I can't believe people live in New Orleans & eat @ Micky D's (or my co-workers--they're all 'from-here's' & eat @ Subway! Gross...). Or any non-local chain for that matter: we got local greasy fast-food that's JUST as guilt-ispiring & tastes better... Popeye's, NOLA Hamburger & Seafood, ANY po-boy stand... <smdh> Now I'm not a from-here I'm a come-here so maybe the from-here's really don't appreciate how good their local stuff is. There's a reason people visit here just to eat, and it ISN'T just b/c it's all either sit-down-fancy OR healthy.
I hope the McRib has come on a bit in the last few years--they kept pulling it off the market b/c no one liked it. I'm glad to hear it has it's fans. I'm not tryin' to be all morally-fucking-superior either--before I moved here I avoided fast food as much as I could but once a year or so found myself w/a 1/4 lb. & those fries (mmmmm, the fries... but see after Parkway or even NOLA Hamburger/Seafood fries...). And when I'm stuck I often default to Hardee's in other parts of the country: not only b/c I like their biscuits, but also b/c for fast-food fried chicken, it's BETTER than KFC (and do we even MENTION Church's? We do NOT...) if not as good as Popeye's or about the same as Bo-J's.
But in NOLA when I have to have heart-attack-on-a-plate take-out I still search for local variations--like I said, it's not a HEALTH decision, it's a "OK, I'm going to do something my body will HATE me for--LET'S MAXIMIZE PLEASURE here..." fried-oyster-&-shrimp-w/debris decision (or simply Brother's fried chicken--that is some MUTHA-F****N' AMAZINGLY-GOOD-A** FRIED CHICKEN!!!).