I'm a fast-food reviewer who went viral trying Indian food for the first time. Here are the best dishes I've tried.
- Luke Collins is a fast-food reviewer. His TikTok, @lukefoods, has almost 750,000 followers.
- Collins grew up as a fussy eater, but went viral this year trying Indian food for the first time.
This as-told-to article is based on a conversation with Luke Collins, a 23-year-old fast-food reviewer from Kentucky who posts videos under the handle @lukefoods on TikTok. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Growing up, I was the pickiest eater. I hardly ate anything. I didn't even eat mashed potatoes.
When I turned 16, I started trying new foods and my whole world got opened up. It took me quite a while to try sushi, but I love it – it's my favorite food now. I'm 23 and hadn't tried Indian food until recently either. So there's so many things I haven't tried.
My other favourite foods include butter chicken, Korean BBQ dishes, fajitas, and fettuccine Alfredo.
The best meal I've ever had was at a hot chicken place called Howlin' Ray's in Los Angeles. I've tried the popular hot chicken places in Nashville and they were really good. But this one in Los Angeles just cleared everything.
I got the chicken sandwich and the fries. They have the best chicken sandwich I've ever had in my life. It's massive and it's not that expensive and it's juicy, tender, very saucy. Everything's amazing.
(Howlin' Ray's main chicken sandwich, the Sando, costs $13. An upgraded version, Sando 2.0, costs $16.)
The fries were very crispy, very crunchy. There was so much seasoning on them.
And then I actually got a lot more stuff there too. I spent over $100 at that place. It's my favorite restaurant.
My favorite fast-food chain is Dave's Hot Chicken. I love the slider it sells. My favorite thing is the seasoning the chain uses on their chicken. The nice soft bun, the creamy sauce, and the spicy chicken is delicious.
I haven't cooked much lately because I've been traveling a lot but my goal is to get back into it now that I'm back home, try to cook at least once a week.
I also love Jollibee. There's not too many of them in the US yet, but I tried it recently when I traveled and that was the best fast-food fried chicken I've ever had. I live in Kentucky, there's KFCs everywhere. Jollibee is better than KFC every day.
Other standout fast-food meals include the burgers from Easy Street Burgers in Los Angeles and the meatball and Italian subs from Firehouse Subs.
I grew up eating McDonald's, Taco Bell, stuff like that. So even if they're terrible for your body, they still hold a special place in my heart.
I try to get loyalty accounts for the fast-food chains I visit, though I don't think they give out as many freebies as they used to.
Earlier this year I tried escargot at a buffet in Las Vegas for the first time. The other food was amazing, but the snails were not for me. They were super mushy, super slimy. And then there was a huge crunch in them that I did not like.
I also don't like liver, Brussels sprouts, anchovies, and Spam.
For the longest time in my life, I didn't know how to cook, but my mom and my grandma are now teaching me and I've learned about 10 meals or so so far, including chili, lasagna, and New York strip steak.