Best Fast Food Chain: Rush’s
If you don’t live in mid-state South Carolina, I pity you. You are missing out on the greatest fast-food chain ever created. Rush’s is a model of perfection in an otherwise pretty lousy market. If there are any managers or entrepreneurs out there that are wondering how to make a fast food restaurant that works, take notice of what a faithful Rush’s customer has observed.
1. Have Decent Employees
Every time I go into Rush’s, I know that there will always be somebody at the register. I know that I will be waited on quickly and attentively. I know that I’ll never be confronted by a person working there that has a lazy attitude or who resents having to wait on me. I always get the sense when I’m in Rush’s that I’m surrounded by hard-working people who care about the job they are doing. There’s also a sense of community among the Rush’s staff - you wouldn’t be surprised to see your friend working there, and you could envision yourself working there. How Rush’s manages to nurture this type of environment and attract these kinds of employees is nothing short of a miracle. The only other chain that even comes close is Chick-fil-A, but it’s just not the same. If other places would emulate Rush’s emphasis on good employees, they could . . .
2. Have “Fast” Food
I went into Rush’s today around dinnertime. I walked in, walked right up to the counter, and ordered my food instantly. I LITERALLY turned around to grab some napkins and BAM. My food was ready. Yesterday I went to Rush’s around lunchtime - and let me tell you, it’s a favorite of the business lunch crowd. I happily drove my car into a drive-through line that wrapped all the way around the building. I did, because I have never sat in line at Rush’s for more than 5 minutes under any circumstances. I didn’t have to wait any longer on this occasion either.
3. Take it Easy on the Computers
Look, I’m all for computers and the technological age, but how many times have you gone into a McDonald’s and had to deal with an attendant staring blankly at a register that has 200+ buttons on it? Never at Rush’s. They’ve got a system whereby they write down your order on a pre-printed ticket. If you want a cheeseburger, they just put a tally mark in the cheeseburger column. Plus, instead of the register attendant sneaking your order onto some computer screen into the back, they actually belt out your order over a microphone. The drink guy knows that when he hears the words “Chocolate” he makes a chocolate shake. Every station has their code words - and they’re lightning-fast at responding to them.
4. Have a Simple Yet Awesome Menu
What chain restaurant do you know of where you can go in and order fried chicken, or a chicken sandwich, or a burger, or a hot dog, or a BBQ sandwich? You’d have to go to KFC, Chick-Fil-A, Burger King, Bojangles’, and some place where you can actually buy a decent hot dog just to round out that menu. Plus, Rush’s has had the same menu for as long as I’ve been alive. I’m constantly being confused by other places introducing some promotional food or changing the menu (KFC Chicken Bowl???). Taco Bell is the worst at this. How many layers do they have in their burritos now?
Even though the menu is diverse and totally awesome, it’s also very simple. Here it is.
Yeah, that’s the whole thing.
5. Have Fried Chicken Where the Skin Tastes Like Candy and the Meat is Succulent.
Enough said.
6. Have the Greatest Fries on the Planet
I have three major criteria for judging French fries: saltiness, the Cruchy-Exterior/Juicy-Interior quotient, and consistency of the preparation process. McDonald’s is popularly heralded as having excellent fries. On good days yes. Most of the time, I’ll go there and they’ll be slightly undercooked . . . or sometimes they’re overcooked and brown . . . sometimes under-salted. You really have to get it all perfect to have a memorable French-fry-going experience.
Rush’s has an unparalleled ability to make an excellent French fry that consistently has been properly cooked and generously salted. Each individual fry is meticulously prepared, has a 15 million-hour MTBF, and is created and stored in a clean room that is continuously monitored for temperature and atmospheric sodium chloride.
7. Have a Decent Eating Area
You would think that, since every modern Rush’s restaurant was designed in 1980, it would be unpleasant to eat there. Wrong - and that’s a big statement. Consider all the restaurants that have blown money remodeling in the past 30 years - Hardee’s, McDonald’s, . . . pretty much every major chain I can think of. Rush’s never had to because they built the place right the first time, with customer satisfaction in mind. In fact, they have never changed the interior configuration whatsoever.
Rush’s was also built back in the day before every place went smoke-free. But you know what? Smoking was never a problem at Rush’s because the SMOKING AREA WAS ELEVATED above the rest of the restaurant. Oh yeah, cigarette smoke expands and rises doesn’t it? Fantastic! Science for the win!
And you know, Rush’s isn’t the Taj Mahal, but it does have a unique architecture, and they never go out of their way to make the place look cheap by putting up cardboard-self advertisements in the dining area or huge stickers in the window. Everything is always clean - including the kitchen (the whole of which is plainly visible from the counter).
8. Keep the Same Late Hours Every Day of the Week
Here’s an easy one for you. Rush’s is open 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. every day of the week at all of its locations. If you want to get a late bite to eat (because everything closes at 9) you can always go to Rush’s. You don’t have to pull up the Taco Bell or Wendy’s website and try in futility to figure out whether your local store participates in the late hour or 24 hour service model or how late they’re open on that particular day. If you get out of the Friday night football game, Rush’s is still open. If you want a chocolate shake at 11:59 on a Sunday night, you can be rest assured that the Rush’s shake machine doesn’t magically “break” like the Wendy’s frosty machine just before closing (a common ploy for cleaning before closing to get home earlier).
9. Don’t Muck Up Orders
Rush’s, having decent employees, is not known to make mistakes with your drive-through order. On top of that, they wrap all your baskets (combos) separately, so you know just by looking at it that you have everything. You pretty much can’t leave a McDonald’s parking lot without unpacking and repacking all of your food just to make sure they remembered everything. The idea of doing this at Rush’s is absurd.
10. Always Strive to Be Better Than Everyone Else
Rush’s has consistently been chosen as the Best Fast Food Restaurant and the Best Hamburger in the Annual State Newspaper, Free Times and Columbia Metropolitan Magazine Reader’s Choice Poll. [cite]
Every time I come home to South Carolina, the first thing I do is go get a two-piece white meat chicken basket from Rush’s, and I’m always satisfied. There’s no other place like it.
Here’s to you, Rush’s!
Proclaimer: I am not affiliated with Rush’s, nor have I ever been. I was not solicited for this endorsement. After 20-some-odd years of excellent food and service they have earned my emphatic appreciation.
(5, 1 votes)
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Rush’s is the epitome of fast-food excellence. Hats off to their heavenly cheeseburger’s and fries, and consistent amazing service. Anyone who wants to make money in this industry, which is currently filled with sub-par eateries, should talk with the Rush’s franchise. You are guaranteed to make money, unless you build your Rush’s restaurant at the bottom of a lake…even then, you’ve got a pretty good shot.