What's in a Name?

Recently FoodAndWine.com created a list of the best fast food restaurants by state. I would have bet money that Kentucky's best fast food would have been Kentucky Fried Chicken, I mean Kentucky is literally in the name. KFC actually started in North Corbin, Kentucky, and was first franchised in 1952 in Salt Lake City, Utah. So when scrolling through the list of "Best Fast Food by State" I would have bet MONEY that the pick for Kentucky was the Colonel, but it wasn't. It turns out the fast food that was named the best in the Bluegrass state, has an Italian twist to it.

Best Fast Food in Kentucky

It's true, you learn something new every day, and I had no idea that Fazolis began in Kentucky. Fazolis hasn't been around nearly as long as KFC since it's first location in Lexington opened in 1988, but in its relatively short time, it's made quite the splash across the U.S. In fact Fazolis was named as the best fast food in Kentucky, which is not a bad choice in my opinion!

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Here's what Food and Wine has to say about Fazolis being the "best fast food" in Kentucky:

In the beginning, there was Gratzi’s, which is what you name your fast-casual Italian restaurant when you are opening one in Lexington, Kentucky, in the 1980s and are deeply concerned that people won’t be able to pronounce the Italian word for thank you. Turns out, Gratzi was confusing, too — the founder of the chain, a legend in the restaurant business by that time, said that surveys showed customers wondered if the name didn't have something to do with famed hockey player Wayne Gretzky. (Reader, it did not.) Eventually, Gratzi's became Fazoli's, which doesn’t mean anything, but that didn’t stop the concept from taking off, and now there are a couple hundred Fazoli’s, all around the country, famous for their free, fresh breadsticks, pastas, pizzas, subs and salads. Oh, right — and lemon ice for dessert, too. Because Italian. (Fazoli’s)

While I don't think you can go wrong with either Kentucky restaurant, KFC, or Fazolis, it's like comparing apples and oranges, or uh fried chicken and Italian food. You can't compare the two, they both have completely different offerings, which are both delicious in their own right.

If you want to see the rest of Food and Wine's picks for the best fast food in each state, you can see their full list, here.