Won't miss Hardees

THE HARDEES AT 12th and Jefferson closed Monday. As always, the first thought is that this is a sad day because people have lost jobs, not that it pays anything. But a job is a job, and you wonder what happens to the employees.

I had a love/hate relationship with that Hardees. I loved the fact that we had a restaurant on the south end and just blocks from our house. But I hated the service and the food. A few years ago when Hardees introduced its Monster Burger, a critic labelled it "Food Pornography." Hey, everybody needs a little grease and the threat of clogged arteries once in a while.

One Saturday morning about 12 years ago I wandered in there after a long night and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited for my order. I felt bad for the server and the kitchen staff because the manager had no clue what was going on. So I left without my food. There was almost never anybody in there and the rare time I did go back I could hear my voice echoing in the building. "Why yes yes yes yes .... I would love curly fries fries fries fries ...."

There are two other locations in Quincy, if you really need your fill of a Hardees hamburger. The one on Broadway isn't bad. I've never been in the one on North 12th. Hopefully they keep going, but really, in the world of culinary experience, it's not a tragic loss.

Sheryl is fervently hoping for a Sonic in that location. If it's run well and the grease is made properly, it could be a great thing for our end of town, and she'd be over there three times a week, as long as she can dispose of the bun.

So let's start this rumor, just for fun. I hear that it's going to be an Olive Garden or Red Lobster. Yes! Quincy will be so much better for getting a major food chain. We'll just keep going to Tiramisu or Thrive or Thyme Square. But we'll be a real town.

Farewell, 12th and Jefferson Hardees. We hardly knew yee, and it's sad to drive past your empty parking lot and forlorn building. Wait. There's a lobster in the parking lot! And it's red!

Neber mind. It's just an old Hardees wrapper.