.The Best ’Vice

You’re not going to get much fast food or restaurant chain content in this space, ever.

But it was interesting to see the American Customer Satisfaction Index create a stir in announcing its latest fast-food rankings, partly because Chick-fil-A dropped out of the top slot for the first time in years.

For the record, the top five went like this: 5) Hardee’s, 4) In-N-Out, 3) Chick-fil-A, 2) KFC, 1) Del Taco.

Which inspires a few thoughts.

#1: My primary joy on this list is invisible: In-N-Out’s “secret” menu. Grilled cheese with chopped cascabella peppers and grilled onions, Neapolitan shake and animal-style fries, please.

#2: I do dig Del Taco, but I’m saddened DT weakened its vegan/vegetarian program and abandoned its Beyond Meat options.

#3: The Santa Cruz area enjoys an incredible counterpoint to all of the above in Pretty Good Advice, which added its second location (1319 Pacific Ave.) earlier this year. I just swung by the debut spot (3070 Porter St., Soquel) for all the convenience, satisfaction and value of a FF joint without the grease, stomach ache or self-loathing.

The California Ranch Burger charmed with avocado, melted American cheese and the signature vegetarian patty, hand crafted from black beans and quinoa boiled in tomato paste and veggie soup stock.

As good as that was, the drippy Final Meltdown with fried egg, crispy potato, sautéed mushrooms, pepper jack and jalapeños on ciabatta upstaged it with complementary textures and sauces.

I’ll be back for a salad (maybe the watermelon-and-arugula or the peach-and-basil) and the “chillin” corn bisque, all assembled with produce straight from chef-owner Matt McNamara’s family farm.

Maybe I’ll sync the stop with National Fast Food Day on Nov. 16, but likely sooner, while wishing there were PGA outposts all over. prettygoodadvicerestaurant.com

MORE FAST FUN

Looking up National Fast Food Day led down a gopher hole of goofiness and helped generate a different ranking: a list of my new favorite national “holidays”:

#5: National Make Up Your Own Holiday Day (March 26)

#4: National Gorilla Suit Day (Jan. 31)

#3: National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day (Aug. 8)

#2: National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day (Jan. 22)

And #1: National Everything You Think Is Wrong Day (March 15).

And while it’s not a secret menu item a la In N Out, I did come across a great tip from Ringer Food News co-host David Jacoby: When decorating your froyo at a spot like Top a Lot Yogurt (738 Water St., Santa Cruz)—layer toppings in their usual place and as a foundation.

He calls it “bottoming.” Hallelujah.

CHOW CHATTER

Chef Lance Ebert, aka Santa Cruz Bread Boy, and Humble Sea Mountain Tavern made for a smash hit on the burger front. Now Ebert’s got foodies aflutter with the Emerald Mallard iteration of their collaboration, with expanded hours (Thursday to Sunday) and expanded French bistro–leaning menu (steak frites, Caesar salad, oysters, duck croquettes), emeraldmallard.com. Gourmet Grazing on the Green, a pastoral portal into food, wine and other artisan intake, is scheduled for Oct. 5 in Aptos Village Park: 60 local wineries, a bunch of chefs, a bushel of breweries, starring produce from local operations Coke Farms and Watsonville Coast Produce, plus live music by Cooper Street, sccbg.org/gourmetgrazingonthegreen…Tickets are now available for Santa Cruz Permaculture’s 2024 Harvest Dinner, on its farm near Año Nuevo State Park this Oct. 12, featuring Chef Tod Nysether doing the food and guest speaker/Rumi poet Eric Schneider providing the awakening, santacruzpermaculture.com…And here comes Carmel’s own Eric Schlosser to put a bow on things: “Fast food is popular because it’s convenient, it’s cheap, and it tastes good. But the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu.”