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November 21, 2019

As the grisly deaths of so many Breaking Bad characters underlined, working in the methamphetamine business could seriously shorten your life expectancy.

But how well would Los Pollos Hermanos - the fried chicken franchise used to launder drug money - fare in the real world? Main pic from the Better Call Saul Facebook.

And what about other fictional cafés, bars and restaurants?

Would The Winchester pub from Shaun of the Dead be a dead man walking in real life? Would anyone really want a Krusty burger from The Simpsons?

Never let it be said that the 5pm Food blog doesn't attempt to answer the big questions.

With their tongues presumably firmly lodged in their cheek, the food box company Gousto have taken a look at the fictional food franchises that would survive in the real world. 

The study highlighted 20 iconic on-screen and examined how they would stack up if they were real businesses. 

We are going to gloss over the patently dodgy methodology used (TripAdvisor reviews and hashtag counts feature prominently) but the results are fun.

Zombie pub?

The key findings were that Breaking Bad’s Los Pollos Hermanos was most likely to succeed in the real world while The Winchester pub from Shaun of the Dead was least likely to survive.

Scoops Ahoy ice cream parlour from Stranger Things was the second most likely to thrive with JJ's Diner from Parks and Recreation also doing well.

Perhaps surprisingly, The Jack Rabbit Slims diner from Pulp Fiction is on an equal rating with the Krusty Burger franchise.

Vesuvio's from The Sopranos fares less well. Presumably on the grounds that customers would never know if they were going to get whacked there or if the restaurant might mysteriously burn down.

It is all good fun but the real burning question remain unanswered by the survey: how would The Clansman Bar from Still Game get on?