I feel like lately fast food has lost its appeal.
It isn’t that fast any more, the service has gone done hill (habbitually checking orders now, because they’re often wrong) and the prices are a joke.
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The One True BK. Nice.
Having to stand there waiting ages while a bunch of delivery guys turn up and grab orders off the counter is a piss-take.
What happened to “grab it off the rack behind them”?
the only fast food that didnt go stupid during covid in my area … quality, price or service… seemed to be five guys
i think its the simple menu plus it was already quite expensive, and so i assume they are paying a fair wage to keep good people.
I would go to five guys if one of them would put in a drive thru. Drive thru food and ambiance but as a sit down restaurant? Why?
this is a great point. it does seem like the perfect place for a drive thru
A drive-thru would be a disaster, their average turnaround time on orders is like five plus minutes drive-thrus need to be able to be pushed out in generally under 2 minutes.
I feel like people forget that they don’t pre-cook their burgers. Drive-thru’s only work because a lot of the food is pre-made based on popularity and just sits under a warmer
culvers isn’t quick service either, but they do it.
you order, pay, and if there’s a line behind you (there always is), you get a number, pull ahead and park. they bring it out.
I feel like that’s stretching the definition of drive-thru. I guess you still don’t need to get out of your car but it feels like curbside delivery with extra steps
they don’t pre-cook their burgers
this is a great point… But… we are post-covid. i would bet a non-insignificant percent of their orders are now ‘pre-ordered’ unlike before
5 guys is insane where I live. $45 for 1 double hamburger, med drink, 1 kids hamburger, med drink and a med fry to share. I stopped going to 5 guys after that one a few months ago.
Five guys already had astronomical prices.
i could have sworn i said exactly that
Yeah but you put a “please stop reading now” gap before your first line, and the one where you said they were already expensive.
I know I’m being a bit tongue in cheek, but I had to reply because I literally did the same thing your replier did. I read your first line, and my immediate thought was “wait, aren’t they already expensive?” And I felt compelled to stop reading and immediately see if any replies confirmed that. And then I saw YOUR reply saying you already said they were expensive, and I had to go back to read the second half of your comment.
So yeah, not really my proudest moment, or a good sign for how the Internet is affecting attention spans… But I think that’s what happened.
(If I can make ANY defence for myself and your replier, it’s that your first sentence initially says five guys didn’t give in to gouging like other joints, which might imply that five guys has lower prices than the restaurants that raised their prices. So maybe we stopped reading because we thought we knew where you were heading.)
i appreciate your analysis. thank you!
Any time I try to get fast food I see what they’re charging for it and remember steak is $10 a pound. Steak and frozen veg with a baked potato for about the same price.
Steak and eggs at a breakfast spot near me is $20 (plus tip). To add insult, it’s a “touristy” one, so while the food is good, they definitely up-charge a bit, say $1-2, on most things vs places off the beaten path.
So….why am I buying a ‘meal deal’ for $13-15 at McDonalds again? I might as well go and fork out a few more bucks for table service and better food at that price point.
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The media which is the furthest on the left on that horseshoe scale are the antisemite ones.
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I’m going to, but i’d also prefer if it just weren’t here because I don’t fully trust they’re impartiality and I don’t like the idea of giving more weight to the group by publishing it here. If people want to seek out their services, that’s one thing. But I’d prefer if they weren’t able to operate in public forums.
It’s up to the instance admins here though, not up to MBFC.
nobody ever went to mcdonald’s because it’s “good” but because it was cheap and fast
now it’s none of those 3 things. no reason to go there at all. that applies to most other fast food shit too.
McDonalds also directly supports the IDF
it was a franchise choice for that community. not to defend mcdonalds, but this happens, just not usually by genocidal groups.
“In regard to the news that McDonald’s in Israel was donating meals. We affirm that it was an individual decision on their part,” McDonald’s franchise in Saudi Arabia said in a statement. “Neither global McDonald’s nor us nor any other country had a role or relationship with that decision, neither directly nor indirectly.”
McDonald’s is a global chain but its franchises are often owned locally and operate autonomously.
McDonald’s Corp declined to comment but a source close to the company in the U.S. said the Israel franchise was an independent business that licensed McDonald’s brand. The source said it’s not unusual for franchisees to engage with their local communities when they are in need.
Honestly? I don’t care if it was just a local franchise. Corporate HQ can force local franchises to stop this if they want to stay open.
Plus, the food is shit. There are better places to eat.
It also relies on forced prison labor.
Sounds like I need to buy a Big Mac.
I recommend eating McDonald’s every day to support your beloved genocidal friends. The more you eat McDonald’s, the better for the IOF. They really need your support in eating as much McDonald’s as you can!
I agree, you should eat so many your heart explodes. make the world a better place.
Only reason to go there now is because they’ve tricked my kids into being addicted to it.
glad they’re raising you right
When big mac is made right, and the ingredients haven’t been sitting around all day, it’s pretty dang good. Even their basic hamburgers.
So, basically, it’s never good.
Trusting that the underpaid and overworked employee is going to deliver a “pretty good” burger from a fast food joint isn’t a gamble many people are willing to make anymore. And I don’t blame those employees at all.
made right
haven’t been sitting around all day
LOL
Have you ever had a cheeseburger at a real restaurant in your life? This is a serious question.
Depends where you are from. Food standards are higher in Europe, McDonalds can’t use cardboard for their burgers. Has to be actual beef.
McDonalds isn’t as hated in the UK or Europe as it is in America.
I’m from Europe, and this doesn’t match my experience. McDonald’s is bottom tier fast food. Probably KFC is worse, but that’s about it.
In general, to me it always seemed like Americans value fast food and chain restaurants way higher than Europeans.
I think there’s some wiggle room on “bottom tier,” but yeah, it’s down there somewhere. I dont think KFC is worse, not in my experience. but regardless of this, the meat is real in the UK (at least) and across Europe (at most).
Your individual tastes are subjective. I was arguing that the quality difference of a mcdonalds burger and a restaurant burger is not as big a chasm as OP made out. I’ve worked in plenty of restaurants, and many buy their burgers from the same suppliers that fast food places buy from. It’s the same meat in a different setting. In fact, I used to order food for a whitbread chain restaurant and a greene king chain restaurant, and a lot of it came from the same manufacturers. But people would swear by the quality of the more upmarket whitbread restaurant over the cheaper greene king one.
Your individual tastes are subjective. I was arguing that the quality difference of a mcdonalds burger and a restaurant burger is not as big a chasm as OP made out.
I agree that they are basically the same meat from the same cows, but in my opinion there is still a big quality difference due mainly to preparation. A McDonald’s beef patty is too thin, too homogeneous, and overcooked. The lack of flavour is the result of optimizing for cooking speed.
If you are willing to wait 5-15 minutes for your burger to be cooked you can achieve dramatically better results from the same cow.
Doesn’t help that the meat is real when the patty is 2mm thick. McD is so shit it’s ridiculous.
I think we have two classes of “fast food” now. The higher class places like Five Guys, Poke Bros, Panera and going to cost you more, and you’re not going to go there every day (or even every week), but they’re pretty damned good.
The OG fast food places - McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr., Arby’s, Taco Bell - they’re just not good enough to command the higher prices that the new class of fast food can. Not to mention that the quality of all of those chains has declined dramatically in the last decade. Obvious drop in quality plus increase in price, people notice that.
… They have always been. There is fast food and fast casual.
Fast food would love to be fast casual, they sell the idea to seem like fancy fast food. Like McDonald’s having table service through the kiosk, etc.
But this isnt new. It’s literally the business plan of the places you mentioned to not be fast food.
Except you can get a Duo meal for $7 at Panera that’s soup sandwhich and chips and that’s 3$ cheaper than McDonald’s
I’ve never met an Panera that has everything in stock, so you’re going to be making a second or third line choice. One of your items is guaranteed to be out. Regular sandwiches, god knows why, are $14.
I used to love Panera back in high school, which was early 2000’s. As someone who hung out with friends at a movie theater on weekends it was the best place to eat at in the same strip mall. I still remember getting sandwiches for $4 or $5 at the time. If I was in high school today there is no way I could eat there, and if I could I also couldn’t justify spending that much. I feel like they are scrambling as well, changing a lot, making products worse, adding items nobody wants, just trying to hit big with one of them. My wife really wanted to try the new caprese sandwich they have, we were dying when she got it and all you saw was bread… when she opened it up there was like 1 slice of tomato and 1 slice of mozzarella and it was the saddest sandwich I’ve ever seen. I thought it was hilarious until I realized we paid over $10 for that joke…
Sharing the pic so everyone else can join in on the laugh.
Lol no you can’t. I didn’t believe you, so I checked. $11.79, and that’s for mostly cheaper options of the pick 2 (broccoli cheddar + frontega chicken). And I live in Missouri, where shit’s cheap.
Whoopsie doodle. Well $8 ain’t $7 either.
But yea I’m shocked there’s anything reasonably priced @ Panera.
They must have gone up in the past few months. It was 6.99 last I got them I thought. Oh well! Still cheaper than a big mac or whopper
Last time I tried to get fast food was like 2 or 3 months ago. I went to Taco Bell, saw that the beefy 5 layer burrito was like $4.50, and just left the drive through. Fuck all that
Taco Bell is my go to - I am vegetarian so my opinions are slim. But for $7 I can’t get a crunch wrap with black beans, a cheesey bean and rice burrito, and a fiesta potato and a drink with thier app combo. Then after every other meal (like every to weeks) I get a bonus something. So. Yeah, I only mess with the build your own cravings box… 9 dollars for 3 tacos and a drink is ridiculous.
And I live in Missouri, where shit’s cheap.
Also “The show me State” and you got shownnnn awwwwwwshit boyeee
;D
Lol
Oh no!
… Anyway.
I miss cheap fast food. Feels like it will never come back anywhere.
Taco Bell still has $1.25 bean and rice burritos where I live. It’s like 400 calories so it’s a pretty good deal.
Taco Bell is my goto for cheap fast food
They aren’t even cheap anymore, damn near $2+ basic bitch tacos. I can go elsewhere and get a street taco (with multiple meat options) for a buck that’s actually flavorful and warmer than room-temp, and that’s in fucking Ohio
Not here! The burritos at Taco Bell here are outrageous. A single bean burrito is 4.50CAD. The 7-layer? 8 BUCKS. The Grilled Cheesy? Fuck you, over ten dollars for a single burrito. A burrito that isn’t heated right, has all the ingredients separated into disgusting pockets of single ingredient, and makes you feel terrible after eating them.
And mind you, these aren’t even combos. This is just one burrito.
UK Taco Bell is somehow worse.
They seem to be trying to trade on the novelty/name, because there is no chance I’m paying £8 for a taco the size of a hamburger.
I assume you are North American, look for small ethnic food shops. You will find better food at a cheaper price.
Cheap food is still out there, but it’s not corporate food.
Corporations put profit above all, which is anathema to how every successful chain became successful. Whatever mechanism they had to stresamline production, negotiate with vendors, push addition products (would you like fries with that?), their primary goal was always consistency and value. You know what to expect, and it’s worth the money.
You’ll find that now in local diners, in food trucks, in cafes, and in small restaurants where they value good food over profit, but you won’t find it at most chain restaurants.
Food trucks are hit or miss. The food can be OK but the ones here tend to be very overpriced for the quality.
Someone else mentioned ethnic places which have become my go to for good, cheap food. There’s a gyro place near me where you can get a gyro and fries for like $7. It takes 5 minutes and the food is fresh.
BBQ trucks tend to be way overpriced in my experience. But that may be biased because I make damn good BBQ. I have friends that ask me to make food for their birthday parties, diaper parties, bachelor parties etc. paying $12-15 for a sloppy mess of a pulled pork sandwich with no taste other than the sauce is absolutely unacceptable. That being said, I’m far enough away from any BBQ “hub” that nobody here knows what good BBQ is.
Hole-in-the-wall ethnic food shops/take out are the way. If you want 'murican fast food, you gotta break the bank… but find a little family owned taqueria that does their shit right and you can stuff your face with the best tacos you’ve ever eaten for like $3. Highly dependent on your local options ofc, so keep an eye out.
In my experience, the sketchier the restaurant looks, the better the food is.
You absolutely can get great American food from a hole in the wall. Also, I’m not sure why you had to say ‘murican as if our food has something wrong with it. Just a weird flex. I’m lucky to live in a city with a plethora of food trucks all around and you can get pretty much any kinda cuisine for cheaper than fast food joints.
'murican … weird flex.
…flex?
In Louisiana some of the best fried chicken and other Cajun food is in gas stations. Not even joking. It’s usually small towns, but there are some around NOLA and other cities, too.
Best fried chiicken i ever had was at a gas station in the middle of nowhere off ther interstate in Mississippi.
One of my best fried chicken experiences was a $5 fried chicken buffet somewhere in rural Kentucky near Lincoln’s birth home.
Those breaded skewers with chicken/pickle/onion/potato you can get at roadside stations down in the MS delta area are absolutely incredible and I love them. Any time I’m passing through there I have to find some.
Bag of Dick’s burgers are the only way to go in Seattle.
What is Dick’s charging these days? My local equivalent burger joint has a double with fries for just over $8. Easily the best I can do around here.
$5.30 for a deluxe, $2.80 for fries.
Dick’s and a taco truck in the same area ($2.50/taco) are my go to cheap but delicious lunch options.
$8.10. Their advertised base wage ($21/hr) must be lower than their actual base wage. I saw a posted at location janitorial position with a $23/hr start.
You reminded me of a dumb song by a little known christian singer from the 70s and 80s that my dad liked.
We played this song on repeat as kids because there was a giant belch in it.
I give you Randy Stonehill’s American fast food (what a stupid way to die)
I wish we had those around here. Even the hole-in-the wall Indian places start their plates at like $12. It’s absurd.
If a restaurant looks shady and stays in business, it’s either a front or the food is delicious.
And if it’s a front the food might still be awesome because it’s some rando doing their home cooking to cosplay as a restaurant worker
Yeah the fronts specifically want to pay for halfway plausible quality ingredients to mask their income.
Does this pretty much imply that if it looks shady and stays in business, but the food is shite, then then business is a front for money laundering or other criminal activities? Because there is this absolutely trash Mexican place near where I live and it’s always dead (no business) and the food is suspiciously bad like “the refried beans are dry and look like they’ve been sitting out for days” kind of bad. And this place has been “in business” for like 15 years.
There’s a Bosnian place right next to an amazing Mexican place we like to go to. The Bosnian place always has people coming and going, but never staying for more than 5 minutes, and never walking out with food in hand. I’m pretty sure it’s a front.
Yes. Otherwise there wouldn’t be any point in keeping it open.
Restaurants have notoriously thin margins, so to stay in business 15 years, something shady is happening most likely.
It could also be a hobby business to keep someone’s spouse/family busy and out of the house.
Bonus points if the menu is at least half in another language
All the local taco places near me are like 10 bucks for 2 tacos
I was amazed to find out the chicken place I order from looked nice (for a sketchy hole in the wall ethnic food place). $30 CAD for two or three days worth of INCREDIBLY good chicken and fries
Like seriously, it was dying mall food court sketchy when I expected, “…You killed the health inspector with a pan to the head didn’t you?” sketchy
They were making way too much money to begin with, nevermind growth.
Also McDonald’s is just a real estate company, I’m guessing the franchisees are complaining they aren’t going to stick around.
I don’t get fast food often, but I did go to McDonald’s a week or two ago. I learned that they replaced their fountains so that they no longer dispense water, so you can’t get a free cup of water anymore. You have to buy a bottle of water or a soda.
I don’t intend on ever returning to a McDonald’s.
The charging for packets thing is the one thing that irks me nonstop especially the employees that stick by it. Unless they’re getting penalized, why do you have to gatekeep an extra BBQ sauce for 25 cents?
Sure, keep them behind the counter so people don’t grab 20 but asking for 1-2 extra shouldn’t require a surcharge or separate transaction.
I won’t go back until hash browns are 2 for $1.
Fuck outta here with this $2.00 hash brown bullshit.
It’s worse here in Canada.
Wanna say they’re $2.79 where I’m at. I know for sure they were just under $3
Yep fuck that.
2 for $1.
And egg McMuffins and sausage muffins should be <$3.00.
And the sausage burritos should be 2 for $1.
McDonald’s trying to act like they’re a restaurant and not a fucking logistics company. The market rate of a potato doesn’t affect the price of French fries at McDonald’s when they legitimately own the rights to the only brand of potato that is used to make McDonald’s French fries.
Any company that is known by all doesn’t do what the average person thinks they do.
McDonalds? Logistics company
CocaCola? Logistics company
Ups? Logistics company
Starbucks? Logistics company
Miller/Coors? Logistics company
Shaw’s? Logistics company
W.B mason? Logistics company
Exxon Mobile? Logistics company
Amazon? Logistics company
The price of sugar doesn’t affect Coca-Cola. The price of wheat doesn’t affect millercoors. The price of lumber doesn’t affect wb mason. The price of gasoline doesn’t affect ups. The price of coffee doesn’t affect Starbucks. The price of beef, potatoes, and dairy doesn’t affect McDonald’s. The price of oil (barely) doesn’t affect Exxon Mobile.
These are the fucks that pull the levers. Not the farmers. Not the lumberjacks. Not the oil refiners.
The market rate of a potato doesn’t affect the price of French fries at McDonald’s when they legitimately own the rights to the only brand of potato that is used to make McDonald’s French fries.
McDonald’s certainly has enormous buying power. I do imagine widespread drought or something would impact their bottom line by some pennies if it were severe enough. Anyway, I read:
The Dakota Russet is one of eight varieties accepted [by McDonald’s] in North America. The most recent additions to the McDonald’s North American varieties were in 2016.
Don’t see that one online but other varieties appear popular.
Now, enjoy
PROCESS FOR PREPARING FROZEN FRENCH FRY POTATO SEGMENTS
(Other patents: methods of preparing / cooking food; packaging; equipment used in cooking food.)
I keep hearing that McDonald’s is actually a real estate company
$2.50 Cones were my breaking point. The tourist trap general store next to me does a decent waffle cone for $4.
Jesus, I can’t find a cone near me for less than $6.
You can get a pack of frozen hash browns for cheaper than that. Saves time, money, and tastier imo.
And crunchy af in the air fryer.
Takes forever though
Takes about 10 minutes in mine, full power and flip once.
I do them on a tray in the oven and I don’t even bother with flipping. They still come out great.
Thats the best thing about them, still great the lazy way.
If I’m feeling extra though, I’ll brush some oil on it and salt it, maybe some other random seasonings.
I almost had them tasting like dunkin hashbrowns once, was very nice.
F O R E V E R
FOR-EV-VERRR
FOR-EV-VERRR
FOR-EV-VERRR
Forever ever?
Forever? I think an extra 5 minutes is worth the wait for anything better than McDonald’s.
10 min? Vs like 3-5 min in the drive through, but I can do other shit while the air fryer’s going.
Oh, I’m not advocating McDonalds breakfast, but I remember them taking like 20 minutes in the oven. I’m not a morning person, so I do not plan my breakfast 20 minutes ahead, lol.
people downvoting the shit out of you for speaking truth to Big Homemade Hasbrown
shit takes a minute guys, its ok that not every feature of a home made thing is superior to McDonalds
Yeah, I’m not sure why I struck such a nerve, lol. I just got frustrated because I’m not a morning person, and hashbrowns eggs and bacon take forever! And I can’t get the timing lined up, since I’m half awake, so screw it. Bagel and coffee.
Air fryer is not the oven.
I’m using the tools I have. 🤷
Air fryer cuts it in half.
Can I shit on air fryers for a second though.
How did everyone just accept this horrible example of marketing and branding nonsense? I literally had relatives explaining it to me like it was a magical new way of cooking just invented.
Its a fucking tiny convection oven.
Its a fucking tiny convection oven.
It’s marketing. They know Americans won’t buy an oven, but we love frying things.
- Doesn’t have to be tiny - there are go full sized
- More convection than convection. While there’s not a clear definition of either, companies that do both distinguish them by windiness
- Many countertop models don’t need pre-heating!
- More automated, no need to think. Just press a few buttons and wait for the ding, like a microwave.
the firm would lean on discounts to try to stop the sales decline
So not even price cuts, just temporary discounts. Eff off!
Dynamic pricing inbound.
How about you guys rethink the food
If you can reconstitute some kind of edible food that maintains some semblance of the low price, I think that’ll be enough. People started going to Five Guys and paying $16 because your burgers are clearly made of mouse shit.
The “food” they have now is the product of decades of incremental changes made to cut cost and tinkering with fat, salt and sugar contents to fool your brain into giving you a dopamine hit for eating it. What they have now doesn’t even taste like hamburgers anymore.
Last month, the head of its US operations formally responded to the complaints with an open letter to customers, saying social media was painting an inaccurate picture. He said the average price of a Big Mac in the US, which is now $5.29 (£4.11), was up 21% since 2019 - roughly in line with the pace of inflation - and many items had risen by less.
Sure, place the blame on anyone but themselves.
$5.29 is ridiculous for a Big Mac, which is super tiny.
Especially because that’s just the sandwich, not a side and a drink. A combo meal is like 10.15$
I’m sorry but the quality of the food does not justify 10 dollars.
For comparison, I remember in Berlin not even 5 years ago I got a currywurst with fries and a drink for 3.60 € (about 3.90$), and in London I got an absolute mound of fish and chips with peas for like 6.50 £ (about 8$). Both of these I got as much or way more food than a Big Mac combo and they were much better quality.
I won’t defend McDonald’s, but you’ll struggle to get fish for under £7-8 now, and the chips are £2-3.
In the south, at least.
I think you hit the nail on the head there. Even if they were to lower the prices, they’ll just make the fucking burgers even smaller.
Does anyone remember how much bigger the Big Mac was in the 90’s? Shrinkflation is everywhere.
They could always try to lower the quality standards to lower the price. Lmao! Quality standards! As if!
Can’t wait for the McSawdust in 2026!
roughly in line with the pace of inflation
Roughly in line with the terrible inflation of the past 5 years which has been primarily driven by corporate price gouging.
They largely removed their vegan options. Nuff said.
Because low demand, the demand is low because McDonald’s is a bigger joint. Also most vegans are ethical vegans and wouldn’t support giving business to a huge player in the cattle slaughter game.
