Rally’s
http://www.rallys.com 

I drive by a Rally’s on my way to work every morning and for the past few months, I’ve seen signs outside of the location advertising their new entries into the fast food market with their semi-upscale (for a fast food place) Cold Creations dessert line.  I went out to dinner at another place recently and on my way home, I was looking for something simple for dessert that wouldn’t require me stopping at Dairy Queen or one of the specialty ice cream shoppes (think Cold Stone Creamery, etc.), so I decided I’d spin by Rally’s and try out one of the desserts that I’d seen on my drive by so many times.  I like Rally’s, especially the fries, but it’s not exactly the first place I think of when I think dessert, so this was quite a step outside the box for me.

What I Got:  Apple Pie Layered Sundae; $3.69.

First impression as I pulled up to the menu board was that it was incredible how expensive these Cold Creations were.  I expected something similar to a McDonald’s sundae in the $2.00-$3.00 range, but when I saw the Rally’s sundaes pushing the four dollar mark, I was kind of taken aback.  That said, I was still willing to try and when they handed me my sundae, I understood the price because this sundae was exceptionally large.  So large, in fact, that Rally’s served it with two spoons in case you want to share it with someone, but since we all know that I’m a hog and a glutton, there would be no sharing here (plus, there was no one else with me).

After they handed this to me and I made note of the size of the entire sundae, I more closely inspected this sundae and was reminded of how I am always amused of how fast food restaurants take their ingredients on hand and just re-purpose them to make a “hot, new offering”.  Taco Bell does this all the time and when you look at this sundae, it’s exactly what Rally’s did as well.  There’s nothing wrong with it and in fact, if you can keep doing it without backlash, it’s actually ingenious.

They took one of their standard fried apple pies, split it in half, warmed it up and then put it as the base of the sundae.  On top of that, they put a couple scoops of ice cream and then topped that with whipped cream and a cherry.  On top of the entire creation, they added in a drizzle of caramel and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  I’m guessing they had all of those on hand, so this “new” creation is actually a thing of genius, because I doubt anything here is new at all.  And yes, I’m aware that “nice” restaurants do this too, but I just seem to notice it more from fast food joints.

Anyway, when I took my first heaping spoonful, I’ve got to say that I was quite impressed by this.   What made it so impressive was the simple step of heating up the apple pie, because the warm apple pie turned this basically into Apple Pie a la mode and when you think of it that way, it was delicious.  The apple pie was just a standard thing, but when re-purposed as an upscale dessert, it just all worked well in perfect harmony.  The ice cream wasn’t particularly wonderful or tasty, but it was definitely a semi-creamy version of vanilla and when you mix the “heat” of the cinnamon with the sweetness of the caramel drizzle, it made for a great combination on its own. Adding the apple pie and whipped cream to the mix just topped it all off and made this a solid dessert.

Would I Buy It Again?  I’m not going to make many special trips to Rally’s for desserts, but if I’m ever in the neighborhood of one and looking for something other than (or in addition to) their delicious fries, I would definitely buy this one again.  It’s a simple, yet tasty fast food spin on an American classic and with that, Rally’s has got a winner here.

-IndianapolisEater

Rally's Chili Dog

What I Got:  Rally’s Chili Dog $1.29

Our next stop on our fast food chili dog tour is at Rally’s (Checker’s).  The Rally’s Chili Dog is a standard hot dog topped with chili, ketchup, mustard and red onion.

As with any chili dog, what you are primarily reviewing is the chili and Rally’s chili that they place on top of their chili dogs is top notch when compared against the other fast food competitors.  It’s meaty, thick and has a nice little kick to it.  Then, you get a nice little sweet flavor added in with the ketchup, which is something that you usually don’t see on most fast food chili dogs (or any chili dogs for that matter).

After the chili taste, you get a nice mix of a crunchy red onions and a meaty hot dog.  The bun can get soggy from the chili, but that is because the chili soaks it.  And if you like to soak bread in chili to make it soggy before you take a bite, then this is a great mix.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, I definitely would.  It’s cheap, the chili is tasty and the hot dog is meaty.  Plus, for a price that relatively low, it won’t hurt your wallet too much either.  As you can see in the picture above, this chili dog isn’t going to win any beauty prizes, but I would stack its taste up against any other fast food competitor.

-IndianapolisEater

What I Got:  Rally’s Large Fries $2.39

I’ve discussed my love of Rally’s and especially their fries in the comments section of this blog many times, so on a recent visit, I figured it was finally time to snap a picture and do a review.  It seems kind of silly to review a side item like this, but by the end of the review, hopefully you can see why I’ve done one.

What makes Rally’s fries unique from your ordinary run of the mill fast food fries is their peppery taste.  As you can see from the plethora of black specks on the fries in picture above, Rally’s is very liberal in their usage of pepper in the seasoning of their fries.  It’s what differentiates their fries from the blandness of fries that you’d find from places like Wendy’s.  When you mix this peppery taste in with ketchup to dip them in, it’s almost like you’ve stepped into heaven.

Another positive to Rally’s fries is that they seem to be crunchier than the fries that I get at most fast food restaurants.  In the dozens of times that I’ve had their fries, I can honestly say that I’ve only had one occasion where the fries came back soggy, so it would appear that they take special care in making sure their fries are crunchy when they serve them to their customers and I can certainly appreciate that.  In my opinion, nothing makes a french fry worse than when it loses its crunchiness.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, of course I would and have done so many times.  The taste of these fries is incredible.  The only complaint I have about these fries is their cost as they seem to be some of the most expensive fries out on the fast food market.  But, I guess you get what you pay for and what you get here is a damn good order of fries.  If you ever are in the neighborhood of Rally’s or Checkers, you’d be doing yourself a favor if you stopped in for an order of these.

-IndianapolisEater

Rally's Big Buford

What I Ate:  Rally’s (known as Checkers in some parts of the country) Big Buford burger $2.00 (available as part of a 2 for $4 deal at most Rally’s locations)

Rally’s is a guilty pleasure for me and the Big Buford definitely fits that description.  This burger is also a nutrition bomb (570 calories), so its not going to do any favors to dieters.

The burger is a double burger patty with two pieces of cheese stacked on top of a sesame seed bun.  Also included on the burger is red onion, ketchup, mustard, pickle, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.  Basically, this thing has every single traditional topping you could think of on a burger.

As for the taste, it’s outstanding.  The burger patties are a little thin, but when you stack two of them together, it really feels like you are getting quite a bit of meat and you don’t really notice their thinness any longer.  Also, the vegetables they throw on this thing are suprisingly fresh.  Both the onions and the lettuce are crunchy which is quite a shock considering what you get on your typical fast food burger.  The wet toppings can get a little messy, but you aren’t eating this thing to watch your waist line, so who cares.  This is truly gluttony at its best.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely yes.  This one is recommended and if you really feel like blowing your diet or just eating a good burger for pretty cheap, this is the route to go.

-indianapoliseater

Rally's Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

What I Ate:  Rally’s (known as Checkers in some parts of the country) Buffalo Chicken Sandwich $1

I absolutely LOVE food that has the buffalo sauce flavor and when you mix that with a sandwich that costs only $1 (currently on a promotion; I believe regular cost is $1.49), you basically have me at hello.  This one checks in at 340 calories, so it’s not a complete punch to the health stomach.

The Rally’s Buffalo Chicken sandwich is a nice sized, breaded chicken patty served on their traditional sesame seed bun with lettuce and ranch dressing.  The buffalo sauce used has got quite a flavorful and spicy kick to it and when I did a little research on Rally’s website, I found out that they use Franks Red Hot® buffalo wing sauce as their sauce, and if you’ve ever had Frank’s before, you would know that is the source of the kick.  You’ve got to hand it to Rally’s…they have no shame about not having anything proprietary and instead use other people’s products on their food.  First, there was the chicken wings review that I did where I was convinced that they were using the same Tyson frozen chicken wings that you can buy at the grocery store (unconfirmed) and now they are openly flaunting the fact that they use Frank’s sauce for their buffalo chicken products.  While the restaurant may lose points for originality, anything that makes the food taste better definitely gets my seal of approval.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, but only because it’s a dollar and I love buffalo sauce.  If they would switch to blue cheese dressing instead of ranch dressing (not a big fan of ranch), this would become an absolute must have for me.

-indianapoliseater

We’ll start with the Angry Buffalo wings.  These wings were very meaty and had decent size (a definite positive) and the sauce was extremely spicy.  The wings really were “angry” and if you like things that have a kick, you’d definitely like the flavor of this sauce.

Angry Buffalo Wings

Next was the Honey BBQ flavored wings.  They were the same in terms of size/meatiness, so I have no complaints there.  The sauce was actually quite good too.  It was very sweet and flavorful.  As you can see above and below, these wings are really sloppy.

Honey BBQ Wings

Would I Buy It Again?  No, I would not.  While I think these wings did taste pretty solid, they basically were just carbon copies of the frozen Tyson wings that you can buy in the case at your local grocery store.  In all honesty, I think these were those same Tyson wings and they’ve just cooked them at the restaurant.  Plus, for $6.99 for ten wings, you are getting a little pricey.   If I want this flavor of wings this bad in the future, I’ll just go to the store and buy a bag of the Tyson wings there.

-IndianapolisEater