I stopped at Carl’s Jr. on Lonetree Blvd. in Rocklin on October 9, 2009. I have no idea what I ate; if they had those Chicken Parmesean sandwiches, I had one of those…but I’m not sure. On a side note, their Big Carl with an extra bun is a great way to enjoy that sandwich.  There’s even a Facebook Fan Page and Group Page for that fantastic “modified” Big Carl!

This is a quickie…I’ll get right onto the bathroom. First, I thought the “hammered steel” look was great on the stalls. I don’t know whether it really was hammered metal or just a “skin”-type dealio. Either way, it was pretty damn cool. Other than that, the bathroom was pretty standard…paper towels (yay!), a handwashing reminder (complete with Carl’s Jr. star), and a door that pushed open from inside the bathroom.

People forget, but that last one is pretty freakin’ important. Let’s face it…some people just don’t wash their hands. Sure that’s gross—and can spread disease—but ya know, people are gonna do whatever they’re gonna do. The least stores can do is make that door open out from the inside, so if you don’t wanna touch it you don’t have to (and you don’t have to waste paper towels). I won’t recommend a Chuck Norris kick to open it, but a gentle push with your toes oughta do the trick. 4 rolls for the stalls, overall cleanliness, paper towels in a fast food joint, and that door!

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Those full-height urinals always seem weird to me, like they’re encouraging you to hit your shoes…never really understood ‘em.

For what it’s worth, this review took place Friday, 9/11/09.

Anyway, this bathroom itself is pretty clean; the color scheme is certainly questionable though…green straight out of A Clockwork Orange mated to light “wood” stalls and dark red adobe-ish tiles on the floor. I think maybe this was a final for a design class…I’m guessing the grade was an F. I suppose in another time, this might have been très chic, but I’m glad I wasn’t around (or didn’t understand) then. This bathroom’s design really seems forced (again, maybe in a different era…but the tiles and faux wood don’t look that old, so I don’t think the design is more than 5-10 years at oldest…at least not the light wood). Further, the faux wood on the stall is much lighter and brighter than the door…if the stall and door matched better, it would alleviate some of the issues.

Worsening things, if you look at photo #4, you’ll notice the placement of the urinal in relation to the door. Not good…someone comes in a little too fast and you’re lucky if all that happens is you end up splashing yourself…I could see a faceplant that while hilarious (and potentially illegal) if caught on candid camera would be exceptionally painful, disgusting, and embarassing.

Here’s another bathroom without paper towels. Seriously, people, paper towels are not the bane of all that is good. It won’t kill you to use paper towels, and it won’t destroy forests if you use recycled paper or paper from renewable forests. Two-and-a-half rolls for design (color and door/urinal placement) and lack of paper towels.

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