"Fine" Dining

Mar 26 2025 115 ep. 58 mins 364

Comedian Michael Ornelas dives deep into the stories behind your favorite chain restaurants like Cracker Barrel, McDonald's, and Chili's before reviewing them with a new guest each week in search of the perfect 5-out-of-10 "fine" dining experience.

  Arts  Comedy
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Is Dairy Queen Worth a 2 Hour Drive?

Mar 26 2025 51 mins  
🍦 We Drove 2 Hours for Dairy Queen – Was It Worth It? 🍦 We hit the road and drove nearly two hours to the nearest Dairy Queen Grill & Chill to finally see if there’s more to DQ than just frozen nostalgia. We tried three burgers (including a surprisingly delicious Flamethrower), fries, onion rings, chicken tenders, and two iconic desserts—the Blizzard and the Banana Spli

Dairy Queen’s Rise to Power – The Blizzard Effect

Mar 19 2025 47 mins  
Dairy Queen is more than just ice cream—it was one of the first fast-food chains to take over America. In this episode, we dive into how a self-proclaimed chemist helped perfect soft serve, why DQ dominated the 1950s, and the moment that changed everything: the invention of the Blizzard. Joining me is writer & director Tyler Eaton of the new horror-comedy film Mysterious Ways, as

Taco Bell Proved Me Wrong (But Not About Everything)

Mar 12 2025 58 mins  
After avoiding it for over a decade, I finally stepped back inside a Taco Bell—and I was not ready for what I found. The Baja Blast? Genuinely delicious. The Crunchwrap Supreme? A smart design, poorly executed. The guacamole? It's giving Home Depot. In this episode, comedian & actress Priya Pappu joins me to break down the good, the not good, and everything in between about eatin

How Taco Bell Became Fast Food’s Most Creative Brand

Mar 05 2025 56 mins  
Taco Bell Is the Most Creative Fast Food Restaurant—But At What Cost? Taco Bell is the fast-food chain that isn’t afraid to get weird. Over the years, they’ve served up bold (and sometimes questionable) menu items like the Naked Chicken Chalupa, the Firecracker Burrito, and even a Kit Kat Quesadilla. But alongside its reputation for creativity, Taco Bell has a messy history�

Subway Is Even Worse Than You Remember

Feb 26 2025 53 mins  
Subway’s reputation has been circling the drain for years—but is it really as bad as people say? We tried a bunch of footlongs and we've got thoughts. This week, Terral Wells joins me to put the country’s most common fast-food chain to the test. From a pretzel drier than the Mojave Desert to an interior design aesthetic that actively made Terral upset, we break down every mom

Subway’s Disturbing History: Jared, The Infinite Destroyer, & Azodicarbonamide

Feb 19 2025 50 mins  
Subway’s history is WAY messier than you think. Sure, it’s the biggest fast-food chain in America, but behind the Eat Fresh™ branding lies a disastrous past filled with lawsuits, bizarre marketing stunts, and yes… Jared Fogle. In this episode, Terral Wells joins me to uncover Subway’s wildest moments, from its humble beginnings as a way to fund med school to the time they

The Only Hooters with Breakfast feat. Alexander Poncio

Feb 12 2025 78 mins  
Hooters Casino Hotel—now rebranded as OYO Hotel & Casino—has been called the worst hotel on the Vegas Strip. But is it really that bad? We put it to the ultimate test by spending 19 hours trapped inside, eating Hooters for dinner AND breakfast (because yes, this is the only Hooters in the country that serves breakfast). And if that wasn’t enough? We also hit up Aussie Heat (a

Hooter Bowl 3: The History of the Worst Hotel in Las Vegas feat. Alexander Poncio

Feb 05 2025 46 mins  
Hooters Casino Hotel was meant to be a game-changer—bringing its busty brand of mediocrity to the Las Vegas Strip. Instead, it became one of the biggest disasters in Vegas history. A casino so bad, it made Circus Circus look classy. So... what went wrong? For my third annual Hooter Bowl Spectacular, I had to go big. So I spent 19 hours trapped inside the Hooters Casino Hotel (now

McDonald's PlayPlace & the McGriddle feat. Chad Damiani [Part Two]

Jan 29 2025 65 mins  
They thought I was sent from corporate! McDonald's Breakfast is arguably the most desirable form of McDonald's, and my Ronald McDonald-looking-ass got to chow down on it with the king of the clowns, Clown Boss Chad Damiani! The Good: I got treated like a king for coming in dressed as Ronald (and I don't think they knew I wasn't sent from the higher-ups), the McGriddle hits (for me

McDonald's Breakfast Isn't Clowning Around feat. Chad Damiani

Jan 22 2025 60 mins  
A magic belt that produced burgers? It's before 10:30am, which means it's time for McDonald's Breakfast! Learn the history of this iconic (and, in my opinion: better) half of McDonald's menu before diving into the clown lore of Ronald McDonald himself with the Clown Boss Chad Damiani Chad tells the story of a McDonald's fiasco his brother experienced all to try and save a few buck