February 6, 2018 - News Post

250 comics as of today? That’s kinda cool.

Don’t Hit Save made it to the front page of reddit again? Hey, neat!

Both of those are nice accomplishments, but they’re not why I’m celebrating this week. I’m celebrating because, as of Thursday, Don’t Hit Save will have officially outlasted Dr. Lobster.

This is a very big deal to me. Dr. Lobster was my first ever webcomic. Appropriately, I’ll be acknowledging this milestone the same way I do any other comic-related accomplishment: by eating at Fazoli’s.

If you’re not familiar, Fazoli’s is a regional fast food Italian restaurant chain. Their food is inexpensive, delicious, and in the case of breadsticks: UNLIMITED.

I freakin’ love Fazoli’s.

Many many years ago, my friend Michael Buonauro and I created Dr. Lobster. Before that, we had a radio show on a local college station. Before that, we hung out and worked on school homework. For each and every one of these, we would sit at the local Fazoli’s and brainstorm over food.

Eating is my favorite social activity. If I'm hanging out with someone, food had better be involved. Michael shared this trait. Many many of the ideas from those old comics were generated at Fazoli’s. We were even going to add “Russ”, the local Fazoli’s cashier, to our mix of characters. It was an important place.

Sadly, Michael is no longer with us. This was a long time ago, and I’ve come to terms with that. Yet when all the local Fazoli’s started closing as well, I was devastated. People come and go, but restaurants are supposed to be eternal! My favorite fast food chain had shut the doors on all their restaurants, and I thought there would forever be a breadstick-sized hole in my heart... oh, and I missed my friend.

Thankfully, only one of the losses was to last. My heart would once again be filled with buttery breadsticks.

You see, shortly after starting Don’t Hit Save, and over a decade after I last had Fazoli’s, I moved to Nashville. Imagine my shock to discover the chain still had a limited number of restaurants in business throughout the Nashville area.

One of the first things I did after moving here was eat at Fazoli’s. Nothing had changed. The noodles were exactly as I left them, the breadsticks just as plentiful, and the prices roughly the same. I will never stop loving Fazoli’s. It’s the closest I could get to stepping back in time.

To this day, I go as often as I can. They know me by name, and I’ll occasionally get slipped more breadsticks than the other customers. It’s a special place.

So there you go, a non-paid endorsement of my favorite restaurant chain. If you’re celebrating something, find your closest Fazoli’s. It’s worth the drive (even if it takes several days). I’ll be there this week, eating breadsticks and brainstorming comics. Say hi if you see me.

-Jeff