When I was driving through West Virginia, I had the strangest McDonald's experience. Now I'm a Yankee, born and raised, so this may be a Southern thing. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich. The strangest thing I've ever been asked is "which one" so I've learned to say "The classic grilled chicken sandwich".

At this McD's I was asked if I wanted the dollar one. I knew that was crispy so I repeated, "No, I'd like the grilled chicken."

"Yes, it's grilled chicken with mayonnaise and lettuce."

But I knew it was not.

"That's fine, as long as it's grilled."

"Well, it's cooked just fine."

I said, "At home I get a sandwich where the chicken has been grilled, not fried and it comes on a WW bun."

She scratched her head and said, "Well yes Ma'am, we have that, but I think you'd like the crispy one better. I like it's flavor real well."

Does no one order grilled chicken in West Virginia?

I was a vegetarian for awhile and during this time we were driving through Alabama. Anyways, we went to a McDonalds and I asked if they had any vegetarian burgers and attendant was completely lost. She kept asking what I meant and finally announced that she could give me a bun with some lettuce on it.

I think it's just a Southern thing.

Yup, cultural/regional!

Then I have a new found respect for Southern dieters!!

I did finally get my grilled chicken sandwich and it was tasty.

Runningfromfat, did you get yours?

I live in Alabama. And I get almost harassed by the Subway people because I eat a veggie on whole wheat with NO Cheese, NO mayo. They comment and question if I am sure over and over. I do have one favorite Subway guy who is the sweetest and says I am their Jared. He never gives me a hard time and he knows exactly what I am getting without a word from me. He even seems to enjoy making all the sandwiches for my family usually 6 footlongs total. We no longer eat other fast food so Subway is our go to alot.

I also get questioned on meals out where I request no added salt,butter, dressing on the side, no croutons no cheese. But the way I look at it it is MY MONEY, MY Body and YES I am HIGH Maintenance! hehehe

I never see WW bread at our McD's, and the grilled chicken is more like griddled, dripping with fat. Oh, and doused in mayo so it negates the calories from skipping the fryer! Yep, living down here has it's challenges, have you ever eaten grandma's home-made mac-n-cheese or potato salad? Hard to stay away from that stuff.

Hope you found something suitable to eat, though!

Yikes! Yes, ours is coated in Mayo too but either ask for it without, which takes extra time apparently, or I just remove the top bun. I do that anyway. I cut the bottom bun in half and use each half as top and bottom, and ditch the entire top. I really like McD's grilled chicken and consider it on plan.

Otherwise I'm with Nikki. I do like Subway! My best friend's husband owns four of them and he treated me to lunch there just yesterday, actually. I don't take advantage of that often so it's a really superb treat when he offers.

During my recent week-long sojourn in Charleston, when I ate every meal out but breakfast -- I went to Harris Teeter & Whole Foods in a nearby suburb & got stuff to keep in my room fridge for that -- I found to my delight that the city has a very serious food scene. Maybe it's atypical of the small-town south, but I did really well there & had no issues with making good choices.

I came home with some locally produced tea, a truly gorgeous bag of huge raw pecans, a little jar of Tupelo Honey (I was singing Van Morrison all day after I bought that one) & some spice packets from The Spice & Tea Exchange (sassafrass, mesquite and sumac) & that made me quite happy.

Also ate fabulous seafood for dinner every day of the week, except for one night dinner at 82 Queen, when I had a really fabulous spaghetti squash dish, which I recommend.

I also recommend High Cotton and Husk as good places to eat, and for something more casual, Hyman's, Gilligan's and Toast.

I think there are pockets/places ALL over the country like this - north, south, east, west and central. I was surprised when I ran into it in Colorado, which is pretty healthy for the most part. I think it's all in the person you run into. But it makes me smile sometimes.

I ended up getting a chicken southwest salad minus the chicken and an a small order of french fries. I was pretty hungry after that still but we had a long drive so no chance for snacking.

Oh, and we love subway too but our local Subways are pretty blah compared to the US. However, we recently found a local sandwich/sub/frozen yogurt shop that's just amazing! It's definitely going to be our go to place for eating out.

Wow! I'm living in Arkansas and am from the northern part of Florida that locals frequently refer to as 'lower Alabama'. I have never had such a thing happen. I do have people sometimes double check when I ask for something outside the norm. They will also frequently ask if I'd like something else instead when I ask for no mayo. I would have gotten quite frustrated and probably said something not so very nice to her.

I think where I'm at they must be use to people watching what they eat. I had a family dinner at Red Robin with my sons and soon to be DILs and the one DIL wanted to measure here FF salad dressing so she asked for a teaspoon. Waiter got her one like she had just asked for extra ketchup or something. No big deal.

Wendys though, before they closed, was rude. I asked one time for fries with very little salt and the lady rudely replied "IF you want fresh fries all you have to do is ask!"

I had a Wendy's experience when I asked for NO bun but 2 pieces of lettuce where the teenage girl threw her hands up and huffed that she would have to call a manager over for THAT ONE! I smiled sweetly and said that's fine I am not in a hurry. The manager was all cool and said sure No problem. But her problem was there was no button on her screen for that request. I usually go inside to order because drive thrus always mess up around here.

My other issue is getting water. If at all possible I get bottled water because its what I like. But certain places only have free water in tiny kiddie cups. I drink alot of water and their free cup isn't going to cut it. So I ask for a normal size cup for water and offer to pay full price if need be but I will be drinking water in it. Some places are kind and understanding but other I have paid for a soda just to get a cup. I have gotten better about taking my own water bottle to avoid all this. Just annoys me people assume you drink water cause you are being CHEAP.

Nikki, I had the ultimate "water only" experience when my children were young. They were maybe 2 and 3, maybe. We went to Golden Corral and I was asked what my children would be drinking. I responded "Just water". The lady said, "But it's free." Yes, I got that, but my children would just be drinking water. Again, I got "But it's free". She repeated that about four times before I finally got my request for just water!!

They're babies! They do not need Pepsi, thank you!

This happens to me, too. We go out to eat where the kid's drink is included and I want water for my two year old and I get "But the soda is included in the meal." Yes, I get that, but I'm not giving my 2 year old soda!