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

[immortalfrieza]

Most likely (a) there are more and more preservatives in your food and your starting to notice and (b) as you grow older you are developing a palate, and you're lucky enough to be developing one that can detect (a). So congratulations. In a few more years maybe you'll open yourself up to new food experiences and enjoy them with your new ability to discern minute differences in taste. And then maybe in about 10 years you'll wince that you ever said something like "this thread is not for complaining about how healthy the food is, nobody cares about that anyway."

Personally, I think that it's a combination of the fast food industry bowing to the pressure of those "we want healthy food even if it means that the food so terrible that scooping the crap out of our own rear ends and eating it would taste better!" idiots and changing their oils and other ingredients to appease them, and since the prices have barely gone up at all the last few years they're probably using lower quality ingredients to keep the prices down.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I remember as a kid, every friday my parents would get me a happy meal from McDondals and all I ever got was a hamburger with ketchup, I LOVED their hamburgers growing up but (I'm gong to say for a few years) for a few years now since McDonalds changed their recipe for their burgers, I've hated them, I honestly can't eat a regular burger anymore. They now put this black stuff in or on their burgers (I've been told it's pepper) and it just makes the burgers taste awful. I only get the Angus burger now and if not that than Chicken McNuggets.


I also preferred Wendy's fries when I was growing up too, don't care for them now

 

[Sonic Doctor]

snip

Went to Wendy's yesterday. I got two spice chicken wraps, a large fries, and a large root beer. Everything was fantastic. I personally like the natural cut fries and the sea salt. I haven't had chicken nuggets from there in a couple months, but they were fine then, granted I'm a little strange in that I dip my nuggets and fries in a chocolate frosty, which to me makes it taste good no matter what.

Now McDonald's, I haven't like much for some time. Compared to Wendy's, McDonald's chicken items are damn near inedible. It is obvious why they had to discontinue their first run at trying to beat out Wendy's wraps, because unlike Wendy's wraps having half a chicken breast(basically half of what they put on their sandwiches) in them , McDonald's had the equivalent of one one of their "chicken select" strips in a wrap and it was usually almost twice overcooked(about broke a tooth once trying to eat one). It was easily worth going to Wendy's and paying an extra 20 cents for one of their wraps.

Now, I did recently try one of McD's new wraps, but while it didn't taste half bad, they showed that they have no idea how to balance things. I got the one with bacon, the thing cost like $3.99, while it is a little over twice the size of one Wendy's wrap, the thing just barely has as much chicken. The bacon was chewy too, bacon should be crispy, I don't care how long it takes, it should be crispy. I know the thing is suppose to be a "healthy alternative", but the thing isn't properly filling because it doesn't have the right balance of chicken with all the lettuce and tomato in it. Again, I might as well go over to Wendy's and get two wraps for $3.58.

So really the only thing I find appealing these days about McD's is the fries, though I really like Wendy's better. I could eat there every day if I had the money.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I only get the Angus burger now and if not that than Chicken McNuggets.

Recently, McDonald's discontinued their chicken selects line and their fruit salad stuff, but the reason I mention that is that they are also thinking about discontinuing their Angus line as well.

You might need to find a new place to get fast food.

 

[boradam]

Ever since moving to Dallas, I've been going to local restaurants like Dairy-ette, and they have extremely good cheeseburgers, so whenever I go through a Burger King or McDonalds, any time I have their burgers it just tastes like complete and utter garbage, I can't even eat them now -- it just tastes so bland in comparison to other places burgers.

So, yes, it has been tasting worse to me. It might just be that I've been eating real meat again, lol

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I only get the Angus burger now and if not that than Chicken McNuggets.

Recently, McDonald's discontinued their chicken selects line and their fruit salad stuff, but the reason I mention that is that they are also thinking about discontinuing their Angus line as well.

You might need to find a new place to get fast food.

Seriously? I don't go there very often but that sucks! It's the only burger of theirs that I can eat.

Guess I'm finding a new fast food place.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I totally agree with OP.

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.

That's what I thought at first too but I think think the food is actually getting worse.
I don't have a lot of fast food but over the past several years I've seen the quality of Burger King go way down. Nothing there has any flavor anymore or just plain tastes gross.
But that's a complaint I have for all these places and frankly even the meat you get at your average supermarket. The quality of the meat has just gotten worse & worse over the years. And I think the reason is what they feed cattle now a days. You know they actually feed them candy now; expired candy no longer fit for human consumption. So a couple of years ago, my kid's pediatrician suggests we feed our kid grass fed beef. So, it's more expensive but let me tell you it's worth it. It actually tastes like beef. It's weird, it was like I forgot what beef really tastes like. The Dr didn't mention it but I tried the free range chicken and once again, it was like eating chicken for the first time. So I'm loving meat once again but now something like a BK or McD burger just tastes rancid to me. And don't get me started on BK's nuggets; they taste like rice cakes. There's just nothing there but breading.

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.

As for Wendy's fries, their whole "natural cut" fries with the chunks of salt have made them my go to place of the big drive thru chains. Usually when I'm craving fast food I get pizza (I live in NYC so its good here) or KFC (but once again I live in NYC so that means Kennedy Fried Chicken which is a bit ghetto but much tastier, depending on which one you go to; it's not a strict franchise or anything).

 

[Raikas]

Depends on the chain - a lot of them have branched out into new products ("grilled"-style patties, flatbreads, etc) so it's hard to even compare.

That said, the double chocolate doughnut I picked up at Tim Hortons this morning tasted the same as always, so I voted "no".

 

[Comocat]

I eat fast food maybe 1 once every couple months now (used to be a weekly thing when younger) and when I do have them, I really enjoy my cardiac burgers from McDonalds.

 

[scorptatious]

Hmm. For me, the most important part for any fast food restaurant is the fries. If you don't make good fries, I probably won't come again unless it's with someone else who likes to eat there. To me, McDonald's fries are still pretty darn good.

 

[loa]

I don't really eat much from big name fast food temples.
There aren't too many where I live anyway, I grew bored of mc donalds and burger king and they're way too costly for what you get anyway.

My fastfood consumption is quite focused on doner from kebap shops and the quality of those varies heavily depending where you get it anyway.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

LoL If you can't even make the equivalent of a pizza hut crap fest then you really can't talk about cooking food.
Seriously I have yet to find a worse pizza than the hut's. I could easily copy it but ugg why would you ewww.

I would bet any amount money that you and anyone else couldn't make a pizza that's even remotely like Pizza Hut's or any other fast food for that matter in their home, nobody can.

It's pretty easy. Just buy some frozen dough for that extra crappiness.

Or you could make a real home made pizza, one that blows pretty much all the chains and, depending on the state of pizza in your area, a lot of the local joints away.

Seriously, I have a hard time understanding why anyone would voluntarily buy fast food pizza unless A.) they're trying to save money, so a $5 large (that's about the size of a small at a real pizza place) is a good way of doing it, or B.) there are no real pizza places in the area. It's pretty much the same in terms of time and convenience, the difference is in quality and price, with the price typically not being all that much higher.

As far as fast food goes, I can't say I've noticed much difference outside of the fries, which aside from McDonalds have improved across the board. Burger King went from mushy cardboard to pretty tasty, and Wendy's actually uses real potatoes now -- most fast food fries are reconstituted science projects, not strictly speaking french fries.

 

[tahrey]

Somewhat, but I think it's because I've grown up and my expectations of what constitutes decent food has therefore matured. No more a very vaguely meat-flavoured grey disc between two bits of stale bread with something that resembles ketchup and/or tartare on it...

The fries are still good, though they still tend to be a bit limp.

TBH, McDonalds has registered as "food of last resort" for me since at least the turn of the millennium, it's always been tinged with disappointment when it arrives, and the main benefit is that it's affordable (certainly not "cheap"), usually quite available, and it does satiate gnawing hunger and thirst in short order. Plus you can roll up at the drive thru in off peak hours and be back on the road, attempting to unwrap and handle a burger with one hand at 70+ mph within about three minutes flat. Great if you're in a rush. But it's not exactly gourmet, or even hugely enjoyable - certainly not "treat" status like it was when I was a more easily pleased kid (who figured alphabetti spaghetti with mini frankfurters in it was the absolute pinnacle of human achievement).

Burger king is somewhat better. They at least seem to make some kind of effort to retain flavour and moisture within their products. Last time I had one, it was about the same as the first time - perfectly acceptable, though not really any better than a supermarket hamburger, cooked in a domestic grill and served in a supermarket bun. KFC is an actual guilty pleasure, but I very, very rarely have it as I can justify neither the cost nor the mess it makes of the car, hence I can't speak for how it's changed recently.

However, being a true Brit, I haven't skimped so much on the chips and curries. Fish and chips has maintained its usual standard, though there doesn't seem to be as much part-cooked, fish-juice-infused slimy batter on the inside of the crispy shell as there used to be (a true guilty pleasure, which I mourn ), and remains better than anything I could hope to create in my home kitchen. And the most recent non-home-cooked curry I had was equal to the best I've ever tasted. Though the same can't be said for the curry sauce that you can get on chips - it seems to have fallen from it's once lofty peak.

Captcha: Clear blue water. Think it's trying to tell us something?

 

[minispike47]

When I was in my teens I really liked fast food. Now i'm in my twenties I don't enjoy it as much. I think its just because I don't like how greasy it is and it makes me feel slightly ill. On the other hand, there is nothing better than a Big Mac at 2am after a night out!

 

[Commissar Sae]

I mostly try to get my fast food at small local restaurants now rather than the big chains. Most of the big ones serve a pretty awful meal and last time I ate at McDonalds I had indigestion. So while I still enjoy junk food, I try to buy it from smaller vendors now.

 

[immortalfrieza]

LoL If you can't even make the equivalent of a pizza hut crap fest then you really can't talk about cooking food.
Seriously I have yet to find a worse pizza than the hut's. I could easily copy it but ugg why would you ewww.

I would bet any amount money that you and anyone else couldn't make a pizza that's even remotely like Pizza Hut's or any other fast food for that matter in their home, nobody can.

It's pretty easy. Just buy some frozen dough for that extra crappiness.

Or you could make a real home made pizza, one that blows pretty much all the chains and, depending on the state of pizza in your area, a lot of the local joints away.

Seriously, I have a hard time understanding why anyone would voluntarily buy fast food pizza unless A.) they're trying to save money, so a $5 large (that's about the size of a small at a real pizza place) is a good way of doing it, or B.) there are no real pizza places in the area. It's pretty much the same in terms of time and convenience, the difference is in quality and price, with the price typically not being all that much higher.

You forgot C.) That fast food pizza especially ones like Pizza Hut is leaps and bounds better than anything anyone could possibly make at home, which is the real reason.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

LoL If you can't even make the equivalent of a pizza hut crap fest then you really can't talk about cooking food.
Seriously I have yet to find a worse pizza than the hut's. I could easily copy it but ugg why would you ewww.

I would bet any amount money that you and anyone else couldn't make a pizza that's even remotely like Pizza Hut's or any other fast food for that matter in their home, nobody can.

It's pretty easy. Just buy some frozen dough for that extra crappiness.

Or you could make a real home made pizza, one that blows pretty much all the chains and, depending on the state of pizza in your area, a lot of the local joints away.

Seriously, I have a hard time understanding why anyone would voluntarily buy fast food pizza unless A.) they're trying to save money, so a $5 large (that's about the size of a small at a real pizza place) is a good way of doing it, or B.) there are no real pizza places in the area. It's pretty much the same in terms of time and convenience, the difference is in quality and price, with the price typically not being all that much higher.

You forgot C.) That fast food pizza especially ones like Pizza Hut is leaps and bounds better than anything anyone could possibly make at home, which is the real reason.

Um, no it's not. I can make a better pizza using canned biscuits for the crust, and that's not bragging. Home made pizza is amazing, and it's even better with actual pizza dough.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

They just opened up a 5 Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant down the street, meaning I will never eat a burger anywhere else again. Also, I always thought that McDonalds' burgers were shit, so not much loss for me. I have traditionally been a nugget man myself.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

They just opened up a 5 Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant down the street, meaning I will never eat a burger anywhere else again. Also, I always thought that McDonalds' burgers were shit, so not much loss for me. I have traditionally been a nugget man myself.

Okay, Five Guys is godly. I know of local burger joints that are better, but no chains.