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

[immortalfrieza]

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.

 

[JoJo]

Nope, same as ever to me, had a Big Mac and large fries today and it was delicious. I do find that individual joints vary in how hot the food is, how clean it is etc, so maybe just your local branches have been going downhill?

 

[Wadders]

I only ever go to MacDonalds, and it's always great. Especially drunk at 2am.

Oh, and Dominos too. Can't say I've noticed a change in that either. Maybe you're just getting a bit bored or jaded about fast food. Perhaps dont have any for month or two, then come back to it. I bet you'll find it delicious again :-D

 

[immortalfrieza]

Nope, same as ever to me, had a Big Mac and large fries today and it was delicious. I do find that individual joints vary in how hot the food is, how clean it is etc, so maybe just your local branches have been going downhill?

Maybe so, when I go down south by a state to visit my Grandmother the fast food joints are a little better, but maybe not since it's not by much.

 

[immortalfrieza]

I only ever go to MacDonalds, and it's always great. Especially drunk at 2am.

Oh, and Dominos too. Can't say I've noticed a change in that either. Maybe you're just getting a bit bored or jaded about fast food. Perhaps dont have any for month or two, then come back to it. I bet you'll find it delicious again :-D

I haven't had any McDonalds more than once every couple of months for the past several years, and I've stopped eating Wendy's entirely. In fact, I get a craving every once in a while to try it again in the vain hope that they might actually go back to being good, and they never are.

 

[DoPo]

Well, I...

if you never liked fast food much to begin with, this thread is NOT FOR YOU!

Dammit, foiled again! For what it's worth, on the occasions I do buy fast food, it's not from a big name franchise and I'm usually very happy with it - it's cheaper and more than what I'd get in KFC or McDonalds. I suppose what I'm getting at is you can try to branch out and try some more places.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Dammit, foiled again! For what it's worth, on the occasions I do buy fast food, it's not from a big name franchise and I'm usually very happy with it - it's cheaper and more than what I'd get in KFC or McDonalds. I suppose what I'm getting at is you can try to branch out and try some more places.

I have actually tired a few other places, most of which are either too expensive compared to it's taste to justify getting it any more than once in a blue moon or no better than McDonalds is these days, like Long John Silvers or Arby's or whatever, but so far only Dairy Queen has been good enough to be worth eating all that often, and since I don't have a car it's also the only one close enough for me to eat all that often.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

I wouldn't really know. Out of all the big name fast food chains the only one I go to is KFC and I eat there twice a year at most, so I can't really comment. Otherwise I go to either local Chinese/Indian takeaways or local Fish and Chip shops and they've always kept to the same quality of being absolutely delicious.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

eh well we have an absolute SHIT ton of fast food places around, so it more or less depends on which one you pick to go to.

the ghetto area ones? yeah probably gonna get an hour old burger and some old fries.

the nice new mcdonalds by the suburbs? holy shit, i'll take 80 large fries. SO GOOD.

 

[everythingbeeps]

As far as fast food goes, a lot of it is getting worse, but a lot of it is stuff that I used to like but now just disgusts me because I overthink what's in it. I used to love McDonalds nuggets, and while they're probably better quality now, I can't eat them because I know/worry what's in them.

The biggest tragedy is BK's "original" chicken sandwiches. They used to be amazing. They had flavor. Now they're just so bland.


I can't really think of any fast food that's gotten better with time, but whatever it is, it's probably at Wendy's. I'd say their fries are better than they used to be.


My biggest problem with fast food (other than how bad it is for me) is that no single place does everything well. I like BK burgers/sandwiches, but their fries are awful. I love McD's fries (if they're done right), but I can't eat anything else there. Wendy's fries are fine if they're done right, but they're inedible if they aren't fresh; same with their nuggets. The upside is that since fast food restaurants can often be found bunched together, it's not a big deal to go to BK for a sandwich and then across the street for fries and a coke at McD's.

KFC has become entirely inedible.

I still have a weakness for Arby's, but that's mostly because there's only one even remotely near me, and it's still a half hour drive away, so I end up having it only like once every few months.

And DQ doesn't do anything really well, though their fries are what I'd probably consider the "safest".

 

[Neverhoodian]

It could be your taste buds are changing. People's tastes in food tend to change over time. I remember when I absolutely despised tomatoes as a kid, but now I think they're great.

You mentioned how they're starting to use different ingredients. This may be a factor as well. It's surprising sometimes how even a slight alteration to a recipe can radically change the taste.

It could be new management/employees at your locations. Given the typically high turnover rate for such places, it's entirely possible the folks who staff the fast food places in your area give less of a shit about quality and freshness than the old crew. Maybe negligence is causing them to make stupid mistakes, like frying chicken nuggets in the vat they use to fry fish (that happened to me once...not very appetizing).

 

[Shia-Neko-Chan]

I voted no, then I remembered tasting a distinct change in Wendy's burger patties. I think they changed to a cheaper meat so I don't like them as much.

It's offset though because I like McDonalds a lot more than I used to.

 

[Slaanesh]

Well KFC's grilled menu is tasting the same as ever(absolutely delicious), and I had Taco Bell for the first time in months 2 weeks ago and that tasted great as well, so it is probably just you. Did you try asking your buddies if they noticed anything?

 

[lRookiel]

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

 

[krazykidd]

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 .

 

[Scarim Coral]

Other than the nugget contain far less salt then it used to be (I clearly remember that as I always needed a drink after eating those) they pretty much the same for me for the most part (I sometime notice it shape differently like too much or less letture in my burger but that depend on the person who put it on).

 

[immortalfrieza]

It could be your taste buds are changing. People's tastes in food tend to change over time. I remember when I absolutely despised tomatoes as a kid, but now I think they're great.

I doubt it, the only thing that's been getting worse for me is fast food specifically, if my taste buds were changing the entire range of foods I eat wouldn't change. That, and it only seems to apply to McDonalds and Wendy's, I've always liked Dairy Queen, KFC, Pizza Hut, and so forth and they're still just as good as they used to be.

You mentioned how they're starting to use different ingredients. This may be a factor as well. It's surprising sometimes how even a slight alteration to a recipe can radically change the taste.

Personally I think it has something to do with this "make fast food healthier" health kick that the U.S. has been obsessed with the last few years since they started it around the time this began happening.

 

[hazabaza1]

Why oh why does society not value vegetarians more? :*3

Pussy.

OT: I still enjoy the occasional fast food thing, and they taste just as good/bad as always. Assuming here, but maybe it's an America thing?

 

[piinyouri]

Only two fast food places in my town I refuse to eat are Sonic and McDonalds.
Aside from those, nothing has changed taste wise.