Most national/international fast food places seem to have looked at the “good, fast, cheap” principle and decided the answer is D) None of the above.
Have they been getting by on inertia and nostalgia in recent history? I could be an incredibly unlucky person, but all my experiences with these places have just been bad, bad in the past 5 or so years. I excused it a bit during the height of covid, but there’s been time to work things out and they just haven’t even bothered.
I’m not exactly their target audience, since I rarely get food at fast food places, but as it stands, if I were going to get fast food, the whole Trump McDonald’s circus show has turned me off to that brand entirely. Burger King is a no-go after getting incredibly sick from their food. Taco Bell just completely gave up on themselves. Wendy’s is so expensive now that I can’t justify it anymore even as a guilty treat while traveling. I’d rather pack some ham sandwiches in a mini-cooler and make do with that.
With Wendy’s, if you’re looking for cheap, gotta skip their premium meals and go to their Meal Deals, Sandwich, nuggets, fries, drink for $5, more if you want extra meat/bacon.
Not that I plan on going back to Wendy’s, certainly not any time soon, but is that $5 deal a relatively new thing and/or a national thing?
When I was a poor college student working multiple jobs and having to do a lot of driving to get from one place to another, Wendy’s was one of my go-to places. For about $4 I could get 2 burgers that had real, fresh lettuce, tomato, onion, plus a drink. I went to Wendy’s a year or two ago and the same exact thing was a bit over $11. For what it’s worth, if they had some kind of $5 special, I didn’t see it on the menu.
Taco Bell was the same way. Back in my college days, I could get a couple 5-layer burritos and a drink for $3 and some change. Last time I went and got that order, it was $9 or $10 and the burritos were missing a few layers, not to mention just absolutely gross.
It’s an evolution of their 4 for $4 deal they started about 10 years ago, pretty sure it’s national. It’s just not well advertised compared to the more premium stuff.
These exact reasons are why places like Buc-ees, Sheets, and Chick-fil-A are doing so damn well. People actually feel like they are getting something they want (good, fast, and/or cheap), when compared to McDs which somehow provides none of them.
Nah, you can go do that work and try to prove your point, I’m not doing it for you. You said Chick Fil A is NOT cheap, but I just proved that their chicken sandwich is cheaper than McDonald’s.
Not only is the food bad, expensive, and slow, but it’s also unhealthy. They fuck up orders constantly and the dining area in unpleasant to be in due to the incessant beeping. That business has literally no redeeming qualities.
Most national/international fast food places seem to have looked at the “good, fast, cheap” principle and decided the answer is D) None of the above.
Have they been getting by on inertia and nostalgia in recent history? I could be an incredibly unlucky person, but all my experiences with these places have just been bad, bad in the past 5 or so years. I excused it a bit during the height of covid, but there’s been time to work things out and they just haven’t even bothered.
I’m not exactly their target audience, since I rarely get food at fast food places, but as it stands, if I were going to get fast food, the whole Trump McDonald’s circus show has turned me off to that brand entirely. Burger King is a no-go after getting incredibly sick from their food. Taco Bell just completely gave up on themselves. Wendy’s is so expensive now that I can’t justify it anymore even as a guilty treat while traveling. I’d rather pack some ham sandwiches in a mini-cooler and make do with that.
With Wendy’s, if you’re looking for cheap, gotta skip their premium meals and go to their Meal Deals, Sandwich, nuggets, fries, drink for $5, more if you want extra meat/bacon.
Not that I plan on going back to Wendy’s, certainly not any time soon, but is that $5 deal a relatively new thing and/or a national thing?
When I was a poor college student working multiple jobs and having to do a lot of driving to get from one place to another, Wendy’s was one of my go-to places. For about $4 I could get 2 burgers that had real, fresh lettuce, tomato, onion, plus a drink. I went to Wendy’s a year or two ago and the same exact thing was a bit over $11. For what it’s worth, if they had some kind of $5 special, I didn’t see it on the menu.
Taco Bell was the same way. Back in my college days, I could get a couple 5-layer burritos and a drink for $3 and some change. Last time I went and got that order, it was $9 or $10 and the burritos were missing a few layers, not to mention just absolutely gross.
It’s an evolution of their 4 for $4 deal they started about 10 years ago, pretty sure it’s national. It’s just not well advertised compared to the more premium stuff.
These exact reasons are why places like Buc-ees, Sheets, and Chick-fil-A are doing so damn well. People actually feel like they are getting something they want (good, fast, and/or cheap), when compared to McDs which somehow provides none of them.
Well not familiar with sheets but you certainly aren’t getting cheap on the other two. Fast though yeah.
Sheets is no longer all that cheap. Chicken tenders and a drink (no fries) are now close to $11. Still fast and tasty though.
Chick-fil-a is good and fast, but not cheap.
I’d argue it is the same price point as many fast food places.
You’d lose that argument.
Chick Fil A Chicken Sandwich: $4.99
McCrispy: $5.59
You are wrong.
Great, now how much is a McChicken and what can you buy from Chick-fil-a for a similar price?
What kind of deals does each restaurant offer?
Right now you’re just telling me Mcdonald’s is the same price as Chick-fil-a because you don’t know how to order cheap food.
Nah, you can go do that work and try to prove your point, I’m not doing it for you. You said Chick Fil A is NOT cheap, but I just proved that their chicken sandwich is cheaper than McDonald’s.
Why are you ignoring the price of the McChicken?
Not only is the food bad, expensive, and slow, but it’s also unhealthy. They fuck up orders constantly and the dining area in unpleasant to be in due to the incessant beeping. That business has literally no redeeming qualities.
Fuck, you’re so right.
I didn’t even realize how slow fast food as become over the years. Literally waiting on average 20 minutes in a drive-thru is not fast.
Perhaps that’s a local problem as I’ve never had to wait more than 5m for a drive through.