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Yes, we Lunch Guys are decked out in our tuxes and silver sporks for this momentous event: the 2nd Annual Noonie Awards.

We’ve looked back on our past 365 lunches at the national-chain restaurants to see which nuggets, burgers, subs and sandwiches rose to the top. This year, we’re bestowing the prestigious Noonies in three categories: Most Surprising Lunch, Franchise of the Year and Lunch of the Year (plus one anti-Noonie for Worst Lunch). And the winners are...

Tom: Let’s first start with the loser. Clearly the worst lunch was the Steak Fanatic pizza at Dominos. Remember their theme: Men like steak and men like pizza, so men should really like a steak pizza. Not only was this not pizza, it wasn’t even good. What was great, much to my surprise, and therefore the winner of my “Most Surprising” category, was the Cuban Sandwich at 7-Eleven. That’s right, they do it better than most and even have a sandwich press to get the cheese oozing and bread nice and crispy. I eat these regularly at 7-Eleven even though we live in Florida, where restaurants make the best Cubans in the world.

My top franchise was an easy choice: Arby’s. Everything we eat there is great—from the Market Fresh Sandwiches to the Sirloin Wrap to the just-reviewed Reuben. Arby’s is for adults—there’s no Happy Meal or blockbuster movie tie-ins on the menu, but what’s on there is exactly what I want.
And finally, the best thing we ate all year was the simple ham sandwich at the Honeybaked Ham Company. That great juicy, meaty, tender, sweet and salty ham isn’t just for the holidays. It’s available year-round, and should be eaten every chance you get.

Chris: Tom, I won’t dispute your picks – yet. Let me jump right in with my winners.
Worst Lunch: KFC Flavor Station. Tiny chicken bones oversaturated in brown glop. No thanks.
Most Surprising Lunch: Burger King’s Chicken Fries. We knew these were coming down the pike, yet still, I opened my little nine-fry box and stood aghast. Seeing processed chicken in fried tubular form affected me in ways I’m still coming to terms with. But I do love these little guys.
Franchise of the Year: Checkers. This double drive-through chain excelled at being fast, cheap and flavorful -- the holy fast-food trinity. This year we dined on two-for-$3 Jim Beam burgers and a more-cluck-for-the-buck $1 Spicy Chicken sandwich. Divine.

Lunch of the Year: Chili’s Build Your Own Big Mouth Burger. Burger King and Wendy’s may both tout that they make custom burgers, but Chili’s blew me away with 32 choices -- from sauteed fajita onions to applewood smoked bacon. And all at a mind-boggling $5.99 base price (some options extra, no assembly required). A pure gourmet delight tailored to this Lunch Gourmand.

Tom: Chris, you have missed the mark on all categories. KFC Flavor Station had a good sauce and the chicken fingers were great. BK’s Chicken Fries were good, but that was no surprise. Everything fried is good. As for Checkers, the spicy one-buck cluck is awesome, but that place is more about speed than food. Finally, Chili’s Build Your Own is indeed great, but I’ll take the Honeybaked Ham every time.

Chris: Tom, as usual, you’re almost right, but not quite. Most of your choices were strong runners-up on my list, especially the lunch offerings at 7-Eleven. I’ve been sampling the primo sandwiches all year. We’re gonna end the year disagreeing again, though. What we can agree on is that we both loved eating our way through 2005. Happy lunch year!