Wendy's: Savage Roasts, French Fry Glow-Up, and Are the Nuggets Perfect?
Release Date: 09/24/2025
Papa Murphy's Pizza: A Spiteful Dough Recipe, Food Stamps, and DIY
"Fine" Dining
🍕🔥🏠 Papa Murphy’s Pizza: Take ’N’ Bake, No Ovens, No Mercy 🏠🔥🍕 This week, comedian Peter Murphy (@peter_murphy) joins me to break down the strange, fascinating history of Papa Murphy’s, the pizza chain that refuses to cook your food for you. We dig into how take ’n’ bake became the brand’s entire identity, why you literally cannot buy a hot pizza there, and how that decision shaped everything from employee working conditions to who can even buy the product. We also check in with the internet, because of course someone on Yelp is furious about flip-flops. 🍕...
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BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse: Amazing Wings, Polarizing Pizza, and a Bunch of Pizookies
"Fine" Dining
🍕🍪 BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse Review: Extreme Pizza, Elite Wings, and Too Much Chocolate 🍪🍕 We’re back with Part 2 of BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, and this time PJ McCormick (@peejmccormick) and I actually sit down to eat. The service feels a little detached, the vibes are exactly what you’d expect from a brewery, and PJ remains baffled that this place ever started as a pizza joint. 🍕 Pepperoni Extreme Pizza Surprisingly Lives Up to the "Extreme" (What is this, 2002??) 🍪 A Trio of Pizookies: Salted Caramel, Strawberry Shortcake, and WAY Too Much Chocolate...
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BJ's Restaurant: Snooki, Deep Dish, & The Pizookie
"Fine" Dining
🍕🍺📚 BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse: Finding the Gimmick (It Was Beer) 📚🍺🍕 This week kicks off Part 1 of our BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse coverage with a full Eat Deets history episode, joined by PJ McCormick (@peejmccormick). We trace BJ’s unlikely evolution from a Chicago-style pizza experiment to a beer-forward empire, debate whether pizza was ever really their best foot forward, and draw a completely reasonable comparison between BJ’s brand identity journey and Stone Cold Steve Austin ditching the Ringmaster gimmick. Also yes: blowjob jokes. 🍕 "BJ Grunt's"...
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My Go-To Domino's Pizza Order, An Incredible Dessert, & Are They Better than the Competition?
"Fine" Dining
🍕📊🍴 Domino’s Pizza Review: Three Pizzas, Vibes, & Getting Deputized 🍴📊🍕 Season 4 continues as James Werner (@jamesyjoehenry) returns for Part 2 of our Domino’s Pizza episode, this time putting the pizza where the mouth is. We actually ate inside a Domino’s, sat at a real table, and watched the pies come together from what can only be described as the Young Pizza Inspector overlook. With all-star service, we break Domino’s down category by category to see if it can clear the Chili’s bar. 🍕 Reviewing the Full Spread (and Absolutely No Salad) 🔥...
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Domino's Pizza: Hostages, Food Tampering, and Turning It All Around
"Fine" Dining
🍕📦🚗 Domino’s Pizza: Hostages, Food Tampering, and Turning It All Around 🚗📦🍕 Season 4 (omg, what??) kicks off with a deep dive into the wild, complicated, and occasionally Noidy history of Domino’s Pizza. Joined by improviser and musician James Werner (@jamesyjoehenry), I trace how a tiny Michigan pizzeria turned into the world’s largest pizza chain by making bold promises, bad mistakes, smarter apologies, and some genuinely fascinating tech gambles. This is a story about shame, sincerity, and why sometimes admitting “our pizza sucks” is the smartest move a...
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Rainforest Cafe, Bob's Big Boy, Waffle House, Pappadeaux, & Chuy's Get Yelped
"Fine" Dining
🗣️⭐🍽️ Yelp From Strangers: Rainforest Cafe, Bob’s Big Boy, Waffle House, Pappadeaux & Chuy’s 🍽️⭐🗣️ VyVy Nguyen (@cest_la_vyvy) is back as we wrap up our two-part Yelp From Strangers special during the final stretch of Bridge Season. This week’s batch is truly unhinged. Once again, the food is secondary and the feelings are loud. Also, wtf does "we are bar people" even mean?? 🥩 A Rainforest Cafe Review That Treats the Jungle Steak Like Fine Art 🧠 My Personal Connection to David Lynch Lore at Bob’s Big Boy 🪑 A Waffle House Review That References the...
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Denny's, Pizza Hut, Olive Garden, Gyu-Kaku, & Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Get Yelped
"Fine" Dining
🗣️⭐🍽️ Yelp From Strangers: Denny’s, Pizza Hut, Olive Garden, Gyu-Kaku & Bubba Gump 🍽️⭐🗣️ This week, VyVy Nguyen (@cest_la_vyvy) joins me for a pure Yelp chaos episode as the Bridge Season barrels toward its finale. No history, no food review, just unfiltered opinions from the internet’s most confident critics. From late-night diners to shrimp shrines, this first of a two-part Yelp special proves once again that the most unhinged storytelling lives in the review section. 🥞 A Denny’s Customer Furious About Being Mistaken for Homeless Flaunts His iPhone 🍕...
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Is Islands the Best Casual Burger Chain?
"Fine" Dining
🍔🏄♂️🍟 Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks: The Best Casual Burger Chain? 🍟🏄♂️🍔 This week, VyVy Nguyen (@cest_la_vyvy) returns for another round of Eat Deets as we surf the waves of flavor offered by Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks. From their golden fries and proprietary fry salt to surf videos looping endlessly on the walls, Islands is a California chain that perfectly captures chill beach energy. We explore its expansion beyond the West Coast, the founder’s wild journey from selling to buying the company back, and why seasoning > sauce every single time....
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The Old Spaghetti Factory: "Why the Trolley?", Mizithra Cheese, & the Nashville Bombing
"Fine" Dining
🍝🚋🕯️ The Old Spaghetti Factory: Trolleys, Mizithra, and Guss Dussin’s Dream 🕯️🚋🍝 This week, VyVy Nguyen (@cest_la_vyvy) joins me for a deep dive into the charming, old-world history of The Old Spaghetti Factory. We uncover how a humble warehouse filled with antiques became one of America’s most distinctive restaurant chains, complete with a refurbished trolley car centerpiece and chandeliers that make every meal feel like a special occasion. From its signature mizithra cheese and brown butter pasta to a story of explosive disaster, this chain has us asking the...
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I Hate Garfield Because of Buffalo Wild Wings GO
"Fine" Dining
🐃🔥🍗 Buffalo Wild Wings GO: Garfield, Barbed Wire, and the Blazin’ Knockout 🍗🔥🐃 This week, Shannon Bengston (@SSBengston) returns as we finally taste the chaos that is Buffalo Wild Wings GO. From an earnest-but-overwhelmed employee taking our order to a blaring Garfield cartoon that won’t stop looping, this meal tests not just our patience, but the limits of the Chili’s Test itself. 🥤 Mountain Dew Legend: Terrible 🍟 Desert Heat Fries Are Incredible 🍫 Chocolate Chunk Brownie = The One True Winner 🍗 Mango Habanero: The GOATed Sauce? 🔥 Golden Fire Wings: The...
info_outline🍟🤖🍔 Wendy's: Savage Roasts, French Fry Glow-Up, and Are the Nuggets Perfect? 🍔🤖🍟
This week, Ali Gordon joins me to put Wendy’s through the Chili’s Test. Between Frostys, spicy nuggets, and a fireplace straight out of HGTV, things get interesting. We try three Wendy's burgers for Septemburger, but will they all get a chance in the tournament or will Jack in the Box knock them out? Also, a one-time brand new segment called Rate That Roast! where Ali judges Wendy’s savage social media burns.
📣 Rate That Roast! Ali Judges Wendy’s Online Burns
🍫 Frosty Bliss & Spicy Nuggets That Actually Deliver
🥓 Burgers Galore: Dave’s Single, Baconator, Double Stack
🧑🎤 Ali Becomes Wendy Herself (and Swears a Lot)
🌶️ Ghost Pepper Ranch That Isn’t Ghost, Pepper, or Ranch
🍟 French Fries Glow-Up = Legit Improvement
🔥 Fancy Fireplace (Hogged by a Couple the Whole Time)
🌱 Serengeti Grass in the Banister??
🧂 Condiments Locked Away Behind the Counter
📖 Ali’s Debut Novel We Have Reached the End of Our Show Drops Sept 30
🏨 Ali Shares the Worst Bed & Breakfast Story Ever
⚔️ Septemburger: Dave’s Single vs. Sourdough Jack
We're in the final 24 hours to fill out your Septemburger bracket! You can update it to include the winners below, and continue to do so until 11:59 PM PST on September 24th!
💬 COMMENT BELOW: Do you think Wendy’s roasts are actually funny or just trying too hard?
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🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, full Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast
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🎤 Guest: Ali Gordon | IG: @msalicenutting
📖 Pre-Order We Have Reached the End of Our Show | Skylight Books Amazon Barnes & Noble
Patreon Producers: Sue Ornelas & Joyce Van
👉 NEXT WEEK: Exclusively on Patreon (but for free!), the Septemburger Semi-Finals & Finals episode drops September 30th. That same episode will be released on the main podcast feed October 8th. I'm off October 1st!