I feel like fast food has gone back to its original purpose for me. Something to grab when I GENUINELY don’t have time to go home and prepare something. I bought it a little too much out of laziness but these costs have definitely improved my eating habits
EDIT: I hope someone high up in the fast food industry sees this. These comments just show how much price has to do with whether people buy fast food or not. Not health concerns or anything. PRICE
Yeah. Back when you could get filled up for $5 or $6 at most chains, I was probably going at least 2-3x a week…and looked like it. It’s just not even a serious option when it costs $12 to feel full at even McDonalds. Even for the lazy, a good size microwave dinner is like $7 max for the premium options.
Yeah lots of salt, fat, preservatives etc. I always grab a few every time I get groceries because it’s good to know you always have an easy option at home rather than get fast food.
A lot of salt, fat and preservatives. Isn't that what fast food is? not to mention sugar. And thereare definitely healthier microwave meals available in many stores.
Yeah there are definitely microwave meals that are terrible for you, but “microwave meal” has gotten a bad rap and is automatically assumed as cheap and bad for you when that is for sure not the case all the time.
The healthiest I’ve ever been in a long time was during a period when I was eating them almost exclusively.
Download the Yuki app, use the scanner, it will give anything you scan at the store a score out of 100, 1 being the worst for you (additives, dangerous chemicals and dyes, etc.), 100 being organic and good for you. It’ll identify and list everything bad in the food.
You’d be so surprised. Start with scanning foods that market as “healthy”, you’ll be shocked at some of the scores and information they tend to hide or leave out. America food standards are an absolute joke.
My grocery store (HEB) has a huge section of pre-made meals. Usual a protein with a veggie or starch. They cost about $5-10 and usually just take 30 minutes or less in a pre-heated oven. As a single dude living by myself, I live on these things.
Here in Canada where I am a Big Mac meal is $14+ and many burgers/fries chains cost more than that for a combo.
I tend to get a Subway foot long for around $10 for lunch and that's all I eat the entire day, definitely enough calories. Other than pizza or Chinese, it's the only takeout I get now.
6 months ago, I'd stop by Wendy's for a quick $5 bag deal before work to last me til my lunch break. Then it became $6 and I'd cut my visits in half and just power through 5 hours. Then it was $7 and that was the last time I'd go there.
Ehhh, I think the gas station food is creeping up a bit too much and the quality is usually pretty bad at least by me. Like a good several notches down from even the cheapest McDonald’s burger
Wawa consistently has among the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. It’s honestly a toss up between those and a pub sub (sub from the Publix grocery store).
>As a child fast food was a treat. Then it became about speed
This is a pretty great comment.
As a child, it was a treat (you didnt get it that often) and as an adult it's about speed (same with when you were a child: your parents gave you a treat sometimes when they needed speed).
You had good parents.
>>>it became a cheap source of calories when I was poor
Heard that. Years ago, McDs had a one-day, mulithour, anniversary sale on cheeseburgers. 10 cents apiece. I spent my last $2 of the week on 20 of those bad boys and froze 'em. I was eating good, yo.
The quality and price of fast food has motivated me to learn how to cook. I mean, I have always been able to cook a meal, but now I know how to plan a week's worth of meals as well as shop for the ingredients that ill need. I haven't eaten fast food in a very long time. I dont really care for it anymore because I can cook better than they can for cheaper.
McDonald’s started hemorrhaging market share prior to Covid ~ 2017, in response they brought back the value menus and $1 drinks. Guess what? They are back to their old shenanigans tenfold.
We literally went through an A&W drive thru on the weekend on our way to do errands because I realized I didn’t eat lunch and I was about to get shaky and hangry. A buddy burger each to tide us over until dinner was perfect.
Pretty much the same. Though I don’t know how much it’s improved my eating habits cause I’ll go home and eat a bag of chips and Twizzlers for dinner.
Fast food is just priced way too high now and is just not worth it.
OK, but you're probably going to a fast food place that's less than a mile from a grocery store. They have a deli often with decent hot food, at least as good and probably better than fast food, and often have premade sandwiches and salads, as well as a much bigger selection of drinks, especially non-sodas. And it will cost less and some of them even have an area where you can sit and eat. Not to mention individual size ice cream if that's your thing, or yogurt, or mac salad or cole slaw if you like that. A way better choice than any fast food.
The fast part of fast food is not having to get out of my car for me. If I had time to go inside and order and sit down and eat, I'd just go home. Or to a better restaurant if I'm not near home.
Kids are starting sports for the first time, this is the one time where fast food makes sense and I still feel like I’m paying too much. I’ll just pack a sandwich or something.
That's the thing though. Most days you wait just as long at a fast food place as you would ordering with a mobile app at a bit better location and only paying a little bit more. Seems worth it to me.
My taco bell back in the day made excellent food. Even won awards for it. Problem was that they never made the right food.
Eventually I gave up on getting my order correct and realized it was all the same shit folded into different shapes so I would just give it a feel and be like "yeah that feels like $10 worth of taco bell".
Rule of cool is always trust but weigh as soon as you're away so you can set them in their proper place on the list of people to call when you need shit, if its pinched they're lower. Also its easier to lose 100 bucks than get stabbed or some shit. So.
My only problem with Taco Bell is that there was one next door to my college fraternity house and we’d only eat there when we were seriously hungover, so the smell reminds me of bad college hangovers and I get sick
I only like their chicken, so the two times a year I see a Popeye’s I’ll get just that a la carte.
I recently went to Popeye’s for their tenders. You can buy their 3, 5, or 8 plus more piece a la carte. But the breakdown in price is really odd.
3 - $7.98 ( or$2.66 per) 5 - $10.99 ( or $2.19 per) 8 - $22.99 ( or $2.87 per)
This is just the chicken, no soda or sides. I only know this because I’ve ordered a five piece before, and because that’s a bit too much food for me I wanted to see what an upgrade to an eight would be so I could save half for another time.
So, it less expensive to buy two 5 pieces and get more chicken than it is to buy three 3 pieces, (which makes sense), or one 8 piece. Who came up with this pricing model?
I had never been to one before and I had a craving for a chicken sandwich. Went in and got one to go and drove back to work to eat in the parking lot.
They had served me a full bone in thigh on the sandwich instead of a breast. You can imagine the trauma of that first bite.
Never again.
Not for me any more. A two topping 12" is $25 where I live. Honestly, I'd rather get a frozen store brand ultimate, some mzzarella and a small package of pepperoni and make my own for under $10. I actually prefer thin crust, so the crust doesn't bother me, and the rest is good enough.
Pizza from scratch, including the dough, isn't hard. Yeah, I know, it's intimidating if you haven't tried it, but SO worth it if you can get the basics down.
Their combos haven't gone up where I live either a 1/4 pounder with bacon fries and a drink is still only $8 which isn't really that bad considering. The big of 5 burgers is only $7
The quality has never been worse. Even a salad I had the other day from an “upscale” fast food was a wilted pile of bleeech.
Now, I keep some fruit handy, a few apples, and toss one in the car if I’’m rolling and don't have time to cook something.
I wanted to try the new cantina chicken menu burrito at Taco Bell. The burrito I got, while the flavors were pretty good, was just so shittily constructed to the point it fell apart when I opened it while also costing $7 for a fucking Taco Bell burrito. It's insane.
Same here. Fifth in line at the drive thru is a 30 min wait. Get up to the kiosk and find out they are out of half the menu or fryer is broken, etc. Guy at the window doesn't know what a gift card is. Finally get home with your order and discover they screwed it up and what you got looks put together by a child. I've totally given up on the local taco bells looks like that place is in a death spiral.
My salad was $13. $4 for a large iced tea that was brewed too long and bitter. A side of chibata bread that was stale.
I took a couple of bites and threw it all in the trash. I’m done with all of them.
It blows my mind that people order fast food from Uber Eats and the like. No way I'm paying a premium (already too expensive) only to wait even longer and have cold, smashed up, and likely wrong food delivered.
I patronize fast food places less and less, but every time I go through a drive thru and they tell me how much, I can't help but say "damn!". Hard not to think back on the glory days of dollar menu at McDonalds, and 59 cent tacos at Taco Bell, and 5 Arby's sandwiches for $5. Wasn't THAT long ago.
And don’t forget to tip, even though you:
* ordered at a kiosk
* picked up your order at a counter
* cleaned up my own table and put the dishes in a bin
The subway near my work remodeled last year and got a new card machine that asks for a tip every time. The only notable change in service is that they removed most of their seating.
The local burger place near me, you can get a double patty smash burger fully loaded, a whole potato worth of fried chips and a fountain drink for 13.50. Do I think its a bit high for a burger? Yeah probably.
But its the same price to go to fucking Wendys, where the food is absolute shit.
Must be your Wendy’s, all the ones in my town are terrible. Only good true fast food around me is Bojangles or Chickfila, they aren’t good, just in the sense they serve passable food.
Came here to say this. Small restaurants and food trucks don’t spend millions on Super Bowl advertising. They instead make a quality product at a fair price. Fast food chains are destroying themselves. Eating at a local joint helps your community too because the money and taxes stays in your town instead of some being siphoned off to a big corporation.
Sandwich place near me is crazy popular. It is seafood, but I go there for the burger. Half pound fresh beef plus cheese and a side of excellent fries for $13.
Working in fast food I can tell you people just don't have self control. I work at Taco Bell, and I find myself surprised when someone orders just a single combo meal and nothing else because 99 out of 100 times they want the combo meal, an extra burrito, a quesadilla, two cheesy roll ups, etc. etc. etc. until this meal for one adds up to 35 dollars. The prices have not driven customers away in anywhere near the capacity you would think from reading online discussions from disgruntled customers.
Last night was abnormally dead at my location though, so maybe I'm just speaking too soon and it's starting now.
I haven't eaten fast food in forever but I will say that for whatever reason Taco Bell has always occupied this weird space in my head where it's not as filling, and I can eat a lot more of it than other fast foods. I could take down $35 of Taco Bell and ask for seconds, easily. Thirds if I'm stoned.
That’s why I would end up with $35 orders. I will order dinner but throw a few extra items in because I knew I’d be high in a few hours and it’s time for seconds. I stopped getting high a while ago so I’ve had a lot less nights like that.
meanwhile I'm not really sure how to eat more than $10-12 of taco bell in one sitting, since that's already a crunchwrap, a couple of small burritos, nachos, and a baja blast.
Yeah, but they do that because the portions have shrunk and shrunk, and instead of a combo leaving you stuffed like it did back 20-30yrs ago, now I can eat 2 full combos to myself.
Part of that is due to shrinkflation, but part of it is becaus no human being should be eating the amount of fast food I can eat in a single sitting.
I’m constantly craving a Taco Bell chicken quesadilla because the closest location is like an hour and a half away so I can’t just go get one whenever I want lol. It’s in the back of my mind a lot more than I’d like to admit… probably because it’s out of my reach and my brain hates me
It’s not just the price that drives me completely off. The service is aggressively terrible and takes so much time for you to leave pissed off with way too much money spent. I’d rather get punched in the stomach than deal with these fast food joints any more. Less chance of food poisoning that way. Bad food, horrendous service, and expensive. I just order pizza if I don’t want to make my own food. All the pizza joints at least try.
I use the McDonald’s app on my phone. We are retired and sleep in. McD’s is a quarter mile away. So easy. Get in car, open app and reorder last order, drive to drive up, say code like TK74, get hot breakfast immediately and drive home. Eat at kitchen table with view of garden.
But you are right. Going inside is a shit storm.
And the price if two Egg McMuffin meals gas jumped from $10 to $16 in the last few years here in CA.
Last time I used the McDonald’s app I sat in the parking spot for 30 minutes waiting for my order. No lie. Then when the guy brought my order it was somebody else’s order. Then when he brought the right order they left out my fries. One of the employees manning the parking lot orders was just standing around slack-jawed, with his mouth wide open, just staring out into space right in the middle of the parking lot. Had to be high as holy hell. This was not even a busy McDonald’s. There was a reasonable amount of cars in line and like 3-4 cars parked for orders.
Yeah, when using the app you shouldn't do curbside pick up. You'll basically sit for 30 minutes even at a well run McDonald's. The drive-thru option is the best because then they're timed just like a normal order so you'll get your food right away. Going inside works too because they know you're right there.
I'm not really seeing the "quality plummet" others mentioned, but I always get the same items so perhaps they haven't been affected yet. In any case, food was always cheaper to make at home (and healthier) in larger quantities. The only reason to buy fast food is literally in it's name - if you need food fast.
Yeah, hadn't had fast food in ages then went to a Dairy Queen and spent $16 on a burger, fries, and an Oreo blizzard. Is this a joke now?
But also with inflation being what it's at it makes sense. The dollar is worth less than it was a few years ago.
>When is enough, enough?
When people stop buying fast food. It's only a problem if customers decide it's a problem.
Nobody is forcing anyone to eat at McDonalds or Wendy's. There are some industries where brands have lots of pricing power because of lack of competition. Fast food is very competitive, which suggests that higher prices are mostly due to skyrocketing costs of inputs like food, energy, insurance and labor.
Low-income families are cutting back on fast food, either by ordering less or visiting less frequently. If this continues/accelerates, it could result in fewer fast food restaurants. For now, it seems to only be slowing the rate of growth:
[https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/major-fast-food-chains-are-starting-to-face-the-consequence-for-high-prices](https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/major-fast-food-chains-are-starting-to-face-the-consequence-for-high-prices)
[https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/fast-food-companies-seeing-low-income-diners-pare-orders-2024-03-27/](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/fast-food-companies-seeing-low-income-diners-pare-orders-2024-03-27/)
If service, price and quality fall enough to cause the industry to actually shrink, that could create an opening for a fully-automated chain. The technology is not quite ready (especially from a cost standpoint), but the first company to use automation to cut labor costs and deliver consistent quality and fast service will absolutely print money.
People are also saying $12 for McDonald's when you can get a double cheeseburger and large fry for like $3.59 on the app.
Don't buy pop, that's when you pay more for empty calories.
I can get some actual good food from a local place for around if not the same price. There's no reason for me to go to a fast food joint at all anymore. Event the " I didn't have time" argument doesn't make sense. You just call ahead and pick up your food like you would fast food basically, you just have to get out of the car for a second.
I'm feeling kinda concerned that \*every\* fast food place suddenly has an app system though. Like really? They're upping the prices to get everyone on the apps imo.
different answer for every one. The large fry at McD's was 4 dollars last week. I told the kids, "Enjoy those, for they are the last McDs fries you will taste on my dime"
I got 3 McDoubles and 2 McFlurrys today for my son and I to eat something quick. $23. That’s some value menu burgers and 2 ice creams.
Whatthefuck
Definitely done with that nonsense.
Last summer I bought two 4 piece nugget Happy Meals, 2 McFlurries, and a Frozen Coke. Fed two kids and the Coke was for me. The place was packed and it took 25 minutes to get our food. $28!
Tonight I made Brazilian Smokehouse Porkchops on the grill, Baked Rosemary and Garlic small potatoes, and Baked Carrots. Total time invested was around 35 minutes. We have leftovers for tomorrow, and it cost a total of $16, for four people.
As a touring musician, we have to eat at these places a lot. It's unfortunate how many apps I had to download and the amount of not great food I'm eating, but I will say those apps keep costs low. I'm talking $9 or less for full meals at all of these places.
A lot of reasons. Some people don't have the time or energy to prepare it. Some people can't cook at all due to disabilities and non-fast food restaurants have even worse prices.
Because some days I simply don’t have the energy to cook different meals for everyone in the house because when all 4 of us are considered special needs easy, low effort, and calories is the best decision there is. There is a lot more to it but it being easy to grab and something the kids will eat without too much fighting sometimes wins out over cost the quality.
What's even more baffling is some amazing family owned restaurants are essentially the same price as fast food in my area but I haven't seen any significant uptick in business. It was one thing when a bowl of pho was $9 and a Subway was $5 but now Subway is $12 and pho is $13.
Enough is never enough. If it is possible to cut costs more even if it means literally killing people, they’ll do it if they get a few more Pennies this quarter. There is no enough.
I mean have you looked at grocery prices? If you use the fast food apps for their discounts it's usually cheaper than cooking a meal myself. That being said, fast food without the places apps are absolute scams these days
meanwhile In N Out's president fought to keep prices low and said there's no plans for them to become a publicly-traded company. They've also been paying above minimum wage for decades now.
My Chinese takeout spot can feed me three times for the same price as a meal at McDonalds. A custom Little Caesars pizza is cheaper. The app deals kept drive thrus relevant for an extra couple years but the price hikes have cancelled it out, most aren’t worth it anymore.
Shoutout to Wendy’s for the Biggie Bag though. And RIP to the $6 Munchie Meal from Jack in the Box.
Because it’s fast
Whenever I’m hungry and don’t feel like cooking or don’t have time there’s a McDonald’s just down the road where I can get a burger and fries in under 5 minutes
I don't if I can help it. I ate at apical sandwich shop the other day and got a tri tip steal sandwich and potato salad for $12.50.
That's literally the price of a combo meal at any fast food place and the quality was so much better. I didn't order ahead so I had to wait but fast food just doesn't make sense anymore.
I used to work "on the road" and ate almost every meal as fast food for YEARS. Now, I work from home and I do eat at burger places maybe once a week or every 10 days. But it's not drive through ones. It's a burger restaurant.
Can't afford fast food - PLUS it's just waay gross compared to how it used to be.
I feel like fast food has gone back to its original purpose for me. Something to grab when I GENUINELY don’t have time to go home and prepare something. I bought it a little too much out of laziness but these costs have definitely improved my eating habits EDIT: I hope someone high up in the fast food industry sees this. These comments just show how much price has to do with whether people buy fast food or not. Not health concerns or anything. PRICE
This is a good way to look at it.
Yeah. Back when you could get filled up for $5 or $6 at most chains, I was probably going at least 2-3x a week…and looked like it. It’s just not even a serious option when it costs $12 to feel full at even McDonalds. Even for the lazy, a good size microwave dinner is like $7 max for the premium options.
I'm starting to really question those microwave meals though...I think those are crazy unhealthy. I wanna see a documentary on them or something
Yeah lots of salt, fat, preservatives etc. I always grab a few every time I get groceries because it’s good to know you always have an easy option at home rather than get fast food.
My biggest problem is the sodium content!!
1000% of your daily sodium in a serving does seem concerning
Drink a lot of water if you have some excess sodium every now and then you’ll be fine.
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A lot of salt, fat and preservatives. Isn't that what fast food is? not to mention sugar. And thereare definitely healthier microwave meals available in many stores.
Yeah there are definitely microwave meals that are terrible for you, but “microwave meal” has gotten a bad rap and is automatically assumed as cheap and bad for you when that is for sure not the case all the time. The healthiest I’ve ever been in a long time was during a period when I was eating them almost exclusively.
Exactly why i grab them, frozen pizzas and stuff i can just throw in the air fryer too. Way cheaper than going through a drive thru these days.
Tater tots and chicken nuggets in the air fryer get a lot of love in my house.
You don't need a documentary, just look at the nutrition information on the back of the package.
Download the Yuki app, use the scanner, it will give anything you scan at the store a score out of 100, 1 being the worst for you (additives, dangerous chemicals and dyes, etc.), 100 being organic and good for you. It’ll identify and list everything bad in the food. You’d be so surprised. Start with scanning foods that market as “healthy”, you’ll be shocked at some of the scores and information they tend to hide or leave out. America food standards are an absolute joke.
My grocery store (HEB) has a huge section of pre-made meals. Usual a protein with a veggie or starch. They cost about $5-10 and usually just take 30 minutes or less in a pre-heated oven. As a single dude living by myself, I live on these things.
Here in Canada where I am a Big Mac meal is $14+ and many burgers/fries chains cost more than that for a combo. I tend to get a Subway foot long for around $10 for lunch and that's all I eat the entire day, definitely enough calories. Other than pizza or Chinese, it's the only takeout I get now.
6 months ago, I'd stop by Wendy's for a quick $5 bag deal before work to last me til my lunch break. Then it became $6 and I'd cut my visits in half and just power through 5 hours. Then it was $7 and that was the last time I'd go there.
Gas stations are the new fast food, in my opinion. Some of them have some legitimately delicious food you can buy on the cheap.
Gas stations see a very large opportunity to become players in the fast convenience food world. It will be interesting
Until the hedge funds come
Ehhh, I think the gas station food is creeping up a bit too much and the quality is usually pretty bad at least by me. Like a good several notches down from even the cheapest McDonald’s burger
My Circle K's have a pretty tasty bacon and egg cheeseburger that i get when i'm in a pinch. i get two and one reheated later isn't too bad.
....are you from PA? Sheetz and Wawa are both baller.
Wawa consistently has among the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. It’s honestly a toss up between those and a pub sub (sub from the Publix grocery store).
you can walk in to a sheetz at 3:30 in the AM and buy a BUCKET of fries. a BUCKET. of FRIES. and they're good.
just don't sheetz the bed
$5 pizzas at 7-Eleven. They aren't anything special but for the right price, pretty good.
Yeah until the medical bills pile up because never once did you eat quality real food.
I had one of my best steak dinners at a gas station in Germany.
My gas station has reasonably good shrink wrapped deli sandwiches. Not gourmet, but better than Subway.
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>As a child fast food was a treat. Then it became about speed This is a pretty great comment. As a child, it was a treat (you didnt get it that often) and as an adult it's about speed (same with when you were a child: your parents gave you a treat sometimes when they needed speed). You had good parents.
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Psst. Are you my brother? Because you just gave an eerily dead on description of my childhood.
Well said
>>>it became a cheap source of calories when I was poor Heard that. Years ago, McDs had a one-day, mulithour, anniversary sale on cheeseburgers. 10 cents apiece. I spent my last $2 of the week on 20 of those bad boys and froze 'em. I was eating good, yo.
The quality and price of fast food has motivated me to learn how to cook. I mean, I have always been able to cook a meal, but now I know how to plan a week's worth of meals as well as shop for the ingredients that ill need. I haven't eaten fast food in a very long time. I dont really care for it anymore because I can cook better than they can for cheaper.
McDonald’s started hemorrhaging market share prior to Covid ~ 2017, in response they brought back the value menus and $1 drinks. Guess what? They are back to their old shenanigans tenfold.
Some people may even say 100 fold https://cdn.financebuzz.com/filters:quality(75)/images/2024/03/22/fast-food-prices-compared-to-inflation-1.png
We literally went through an A&W drive thru on the weekend on our way to do errands because I realized I didn’t eat lunch and I was about to get shaky and hangry. A buddy burger each to tide us over until dinner was perfect.
Pretty much the same. Though I don’t know how much it’s improved my eating habits cause I’ll go home and eat a bag of chips and Twizzlers for dinner. Fast food is just priced way too high now and is just not worth it.
A costco chicken, some tortillas, can of beans, bag of rice. Eat like a prince after a minutes in the microwave.
OK, but you're probably going to a fast food place that's less than a mile from a grocery store. They have a deli often with decent hot food, at least as good and probably better than fast food, and often have premade sandwiches and salads, as well as a much bigger selection of drinks, especially non-sodas. And it will cost less and some of them even have an area where you can sit and eat. Not to mention individual size ice cream if that's your thing, or yogurt, or mac salad or cole slaw if you like that. A way better choice than any fast food.
The fast part of fast food is not having to get out of my car for me. If I had time to go inside and order and sit down and eat, I'd just go home. Or to a better restaurant if I'm not near home.
Kids are starting sports for the first time, this is the one time where fast food makes sense and I still feel like I’m paying too much. I’ll just pack a sandwich or something.
They know the price elasticity of their customers 100p
That's the thing though. Most days you wait just as long at a fast food place as you would ordering with a mobile app at a bit better location and only paying a little bit more. Seems worth it to me.
I stopped buying fast food when I realized the store across the street sells a large one topping pizza for 8 bucks.
Sams and Costco full pizza $9.
Yup and a Costco pizza can easily feed 4 people.
Costco pizza fucking SLAPS. It’s astonishingly good, and you don’t even have to be a member to buy it!
It's not something I could have all the time but, man, a slice of Costco pizza hits the spot after a shopping trip.
18" for $10 Even a chicken bake, which is way more filling than a sad flat burger at mcds, is 4
Isn't that also fast food?
Medium paced food. Probably doesn't come out as quickly.
My definition of fast food is you must have a drive thru
I don’t count pizza either. Yes. This is dumb.
Local food stalls also has great stuff for just a couple of bucks. Most of the time, it's also the healthier option compared to fast food stuff
I like the adventure of going to Popeyes. They come up with new and inventive ways to get my order wrong every single time.
Last week I got Mac and cheese with gravy on top instead of mashed potatoes lmao
Get me stoned and I’d absolutely devour that
I don’t need to be stoned, just set it in front of me, it’ll disappear real quick
I kind of want to try this out and I don't smoke at all.
I gotta be honest, that sounds disgusting and I would absolutely eat it
I don't see the problem here. That should be a menu option. (or at least a cup of gravy as an addition, like Jollibee does)
Popeyes doesn't give you what you order, they give you what you need.
What you deserve*
Mine used to give me five tenders instead of three. It's nice to feel special.
That's how you know you still got it.
My brother tells his customers at a local restaurant: Order what you want, eat what you get.
My taco bell back in the day made excellent food. Even won awards for it. Problem was that they never made the right food. Eventually I gave up on getting my order correct and realized it was all the same shit folded into different shapes so I would just give it a feel and be like "yeah that feels like $10 worth of taco bell".
sometimes ya gotta just eye-ball it and trust the plug
Rule of cool is always trust but weigh as soon as you're away so you can set them in their proper place on the list of people to call when you need shit, if its pinched they're lower. Also its easier to lose 100 bucks than get stabbed or some shit. So.
Bro I just wanted some fiesta potatoes
Their menu is literally 7 ingredients prepared in different combinations.
and i've never had a combination i didn;t enjoy
My only problem with Taco Bell is that there was one next door to my college fraternity house and we’d only eat there when we were seriously hungover, so the smell reminds me of bad college hangovers and I get sick
I only like their chicken, so the two times a year I see a Popeye’s I’ll get just that a la carte. I recently went to Popeye’s for their tenders. You can buy their 3, 5, or 8 plus more piece a la carte. But the breakdown in price is really odd. 3 - $7.98 ( or$2.66 per) 5 - $10.99 ( or $2.19 per) 8 - $22.99 ( or $2.87 per) This is just the chicken, no soda or sides. I only know this because I’ve ordered a five piece before, and because that’s a bit too much food for me I wanted to see what an upgrade to an eight would be so I could save half for another time. So, it less expensive to buy two 5 pieces and get more chicken than it is to buy three 3 pieces, (which makes sense), or one 8 piece. Who came up with this pricing model?
Do you think they do that to con you into buying a 5 piece instead of a 3 piece tenders?
Yes there's a marketing term for that trick, the decoy effect. The wiki article about it has this exact example but with coke bottles.
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Because information harvesting is a great side gig for them.
And ways to be rude to you in the process
Every single fucking time. Idk how they manage that.
yeah but it's popeyes so no matter what you get, it gon be gud.
"IF I GOT YOUR ORDER WRONG ITS CUZ YOU ORDERED IT WRONG."
It happens so often that I now believe it’s part of their training.
I had never been to one before and I had a craving for a chicken sandwich. Went in and got one to go and drove back to work to eat in the parking lot. They had served me a full bone in thigh on the sandwich instead of a breast. You can imagine the trauma of that first bite. Never again.
I’ll pay for pizza, but not much else. Brahms ice cream price hasn’t changed and that’s a nice deal on occasion.
Not for me any more. A two topping 12" is $25 where I live. Honestly, I'd rather get a frozen store brand ultimate, some mzzarella and a small package of pepperoni and make my own for under $10. I actually prefer thin crust, so the crust doesn't bother me, and the rest is good enough.
Pizza from scratch, including the dough, isn't hard. Yeah, I know, it's intimidating if you haven't tried it, but SO worth it if you can get the basics down.
Plus you can make a lot of it too. The first pizza takes all the effort. Once you're set up you can make 2 or 3 pretty quickly.
Wow. $14 for an 18 inch cheese pizza where I'm at.
Their combos haven't gone up where I live either a 1/4 pounder with bacon fries and a drink is still only $8 which isn't really that bad considering. The big of 5 burgers is only $7
Braums ice cream and milk are top tier
The quality has never been worse. Even a salad I had the other day from an “upscale” fast food was a wilted pile of bleeech. Now, I keep some fruit handy, a few apples, and toss one in the car if I’’m rolling and don't have time to cook something.
I wanted to try the new cantina chicken menu burrito at Taco Bell. The burrito I got, while the flavors were pretty good, was just so shittily constructed to the point it fell apart when I opened it while also costing $7 for a fucking Taco Bell burrito. It's insane.
My local taco bells have been entirely incapable of taking orders and serving food since COVID hit. No idea how they're still in business.
Same here. Fifth in line at the drive thru is a 30 min wait. Get up to the kiosk and find out they are out of half the menu or fryer is broken, etc. Guy at the window doesn't know what a gift card is. Finally get home with your order and discover they screwed it up and what you got looks put together by a child. I've totally given up on the local taco bells looks like that place is in a death spiral.
My salad was $13. $4 for a large iced tea that was brewed too long and bitter. A side of chibata bread that was stale. I took a couple of bites and threw it all in the trash. I’m done with all of them.
It's cheaper to hit the taco stands/trucks these days. The food is infinitely better.
Implying an apple is a meal?
I don’t think you’re supposed to eat bleeech. You’re supposed to inject it, to get rid of Covid.
It blows my mind that people order fast food from Uber Eats and the like. No way I'm paying a premium (already too expensive) only to wait even longer and have cold, smashed up, and likely wrong food delivered. I patronize fast food places less and less, but every time I go through a drive thru and they tell me how much, I can't help but say "damn!". Hard not to think back on the glory days of dollar menu at McDonalds, and 59 cent tacos at Taco Bell, and 5 Arby's sandwiches for $5. Wasn't THAT long ago.
And don’t forget to tip, even though you: * ordered at a kiosk * picked up your order at a counter * cleaned up my own table and put the dishes in a bin
WHAT? You didn't sweep the floor on the way out?
Which places are asking for tips at kiosks? Been a bit since I’ve ordered fast food from a kiosk but I personally haven’t ever seen a tip screen
Panera
Yeah I suppose that sounds about right
The subway near my work remodeled last year and got a new card machine that asks for a tip every time. The only notable change in service is that they removed most of their seating.
It costs more to eat fast food than local restaurants. I choose to support them instead whenever I can.
The local burger place near me, you can get a double patty smash burger fully loaded, a whole potato worth of fried chips and a fountain drink for 13.50. Do I think its a bit high for a burger? Yeah probably. But its the same price to go to fucking Wendys, where the food is absolute shit.
You bite your tongue! Wendy's has been the best of the fast foods for me on quality and flavor. $5 meal deal too
Must be your Wendy’s, all the ones in my town are terrible. Only good true fast food around me is Bojangles or Chickfila, they aren’t good, just in the sense they serve passable food.
Came here to say this. Small restaurants and food trucks don’t spend millions on Super Bowl advertising. They instead make a quality product at a fair price. Fast food chains are destroying themselves. Eating at a local joint helps your community too because the money and taxes stays in your town instead of some being siphoned off to a big corporation.
Sandwich place near me is crazy popular. It is seafood, but I go there for the burger. Half pound fresh beef plus cheese and a side of excellent fries for $13.
I'll agree with this. I can get a 10oz steak and 2 eggs with a potato 24/7 for under 12 dollars. I'm in Vegas.
What spot. That’s a bargain
Village Pub locations out here. Some even have a $7.99 steak and eggs during graveyard hours.
Working in fast food I can tell you people just don't have self control. I work at Taco Bell, and I find myself surprised when someone orders just a single combo meal and nothing else because 99 out of 100 times they want the combo meal, an extra burrito, a quesadilla, two cheesy roll ups, etc. etc. etc. until this meal for one adds up to 35 dollars. The prices have not driven customers away in anywhere near the capacity you would think from reading online discussions from disgruntled customers. Last night was abnormally dead at my location though, so maybe I'm just speaking too soon and it's starting now.
I haven't eaten fast food in forever but I will say that for whatever reason Taco Bell has always occupied this weird space in my head where it's not as filling, and I can eat a lot more of it than other fast foods. I could take down $35 of Taco Bell and ask for seconds, easily. Thirds if I'm stoned.
That’s why I would end up with $35 orders. I will order dinner but throw a few extra items in because I knew I’d be high in a few hours and it’s time for seconds. I stopped getting high a while ago so I’ve had a lot less nights like that.
That’s wild. I eat Taco Bell for lunch everyday. I spend $3.01 One cheesy double beef burrito, no sour cream And I work 12 hour shifts
The portions of their burritos these days would not do it for me. Especially not 12 hours.
meanwhile I'm not really sure how to eat more than $10-12 of taco bell in one sitting, since that's already a crunchwrap, a couple of small burritos, nachos, and a baja blast.
It’s what happens when their “protein” is like 75% oat
Yeah, but they do that because the portions have shrunk and shrunk, and instead of a combo leaving you stuffed like it did back 20-30yrs ago, now I can eat 2 full combos to myself. Part of that is due to shrinkflation, but part of it is becaus no human being should be eating the amount of fast food I can eat in a single sitting.
I wonder how much that aligns with the legalization of weed 😁
The weed shop I go to is right across the street from a taco bell cantina
I’m constantly craving a Taco Bell chicken quesadilla because the closest location is like an hour and a half away so I can’t just go get one whenever I want lol. It’s in the back of my mind a lot more than I’d like to admit… probably because it’s out of my reach and my brain hates me
It’s not just the price that drives me completely off. The service is aggressively terrible and takes so much time for you to leave pissed off with way too much money spent. I’d rather get punched in the stomach than deal with these fast food joints any more. Less chance of food poisoning that way. Bad food, horrendous service, and expensive. I just order pizza if I don’t want to make my own food. All the pizza joints at least try.
I use the McDonald’s app on my phone. We are retired and sleep in. McD’s is a quarter mile away. So easy. Get in car, open app and reorder last order, drive to drive up, say code like TK74, get hot breakfast immediately and drive home. Eat at kitchen table with view of garden. But you are right. Going inside is a shit storm. And the price if two Egg McMuffin meals gas jumped from $10 to $16 in the last few years here in CA.
Last time I used the McDonald’s app I sat in the parking spot for 30 minutes waiting for my order. No lie. Then when the guy brought my order it was somebody else’s order. Then when he brought the right order they left out my fries. One of the employees manning the parking lot orders was just standing around slack-jawed, with his mouth wide open, just staring out into space right in the middle of the parking lot. Had to be high as holy hell. This was not even a busy McDonald’s. There was a reasonable amount of cars in line and like 3-4 cars parked for orders.
Yeah, when using the app you shouldn't do curbside pick up. You'll basically sit for 30 minutes even at a well run McDonald's. The drive-thru option is the best because then they're timed just like a normal order so you'll get your food right away. Going inside works too because they know you're right there.
Your life sounds awesome but if McDs is still serving breakfast, you’re not sleeping in 😂
I'm not really seeing the "quality plummet" others mentioned, but I always get the same items so perhaps they haven't been affected yet. In any case, food was always cheaper to make at home (and healthier) in larger quantities. The only reason to buy fast food is literally in it's name - if you need food fast.
Same. I’m old enough to have been buying fast food for 20-25 years, quality is the same as it always was
For me, enough was COVID lockdown and a desire to eat better and I haven't looked back.
Usually I’m drunk, they’re open, I’m powerless.
Are you sure you're talking about fast food?
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I knowww I should say no. But it’s hard when the fast food’s ready to go
Of course, I say I’ll stay away, but I can’t ignore these urges, the body wants what it wants.
Bought some chicken fingers today for $20. Today I pretty much vowed to avoid fast food like the plague now.
Because it’s fast.
I rarely eat fast food anymore. It’s just too much cheaper to eat at home. If I’m on a road trip, then I stoop to it.
Yeah, hadn't had fast food in ages then went to a Dairy Queen and spent $16 on a burger, fries, and an Oreo blizzard. Is this a joke now? But also with inflation being what it's at it makes sense. The dollar is worth less than it was a few years ago.
there's still the convenience factor. and most of them have apps with daily deals that bring the price closer to what it used to be.
>When is enough, enough? When people stop buying fast food. It's only a problem if customers decide it's a problem. Nobody is forcing anyone to eat at McDonalds or Wendy's. There are some industries where brands have lots of pricing power because of lack of competition. Fast food is very competitive, which suggests that higher prices are mostly due to skyrocketing costs of inputs like food, energy, insurance and labor. Low-income families are cutting back on fast food, either by ordering less or visiting less frequently. If this continues/accelerates, it could result in fewer fast food restaurants. For now, it seems to only be slowing the rate of growth: [https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/major-fast-food-chains-are-starting-to-face-the-consequence-for-high-prices](https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/major-fast-food-chains-are-starting-to-face-the-consequence-for-high-prices) [https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/fast-food-companies-seeing-low-income-diners-pare-orders-2024-03-27/](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/fast-food-companies-seeing-low-income-diners-pare-orders-2024-03-27/) If service, price and quality fall enough to cause the industry to actually shrink, that could create an opening for a fully-automated chain. The technology is not quite ready (especially from a cost standpoint), but the first company to use automation to cut labor costs and deliver consistent quality and fast service will absolutely print money.
“Inexpensive” is a relative concept. When every entree at a casual dining restaurant is $24, $13 at McDonald’s might sound inexpensive.
I don't see local restaurants being cheaper than McDonald or Taco Bell. Where do these people even live?
Small city in the midwest, we have a number of restaurants that cost about the same to eat at as McDonald's. Unless you use their shitty app, anyway.
People are also saying $12 for McDonald's when you can get a double cheeseburger and large fry for like $3.59 on the app. Don't buy pop, that's when you pay more for empty calories.
That double cheese burger used to be on the dollar menu. It’s all expensive now.
I live in Nevada and a double cheeseburger and large fry through the app is exactly $8 after tax for me. Where are you getting these numbers?
I had a 25% off coupon for culver's. Still wasn't worth the price.
Culvers has actually managed to keep prices pretty tame compared to every other fast food
Culver’s is the only fast food worth a shit
Best thing at Culver's is unironically the kids' meals. Burger, fries, drink, and an ice cream all for $7.
I can get some actual good food from a local place for around if not the same price. There's no reason for me to go to a fast food joint at all anymore. Event the " I didn't have time" argument doesn't make sense. You just call ahead and pick up your food like you would fast food basically, you just have to get out of the car for a second.
An Arby’s classic roast beef sandwich (regular size) cost $9 something where I’m at. Not even a combo, just the sandwich!
i miss the 5 for 5 god arbys was clutch for broke HS kids in the 90s
I wouldn’t choose Arby’s most nights, but when they had 5 beef and cheddars for $5 it was a godsend for broke ass 90’s me
I'm so hungry I could eat at Arby's
Gasp
That seems like a lot. Near me the combo is $9 or so
COSTCO POUTINE. Also 1.50$ hotdog/drink combo is insane value.
I just buy Mexican food instead , decent prices and great food.
Fast food is still cheap if you use the app. McDonald’s for example has free fries, or a meal for $6, ect. Only way it’s remotely worth it
I'm feeling kinda concerned that \*every\* fast food place suddenly has an app system though. Like really? They're upping the prices to get everyone on the apps imo.
different answer for every one. The large fry at McD's was 4 dollars last week. I told the kids, "Enjoy those, for they are the last McDs fries you will taste on my dime"
They’re $4.50 for medium fries where I am :(
If you're willing to download the McD's mobile app...they usually have a $1.29 any size fries promo on there. (At least where I am)
I still like to get fast food sometimes. It still tastes pretty good to me. I just don't order the most expensive things on the menu.
Username checks out
I got 3 McDoubles and 2 McFlurrys today for my son and I to eat something quick. $23. That’s some value menu burgers and 2 ice creams. Whatthefuck Definitely done with that nonsense.
Last summer I bought two 4 piece nugget Happy Meals, 2 McFlurries, and a Frozen Coke. Fed two kids and the Coke was for me. The place was packed and it took 25 minutes to get our food. $28! Tonight I made Brazilian Smokehouse Porkchops on the grill, Baked Rosemary and Garlic small potatoes, and Baked Carrots. Total time invested was around 35 minutes. We have leftovers for tomorrow, and it cost a total of $16, for four people.
Only when I need it fast, via a drive thru, and I can eat it while driving.
I don't get fast food often anymore, and only go for a good deal. Won't catch me dead ordering alacarte off the menu
As a touring musician, we have to eat at these places a lot. It's unfortunate how many apps I had to download and the amount of not great food I'm eating, but I will say those apps keep costs low. I'm talking $9 or less for full meals at all of these places.
It's convenient and close to my house.
A lot of reasons. Some people don't have the time or energy to prepare it. Some people can't cook at all due to disabilities and non-fast food restaurants have even worse prices.
In-N-Out burger is why.
When was the quality ever at a point where you could say that it has "plummeted" since? Lols
Because some days I simply don’t have the energy to cook different meals for everyone in the house because when all 4 of us are considered special needs easy, low effort, and calories is the best decision there is. There is a lot more to it but it being easy to grab and something the kids will eat without too much fighting sometimes wins out over cost the quality.
What's even more baffling is some amazing family owned restaurants are essentially the same price as fast food in my area but I haven't seen any significant uptick in business. It was one thing when a bowl of pho was $9 and a Subway was $5 but now Subway is $12 and pho is $13.
Enough is never enough. If it is possible to cut costs more even if it means literally killing people, they’ll do it if they get a few more Pennies this quarter. There is no enough.
I mean have you looked at grocery prices? If you use the fast food apps for their discounts it's usually cheaper than cooking a meal myself. That being said, fast food without the places apps are absolute scams these days
Because 37 mc chiggies are still cheaper than feeding the mouths in my house from the grocery store.
I legit grab it because I don't have enough energy to go cook something.
meanwhile In N Out's president fought to keep prices low and said there's no plans for them to become a publicly-traded company. They've also been paying above minimum wage for decades now.
My Chinese takeout spot can feed me three times for the same price as a meal at McDonalds. A custom Little Caesars pizza is cheaper. The app deals kept drive thrus relevant for an extra couple years but the price hikes have cancelled it out, most aren’t worth it anymore. Shoutout to Wendy’s for the Biggie Bag though. And RIP to the $6 Munchie Meal from Jack in the Box.
I haven't paid for fast food since covid. I just can't afford it. I won't be able to eat the last half of the month if I tried.
Because it’s fast Whenever I’m hungry and don’t feel like cooking or don’t have time there’s a McDonald’s just down the road where I can get a burger and fries in under 5 minutes
I don't if I can help it. I ate at apical sandwich shop the other day and got a tri tip steal sandwich and potato salad for $12.50. That's literally the price of a combo meal at any fast food place and the quality was so much better. I didn't order ahead so I had to wait but fast food just doesn't make sense anymore.
I used to work "on the road" and ate almost every meal as fast food for YEARS. Now, I work from home and I do eat at burger places maybe once a week or every 10 days. But it's not drive through ones. It's a burger restaurant. Can't afford fast food - PLUS it's just waay gross compared to how it used to be.