The decline of fast food restaurants.

The older I get, the less I like fast food and the worse it seems to be getting. Here's my rundown:

Wendy's: Too pricey for what you get, but I still like their spicy chicken sandwich, as long as they give you a decent tomato slice and piece of lettuce and not some nasty ones.
Burger King: It's all pretty bad, but maybe the original chicken sandwich, light on mayo. Maybe.
McDonald's: I do like the Egg McMuffin, hash browns and small coffee breakfast combo. That's about it.
KFC: Inedible.
Taco Bell: Ok, I admit sometimes I get Taco Bell, as nasty as it is. Usually a bean burrito and a taco supreme.
Taco John's: We just got a Taco John's in my town and it is disgusting. Don't eat there. Fair warning.

My favorite, by far, is Raising Cane's, but I try not to eat there much either, or I would get burned out on it, too.
 
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BlackHawk said:
The older I get, the less I like fast food and the worse it seems to be getting. Here's my rundown:

Wendy's: Too pricey for what you get, but I still like their spicy chicken sandwich, as long as they give you a decent tomato slice and piece of lettuce and not some nasty ones.
Burger King: It's all pretty bad, but maybe the original chicken sandwich, light on mayo. Maybe.
McDonald's: I do like the Egg McMuffin, hash browns and small coffee breakfast combo. That's about it.
KFC: Inedible.
Taco Bell: Ok, I admit sometimes I get Taco Bell, as nasty as it is. Usually a bean burrito and a taco supreme.

My favorite, by far, is Raising Cane's, but I try not to eat there much either, or I would get burned out on it, too.
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Good rundown, I will weigh in also:

Wendy's: Too pricey for what you get, but I still like their spicy chicken sandwich, as long as they give you a decent tomato slice and piece of lettuce and not some nasty ones.

Love the fries and Frosty. Will get a loaded single or two Double Stacks a couple times a year.

Burger King: It's all pretty bad, but maybe the original chicken sandwich, light on mayo. Maybe.

Love the Whopper, probably due to the special sauce. Fries suck.

McDonald's: I do like the Egg McMuffin, hash browns and small coffee breakfast combo. That's about it.

Fries are great since they went back to the "unhealthy" ones years ago.
I can do a QP with cheese.
Used to get the Big Breakfast and drive with it on my lap as I ate it.

KFC: Inedible.

Agree. Here in NEO, I go to Mr. Chicken for this type of food. Love Mr. Chicken.

Taco Bell: Ok, I admit sometimes I get Taco Bell, as nasty as it is. Usually a bean burrito and a taco supreme.

Eaten here about four times in my entire life, it's always bad.

My favorite, by far, is Raising Cane's, but I try not to eat there much either, or I would get burned out on it, too.

Heard it's good, haven't been there.

Mr. Hero: Get the Romanburger
 
Supply and demand = wages going up

Bidenomics = inflated expenses.

Yeah, it's going to cost more or the quantity or quality is going to suffer.

Same exact thing is happening at full service restaurants and the grocery store.

Shocking.

I'm old enough to remember when a cheeseburger at Burger Chef was 15 cents.
 
chs1971 said:
Supply and demand = wages going up

Bidenomics = inflated expenses.

Yeah, it's going to cost more or the quantity or quality is going to suffer.

Same exact thing is happening at full service restaurants and the grocery store.

Shocking.

I'm old enough to remember when a cheeseburger at Burger Chef was 15 cents.
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I go way back, too. The first fast food restaurant that I remember in the Dayton-area was Red Barn, followed by Sandy's and then Burger Chef.
 
BlackHawk said:
The older I get, the less I like fast food and the worse it seems to be getting. Here's my rundown:

Wendy's: Too pricey for what you get, but I still like their spicy chicken sandwich, as long as they give you a decent tomato slice and piece of lettuce and not some nasty ones.
Burger King: It's all pretty bad, but maybe the original chicken sandwich, light on mayo. Maybe.
McDonald's: I do like the Egg McMuffin, hash browns and small coffee breakfast combo. That's about it.
KFC: Inedible.
Taco Bell: Ok, I admit sometimes I get Taco Bell, as nasty as it is. Usually a bean burrito and a taco supreme.
Taco John's: We just got a Taco John's in my town and it is disgusting. Don't eat there. Fair warning.

My favorite, by far, is Raising Cane's, but I try not to eat there much either, or I would get burned out on it, too.
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If you find yourself far east on 70, or on 95 from Frederick to Fredericksburg, try the Royal Farms chicken tenders. The spicy ones are fantastic right out of the fryer, but they can linger under the lamp for too long sometimes, and the regular ones are very very good too.

Wawa has a Sheetz type setup and has pretty good sandwiches quickly. It’s often in competition with the Royal Farms, both sell gas.

Hardee’s/Carl’s isn’t as good as a Five Guys, but still pretty good and faster, with the same big sweaty mess
 
cabezadecaballo said:
If you find yourself far east on 70, or on 95 from Frederick to Fredericksburg, try the Royal Farms chicken tenders. The spicy ones are fantastic right out of the fryer, but they can linger under the lamp for too long sometimes, and the regular ones are very very good too.

Wawa has a Sheetz type setup and has pretty good sandwiches quickly. It’s often in competition with the Royal Farms, both sell gas.

Hardee’s/Carl’s isn’t as good as a Five Guys, but still pretty good and faster, with the same big sweaty mess
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Caseys--- has pretty good hamburgers...
 
haven't had White Castle in years.... not sure if there is one in Huber Heights anymore... but back in the day, they were not bad
 
still can't understand why Micky D's got rid of their southwest grilled chicken salad during Covid, and have not brought back it yet.....
 
bigkat said:
still can't understand why Micky D's got rid of their southwest grilled chicken salad during Covid, and have not brought back it yet.....
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It's likely an easy explanation: lack of demand. People go to McD's for Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, burgers, fries and milkshakes. Not so much for salads.
 
bigkat said:
haven't had White Castle in years.... not sure if there is one in Huber Heights anymore... but back in the day, they were not bad
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As well as White Castle, Dayton used to have White Tower and Wimpy's restaurants back in the day. They were essentially very small diner-style restaurants, that didn't seat many.
 
It is simple...

The majority of the kids today suck at working. They are lazy and have no self pride in a hard days work. I don't eat out and why should I. I can cook so I do that. Tastes tons better than the crap they are serving at fast foods......
 
vamp2syd said:
It is simple...

The majority of the kids today suck at working. They are lazy and have no self pride in a hard days work. I don't eat out and why should I. I can cook so I do that. Tastes tons better than the crap they are serving at fast foods......
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It starts with poor management.
 
bob22 said:
The kids didn't change. You changed.
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While I have obviously changed I do remember what it was like being a kid while working and all those around me. We did not have the distraction of Smart Phones. Nor did we have social media or anything else influencing us from the outside. Times have changed.... parenting has changed if in fact parenting is still happening... and the kids have changed. I am not stating that all kids are like this just the majority that I have come across in the work force.

We worked hard.... sure, we had some that were lazy and they were quickly let go. Now, it seems like it is acceptable. Bunch of excuses and sheltering......

Then I see something like this and it gives me hope for the future....
 
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BlackHawk said:
The older I get, the less I like fast food and the worse it seems to be getting. Here's my rundown:

Wendy's: Too pricey for what you get, but I still like their spicy chicken sandwich, as long as they give you a decent tomato slice and piece of lettuce and not some nasty ones.
Burger King: It's all pretty bad, but maybe the original chicken sandwich, light on mayo. Maybe.
McDonald's: I do like the Egg McMuffin, hash browns and small coffee breakfast combo. That's about it.
KFC: Inedible.
Taco Bell: Ok, I admit sometimes I get Taco Bell, as nasty as it is. Usually a bean burrito and a taco supreme.
Taco John's: We just got a Taco John's in my town and it is disgusting. Don't eat there. Fair warning.

My favorite, by far, is Raising Cane's, but I try not to eat there much either, or I would get burned out on it, too.
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I'm not sure how old your are Blackhawk, but I feel this is as much the ageing process as it is anything else. Also, we tend to be more judgmental as we get older, that's not necessarily a bad thing, I just think we've experienced more and know what service/ quality/ value look like. The other side, the business side is they STILL have to make a profit - probably more than ever before to keep up with expenses to stay in business. All of the restaurants you named above have to keep evolving. I see KFC has a chicken/ pizza combo with sounds nasty to me, but someone will buy it. Taco Bell has turned mexican food into just about anything you can imagine.

Now I'll also say the definition of fast food has changed drastically over 20-30 years. In the 80's - 90's, fast food was clear, McDonald's, Wendy's, Arby's, Burger King, etc. I didn't view KFC as fast food because it was fried chicken and a little more than a burger and fry. Now I feel fast food can go anywhere from McDonald's to Chipotle, Panera, Cane's, and you think the old burger joints were expensive....Chipotle is crazy expensive and it's packaged that way. It's "upscale" fast food.
For me as a high schooler, McDonald's was it because it was what a high school kid could afford. Now there are high school college kids who wouldn't set foot in McDonald's or Burger King. The bottom rung is Chipotle/ Panera. Evolution.
 
vamp2syd said:
It is simple...

The majority of the kids today suck at working. They are lazy and have no self pride in a hard days work. I don't eat out and why should I. I can cook so I do that. Tastes tons better than the crap they are serving at fast foods......
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Kids, there are alot of adults, and even older adults that suck at working. But when you have no fear of losing a job and enough government handouts that can keep a person going, what's the risk? It's incredible looking at resume and job applications these days. You find someone who's been at a job 5 years or more and it's rare. A year here, 6 months there, a year and half there. And then they just stop working and haven't worked for months?? How do these people exist?
 
vamp2syd said:
It is simple...

The majority of the kids today suck at working. They are lazy and have no self pride in a hard days work. I don't eat out and why should I. I can cook so I do that. Tastes tons better than the crap they are serving at fast foods......
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It's actually even more simple...

Some kids, not all, have parents who failed them.
 
Heard today that McDonald's and Krispy Kreme donuts are joining to add the tasty donut to the McDonald's menu. As stated before, you just have to keep evolving to keep market share.
 
14Red said:
Heard today that McDonald's and Krispy Kreme donuts are joining to add the tasty donut to the McDonald's menu. As stated before, you just have to keep evolving to keep market share.
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A burger using donuts as the bun?
 
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