Last week was The Chicken Ranch blog. This week the blog zeros in on a different kind of chicken joint. Have you checked out PDQ? Several Houston locations were my first exposure to the franchise, although I see there is at least one in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metromess.
I didn’t have time to stop at PDQ during recents jaunts to Katy, Cinco Ranch and Sugar Land … then I noticed a location on Louetta, off of 249 in extreme “North Houston” … very near my current “Dirty Gig.”
So, right off the bat, I checked and yes, PDQ has Wi-Fi PurDy Quick and free. For dietary sustenance, I shelled out 10 bucks for a combo meal … After the first favorable impression, the chicken chain “blinded me with science” with their multi-drink dispenser kiosk machine thing — which seems like a really good concept. However, all the flaves I craved were sold out, and all of the crap drinks were available. So of course, you could drink free refills until the cows come home … if you like diet rootbeer, strawberry soda and off brand teas. I wanted the Real Thang, baby.
On the other hand, the chicken tenders were excellent (certainly rivaling the Mon. through Sat. Chick-Fil-A) but the zucchini fries were served old and cold. Bummer … I was excited about some fried zuke.
So, PDQ was clever enough to draw me in … And I was inquisitive enough to ask “What does PDQ mean?”
People Dedicated To Quality … or so their signage says. That’s the best they could do!?! For fun, we tried to come up with some better ’breves, but failed miserably.
http://www.eatpdq.com/about_us
What kind of a play on words is that. Ha … do you remember AFROS — America’s Finest Receivers On Saturday? Now that’s an acronym for yah … (yes I am ready for college football) … I digress …
What else could PDQ mean? I mean abbreviations with the letter “Q” are tough. (It’s not an acronym, btw. Acronyms, technically, can be pronounced as words, like SCUBA or NATO or NASA … as any word nerd can tell you …) I digress …)
- Pings Don’t Quit
- Pudding Doesn’t Quiver
- Ping Declared Quirky
- Pullover at Dairy Queen
- Ping’s Downright Quirky
- Provide Desert Quench
- Panza & Don Quixote
- Pass Da Quinine
- Pocketknives Destroy Quilts
- Pachouli Deodorizes Quietly
- Ping Digresses Quickly
- Posing Difficult Questions
Anywho … PDQ, brainchild of the Outback Steakhouse folks — earned points for Wi-Fi but lacked zuke followthrough — 4 pings.
Moving on, we checked out the Starbucks across the parking lot. What is it with Starbucks in greater Houston? In most cities you can pretty much guess where the green mermaid will be setting up shop, or hiding among the rocks … or whatever. Typically, you see a nice retail area, and Starbucks is there … a given … Not so much in Houston. I would say the coffeeshops are few and far between for a city of this scope. I mean, maybe Houstonians are anti-big-coffee chain??? But if so, where is the local player/homegrown cafe they patronize? I haven’t found it.
Still looking … hmmm … just found a Starbucks near Rice with potential. More on that and some other Starbucks news in a later blog.
Know what I sayin?
