I actually grew up in Dune Acres, which is a suburb of Chesterton. Chesterton is the sort of place that didn't have a McDonalds until I was in high school. It was a very boring place. We would ride our bikes six miles to go to the Dairy Queen. It was all right. It's a unique place in that northwest Indiana is a convergence of Midwest farm life and the steel mill rust belt. The steel mills of Gary, which is ethnically diverse and Indiana, which is very white bread. more ›

In a feature that can only be described as "why Gothamist is so hungry so early, Fast Food nation be damned," the NY Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni went on a 9 day, 3,650 mile tour of fast food restaurants across the country, enjoying some selections more than others and learning to ask for the "most popular" items, instead of "recommendations." And he also muses about some chains that need some more exposure in the city:

I expected Chick-fil-A to be good. It didn't disappoint. Its standard chicken sandwich, a lightly coated breast fillet with little adornment, was meaty and tender, and the bun cradling it couldn't have been fluffier. We need more Chick-fil-A in New York City. (There's just one branch, at New York University.) We need it fast. more ›