You all know Five Guys, In-N-Out Burger, The Counter and Godfather’s, but what about Fare PDQ?
Fare PDQ or Fare Pretty Darn Quick is one of a new class of burger joints serving what I call chic fast food. Ironic, isn’t it? Fare resides right across the street from one of its main competitors, Godfather’s. Fare stands out as special because of the variety it provides. Not only does it serve burgers, but it has sloppy joes and tri-tip sandwiches.
What Fare does very well is they aren’t afraid to be different — rather than buy cheap ingredients, they buy locally sourced ingredients. Another thing that truly makes Fare special is the small things they do — rather than using cheese, they use a cheese sauce, and instead of a sesame seed bun, they use a very tasty brioche bun. Another neat thing is that everything has its own unique name — rather than “Cheeseburger,” it’s called “The New Haven,” and rather than a “Fried Chicken Sandwich,” its called “The Crunchy Atlanta,” and it is oh so crunchy indeed. The food also comes relatively quick, reflecting the restaurant’s name, Fare Pretty Darn Quick. My personal favorite is ordering The Big Gio (double-decker cheeseburger) and a Crunchy Atlanta (fried chicken sandwich with bacon).
Owner Steven Spitts opened Fare PDQ to fill what he believes is a major gap in burger joints and fast food restaurants. He believes that while the taste may be better or worse, it’s mostly the same restaurant underneath.
“I used to be an investment adviser. My clients invested in McDonald’s and Burger King. What I noticed was that McDonald’s and Burger King began losing customers, and places like Five Guys, and In-N-Out began gaining those customers. And then I came to realize that it was really just the taste of the food. Nothing else really set them apart from the other burger joints. At Fare, we are different, for example we bring the customers their food, and when they’re done, we bus their trays. This gives customers more time to talk to each other and hang out, rather than stand in line and wait to pick up their food. No other burger joint does this. Another thing we do that I felt was gone in today’s times was a lack of sensible sizes, which we provide here at Fare.”
Now, Fare tantalizes customers with a well sized menu with very unique choices. Fare decides to break the standard menu of only burgers and includes fried chicken sandwiches, sloppy joes, steak sandwiches, and of course burgers.
Fare has two sizes of their sandwiches: Classic and Big Fare. The Classics cost $5 each and include the pulled pork sandwich, sloppy joe, cheeseburger, and veggie burger. Each are the size of a slider but are very filling.
The Big Fares will run for $6.70 each and are the size of what the average person would consider a normal sized burger. The Big Fares include the double-decker cheese burger, the fried chicken sandwich, a BLT, and the tri-trip sandwich.
At Fare there is no wrong choice. The sandwiches are all fantastic and filling. It is definitely worth going there for lunch or dinner. You can taste that they truly care about the ingredients and see that they truly care about the customer experience.
5 / 5 Big Gios
