I think this is an urban legend, but I'll repeat it anyway: one of JITB's less-than-honest employees was selling drugs through the drive-in window at one location and got caught. The local newspaper ran the story with the headline "Crack In The Box", and this nickname has stuck ever since. I'd like to believe this is true, not because I think JITB is bad in any way, but because clever headlines make newspapers worth reading. It was probably the New York Post, thinking about it, since their editorial is horrible but they frequently nail it on the big words.
I discovered JITB when I was living in Texas. There was one at the bottom of my road, 3 minutes' walk from my house. This is how I discovered they won't serve drive-thru unless you have a car, which seems a nonsensical policy in some respects. Presumably, in a robbery I'd be getting away very slowly on foot, compared with having a vehicle?
Anyway, I used to be a fan of the $1.29 Jumbo Jack, which was their value burger. This is right up there with Costco's hotdogs as great value comfort food. They'd always attempt to upsell me on the cheese (50 cents!) or a Coke ($2!) but I was dedicated to staying on course with the plain burger.
But then I discovered the Sirloin Burger. Ordering one of these things is an experience in itself. When the burger arrives, the enclosing box is roughly the size of a pizza carton and looks like it could feed a family of five no problem. The Red Cross will soon be dropping these on famine-stricken countries and have to design special parachutes so people don't get crushed by the four pounds of burger hurtling towards them at terminal velocity.
Yet despite the claims of 100% sirloin trumpeted on the posters, I've yet to see the similarity between said burger and a steak, but I suppose I'll have to taken their word for it. I presume that setting fire to one of these items in the classic 'peanut energy test' they make you do in high school would prove that each burger yields 1.4 Megajoules, roughly the same amount of energy released in the primary ignition of a thermonuclear explosion.
And yes, I'll take that with the curly fries.
UPDATE: The San Francisco Jack In The Box next to the Westfield Shopping Center is now closed! No fast food for a least four blocks in any direction!
