onion rings from Carl's Jr. fits the bill. A haphazardly filled and strewn cardboard container, resting atop a plastic tray, is literally overflowing with the onion rings. The plating is characteristically rushed, and undertaken without great care, but, again, I know what the standard for fast food places are.

The appearance of the onion rings is a mixed bag. Most onion rings in the box have some deformity or another, typically a cracked of fraying batter, with pale shadows of onions shining from deep within the recesses of the box. Their structural integrity, even at this cursory glance, seems to be clearly unstable. A handful of rings were solid, consistent, and not cracked, but this was not the norm.

The breading for onion rings is often a tricky thing to get right, particularly in terms of flavor and seasoning. Many restaurants throw in the towel and substitute flavor for copious amounts of grease, desperately masquerading as the flavor that onion ring lovers so badly need.

Not so with Carl's Jr. The batter on these onion rings had extraordinary seasoning, characterized by bold and daring flavor. With nary a hint of excessive grease (which did make the onion rings more than a little dry), my first bite revealed healthy doses of salt, pepper, and hints of something greater and more elaborate. This coating was among the finest seasoned onion rings I've had the pleasure to sample, which is a mark in its favor.

Unfortunately, the onion didn't measure up with the strength of the batter. As I could already tell from the cracked batter, the onions were paper-thin, nearly translucent, and with a weak ,underwhelming flavor to match. For all the flavor of the breading, I failed to detect hardly a hint of onion flavor within.

The accompanying ranch sauce perks up the onion rings more than a bit, with the cooler ranch flavors serving as a fitting complement to the bold spices of the onion rings. Anecdotally, I'm almost certain that this is the exact recipe of ranch dipping sauce that Wendy's used one or two iterations of ranch sauce ago, but I can't be certain.

As with taste, the texture is a bizarrely mixed bag. The breading had a robust and satisfying crunch, which was maintained under heavy scrutiny (and chewing). Unfortunately, this is the high-mark of the texture.

The mostly non-existent onions had a weak texture, as would be expected. Most rings had barely a sliver of onion int hem, and those that did fell prey to an impressive amount of slippage, facilitated by the already half-disintegrated onion ring batter. I occasionally got bites of onions that were tough and yellowed, as though fried to so great an extent that they passed the overcooked and mushy stage of the onion all the way into sheer petrification.

For $2.99, my girlfriend and I dined on an overflowing carton of onion rings as a sufficiently filling side for our $5 box. There was a fairly large quantity of decently sized onion rings, at a more...

Me and my guest arrived around noon and were just behind a couple other customers. We had time to observe the cashier before we got up there. It seemed like she was new and the customers ahead of us presented a coupon which she couldn't work out herself, so she had to wait for the manager. The manager seemed fairly annoyed when helping these guys and bothered by the lack of what little assistance the cashier could give before he could step in and provide whatever markdowns he begrudgingly gave to these guys. They left, and then it was our turn. When ordering, we asked a couple questions about what was on some of the sandwiches, most of which the cashier was unable to answer (further affirming my assumption that she was new [can't fault someone for a lack of knowledge if they're still learning the job]). Somewhat satisfied with what she could answer for us, my guest ordered first, with a couple substitutions to accommodate her diet, and then I ordered. I ordered the crispy chicken, bacon and swiss no tomatoes and I finished by asking for a coffee and natural cut fries. The cashier stated crisscut fries, at which time I corrected her by saying natural cut again. She (incorrectly) affirmed that they were the same thing. Not wanting to argue, especially since she was new and the manager seemed to be in a foul mood, i dropped it and took the crisscut fries. She was unaware of where the coffee cups were and even presumed that they were available in the lobby. Once we paid and I received my cup, i made my coffee and my guest proceeded to our table. When I arrived, the table was clean and we didn't end up waiting very long for our food. It seemed the cashier had a difficult time finding us in the lobby (only four tables were occupied), but hopefully that'll improve with practice. Overall, considering the weather was bad outside and the parking lot was covered in black slush, the floors didn't look too bad and none of the tables seemed to be dirty. Both my guest and I were surprised to find that our sandwiches were somewhat sweet (possibly the "southern spices" on the chicken, but definitely sweeter than any one of the side ingredients eaten by itself). Additionally, my bun was dry and rather difficult to eat, and honestly I ended up scraping off the extra mayo that was oozing out of my sandwich because the amount was unappetizing. Lastly, my guest had to use the restroom and upon her return she said that "this place is disgusting", to which I asked her to clarify. She told me that the restroom was filthy and before I had made it to our table she had cleaned it herself. 2/5 because I can't totally fault the new cashier, but there was a lot lacking from our experience and at the very least, if a customer argues with you about an item on the menu, you might consider asking another worker to see...

This Carl's Jr. (Hardee's as I remember it) has the most magnificent evening shift of staff. I have been to the one on Platte as well as the one on Garden of the Gods. One night I went through the drive-thru to get my husband dinner as I had class that night. I ended up getting the wrong order (a carb free or sandwich without the bun) in my combo order. I of course called to ask about the mix-up. I talked with Patricia who very respectfully apologized, said she wanted my name to write down in a book (while I was thinking she wasn't going to do); that I could come in and get the correct sandwich for free. She wasn't like someone you would think of as a fast-food worker (usually hurried, wanting to get off the phone, and just telling you what she thinks you would like to hear). She was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and most of all; followed through with what she said she was going to do. Approximately 3 weeks later I went inside of the restaurant for fear of someone spitting in my food if I went through the drive-thru as I was asking for a free replacement sandwich. Most of the business I believe is through the drive-thru at this restaurant. I went to the counter where I was approached by Larry (the swing shift leader-which I later found out). He was unbelievably cordial as he grabbed the book to look for my name. He found it as we both gazed through it looking for my name. My plan was to get the sandwich without having to pay for it and purchasing the fries and the drink. We had some small talk in which he was relaxed, displayed a professional demeanor, and helped me get the rest of my order. I am an extremely busy person (usually would never take the time to write a review on a fast food restaurant unless it was really bad); and the way Larry and Patricia handled this entire mishap was above and beyond any and all duties that may be in their job descriptions. Because of the way everything was handled and followed through with by these two people; I will go out of my way to always go to this specific location. I hope and pray that both Larry and Patricia are both at the very least commended for their professionalism in interpersonal interaction with their customers. They both rank #1 in my book as top notch in what is such a usual fast-paced, rushed, and hurried atmosphere. You should meet both of...