Say goodbye to Big Carl as Carl’s Jr leaves Thailand by the end of March

[ThailandRyan]

12 minutes ago, BKKBike09 said:

"better than some of the other food down there" - that, my friend, is a low bar in the Phils. For starters, chicken pagpag, anyone?

 

Back to Carl's Jr ... went once to the curious outlet near Nana after hearing their burgers were supposed to a cut above McD, BK etc. Thought it was dire. 

So your equating Jollibee's to https://www.streetfoodguy.com/pagpag-not-on-menu/

 

Pagpag! Proof that there are foods out there so rancid I will not even try! Pagpag, have you heard of it? As the self declared Street Food Guy, and of course a regular visitor to the Philippines I am not averse to getting myself down and dirty with the street food scene. I have tried all manner of guts, intestines, the obligatory balut, birds nest soup, and even tamilok. Tamilok is a food so god damned awful they decided to make it a “challenge” to eat it. Yet it is nothing compared to pagpag.What does pagpag mean?

Pagpag in Tagalog literally means “to brush of the dirt”. In regular context it can also mean left-over food after you’ve eaten, but then reheat and eat again. When it comes to “restaurants” though, pagpag literally means to get leftover food from dumpsters, “brush of the dirt”, cook it and serve it. When people use the phrase pagpag in Tagaolog, they are usually referring to food taken from rubbish.

[Bangkok Barry]

43 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

There are many Hungry Jacks in Thailand. They are called Burger King here, as they are everywhere else in the world apart from Australia and New Zealand. Wikipedia explains why. I knew the man who owned the franchise in NZ.

Rubbish burgers

Your opinion. Some would agree, others not. But as there are huge numbers of Burger Kings all over the world they are obviously giving people what they want, which is always a very good business practise. My opinion is they are better than McDonalds, but inferior to those found in many independent stores.

[Ralf001]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

There are many Hungry Jacks in Thailand. They are called Burger King here, as they are everywhere else in the world apart from Australia and New Zealand. Wikipedia explains why. I knew the man who owned the franchise in NZ.

But as pointed out by others they do not sell the Mega Jack so based on that there is zero reason for me to go near one of their establishments.

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, BayArea said:

Carl's jr. is called Hardees in the South. Similar menu with some southern options added.

They are known for steak (like roast beef) on a bun surely, not burgers.

[Sparktrader]

15 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Your opinion. Some would agree, others not. But as there are huge numbers of Burger Kings all over the world they are obviously giving people what they want, which is always a very good business practise. My opinion is they are better than McDonalds, but inferior to those found in many independent stores.

Junk food. People buy it cause of convenience.

[salsajapan]

one less overpriced scam in the country...

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

19 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

36 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Your opinion. Some would agree, others not. But as there are huge numbers of Burger Kings all over the world they are obviously giving people what they want, which is always a very good business practise. My opinion is they are better than McDonalds, but inferior to those found in many independent stores.

Expand  

Junk food. People buy it cause of convenience.

And price, I guess. But, as I said, giving people what they want is good business practise. Same with all fast food. It's what people want, for convenience and price. It's not gourmet but, as McDonalds say in their commercials, eat their <deleted> in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

[Sparktrader]

1 minute ago, Bangkok Barry said:

And price, I guess. But, as I said, giving people what they want is good business practise. Same with all fast food. It's what people want, for convenience and price. It's not gourmet but, as McDonalds say in their commercials, eat their <deleted> in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

Not cheap anymore. Rip off really. Subway is better.

[SAFETY FIRST]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Say goodbye to Big Carl as Carl’s Jr leaves Thailand 

Bye

[Ralf001]

34 minutes ago, salsajapan said:

one less overpriced scam in the country...

 

 

how do you figure scam ?

[John Drake]

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

You must not be from the US or ever visited the US at least on the west coast.  Carl's Jr. is amongst the big 6, McDonalds, Burger King, Jack in The Box, Taco Bell, and KFC are the others.  On the East coast They have different names for Carl's.

Would love to get Jack in the Box tacos. Otherwise, Mos Burger.

[smutcakes]

Big news hot of the press for us Burger eaters.

McDonalds have just announced for a limited time at selected branches around the country they will be serving regular and double quarter pounders with cheese until the beginning of May. Get your burgers in now lads when the going is good. Yummm

[Excel]

25 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

how do you figure scam ?

I think he means describing it as a fast food is the scam.

[sungod]

2 hours ago, Real Name Hidden said:

Their marketing was brilliant, here with Paris Hilton

 

 

Nope, never saw that in Thailand, never heard of Carl's Jr until this morning.

[Excel]

Just now, sungod said:

Nope, never saw that in Thailand, never heard of Carl's Jr until this morning.

You had a lucky call then ????

[Kinnock]

4 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Don't know, Ive never eaten Burger King.

 

Popped over to Aus last year and my friend brought me a takeaway Mega Jack meal, it was lush.

 

Do Burger King here do the Mega Jack ?

Pretty much the same menu .... different names.  

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, Sparktrader said:

Not cheap anymore. Rip off really. Subway is better.

Not better on price.. expensive sandwiches... or do you mean better by another measure?

[Kinnock]

4 hours ago, Pravda said:

I really hope Tim Hortons stays. I was surprised 2 years ago when they opened their branch near Canadian embassy and they seem to have expanded really fast. A bit too fast for my liking, but the one inside mitrtown seems to be always busy.

 

 ???? for Timmies!!!!

I'll give Tim Horton's a year before they leave too. The one in Samyang Mitrtown is the only one with customers, and that's due to the internationally educated rich kids from the nearby university.  The others are almost deserted.

 

The franchise owner, WeEat Ltd seems to be decent, but the brand owner - RBI from the US, has such strict rules about the menu it's impossible to adapt to local tastes.  Everything in Tim Hortons is pure sugar.  Sugar shaped like donuts, sugar water colored to look like coffee, sugar cheesecake etc ...... and it's expensive sugar too.  They also took secondary locations, like Carl Jnrs, so lost out to their main competitors (Starbucks .... BK/McD).

 

The other RBI brand in Thailand (Burger King) is run by Minor Group, but they did not take Tim Hortons, for good reason.

 

But there's much better local coffee shops and burger restaurants than the branded ones anyway, so no great loss.

 

[bkk6060]

Don't think I ever saw a Thai in Carl's here.  They probably don't know what it is.  McDonald's yes, they like it especially the chicken.  Burger King is terrible it has pre liquid smoke flavor, not a natural fire flavor.  Makes me belch up that flavor and bad taste all day just terrible.

 

 

[Sparktrader]

31 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Not better on price.. expensive sandwiches... or do you mean better by another measure?

Prices much the same. Better food.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 hours ago, Henryford said:

Times must be bad when even the best burger joints are leaving.

 

Some years back, there really weren't a lot of independent burger places here in Thailand that you'd actually want to eat at....

 

But these days, especially in Bangkok, there's a fair number of local operations, either run by Thais or expats, that produce pretty good burgers.  And better than any of the chains, even Carl's, which was the best of the lot.

 

Among the well-reputed places in BKK these days are Prime Burgers not far from The Emporium, Chunky Burgers on Asoke Road, AGE Burgers in the Ekkamai area, and quite a few others.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

Ate twice at Carls in Mega Bangna. The 1st time it was alright, 2nd time horrible. Staff unresponsive, soggy fries, burger tasteless. I never returned. The problem that many foreign chains have in Thailand is the quality of the staff. If you pay peanuts  ..........

 

I have (had?) a couple of Carl's branches near my home in BKK in past years. I used to eat there semi-regularly before COVID came along, just for a treat now and again.

 

I had some quite good burgers (for fast food) from those Carl's outlets. And, at other times, quite bad burgers from the same places. Lack of consistency seemed to be a big problem, probably at least in part to the staffing issues you mention above.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 No-one really needs to eat such huge portions as Americans seem to.

Carl's Jr hamburgers are hardly what anyone would call "huge" portions... Though like all food of that class, they do contain a ton of saturated fat and salt, etc.

 

[recom273]

6 hours ago, swm59nj said:

I’m not a big fast food eater.  There is a Carls down the street from my condo in Bangkok.  I tried it for lunch.  The food was horrible.  It was burger and fries. 
I actually tried Mos Burger.  Once in Tokyo. And here in Bangkok.  I thought the burgers and fries were pretty good for fast food. 

I was trying to think of the place - Mos Burger, is it still in Central World? I used to like to sit there for a burger.

[VocalNeal]

17 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Some years back, there really weren't a lot of independent burger places here in Thailand that you'd actually want to eat at....

Outside Nana Plaza about 2 AM? Not sure if they were the best but they were the best at 2AM.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Outside Nana Plaza about 2 AM? Not sure if they were the best but they were the best at 2AM.

My reference was to "independent" burger places, not the chains like Carl's and McD....

 

But regarding your comment, supposedly, pre-COVID, there used to be some Thai lady with a burger cart outside Nana at night that the local barflies seemed to like, or at least tolerate, in their drunken state.

 

No idea what's become of that one in our current era.

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Before the financial crash in 1997 we had TGI Fridays and Wendys. Both disappeared. So did Planet Hollywood, but that was due to their own financial meltdown I believe. I used to really enjoy Fridays.

I remember them, also remember Tony Romas down lower Sukhumvit between Soi 3 and 5. Decent ribs. 

[Bangkok Barry]

13 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 No-one really needs to eat such huge portions as Americans seem to.

Carl's Jr hamburgers are hardly what anyone would call "huge" portions... Though like all food of that class, they do contain a ton of saturated fat and salt, etc.

I was referring to meals in general, not fast food.

[Sparktrader]

16 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Carl's Jr hamburgers are hardly what anyone would call "huge" portions... Though like all food of that class, they do contain a ton of saturated fat and salt, etc.

 

Fat and salt arent bad for you.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I remember them, also remember Tony Romas down lower Sukhumvit between Soi 3 and 5. Decent ribs. 

Last time I looked, there still was a Tony Roma's branch on one of the upper floors of the Terminal 21 shopping mall at Sukhumvit and Asoke.

 

And an Outback Steakhouse branch in the Siam Discovery mall nextdoor to Siam Paragon.

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by TallGuyJohninBKK