I literally lived off Jack in the Box in my early 20's. Border line homeless, $2 for a burger, 2 tacos, and a water was living like a king compared to eating raman noodles.
I used to be like that with Burger King's dollar menu. I'm 28, it's 3am, feeling a bit rumbly in the tumbly. Burger King is just a few blocks away and I can get a whole sack of burgers for 4-5 bucks.
2004 I could get a jumbo jack, 2 tacos, and a small soda for $4.44 without coupons. Once prices went up. All vists to any fast food establishment required a coupon.
Former Jack in the Box Restaurant Tech Support employee in the corporate HQ, and man, they believe in the food. There was never a moment where a Jack sandwich wasn't more than a few feet away from me, and they encouraged eating in your cubicle.
@@scottnotpilgrim One time, my supervisor called me over to his office, and I thought I was in trouble. Dude lays a tray of "Hot Mess" Burgers on me and says "betcha you can't eat two".
As someone who has moved to the southeast I REALLY miss Jack in the Box. On vacation I took my husband to one. After eating there he wondered WHY in the world there are none here. It’s the only place where you can get a taco, egg rolls and curly fries at one place!
As someone who's lived in the Mid-Atlantic mostly, I've always wondered the same thing. I've been hearing about them since the 70's, but never been to one.
I live in a small rural town with like 1700 people and one light. We got a jack in the box a few years ago and it’s amazing! Jack in the box and what a burger ate my go to fast food joints!
7:47 I can tell you EXACTLY why their burgers were undercooked. Shortly before the E Coli issue, JIB had changed to a *new and improved" Jumbo Jack. It was the same weight, but smaller in diameter and therefore thicker. The old patty took 2 minutes to cook, the new one took FIVE. But there was no change to the expectations of "move time" getting people through the drive-through. So, inevitably, grill cooks would have rushed the cooking process to maintain speed of car moves. On the plus side, the less well-done burger was indeed juicier and tastier. And we did have a device called a "tender press" to speed up the process, but it also produced a drier patty, so we tried to avoid using them unless necessary. I LIVED through those days as a shift leader/assistant manager, and I quit the day we started the "new dinner" menu after they blew up Jack (although not due to the menu change, that was coincidence - I was caught up unwillingly into a drama sequence regarding our store manager having an extramarital affair with the District Manager). Ah, good times (/sarcasm)....
@@DOC_951 are you high right now? There's a shit ton of country east of the Rockies where Jack doesn't exist, and yes, the Bell is stoner food in these here parts. They have a Taco made out of Doritos, ffs. Ironically, there's a strip in the middle of this country where Taco Bell is THE stoner food, because White Castle only goes so far west.
We had a Jack in the Box in Centereach, Long Island when I was a kid. My father played in bands and would be out til 2 or 3 in the morning. There were always Jack in the Box bags and wrappers on the table the next morning. Til this day, he still misses their tacos.
I live near the one in North Babylon Long Island. Worked there for overnight for three nights. A while almost 50 years ago and I remember it like yesterday.
Worked at Jack In the Box in high school during the E.Coli incident. And hours got cut in like half. How did they really bounce back. (I mean aside from implementing safer meat cooking standards and burger presses to ensure fully cooked meat.) They had crazy sales to bring back customers. 3 tacos for .99 cents. Like 50 cent double cheeseburgers and 99 cent jumbo jacks. I never worked so hard in my life. People were coming in taking orders for 30,60,90,120 tacos back to back. I had blisters on my fingers from the hot oil making so many tacos. It was insane. Thank you customers who just said I want a box of frozen tacos to take home and cook later.
Lived in CA until age 11 and have been in TX for 25 years now, I'm just used to seeing Jack my whole life. It's hard to imagine that not everybody in the US knows about it or has it. Don't eat there much anymore but man those tacos are good, so is the Sourdough Jack.
Sourdough Jack is good when it’s made right. I have ordered it in the past and they didn’t toast the bread and that made it disgusting! Stale ass bread. It’s crazy how much of a difference toasting the bread does to that sandwich in particular😅
For Jack in the box, yes. But "Where's the beef?" is still probably the most remembered fast food marketing campaign ever (Wendys) or Carls Jr "If it doesn't get all over the place it doesn't belong in your face" still beat it handily. For just best commercial ever I think its hard to beat the VW Atlas "Luv Bug" commercial if for no other reason than the audacity for actually doing that campaign (even though most broadcasters would not air it).
I just looked up these ciabatta burgers and apparently they were only around from 2009 to 2017, less than 10 years. I could’ve sworn that they were pretty much around the entire 2000s and made it up to Covid lol. Guess not
The first Jack in the Box in my town opened shortly before the e coli outbreak. It has been my favorite fast food joint since high school. Back then the drive thru was open 24 hours which was convenient for those late night "study" sessions. The one thing I miss the most are the antenna toppers. At least I still have the Christmas ornament.
THANK YOU SO MUCH WEIRD HISTORY! I am super excited you covered Jack In The Box! Although I do wish you had mentioned the 1970s Jack In The Box animated characters [including 70s era Jack himself] were voiced by Paul Winchell, the OG voice of Tigger and inventor of the artificial heart. A lot of fast food and food mascots are voiced by famous voice actors and I think that would be an amazing video idea [as long as Paul Winchell gets credited for the 70s era Jack In The Box characters, as well as Burger Chef]. I'm also still hoping that when you do a Domino's Pizza video, Donny Domino and Dottie Domino get mentioned, as they are pretty interesting [they co-existed with The Noid for a bit, including a Kool Aid comic], and there was a lawsuit [Ollie Vs Domino's Pizza Inc] over Donny Domino.
Rick Sittig (Siddig?) is the mad GENIUS behind the Jack is Back campaign, also doing Jack's voice in the spots. They jettisoned him a few years back (⁉️😡😲😲) which I do NOT understand at all. The Spicy Crispy Chicks were hot AF for reals, and their commercial was HILARIOUS ("You are SO fired!") 😂😂😂 And the Meaty Cheesy Boys were also frigging hysterical. They did a CD that JIB made available as a promo item, with an extended version of the Ultimate Cheeseburger song, along with a french fry song and a milkshake ditty. Talk about taking a concept and RUNNING with it....
"Have you ever eaten at a Jack in the Box" HELL YEAH BUDDY I lived on Jack for a year at a job I hated. The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich saved my career.
JITB was the first fast food place I ate at after my family moved from Pittsburgh to San Diego in 1963. My father arrived about a year before the rest of us. The night we arrived he took us to a JITB drive-thru. Four year old me wasn't ready for that talking clown. head.
Their deep fried frozen tacos and a whole bunch of taco sauce are quite literally the best and worst things you can do to yourself at 2 in the morning.
Definitely loving these fast food restaurant histories. As long as you keep making them I'll keep watching. Next I'm hoping for Applebees, Subway and Quiznos. Maybe the history of the famous Costco food court?
I worked at Burger King during the e.coli scandal. Due to it, they began sending a Whopper patty through the broiler and tested the temperature before lunch. If the temperature was too low, the broiler was adjusted and another patty was put through.
I remember that e-coli outbreak for Jack in the Box. They had JUST built a new Jack in the Box in Medford Oregon then, and it was close to a computer store I used to go to, so I'd see it mostly empty. I was sure it was going to go out of business. But they survived somehow and I believe they are still open in that same location...
When we lived in Tucson, my wife and I worked at American Airlines. We worked a shift that got over at 1am. On our way home we'd stop at the Jack-In-The-Box near our apartment complex. We loved the Sourdough Bacon Jack.
I moved to Tx as a kid, and we became Jack In The Box super fans when we started driving a decade later. This was a handful of years after the E.coli outbreak. The food was expensive, and the service was slow. And we didn’t care. Fast forward to now: I am about 3 hours away from the nearest Jack In The Box. I will find random excuses to drive to Nashville, and I always stop in.
I don't know if this is too niche but the thing I always think of with Jack in the Box are the car antenna balls. I just remember always liking them and wanting to collect them, but then we moved from the West Coast.
Amazing story. What wasn't mentioned was the guy who came up with the Jack character and ad campaigns - and was even the voice of Jack in the TV commercials until a few years ago - was the same advertising genius who came up with the Energizer Bunny ad campaign that is now what, 40 years running? Pure genius..
I remember as a little kid hearing about the tainted meat deaths. It took 12 years to even go near their food again even though I was on other side of the country that had a different meat source.
2:34 When I lived in Arizona for six months, Jack in the box was the restaurant I went to the most. Whenever I go back to visit there, I try to make it to In-N-Out Burger and Jack in the Box.
I am one of the many people who contracted HUS after eating there in 1992 (years old at the time). I lost my kidneys to the disease. I had to go on dialysis until I received a new one from my dad when I was 6. I got diabetes and a ton more medical problems that I have to deal with for the rest of my life. My transplanted kidney lasted for 12 years until it rejected two days before my 18th birthday, and I had to go back on dialysis for another 12 years. Finally, in 2019, I received a pancreas and a new kidney. They are both currently doing great. I have not eaten there since 1992, and Jack in the Box refused to pay for my extremely high hospital bills and denied having anything to do with my illness. I haven't sued Jack in the Box. Yet...
The 1993 e. coli outbreak was a horror I won't forget. The little girl with the glasses is Brianne Kiner, and I was friends with her older sister. I remember all of us just waiting to hear she had passed and feeling so helpless and sad for the Kiners. They were some of the sweetest people ever and I was fond of all of them. Somehow Brianne came back and survived, but not without massive and permanent trauma to her and her family. I still won't eat at Jack in the Box.
I grew up during that time in WI, and I remember hearing about it to. I now live in WA state right down the road is one where I live, and I will never eat at one. The one thing I will never mess with is under cooked burgers.
Back in 2008 around the time I got my first job out of high school a Jack in the Box opened locally and I ate there nearly every day for a month straight, jumbo jacks were only 1.09 at the time and it was the best deal on a burger around here.
My dad would never let us eat here because he was a long haul truck driver and the ONE time he ate here, he got food poisoning so bad he almost had to go to the hospital. I've heard of other people getting sick and actually having to go after eating here. I had friends who also refused to let their families eat at Jack in The Box after hearing the stories.
I lived in Washington State for 2 years right when the E. coli scandal happened and I remember it being all over the news. Then we moved to the east coast and I never had the chance to see Jack in the Box rehabilitate its image. To this day whenever someone mentions Jack in the Box the first thing I think of is the E coli outbreak and that's forever tainted the brand for me.
I actually interviewed the parents of one of the kids who passed away while I worked at the local college newspaper, the father was going to school there. Such a sad story.
I got food poisoning in 1991 from a Jack in the Box in Houston. Ham and turkey melt, I will never forget the color and textures of the resulting street art. Good times.I
I now live in Nebraska and unfortunately there are no Jack-In-Boxes here. I loved their large menu variety that you don't get in the other major fast food places. I wish they had them in Nebraska. Oh well, at least Nebraska has Runzas.
Oh man. This please hold a special place in my heart. This was the first ever fast food place I've ever eaten. I've had fish-and-chips there so many times there. And I loved it. That place hold the special place in my heart as a kid and around being a teenager. I also enjoyed it. And throughout being an adult, I haven't seen it in a long time. I've moved to Indiana years ago and I haven't seen that place in a long time. I just hope I can see that place again as a childhood friend
I remember growing up my parents would take me and sister to the only Jack in the Box located in the Bronx on rare occasions. That location has long since closed down.
Jack in the Box burgers lucked out because they weren't the only E Coli scare happening back in the 90s: tainted sprouts and juice/smoothies had an even bigger foot print (at least where I live). Their prices were pretty good too.
I'm remembering my childhood in the 60s.....JitB was a real treat. We loved the talking clown. Then they decided to blow it up. Commercials scared a lot of kids in the last 70s. Kids feared it would blow up while they were in the drive up.
So I assume THIS is where the whole "talk into the clown's head at the drive-thru" trope came from. Because growing up that was always a staple in TV and movies, any time characters ordered or talked about fast food. Meanwhile, in my part of the country, Michigan, drive-thrus were nothing like that and never were. The intercom was just a plain old speaker mounted next to the menu at every chain that had a drive-thru. I guess it's another case of writers with California brain. They think the whole country is just one big extension of the greater Los Angeles area.
My go to order is a jr. bacon cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, 2 tacos, hot sauce and buttermilk sauce (ranch). Pro tip: mix the two sauces together 😋 🤤
I worked at Taco Bell as a teenager. The ground beef was hard tack in a bag. IT WAS NOT GROUND BEEF. It was oats and Carmel color, written on the bag that we put in a warm thing of water to heat up. It's not a rumor, it's true. The used to serve animal feed disguised as beef. The animal feed just happened to be oats.
McDonald's tried to turn Ronald McDonald into a more mature mascot and failed. Somehow, Jack in the Box managed to do just that with their clown. And it's so natural that we don't even think about it. For those of you that have never tried Jack in the Box, you really are missing out. Their shakes are top-notch, their burgers are great, they serve breakfast all day (unfortunately with the hash brown patties instead of tater rounds, which I prefer), and you can _still_ get 2 good sized tacos with plenty of meat for $.99 if you use their app. Not each. $.99 for _two_ tacos that are at least as large as Taco Bell's and have more meat in them. It's nuts. And they're pretty good. Rather unique, too. You'd be hard-pressed to find another taco that's quite like a Jack in the Box taco. And the Munchie Meal (yes, it's called that) is a really good deal. Sad that they took the more unique offerings away (such as the grilled cheese burger, a burger whose top bun is a grilled cheese sandwich), but it's still good. And their limited time offerings! I swear, Jack can't miss! They come out with one every couple weeks and it's always a banger. The latest one is sauced and loaded nuggets, with sauce and melted cheese on them, and they're absolutely fantastic. They also came out with the Pineapple Express shake, and it's really good. Not too sweet, either. And in case you're wondering, it's almost certainly named after the type of pot, not the meteorological phenomenon or the movie. Jack in the Box really has no fear about advertising towards potheads.
I remember back in the 1970's our dad would take us to Jack in the Box. His favorite was the Shrimp in a Box, and a vanilla shake. As kids we loved the Chicken in the Box. The Jumbo Jack was pretty big back then, not so big these days.
Jack in the box near me got a reputation for calling in people for suspected DUI. I don't know that this is a bad thing but... having a reputation around town for that is probably not great for business. Then they started hosting Narcotics Anonymous meetings in the restaurant. Again, not a bad thing but when everyone from the meetings started hanging out inside and just outside the restaurant.... I don't have a Jack in the Box near me anymore
I remember in grade 6 (2010-2011) we were watching something in health class and the e. Coli outbreak in '93 came up, showing footage of a JITB that I had eaten at and it's now my local JITB. I was in New Jersey in grade 6 and I ended up moving back to Washington after that school year, and I frequented JITB many times during high school after I got my license. Still a great place I like going to, even if their prices are a bit high.
Jack in the Box is still secretly pretty affordable here even in Socal where it's notoriously expensive to get any sort of fast food whatsoever. Jack and Del Taco are like the last of their kind
It’s awesome hear something cool that happened in your hometown I live in San Diego born and raised! I lived in El Cajon right next to family fun center or boomers it went by different names over the years until it closed down recently, but there’s a jack in the box down the street that’s still there. I go there all the time !
When I was a kid, we learned about what happened in Jack in the Box in school. I had never heard of them before since we don't have them here and I thought they went out of business. Imagine my surprise years later when I saw one.
Jack In the Box was my go-to when I was stationed in Hawai'i. I'm from the East Coast and I didn't grow up with it and missed it when I came back home. Just this past week I was in Colorado and ordered my favorite Chicken Pita and Tacos after over 20 years of not having JitB. It wasn't good. The pita was a huge disappointment.
They closed ours in Abilene, TX. They had put it in a terrible location. I grew up with Jack in the Box and would do anything to get one back in Abilene!
JitB still has the best fast-food breakfast menu, especially their burritos and platters (and iced coffee during the warmer seasons). Love picking it up at 5AM on Sundays. 👍
When it comes to fast food chains Jack in the Box is one of my favs. Even though I haven't been able to get it in a long time since I've lived on the East Coast for most of my life
I used to love Jack in the box when I was in high school in the early 80’s. But after the E. coli outbreak, I have only gone back once. But only because I was really hungry and it was the closest.
In high school there was a Jack in the Box down the street fron my church, I had to go for morning lessons or something, but they do that bbq bacon cheeseburger every now and then and I literally got so sick eating those things. I'd get them for breakfast and then go to the ones near my high school once we got out. Totally worth it though, it was like $7 (Hawaiinflation) or something for a meal and it was delicious. They really need to make that a permanent fixture on the menu.
My hometown, in North Carolina, randomly got two Jack in the Boxes around 2003. I loved them personally, but they were never busy. I don't think either one made it more than five or six years before closing down. It's a shame, because I always thought they were one of the better fast food joints.
According to what I've read, during the e. coli situation, the company was actually in compliance with federal regulations; it was the state regulations that they were in violation of.
Their food is a mixed bag, but I have to say I've always thought they have some of the most entertaining commercials and the best mascot character in the fast food business.
Ngl, their food is not very good imo 😭 but I will say, the churros and milkshakes are something they do well. Plus they sell breakfast all day, which I appreciate. It's hard to screw up breakfast, so I'd say they're not failing in that department in my eyes. Edit: I forgot about their egg eggrolls! Those are pretty good as well.
I literally lived off Jack in the Box in my early 20's. Border line homeless, $2 for a burger, 2 tacos, and a water was living like a king compared to eating raman noodles.
I used to be like that with Burger King's dollar menu.
I'm 28, it's 3am, feeling a bit rumbly in the tumbly. Burger King is just a few blocks away and I can get a whole sack of burgers for 4-5 bucks.
Not anymore sadly
Same. As a struggling poor college student, Jack in the Box tacos and ramen noodles made sure I didn't go hungry.
2004 I could get a jumbo jack, 2 tacos, and a small soda for $4.44 without coupons. Once prices went up. All vists to any fast food establishment required a coupon.
Jack's Munchie Meals used to be $6 or $7 after 9pm, it was great
Former Jack in the Box Restaurant Tech Support employee in the corporate HQ, and man, they believe in the food. There was never a moment where a Jack sandwich wasn't more than a few feet away from me, and they encouraged eating in your cubicle.
I’d be dead in a weeks time
Sounds like a good thing on both ends. Having faith in the product and having said food close by
@@scottnotpilgrim and in this economy, this would have been an rather nice perk
@@scottnotpilgrim One time, my supervisor called me over to his office, and I thought I was in trouble. Dude lays a tray of "Hot Mess" Burgers on me and says "betcha you can't eat two".
@@TehPwnographer Yeah, I had to rejoin my fighting gym after my contract with them ended, I gained quite a bit of weight
When they blew up Jack , professional clowns rose up in arms. They organized into a protest group called JACK: Jesters Against Clown Killing.
I did not know that.
Not surprised. I thought the blowing up the clown thing was just a bad idea...
Jack In the Box's Commercials are Legendary
The ones from the 90’s are goated.
Hyperbole much?
@@rodneycooperjr3223 LOL
"Do something about it" ( Fucking rips his sleeves off mundanely)
Just like the food used to be
As someone who has moved to the southeast I REALLY miss Jack in the Box. On vacation I took my husband to one. After eating there he wondered WHY in the world there are none here. It’s the only place where you can get a taco, egg rolls and curly fries at one place!
As someone who has lived in the south east their entire life, I have never ate at a jack in the box
We have them in Nashville 🤷
As someone who's lived in the Mid-Atlantic mostly, I've always wondered the same thing. I've been hearing about them since the 70's, but never been to one.
Interesting ! I will soon eat at a Jack in the box !
I live in a small rural town with like 1700 people and one light. We got a jack in the box a few years ago and it’s amazing! Jack in the box and what a burger ate my go to fast food joints!
7:47 I can tell you EXACTLY why their burgers were undercooked.
Shortly before the E Coli issue, JIB had changed to a *new and improved" Jumbo Jack. It was the same weight, but smaller in diameter and therefore thicker. The old patty took 2 minutes to cook, the new one took FIVE. But there was no change to the expectations of "move time" getting people through the drive-through. So, inevitably, grill cooks would have rushed the cooking process to maintain speed of car moves.
On the plus side, the less well-done burger was indeed juicier and tastier. And we did have a device called a "tender press" to speed up the process, but it also produced a drier patty, so we tried to avoid using them unless necessary.
I LIVED through those days as a shift leader/assistant manager, and I quit the day we started the "new dinner" menu after they blew up Jack (although not due to the menu change, that was coincidence - I was caught up unwillingly into a drama sequence regarding our store manager having an extramarital affair with the District Manager). Ah, good times (/sarcasm)....
dude working fast food is the equivalent of a fever dream that pays you pennies.
@@Loveofmisery All too true....
What city?
@@F30586 Mostly Garland and Mesquite TX (Dallas suburbs), and Dallas itself.
@@richardadams4928 it’s crazy how a lot of America have never had Jacks before.
Everybody says taco bell is stoner food, but jack teamed up with Snoop Dogg.
Dude, they literally had an item called a Munchie Box that was $2 cheaper between 10 pm and 6 am 🤣 I freaking love Jack...
Literally no one says Taco Bell is stoner food, what? It’s always been Jack. Always. No one has ever said differently.
@@DOC_951 are you high right now? There's a shit ton of country east of the Rockies where Jack doesn't exist, and yes, the Bell is stoner food in these here parts. They have a Taco made out of Doritos, ffs. Ironically, there's a strip in the middle of this country where Taco Bell is THE stoner food, because White Castle only goes so far west.
@@DOC_951In the west coast, yes. Jack isn't in the South, East Coast, or Midwest.
I work there, I have for AWHILE.. we also teamed up with ice cube and now Deadpool!! Mini chimis 🎉
We had a Jack in the Box in Centereach, Long Island when I was a kid. My father played in bands and would be out til 2 or 3 in the morning. There were always Jack in the Box bags and wrappers on the table the next morning. Til this day, he still misses their tacos.
I live near the one in North Babylon Long Island. Worked there for overnight for three nights. A while almost 50 years ago and I remember it like yesterday.
Worked at Jack In the Box in high school during the E.Coli incident. And hours got cut in like half. How did they really bounce back. (I mean aside from implementing safer meat cooking standards and burger presses to ensure fully cooked meat.) They had crazy sales to bring back customers. 3 tacos for .99 cents. Like 50 cent double cheeseburgers and 99 cent jumbo jacks. I never worked so hard in my life. People were coming in taking orders for 30,60,90,120 tacos back to back. I had blisters on my fingers from the hot oil making so many tacos. It was insane. Thank you customers who just said I want a box of frozen tacos to take home and cook later.
Lived in CA until age 11 and have been in TX for 25 years now, I'm just used to seeing Jack my whole life. It's hard to imagine that not everybody in the US knows about it or has it. Don't eat there much anymore but man those tacos are good, so is the Sourdough Jack.
Sourdough jack is the best
@@XanAbyss 🔥
Sourdough Jack is good when it’s made right. I have ordered it in the past and they didn’t toast the bread and that made it disgusting! Stale ass bread. It’s crazy how much of a difference toasting the bread does to that sandwich in particular😅
@@raquelflechero2250 Oh I didn't know that lol. It's been so long since I've had it but my last memory of it is a good one!
The ad where Jack got back at the executives was freaking hilarious
For Jack in the box, yes. But "Where's the beef?" is still probably the most remembered fast food marketing campaign ever (Wendys) or Carls Jr "If it doesn't get all over the place it doesn't belong in your face" still beat it handily. For just best commercial ever I think its hard to beat the VW Atlas "Luv Bug" commercial if for no other reason than the audacity for actually doing that campaign (even though most broadcasters would not air it).
About once a year I get nostalgic about the old Ciabatta burger and make my own at home
It was the best yes. I liked how the bun didn't get soggy
Totally forgot about those. They were pretty good
Ciabatta Burgers were elite
I just looked up these ciabatta burgers and apparently they were only around from 2009 to 2017, less than 10 years. I could’ve sworn that they were pretty much around the entire 2000s and made it up to Covid lol. Guess not
@@chiarosuburekeni9325 bro the buns were the shit made that bihh taste amazing, they brought it back but didn't taste the same
I'm glad the original narrator is back I enjoy listening to him in any of these videos
Me too!
And you made that comment thinking anyone gives a damn about your dumbass opinion. Think about why that might be 😂
That guy does SO MANY TH-cam videos
The one thing I miss not living in California is Jack in the Box at 3 am
For sure, their tacos are surprisingly good
@@BeyondDaXthey’re hardly tacos but they’ll do at 3 am
If there were any near me, I would definitely take advantage of that.
@@llab3903 You either love Jack's tacos or you hate them. There is no in between.
24-hour locations aren't easily spotted since covid, so latest you'll get some jack is likely @ 2AM.
The first Jack in the Box in my town opened shortly before the e coli outbreak. It has been my favorite fast food joint since high school. Back then the drive thru was open 24 hours which was convenient for those late night "study" sessions. The one thing I miss the most are the antenna toppers. At least I still have the Christmas ornament.
i think they still have those toppers sometimes. last halloween i got a few when i had their halloween shake
I have the Halloween antenna topper. Too bad my car's antenna isn't suitable for it.
THANK YOU SO MUCH WEIRD HISTORY! I am super excited you covered Jack In The Box! Although I do wish you had mentioned the 1970s Jack In The Box animated characters [including 70s era Jack himself] were voiced by Paul Winchell, the OG voice of Tigger and inventor of the artificial heart. A lot of fast food and food mascots are voiced by famous voice actors and I think that would be an amazing video idea [as long as Paul Winchell gets credited for the 70s era Jack In The Box characters, as well as Burger Chef]. I'm also still hoping that when you do a Domino's Pizza video, Donny Domino and Dottie Domino get mentioned, as they are pretty interesting [they co-existed with The Noid for a bit, including a Kool Aid comic], and there was a lawsuit [Ollie Vs Domino's Pizza Inc] over Donny Domino.
Rick Sittig (Siddig?) is the mad GENIUS behind the Jack is Back campaign, also doing Jack's voice in the spots. They jettisoned him a few years back (⁉️😡😲😲) which I do NOT understand at all. The Spicy Crispy Chicks were hot AF for reals, and their commercial was HILARIOUS ("You are SO fired!") 😂😂😂
And the Meaty Cheesy Boys were also frigging hysterical. They did a CD that JIB made available as a promo item, with an extended version of the Ultimate Cheeseburger song, along with a french fry song and a milkshake ditty. Talk about taking a concept and RUNNING with it....
Rick also created the Energizer Bunny and worked on Isuzu s Joe Isuzu ad campaign.
"Have you ever eaten at a Jack in the Box" HELL YEAH BUDDY I lived on Jack for a year at a job I hated. The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich saved my career.
JITB was the first fast food place I ate at after my family moved from Pittsburgh to San Diego in 1963. My father arrived about a year before the rest of us. The night we arrived he took us to a JITB drive-thru. Four year old me wasn't ready for that talking clown. head.
Definitely an SD staple. The padres have a giant Jack head at petco park.
Their deep fried frozen tacos and a whole bunch of taco sauce are quite literally the best and worst things you can do to yourself at 2 in the morning.
Definitely loving these fast food restaurant histories. As long as you keep making them I'll keep watching.
Next I'm hoping for Applebees, Subway and Quiznos. Maybe the history of the famous Costco food court?
I worked at Burger King during the e.coli scandal. Due to it, they began sending a Whopper patty through the broiler and tested the temperature before lunch. If the temperature was too low, the broiler was adjusted and another patty was put through.
I remember that e-coli outbreak for Jack in the Box. They had JUST built a new Jack in the Box in Medford Oregon then, and it was close to a computer store I used to go to, so I'd see it mostly empty. I was sure it was going to go out of business.
But they survived somehow and I believe they are still open in that same location...
Locally, when the kangaroo meat scandal happened, we started calling them *"Joey·in·the·Box!"*
this channel is the highlight of my TH-cam consumption.
When we lived in Tucson, my wife and I worked at American Airlines. We worked a shift that got over at 1am. On our way home we'd stop at the Jack-In-The-Box near our apartment complex. We loved the Sourdough Bacon Jack.
I moved to Tx as a kid, and we became Jack In The Box super fans when we started driving a decade later. This was a handful of years after the E.coli outbreak.
The food was expensive, and the service was slow. And we didn’t care.
Fast forward to now: I am about 3 hours away from the nearest Jack In The Box. I will find random excuses to drive to Nashville, and I always stop in.
I miss jack in the box. I'm from the west coast but moved to the mid west a few years ago. There aren't any here :(
There are a few here in Indianapolis.
Also Cincinnati and St. louis
They were in KC in the 70s and early 80s. We had one close enough to home that we could walk there.
im in KC area and there's some here.
They are in Texas come on by and enjoy the tacos 🙂
I don't know if this is too niche but the thing I always think of with Jack in the Box are the car antenna balls. I just remember always liking them and wanting to collect them, but then we moved from the West Coast.
Amazing story. What wasn't mentioned was the guy who came up with the Jack character and ad campaigns - and was even the voice of Jack in the TV commercials until a few years ago - was the same advertising genius who came up with the Energizer Bunny ad campaign that is now what, 40 years running? Pure genius..
Jackinthebox tacos dipped in their ranch and taco sauce are my guilty drunk pleasure 🌮
Same but with the mini tacos.
Bro I do the same with my tacos but I put a jalapeño popper inside it makes it way better try it g!🔥🔥🔥
@@franciscoguzman2742 bro stfu 🔥🔥🔥🔥 I'm going to try
@@franciscoguzman2742 BRO. their jalapeno poppers are the best gonna try that next time 😤
glad they expanded their sauce line-up with the avocado one and good good sauce (regular and spicy). Try actual guacamole on the tacos though.
I remember as a little kid hearing about the tainted meat deaths. It took 12 years to even go near their food again even though I was on other side of the country that had a different meat source.
2:34 When I lived in Arizona for six months, Jack in the box was the restaurant I went to the most.
Whenever I go back to visit there, I try to make it to In-N-Out Burger and Jack in the Box.
I am one of the many people who contracted HUS after eating there in 1992 (years old at the time). I lost my kidneys to the disease. I had to go on dialysis until I received a new one from my dad when I was 6. I got diabetes and a ton more medical problems that I have to deal with for the rest of my life. My transplanted kidney lasted for 12 years until it rejected two days before my 18th birthday, and I had to go back on dialysis for another 12 years. Finally, in 2019, I received a pancreas and a new kidney. They are both currently doing great. I have not eaten there since 1992, and Jack in the Box refused to pay for my extremely high hospital bills and denied having anything to do with my illness. I haven't sued Jack in the Box. Yet...
No one cares. Just thought you should hear the truth.
@@DR-sv8ke Rude
@TheTechnicalMiracle aww. Poor baby.
@@DR-sv8ke I care. =)
That's horrible. I'm glad to hear that you are currently well. I would sue Jack in the Box if I were you!!!
The 1993 e. coli outbreak was a horror I won't forget. The little girl with the glasses is Brianne Kiner, and I was friends with her older sister. I remember all of us just waiting to hear she had passed and feeling so helpless and sad for the Kiners. They were some of the sweetest people ever and I was fond of all of them. Somehow Brianne came back and survived, but not without massive and permanent trauma to her and her family. I still won't eat at Jack in the Box.
I grew up during that time in WI, and I remember hearing about it to. I now live in WA state right down the road is one where I live, and I will never eat at one. The one thing I will never mess with is under cooked burgers.
Back in 2008 around the time I got my first job out of high school a Jack in the Box opened locally and I ate there nearly every day for a month straight, jumbo jacks were only 1.09 at the time and it was the best deal on a burger around here.
My dad would never let us eat here because he was a long haul truck driver and the ONE time he ate here, he got food poisoning so bad he almost had to go to the hospital. I've heard of other people getting sick and actually having to go after eating here. I had friends who also refused to let their families eat at Jack in The Box after hearing the stories.
Jack in the Box was one of the last places Kurt Cobain was seen alive. R.I.P.
I lived in Washington State for 2 years right when the E. coli scandal happened and I remember it being all over the news. Then we moved to the east coast and I never had the chance to see Jack in the Box rehabilitate its image. To this day whenever someone mentions Jack in the Box the first thing I think of is the E coli outbreak and that's forever tainted the brand for me.
Customer: Wow, this is a good burger!
Jack: Slaughtered that horse on tuesday, think she's startin' to turn.
I actually interviewed the parents of one of the kids who passed away while I worked at the local college newspaper, the father was going to school there. Such a sad story.
I got food poisoning in 1991 from a Jack in the Box in Houston. Ham and turkey melt, I will never forget the color and textures of the resulting street art. Good times.I
A+ video
LOVE IT! Such a great and cool restaurant!
Hope that they will soon come to Nebraska!
I now live in Nebraska and unfortunately there are no Jack-In-Boxes here. I loved their large menu variety that you don't get in the other major fast food places. I wish they had them in Nebraska. Oh well, at least Nebraska has Runzas.
Oh man. This please hold a special place in my heart. This was the first ever fast food place I've ever eaten. I've had fish-and-chips there so many times there. And I loved it. That place hold the special place in my heart as a kid and around being a teenager. I also enjoyed it. And throughout being an adult, I haven't seen it in a long time. I've moved to Indiana years ago and I haven't seen that place in a long time. I just hope I can see that place again as a childhood friend
I remember growing up my parents would take me and sister to the only Jack in the Box located in the Bronx on rare occasions. That location has long since closed down.
The "Do something about it" was still the best commercial for me.
Jack in the Box burgers lucked out because they weren't the only E Coli scare happening back in the 90s: tainted sprouts and juice/smoothies had an even bigger foot print (at least where I live). Their prices were pretty good too.
Watching while I'm at work 😂
"Girl, you know there's one thing that I love, but its not you I'm thinking of, I need the Ultimate Cheeseburger!"
- Meaty Cheese Boys, 1999.
In San Diego we get free jumbo jacks if the padres hit a home run the night before.
I'm remembering my childhood in the 60s.....JitB was a real treat. We loved the talking clown. Then they decided to blow it up. Commercials scared a lot of kids in the last 70s. Kids feared it would blow up while they were in the drive up.
So I assume THIS is where the whole "talk into the clown's head at the drive-thru" trope came from.
Because growing up that was always a staple in TV and movies, any time characters ordered or talked about fast food.
Meanwhile, in my part of the country, Michigan, drive-thrus were nothing like that and never were. The intercom was just a plain old speaker mounted next to the menu at every chain that had a drive-thru.
I guess it's another case of writers with California brain. They think the whole country is just one big extension of the greater Los Angeles area.
My go to order is a jr. bacon cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, 2 tacos, hot sauce and buttermilk sauce (ranch). Pro tip: mix the two sauces together 😋 🤤
I worked at Taco Bell as a teenager. The ground beef was hard tack in a bag. IT WAS NOT GROUND BEEF. It was oats and Carmel color, written on the bag that we put in a warm thing of water to heat up. It's not a rumor, it's true. The used to serve animal feed disguised as beef. The animal feed just happened to be oats.
1:41 They're greedy if they charge 15 cents for a hamburger.
Recently opened up here in utah.
Good food
McDonald's tried to turn Ronald McDonald into a more mature mascot and failed. Somehow, Jack in the Box managed to do just that with their clown. And it's so natural that we don't even think about it.
For those of you that have never tried Jack in the Box, you really are missing out. Their shakes are top-notch, their burgers are great, they serve breakfast all day (unfortunately with the hash brown patties instead of tater rounds, which I prefer), and you can _still_ get 2 good sized tacos with plenty of meat for $.99 if you use their app. Not each. $.99 for _two_ tacos that are at least as large as Taco Bell's and have more meat in them. It's nuts. And they're pretty good. Rather unique, too. You'd be hard-pressed to find another taco that's quite like a Jack in the Box taco. And the Munchie Meal (yes, it's called that) is a really good deal. Sad that they took the more unique offerings away (such as the grilled cheese burger, a burger whose top bun is a grilled cheese sandwich), but it's still good.
And their limited time offerings! I swear, Jack can't miss! They come out with one every couple weeks and it's always a banger. The latest one is sauced and loaded nuggets, with sauce and melted cheese on them, and they're absolutely fantastic. They also came out with the Pineapple Express shake, and it's really good. Not too sweet, either. And in case you're wondering, it's almost certainly named after the type of pot, not the meteorological phenomenon or the movie. Jack in the Box really has no fear about advertising towards potheads.
I remember back in the 1970's our dad would take us to Jack in the Box. His favorite was the Shrimp in a Box, and a vanilla shake. As kids we loved the Chicken in the Box. The Jumbo Jack was pretty big back then, not so big these days.
Jack in the box near me got a reputation for calling in people for suspected DUI.
I don't know that this is a bad thing but... having a reputation around town for that is probably not great for business.
Then they started hosting Narcotics Anonymous meetings in the restaurant. Again, not a bad thing but when everyone from the meetings started hanging out inside and just outside the restaurant....
I don't have a Jack in the Box near me anymore
I remember in grade 6 (2010-2011) we were watching something in health class and the e. Coli outbreak in '93 came up, showing footage of a JITB that I had eaten at and it's now my local JITB. I was in New Jersey in grade 6 and I ended up moving back to Washington after that school year, and I frequented JITB many times during high school after I got my license. Still a great place I like going to, even if their prices are a bit high.
Nothing about how Jack In The Box is one of the first chains to introduce their entire breakfast menu all day?
I don’t think Ive ever been to Jack in the box.
Edit: ahhh all the east coast stores closed long before I was born. 😔
Great to see the food video GOATs back at it again. This time with my personal favorite fast food.
I have often wondered how they survived such problems.
I miss the jack-n-box radio antenna ball
Those were so popular back in the day! I had forgotten about them! Thanks for the memories!
@Donna-wq1qy NP. It will be an easy money maker if Jack in the Box brings it back for a limited time.
I agree@@JWbabyshark
As much as people complain about minimalism, i am glad that the mascot took on the snow cone look and veered further away from clown-looking.
Jack in the Box is still secretly pretty affordable here even in Socal where it's notoriously expensive to get any sort of fast food whatsoever. Jack and Del Taco are like the last of their kind
Jack owns Del Taco now! So this somehow makes sense.
better stay this way since not everyone is making the fast food minimum wage.
One of my top 3 missed restaurants since I moved to the east coast but now I know why Jack blew up a sign back in the early 2000s
It’s awesome hear something cool that happened in your hometown I live in San Diego born and raised! I lived in El Cajon right next to family fun center or boomers it went by different names over the years until it closed down recently, but there’s a jack in the box down the street that’s still there. I go there all the time !
6:01 ouch that pronunciation hurt.
To be fair, I don't know the proper pronunciation either
JITB, me and my friends' go to place when we got the munchies.
Jack in the Box has really changed in the last few years. They took most of my favorite things off the menu :(
I still miss the fish n chips and the pannidos
Bring back Mayo Onion Sauce.
They were 1 of the better places to work for back in the day. Good food, good management. I used to make a tiny ultimate burger when I worked. 😁
When I was a kid, we learned about what happened in Jack in the Box in school. I had never heard of them before since we don't have them here and I thought they went out of business. Imagine my surprise years later when I saw one.
I love this channel....and I love Jack! ❤
Jack In the Box was my go-to when I was stationed in Hawai'i. I'm from the East Coast and I didn't grow up with it and missed it when I came back home. Just this past week I was in Colorado and ordered my favorite Chicken Pita and Tacos after over 20 years of not having JitB. It wasn't good. The pita was a huge disappointment.
Also Orlando is getting I believe 10 Jack in the Box locations
They closed ours in Abilene, TX. They had put it in a terrible location. I grew up with Jack in the Box and would do anything to get one back in Abilene!
Could you do a Weird History Food on Michelin Stars?
I like this idea!
Ooooo!
JitB still has the best fast-food breakfast menu, especially their burritos and platters (and iced coffee during the warmer seasons). Love picking it up at 5AM on Sundays. 👍
Jack In The Box might come to my hometown of Lakeland, Florida soon!
Jack is one of the few clowns I've never thought of as scary. I mean he looks like he was drawn by a child
When it comes to fast food chains Jack in the Box is one of my favs. Even though I haven't been able to get it in a long time since I've lived on the East Coast for most of my life
Used to love them but they doubled their prices and removed all my favorite items.
I used to love Jack in the box when I was in high school in the early 80’s. But after the E. coli outbreak, I have only gone back once. But only because I was really hungry and it was the closest.
Jack in the box scandal is why my 5th grade son dressed up as scariest thing possible" E.Coli H 157
Man....that deep fried roo burrito Mr. Box sold on the late 70's-early 80's was fantastic
Yes we have, everything is perfect and the shakes are super delicious.
In high school there was a Jack in the Box down the street fron my church, I had to go for morning lessons or something, but they do that bbq bacon cheeseburger every now and then and I literally got so sick eating those things. I'd get them for breakfast and then go to the ones near my high school once we got out. Totally worth it though, it was like $7 (Hawaiinflation) or something for a meal and it was delicious. They really need to make that a permanent fixture on the menu.
Love their tacos, but, strangely, THEY ALSO HAVE EXCELLENT EGG ROLLS!
The egg rolls with the spicy good-good sauce 😋 👌 😍 🤤
Where else can you get tacos and egg rolls with fries in the same order?
The ultimate breakfast sandwich, jalapeño poppers and egg rolls. My perfect combination.
My hometown, in North Carolina, randomly got two Jack in the Boxes around 2003. I loved them personally, but they were never busy. I don't think either one made it more than five or six years before closing down. It's a shame, because I always thought they were one of the better fast food joints.
There’s two things I miss about the west coast after moving to nyc 3 years ago. Jack n the box and el pollo loco
According to what I've read, during the e. coli situation, the company was actually in compliance with federal regulations; it was the state regulations that they were in violation of.
Their food is a mixed bag, but I have to say I've always thought they have some of the most entertaining commercials and the best mascot character in the fast food business.
Late 90s early 2000s... jumbo jack and 2 tacos!; miss those prices!
Ngl, their food is not very good imo 😭 but I will say, the churros and milkshakes are something they do well. Plus they sell breakfast all day, which I appreciate. It's hard to screw up breakfast, so I'd say they're not failing in that department in my eyes.
Edit: I forgot about their egg eggrolls! Those are pretty good as well.
Ohhh... oh, it's a child's toy reference, not a serving suggestion. Oh, good.
Always loved their tacos and their Phillies cheesesteaks. 😊
I await their return in Florida...