Fast food really isn't worth it anymore. It's entirely too expensive and even worse for you now than it was when it used to be.

That said, there are good options out there, they just don't seem to exist in Michigan.

Now, I've complained in the past that Michigan has a serious lack of chicken tender restaurant options. But the reality is that the state simply has the worst options period.

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USA Today has announced its nominees for the top 10 regional fast-food restaurants in the country. Twenty restaurants were nominated and the top 10 list will be released on Monday, June 17.

These were the restaurants nominated:

  • Biscuitville
  • Bojangles
  • Braum's
  • Cook Out
  • Dick's Drive-In
  • Flip the Bird
  • Hattie B's Hot CHicken
  • In-N-Out Burger
  • Lion's Choice
  • P. Terry's
  • PDQ
  • Runza
  • Schoop's Hamburgers
  • Skyline Chili
  • Tavo Cabana
  • Taziki's Mediterranerean Cafe
  • Whataburger
  • White Castle
  • Z-Burger
  • Zankou Chicken

Notice anything about that list? Well, only one restaurant on that list is available in Michigan. Ironically, it was recently named the worst burger chain in America, White Castle.

I'll concede that some of these restaurants are hyper-regional, such as Flip the Bird only being in Massachusetts and Skyline Chili is mostly in Cincinnati. However, the point of this article is that there aren't any Midwest-centric options outside of White Castle up for nomination, and that in turn shows that the options in Michigan are sorely lacking.

The fact that most of the Midwest's best fast-food chains aren't in Michigan to begin with is a major contributor to the problem. Is Culver's really the best we can do here?

No, Michigan is relegated to the same boring national chains, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, Subway and the rest that are overwhelmingly unsatisfying on your stomach and your wallet.

Fast food doesn't have to be so awful. All of these nominations are a testament to that. So, bring some of the following restaurants to the Mitten State and give us better options when we need a quick bite.

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