Poll: Has fast food been tasting worse to everybody else?

[solemnwar]

I've only noticed a drop in quality with McDonalds. Mostly because it is almost guaranteed to make me feel sick. Which is a shame since it's the only 24-hr fast food place nearby. There's the Sal's, but it takes a while to get your food since it's all made from scratch, sigh.

A&W, on the hand, seems to have only gotten better since I was a child. They used to put a disgusting level of salt into their food, now it's actually a good amount. I love eating at A&W, too bad the nearest one is over a half hour walk away from me :/

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Nope . I have absolutely no problem with fast food restoraunts . However i wouldn't eat at wendies for my life .

That being said i'm not difficult for food . As long as there is ketchup , i'll eat it. Except wendies , Wendies can die in a fire .

curious, why wendy's in particular?

I don't have much fast food, for it's mostly meaty shit. Why oh why does society not value vegetarians more? :*3

because nothing beats a nice juicy steak/burger...plus my chompers want something meaty to chomp on, when i'm eating salads/fruits/veggies, it's just not the same...*sigh*


seriously, i don't think i've gone for longer than a day without having a burger or steak, i fucking love it to much, and nearly everyone i know is the same. i guess it's just a peer pressure kind of thing? the only vegetarian i know personally is a huge snob about it, maybe that has something to do with disdain for vegetarians?

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I've only noticed a drop in quality with McDonalds. Mostly because it is almost guaranteed to make me feel sick. Which is a shame since it's the only 24-hr fast food place nearby. There's the Sal's, but it takes a while to get your food since it's all made from scratch, sigh.

A&W, on the hand, seems to have only gotten better since I was a child. They used to put a disgusting level of salt into their food, now it's actually a good amount. I love eating at A&W, too bad the nearest one is over a half hour walk away from me :/

jesus, only a mcdonalds/sals/a&w? do you live in the middle of nowhere, or is your area just very clean about what they eat?

i can personally go in a two mile radius from my house and be within 5 different fast food joints (if you include subway)

 

[mysecondlife]

I haven't gone to mcdonalds, burger king, etc for a really long time.

I go to a small time burger diner mostly in morning for its (amazing) breakfast burrito.

The owners and the workers are pretty nice to me and gives me free soda/coffee.

Plus, its only 2 blocks away from where I live. So I have good thing going for my fast food diet.

NO MCDONALD. I DON'T CARE IF YOU OFFER DRINKS FOR ONLY $1.

 

[thejackyl]

I might be biased, but I think it might have something to do with growing older. The reason I'm biased? I worked at a McDonald's for 5 years, and since during most of those 5 years I had no transportation (14-17 I walked from school, and called my parents for a ride home). And since it was the only food place within several miles, I couldn't walk anywhere and we didn't even have a fridge in the break room, so so packing... What I'm getting at is: I ate McDonald's food 5 days a week for about 5 years straight (Strangely I only gained about 30 pounds, and shed it fairly quickly after leaving). SO fast food... food doesn't really sit well with me anymore.

Also, since I quit the store has gone downhill. New management, and one that cares even less than the one we had. I was forced to work after getting burnt enough to warrant going to the hospital. I had to work the SAME DAY I had minor surgery, and I couldn't take my pain/anti-infection meds (both made me drowsy by themselves. Together they practically put me into a 4 hour coma.) When I got my wisdom teeth removed, I was forced to work in the Drive-Thru TAKING ORDERS with a mouth full of bloody gauze. And my former co-workers are saying it started going downhill AFTER I quit.

I think the main problem (where I live) is that growing up we had 3 choices. McDonald's, Wendy's, or KFC. So it grew old quickly since we didn't have much variety.

 

[Ryotknife]

Don't eat fastfood much anymore. Usually when I do it is a Wendy's chili run.

 

[solemnwar]

I've only noticed a drop in quality with McDonalds. Mostly because it is almost guaranteed to make me feel sick. Which is a shame since it's the only 24-hr fast food place nearby. There's the Sal's, but it takes a while to get your food since it's all made from scratch, sigh.

A&W, on the hand, seems to have only gotten better since I was a child. They used to put a disgusting level of salt into their food, now it's actually a good amount. I love eating at A&W, too bad the nearest one is over a half hour walk away from me :/

jesus, only a mcdonalds/sals/a&w? do you live in the middle of nowhere, or is your area just very clean about what they eat?

i can personally go in a two mile radius from my house and be within 5 different fast food joints (if you include subway)

The Sal's and McDs are merely the ones that are 24 hours. There are more places to eat, like Tim Horton's (of course), Subway, Mr Subs, Santa Lucia, Gondola, a bunch more that I never go to so I can't remember the name of lol.

I should probably add that I live in the suburbs of Winnipeg, most of the space is taken up by homes, not businesses.

 

[Goofguy]

For me, it's probably not a question of degrading quality but of personal tastes. I used to love fast food but nowadays, I just don't have the stomach for it anymore. I don't mind the occasional drunk binge on cheap burgers but that's a truly rare occurrence these days. Damn, I must be getting old.

 

[deathzero021]

it's always been terrible but usually as a little kid, you don't know any better. I loved elementary school food, but by middle school i already noticed how disgusting and low quality the food was (and how overpriced, $4.50 for a slice of pizza and 5oz milk) As for fast food such as Mc Donalds and the like, it's always been nasty. i haven't liked that kinda thing since i was 8 years old.

I'm quite serious about food quality and so I cook and prepare 95% of all food i eat. (outside of bagged chips or the rare times i eat at a restaurant)

 

[MysticSlayer]

Depends on the restaurant. I no longer eat Burger King or KFC because they just aren't that good, and I can't even stand the smell of Burger King. Wendy's is sort of iffy, but that is due to it being the last thing I ate prior to throwing up when I got a kidney stone. McDonald's, Chik-fil-A, and Subway are all still really good. I'm not sure if Arby's or Panera Bread count as fast food, but I do enjoy those as well.

 

[silver wolf009]

Bojangles reigns supreme!

Still the best, and still tastes freaking excellent.

 

[jklinders]

First off, sea salt is awesome. though the new fries at Wendy's are no better or worse than the old.

To address the question, I really don't think fast food is getting worse, If anything it is improving due to the simple fact that industry pressure is forcing them to. I remember that in the 80s when you ordered a burger at McDs they took a pre made one off the heat rack and sold to you. Maybe it was there for 10 seconds maybe it was there for 10 minutes but it sure as fuck wasn't fresh made. Far as I know Burger king is the only chain that still uses this appalling practice.

In most cases it's better than in times past though there may have been some backwards steps taken. Maybe it's not so much the food but your own personal tastes that have changed. Also, from some of the content in your post OP it may be that the standards at your local franchises have gone to hell. It should be happening that your fries are burnt. There are timers on the bloody fryers. Maybe to save money they are not changing the oil enough(bad business there) maybe cleanliness is not up snuff(worse) or maybe it's just you. Stuff I loved 5 years ago I would not touch now. I think we all go through that.

 

[Gitty101]

Now that you mention it, I do believe the chicken meals at McDonald's have gotten worse. I just can't stand the mayonnaise they use, it has such a strange and artificial aftertaste. The nuggets are still fine though.

 

[thiosk]

The only fast food I eat is chicken based. Mc Nuggets, and my new love, popeyes fried chicken.

SCREW YOU KFC

LONG LIVE POPEYES

I would hazard a guess that you are simply eating too much fast food. I have it ~3x per year, and its a wonderful treat when I do.

 

[coldfrog]

I said no, but I will caveat that with the fact that I've just moved, and while every Wendy's where I used to live was pretty much unmatchable and even, dare I say, good, the Wendy's here are plops. McDonalds has been consistently the weakest, and BK is too expensive for what you get.

Don't talk to me about Taco Bell... *shudder*

 

[Headsprouter]

I used to eat fast food a lot more as a kid, and loved it, but nowadays I barely ever eat it, and on the occasions I do, the only ones I'll particularly enjoy are McDonalds or Burger King, on occasion. KFC's kinda blegh. I had Wendy's in America once, and it made me want it over here...they have Root Beer over there, too. Aweshum.
But, yeah, I still enjoy Fast Food, but the environment in the Restaurants puts me off a lot. Speaking of fast food, Subway doesn't really count, does it? I eat that quite regularly, and love it to bits. I get a pretty healthy sammich 'erry time.

 

[SecondPrize]

Yeah. I've been eating at fast food places far less often, but the food at most places hasn't been as good as in the past. Who knows what they're using as ingredients to pad their food nowadays, or what the hell they're feeding the cows/chickens.

 

[Risingblade]

KFC used to be the food of the gods to me, but now it's pretty meh. Chicken nuggets haven't been juicy since they changed to "white meat". Burger King used to have the tastiest fries but now they suck.

 

[flarty]

Simple question, is fast food been tasting worse over the last few years for everybody, or is it just me?

As for me, the only thing I ever get at fast food is fries and chicken nuggets/strips, and the last few years around where I live the two McDonalds I live nearby both overcook the fries a bit most of the time, and even when they don't they are barely edible, while Wendy's has been doing "natural cut fries" that already tasted much worse than the actual peeled ones as it was, but then they started putting sea salt in everything instead of using real salt, and don't even get me started on the nuggets.

McDonald's and Wendy's used to be my favorite foods and would never be able to get enough of it, but the last 6 or 7 years or so something happened and things got gradually worse and worse until now, where I can't even eat 1 large fry or a couple of nuggets without the taste causing me to throw it out. The only fast food joint I'll eat at anymore is Dairy Queen, of all places.

2 IMPORTANT NOTES if you never liked fast food much to begin with, this thread is NOT FOR YOU! Also, this is solely about how the food tastes, this thread is not for complaining about how healthy the food is, nobody cares about that anyway.

The fact that fast food such as McDonald is designed to taste the same where ever you go in the world. I'd seriously complain.
Myself, I don't eat from fast food chains because i don't trust the food for the above reason.

 

[Xdeser2]

I know Wendy's and Jack in the Box have changed how they make their burgers and fries, but I kind of like them better now

McDonalds has never been my absolute favorite, but it still tastes fine, and Burger King Still tastes kind of the same to me :/