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All The Fast Food Chains And Restaurants Open On Christmas Day 2023

Fast Food
Uproxx

Today is Christmas, you’ve met with the family (or you don’t celebrate) and… now what? Seriously Christmas is all fine and good but it’s not exactly an all-day thing, and there is only so much you can do. What’s the next play? Go to the movies? What about after that? You’re probably going to be hungry and yeah of course you can cook for yourself but today is a great day to be lazy and do as little as possible, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. And we want that for you!

Luckily there are a few fast food chains and restaurants that are open on Christmas Day that’ll make it easy to get fed, whether you feel like dressing up and celebrating with your friends and family at your favorite chain restaurant, or just want to keep things simple, pick up food without changing out of your pajamas, and scarfing down a big juicy cheeseburger.

We’re here to help you get fed so we’re naming all the chain restaurants and fast food spots that are open right now. If you don’t see a particular restaurant or fast food chain you’re looking for, it’s safe to assume we did the research and they’re closed. Let’s eat!

Applebee’s — Applebee’s is open on Christmas Day at normal operating hours, but be warned. Applebee’s being open on the holiday is well known so expect a crowd.

Arby’s — Arby’s will be open on Christmas Day but may be operating at altered hours. Call ahead of time to make sure Arby’s is open.

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Benihana — Benihana will be open on Christmas Day, though hours may vary by location.

Bonefish Grill — Bonefish Grill will be open on Christmas Day, though hours may be reduced.

Boston Market — Boston Market is open on Christmas Eve, so if you’re feeling some rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes, this is your spot.

Buca Di Beppo — Bucca Di Beppo will be open for big family-style dinners on Christmas Eve.

Buffalo Wild Wings — Buffalo Wild Wings will be open for limited hours on Christmas Day. Call ahead of time to see when your local B-Dubs will be opened.

Del Taco — Del Taco will be open on Christmas Day but check hours at your local Del as they may be altered.

Denny’s — Denny’s will be open on Christmas Day with reduced hours. Be sure to call ahead of time to make sure your local Denny’s is open.

Domino’s — Domino’s is open at regular operating hours on Christmas Day, but expect them to be busy. It might be better to carry this one out rather than wait for delivery.

Dunkin — Dunkin will be open on Christmas Day with reduced hours. Call your local Dunkin’ for specifics.

Fogo de Chão — Grab a Brazilian steak on Christmas Day as most Fogo de Chão restaurants will be open.

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Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. — Carl’s Jr will be open on Christmas Day though hours may be reduced at some locations.

IHOP — Most IHOP locations will be open on Christmas Day. Go hard on those pancakes.

Jimmy John’s — Jimmy John’s is open on Christmas Day though hours will vary by location.

KFC — KFC will be open and operating at regular hours.

McDonald’s — Hours will vary but expect most McDonald’s to be open on Christmas Day.

Morton’s Steakhouse — Morton’s will be open on Christmas Day operating at normal hours.

Panda Express — Panda Express is open and operating at normal hours!

Romano’s Macaroni Grill Romano’s Macaroni Grill will be open on Christmas Day with reduced hours. Call your favorite Macaroni Grill ahead of time to check hours.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House — Ruth’s Chris will be open during regular hours on Christmas Day.

Starbucks — Starbucks is a real toss up. Some locations will be open, some will be closed. Be sure and call your favorite Starbucks ahead of time. Or just take a look at the drive-thru, if its poppin, you know it’s open.

Taco Bell — Most Taco Bell locations will be open on Christmas Day but may be operating at reduced hours.

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Waffle House — Waffle House will be open though some locations will be closing early.

Wendy’s Wendy’s will be open and operating at altered hours on Christmas Day. Call your local Wendy’s to check hours.

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This woman’s powerful ‘before and after’ photos crush myths about body positivity


Michelle Elman, a body positivity coach, helps people who are struggling to find confidence in their own skin.

After persevering through numerous medical conditions and surgeries in her own life, Elman realized a few years ago that body positivity wasn’t just about size or weight. Things like scars, birthmarks, and anything else that makes us feel different of self-conscious have to be a part of the conversation, and she tries to make the movement accessible to everyone.

Sharing her own journey has been one of her most effective teaching tools.


In May, she shared a post on Instagram of herself trying on a dress she bought five years ago in order to prove a powerful point.

In the first photo, from 2012 — when she was a size 12, she says — she’s wearing a size 14 dress. In the new photo, she’s wearing the same dress, though she says she normally wears a size 20.

The dress still fit.

“NUMBERS DON’T MEAN ANYTHING,” she wrote in the post. “So are you really going to let a change [in] dress size dictate your day? Are you really going to let an increase in a number affect your mood?”

“A higher dress size doesn’t mean: — you are less beautiful — you are less worthy — you are less lovable — you are a worse human — you are a bad person — you are a different person AND it doesn’t even mean you have a bigger body.”

The viral photo inspired thousands of people. While a huge majority of the comments were positive, there was still something bugging Elman about the response.

Not everyone was getting the right message.

“Since the creation of this account, I have always been told I’m beautiful ‘for my size’ and I never wanted to talk about it because I thought I was being pedantic but eventually decided to speak my mind about it,” she says in an email.

She decided to create a follow-up post to set a few things straight about what body positivity really means.

In the second post, she took a different approach to the “before and after” shots we see so often on Instagram. People loved it.

In the caption, Elman addresses a couple of things well-meaning people got wrong about the message she was trying to spread. Some commenters said she looked “skinnier” in the 2017 photo which, though meant as a compliment, just reinforces that being skinny is somehow better.

Others said she wasn’t fat enough, to which Elman could only scoff.

“If people tell you they are a certain size, believe them,” she wrote.

“People think that body positivity is about trying to convince people that bigger bodies are attractive, either physically or sexually,” she says.

But that’s totally missing the point of what her work is all about.

“If you are still relating your love for your body to society’s perception of beauty,” she says, “then you are still reliant on someone else’s opinion. Body positivity is about saying that you are more than a body and your self-worth is not reliant on your beauty.”

Her second post is currently sitting at over 26,500 likes on Instagram — a clear sign that this is a message many of us desperately needed to hear.

This article originally appeared on 06.08.17

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A teen student delivered a masterclass on the true history of the Confederate flag

Six years ago, a high school student named Christopher Justice eloquently explained the multiple problems with flying the Confederate flag. A video clip of Justice’s truth bomb has made the viral rounds a few times since then, and here it is once again getting the attention it deserves.

Justice doesn’t just explain why the flag is seen as a symbol of racism. He also explains the history of when the flag originated and why flying a Confederate flag makes no sense for people who claim to be loyal Americans.

But that clip, as great as it is, is a small part of the whole story. Knowing how the discussion came about and seeing the full debate in context is even more impressive.


In 2015, a student at Shawnee Mission East High School outside of Kansas City came up with the idea to have student journalists document students engaging in open discussions about various topics. In support of this idea, history teacher David Muhammad helped arrange a debate about the use of the Confederate flag in American society in his classroom.

According to the Shawnee Mission Post, Muhammad had prepared a basic outline and some basic guiding questions for the discussion, but mainly let the students debate freely. And the result was one of the most interesting debates about the Confederate flag you’ll ever see—one that both reflects the perspectives in American society at large and serves as an example of how to hold a respectful conversation on a controversial topic.

The full discussion is definitely worth a watch. Justice had quite a few Confederacy defenders to contend with, and he skillfully responded to each point with facts and logic. Other students also chimed in, and the discussion is wildly familiar to anyone who has engaged in debate on this topic. For his part, Mr. Muhammad did an excellent job of guiding the students through the debate.

“I had Chris in class, so I knew he was super intelligent and that he read a lot,” Muhammad told the Shawnee Mission Post in 2018. “But that really came out of left-field. He was never out there very much socially, so I didn’t expect for him to want to speak in front of a crowd like that.”

(In case you’re wondering, according to LinkedIn, Christopher Justice is now studying political science at Wichita State University after switching his major from sports management. David Muhammad is now Dean of Students at Pembroke Middle School and also serves as a Diversity Consultant.)

Thanks, SM East, for documenting and sharing such a great discussion.

This article originally appeared on 08.05.21

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Parents who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s remember the experiences that blow their kids’ minds

Parents, do you think your child would be able to survive if they were transported back to the ’70s or ’80s? Could they live at a time before the digital revolution put a huge chunk of our lives online?

These days, everyone has a phone in their pocket, but before then, if you were in public and needed to call someone, you used a pay phone. Can you remember the last time you stuck 50 cents into one and grabbed the grubby handset?

According to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, roughly 100,000 pay phones remain in the U.S., down from 2 million in 1999.

Do you think a 10-year-old kid would have any idea how to use a payphone in 2022? Would they be able to use a Thomas Guide map to find out how to get somewhere? If they stepped into a time warp and wound up in 1975, could they throw a Led Zeppelin album on the record player at a party?


Another big difference between now and life in the ’70s and ’80s has been public attitudes toward smoking cigarettes. In 1965, 42.4% of Americans smoked and now, it’s just 12.5%. This sea change in public opinion about smoking means there are fewer places where smoking is deemed acceptable.

But in the early ’80s, you could smoke on a bus, on a plane, in a movie theater, in restaurants, in the classroom and even in hospitals. How would a child of today react if their third grade teacher lit up a heater in the middle of math class?

Dan Wuori, senior director of early learning at the Hunt Institute, tweeted that his high school had a smoking area “for the kids.” He then asked his followers to share “something you experienced as a kid that would blow your children’s minds.”

A lot of folks responded with stories of how ubiquitous smoking was when they were in school. While others explained that life was perilous for a kid, whether it was the school playground equipment or questionable car seats.

Here are a few responses that’ll show today’s kids just how crazy life used to be in the ’70s and ’80s.

First of all, let’s talk about smoking.

Want to call someone? Need to get picked up from baseball practice? You can’t text mom or dad, you’ll have to grab a quarter and use a pay phone.

People had little regard for their kids’ safety or health.

You could buy a soda in school.

Things were a lot different before the internet.

Remember pen pals?

A lot of people bemoan the fact that the children of today aren’t as tough as they were a few decades back. But that’s probably because the parents of today are better attuned to their kids’ needs so they don’t have to cheat death to make it through the day.

But just imagine how easy parenting would be if all you had to do was throw your kids a bag of Doritos and a Coke for lunch and you never worried about strapping them into a car seat?

This article originally appeared on 06.08.22

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Chocolate lab is not in the mood for pets and his reaction is leaving people in stitches

Sometimes we’re not in the mood to be touched, and the same goes for our pets. While cats are notorious for snubbing humans who dare to touch them without explicit affirmative consent for exactly 3.5 pets, dogs are different. Dogs like to get head scratches, butt pats and for some reason slapped on the ribs somewhat aggressively. I don’t know why dog owners do the last one but I’ve seen it enough to think it’s a thing that dogs enjoy.

The point is dogs generally want you to pet them as often as humanly possible and until it feels like your arms are going to fall off. They try to climb up on your lap because being as close to your cornea as their snouts will allow is comforting to them. But apparently, dogs also get into moods where they don’t want to be touched by their humans.

Weird, right? A chocolate lab on TikTok is simply not in the mood for pets and his reaction to his owner attempting to pet him has commenters in stitches.


The dog, Colby, looks as if he’s trying to relax when you see his mom’s hand reach out to pet him. He doesn’t break eye contact with his human, Morgyn Seigfried, as he gently pushes her hand away with his back foot. She tries several times, and each time Colby has the same response.

“Let’s not make this more embarrassing than it has to be,” one commenter wrote.

“He said pet me…WITH YOUR EYES,” another person said.

While some were imagining what the dog was saying internally, others just found it hilarious, especially because he uses his hind leg to reject the affection.

“Such a boss move to use the back leg and not the front paw,” someone wrote, complete with a crying laughing emoji.

“The fact that he used his rear leg makes the exchange even better,” another commenter said.

Colby is clearly over Seigfried’s need to touch him, as you can see for yourself below:

@morgynseigfried

looking me dead in the eye too 🥲 #dogsoftiktok #dogs #dogvideos #labsoftiktok #chocolatelab #labrador #dogsoftiktokviral #doglover #doglovers

This article originally appeared on 5.5.23

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Raiders CB Jack Jones Pretended To Give A Kid In Chiefs Gear The Ball After A Pick-6 Then Pulled It Back

jack jones raiders chiefs fan
CBS

The Las Vegas Raiders took a surprising 17-7 lead into halftime on Christmas in Kansas City after their defense scored touchdowns on back-to-back Chiefs turnovers in the second quarter.

First it was Bilal Nichols scooping up a fumbled exchange between Isiah Pacheco and Patrick Mahomes and then it was Jack Jones picking off Mahomes on the sideline and taking it back for six. Many folks paid attention to Jones giving Mahomes the business as he ran into the end zone, but the clip the league posted to social media cut out before his true villainy kicked in as he went full Grinch on Christmas by reaching the ball out to a kid wearing Chiefs gear, pulling it back as the kid reached out for it.

It’s some incredible heel work from Jones, who was extremely amped up for the game, as evidenced by the next drive after his pick-six when he was jawing with seemingly everyone on the Chiefs offense and had to be pulled over to the Raiders sideline by his head coach, Antonio Pierce. Jones will be hoping to send every Chiefs fan home unhappy by helping hand Kansas City a loss on Christmas, but at the very least he ensured one young Chiefs fan had their hopes of getting a ball dashed.

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The Raiders Scored Two Defensive Touchdowns On Back-To-Back Awful Chiefs Turnovers

patrick mahomes interception
NFL

It was a slow first quarter from the Chiefs and Raiders in the first of the NFL’s Christmas day games, as the Chiefs had negative offensive yardage in their first three drives and Vegas could only manage three points to capitalize on Kansas City’s slow start.

In the second quarter, the game came to life entirely with the Chiefs offense on the field, first with Kansas City’s offense springing to life with a touchdown drive they capped off with a tremendous trick play design that got Isiah Pacheco into the end zone untouched as the Raiders had eyes on a fake reverse to Patrick Mahomes.

However, on the next Chiefs possession they went back to the well on some direct snap trickery and had disastrous results, as Pacheco and Mahomes fumbled an exchange and Bilal Nichols scooped it up for a Raiders touchdown.

The Raiders dropped the snap on the ensuing extra point, making it just a two-point game, and the wild sequence continued on the very next play as Mahomes threw a dreadful pick-six to Jack Jones along the sideline — who then let Mahomes know all about it as he ran into the end zone.

Vegas would then go for two and get it to make it a 17-7 game thanks to two defensive touchdowns in seven seconds of game time, as the Chiefs went from up four to down 10 without the Raiders offense doing anything. Things only got weirder on the Chiefs next drive, as they stalled out at midfield but picked up a fourth down conversion on a fake punt pass from Tommy Townsend to Justin Watson.

It was a truly wild sequence that set the stage for a fascinating day of Christmas football.

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Teacher brilliantly turns getting her period in front of her class into a teaching moment

Teachers are almost always teaching even when it’s not in their lesson plan.

Those that were born to be teachers find teachable moments everywhere and one woman found herself in one of those moments. Though this one was likely just a bit more personal than she probably would’ve liked.

Emily Elizabeth posted a TikTok video about how she found herself in a predicament in front of her classroom full of 10 and 11-year-old kids. The teacher explained that she was noticing a lot of commotion and whispering among the little girls in her class while she was wearing white pants. After reminding the girls to stay on task, the whispering continued, prompting Emily to be more direct.

That’s when one of the girls asked to speak with her privately dropping the bomb that no one that gets periods wants to hear in public.


“She goes, ‘I’m sorry Ms. Emily, but I just want to let you know that I think you might have got your period,'” the teacher recalls.

But instead of freaking out or being flustered, Emily decided to swallow her embarrassment and use the moment as a teachable experience. She promptly told the concerned girls that it was fine and that she had a change of clothes that she could wear. Just before excusing herself, the boys noticed something was wrong so they curiously asked. Emily informed them that she had gotten her period and while she was annoyed, she was perfectly fine.

One of the boys even sent her an email double checking that she was okay in a less public way. The sweet reaction from her class warmed her heart and the hearts of viewers.

“That boy who emailed…his parents must be incredible,” one commenter says.

“You set an excellent example! And to not hide it from the boys who asked because that would have spoken SO LOUDLY to the boys and girls about normalizing periods,” another writes.

“The email, you sound like an amazing teacher with an amazing group of kids,” someone says.

You can watch Emily tell the entire story below:

@emilyelizabeth.w

Let’s normalise talking about periods for girls AND boys … trying to find the silver lining 😅 #fyp #melbourneteacher #teachersoftiktok #teacherlife

This article originally appeared on 10.2.23

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Therapist shares science-backed phrases that parents can use to gently defuse a meltdown

When your toddler has a meltdown, it’s perfectly natural to want to fly off the handle.

There’s nothing more infuriating than a small human repeatedly demanding something that’s physically impossible for you to give them, or wailing because you had to punish them after repeatedly telling them to knock it off.

“I CREATED YOU, YOU LITTLE MONSTER. I CAN DESTROY YOU,” you might want to say (though you never would). You love your kids — of course you do — but damn if they aren’t the best at pushing you to your breaking point.


As tempting as it may be to raise your voice, yell, and keep ramping up the punishment to ridiculous levels, some parenting experts say there’s a much better option.

Vanessa Lapointe, a mom and professional psychologist, suggests something called “discipline without damage.”

Lapointe defines this practice, sometimes called “compassionate parenting,” as an intervention that reinforces connection, not separation — in other words, staying calm and kind while setting firm boundaries for kids in a way that doesn’t dampen their spirits or preach obedience above all else.

This isn’t just some new-agey, feel good stuff: Lapointe says it’s all based on science and the way children’s brains develop.

“Our job as parents is to grow up children who are hardy. Not children who are hardened,” she explained in an essay for The Huffington Post. “Children who are hardy can weather the storms of life. Children who are hardened cannot, and instead tend to shut down and have ineffective coping strategies.”

Lapointe recently released a nifty “Discipline Cheat Sheet” that offers some simple changes to the words we use when faced with a meltdown that can completely change the tenor of the situation for the better.

Here’s how this technique might play out.

Say your toddler colored on the wall with bright green crayon.

Instead of screeching something along the lines of “What were you thinking?!??!” Lapointe recommends using a kind and compassionate tone and saying something more like, “You know I don’t want you coloring on the walls. We need to get this cleaned up.”

“No!” your kid might respond, with a stomp of a tiny foot. “I don’t want to!”

“Come on,” you say, keeping your voice calm. “I’ll show you where the cleaning supplies are and help you get started.”

Now, ideally, that would be enough. Your toddler would calm down and gladly help you clean the walls. When it comes to toddlers, however, parents know things are rarely that easy.

What if by then he’s too upset and has thrown himself to the ground in protest, banging fists against the floor? Instead of finally breaking and losing your temper, it’s time to try a different tactic from the cheat sheet.

“I can see this is tricky for you. We’re going to solve this later. Let’s get a drink of water,” you can say.

He may agree or not. But eventually, he will calm down (every parent knows that they always do), and you can show him how to get the crayon off the wall.

When the wall is finally clean, turn to him and say, “Let’s find a better place to keep your coloring supplies so this doesn’t happen again.”

The whole conflict may take a while, and you may have to go back to the cheat sheet to try many of these different techniques, but in the end, you get what you want (a clean wall) without yelling at, frightening, or physically forcing your toddler to clean it up. At the same time, your kid learns that their actions have consequences.

The reality is that most toddlers are nearly psychologically incapable of impulse control. No amount of yelling or being a strict disciplinarian can change the wiring of their brains. And though the phrases in the chart above are best for young children, the same principles of compassionate parenting apply to older kids, too.

The chart has been shared far and wide across the web, though Lapointe’s approach isn’t without its critics.

Some parents worry that her recommendations feel an awful lot like “helicopter parenting” and isn’t strong enough to teach kids about independence and feeling the consequences of their actions.

Lapointe says these people are missing the point. She spells out the difference:

“The hoverer is worried, nervous, and uncertain, and prevents their child from ever having to come to terms with the things in life that simply cannot be. The provider is confident, all-knowing, and in charge, and supports the child in regulating around their upset in coming to terms with the things in life that cannot be. “

She urges parents to remember that kids are kids and not to expect them to understand the world as adults do.

Compassionate parenting is more than just a few handy phrases.

The phrases on Lapointe’s cheat sheet are a great first step for reframing the way we react when our kids start misbehaving, but they’re not the only tool a compassionate parent can keep in their back pocket. For parents looking for an alternative to punishment and escalating behavior, however, Lapointe’s cheat sheet could be just the help they need to stay calm in the face of a toddler tornado.

Though easier said than done, a simple, “Come here, I’ve got you,” could be exactly what your kid needs to hear.


This article originally appeared on 07.21.17

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A Terrible Last Minute Nick Mullens Interception Gave The Lions Their First Division Win In 30 Years

lions vikings interception
FOX

The Detroit Lions came into Sunday afternoon with a chance to win their first division title since 1993 (back when they were in the NFC Central) if they could beat the Nick Mullens-led Vikings in Minnesota.

Early on it looked like they might cruise, as Mullens had a dreadful start to the game with a number of turnovers, but he would lead the Vikings back to the lead in the second half with some big time throws and help in the form of incredible catches by Justin Jefferson and KJ Osborn. Detroit would reclaim the lead and make it a 6-point game in the fourth quarter, but Mullens had a chance to play the hero on the final drive.

A strip sack almost ended the drive before it ever really got started, but instead of falling on the ball, Lions lineman John Cominsky opted to try and scoop the ball up, only to kick it into Jefferson’s hands to keep Minnesota’s hopes alive. On the very next play, Mullens just threw it up to Jefferson in double coverage on third and a mile, and the All-Pro somehow brought the ball in for a first down.

It really was an unbelievable catch and, when followed by a long pass to Brandon Powell, the Vikings were well into Lions territory with a minute to play.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, the bad version of Mullens reappeared at that point, as he stepped up to try and hit an open Jefferson running across the middle and threw up an absolute duck that got picked off to seal the Lions win and a division crown.

It’s about as bad of a pass as you’ll see from an NFL quarterback not being pressured, as it just fluttered out of his hand, well behind Jefferson and into the waiting arms of the safety. It was Mullens’ fourth pick of the day, as he had 411 yards and two touchdowns, but the turnover problems were just too much to overcome. The win moves Detroit to 11-4 and clinches them a playoff berth, where they’ll look to get their first postseason win since 1991.