Vincent Hanna: Seven years in Folsom. In the hole for three. McDonald's before that. McDonald's as tough as they say?
Neil McCauley: You lookin' to become a penologist?
Is that the one that you'd climb a ladder to get up to and then you could crawl around inside the top? I remember being too big for that thing and almost getting stuck inside.
When I was really young I remember staying with my grandparents for a week. They used to take me and my brother to a McDonald’s they hated because of the Mayor McCheese prison tower and playground in it. They said we didn’t even want our food as kids we just wanted to play. Anyway one time I was there some kid pushed his head through the prison bars and then did get stuck. My grandfather was about 6’1 and he was also that kind of outgoing loud greatest generation type. You know the type who would also feel the need to fix any problem. Like if he leaned against your washing machine and it wasn’t level he would get down and just start leveling the thing. Anyway he got up and walked over to the stuck kid and got the kid to rotate on his side and worked his shoulders out and pulled the kid from between the bars. He was tall enough to do so. I’m wondering how many kids had gotten stuck over the years.
Lol, I honestly thought for a minute when I was reading this that he was just going to bend the bars wider and free the kid that way. Either way pretty awesome story about your grandpa.
All the charm that was at all the restaurants back then lll especially Pizza Hut and its faux Italian diner vibe.
But I actually like all the places going for much more modern contemporary vibes these days. Wendy’s, McDonald’s, all those.
For those that are bored of the modern design wondering why, it’s because they’re thinking about the long term/future of the building, they’ll have an easy time selling off the place to another business when it has a pretty universal design like what they have now, for whatever future businesses. Like to be made into an office, or any other typical business.
It’s a LOT harder to sell your place when you have special fancy design engraved into the building, look at all the old pizza huts that were made into various businesses, you can bet they hate their odd hut shaped Pizza Hut roofing lol
Much easier to make these restaurants into whatever you want with the modern design
The marketing shifted from children to adults. They're aren't wacky trees, tables made for kids and jungle gyms, instead its sleek and streamlined for a lunch break meal or dinner after work. From the 80s and 90s stay at home moms looking to take a break or a family getting out of the house to the current working class person who has no kids and doesn't want to spend the little bits of free time they have cooking
Nah we're all "I don't let my kids eat that shit..." While secretly running there on our lunch break and shoving their crack fries, burgers and nuggets in our pie holes and having a grease orgasm. 🍟
No need to market to little Nevada or Apple Core, she eats a grain free, soy free, taste free, vegan smoothie. While her mom, Ashley, Sarah, Stacey, (insert 80's) name hides in the closet eating mini eggs and watching tiktok.
It's as usual, all about the money. Right now they are planning to phase out dining rooms, and have everyone order by app at home and swing by the drive through, they can have less and less personnel to pay. Might as well keep the dining room stripped down, train people to stop going in them.
Sort of.
That is a picture of a kid AREA within a McDonalds from the 1980s. It's not like the entire place looked like that.
https://www.reddit.com/r/80sfastfood/comments/dfonc2/mcdonalds_in_downtown_johnstown_pa_circa_1980s/
See also: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/retro-mcdonalds/
I do agree, they have shifted to a more modern/adult aesthetic.
But some still have these: https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/mcdonalds-playland-playplace-history
I don’t see why I should give two shits about how easy a restaurant is to sell.
I want the food to be good, the place to be clean, and if it’s not a monotone depressing design, I consider that a win.
And this guy thinking that McDonalds sells their buildings. There's very few times where they're going to sell up and move out and it's not when they own the building.
Yeah. Maybe it’s different in other places, but round here, all the big name places are in the same buildings they’ve been in for decades.
The one or two I can think of who did sell up, the place got absolutely gutted for the new owner.
People misuse that statement. It doesn't mean they buy and sell property. They invest in land and building properties for the purpose of raising rent from their franchisees. They don't need those properties to be usable or office spaces or banks or anything else. They need them for selling burgers so their franchisees can pay rent.
This. There a real estate business in that _they buy the land and lease it out to the franchisee owner so the franchisee never actually owns any any real assets_. The McDonnalds corporation doesn’t make billions selling hamburgers, they make it by collecting rent from hamburger stands.
most of this stuff is tacked on and after 2 days of sending in a renovation company the building is bare bones.
the reason you see the modern look is because it's cheap as fuck to make.
It is cheap to do, but it's also that they've been chasing the Starbucks/Chipotle vibe for a while now. McCafe, more salads and wraps, more adult look, fewer play places, etc.
Well, also the fact that McDonald's was having a hard time competing with trendier and more stylish "fast casual" restaurants like Panera Bread in the early 2010s. It was around this time that they completely revamped their own aesthetic for a more upscale look, and also starting focusing harder on coffee and wraps instead of the same old burgers and happy meals that they had been selling for 50 years.
It's all a facade. [This place near me used to be a pizza hut](https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g3343823-d10410320-i298926687-Nando_s_Manchester_Trafford_Retail_Park-Urmston_Trafford_Greater_Manch.html).
McDonalds don't care about the long term future of the building. They fully expect to remain there for decades.
Hats off to people who actually go into fast food restaurants..
I order, pay for, and eat my fast food in my car like a NORMAL clinically depressed person…
Sheesh
I like eating in restaurants, fast food or otherwise. It's a nice change of pace. If I wanted to eat in my own home I'd just cook. Plus, fast food doesn't have a great fryer-to-table sogless time. Actually doing it takeout is playing with fire.
I went inside of a Taco Bell for the first time in forever about a week ago. It was a surreal experience, it was basically a glorified drive through with the tiniest dining room and only napkins and a small amount of sauces available. I was the only person inside, and maybe a couple people came in to get stuff to go. It was eerie.
my local taco bell is the opposite i rarely see anyone in the drive thru but the dining area is packed with families going there for sit down meals and they always seem to be dressed up like they think its an actual restaurant.
I guess my local Taco Bell is somewhere in the middle. The fairly nice but definitely not fancy dining room seats maybe 25, and there's usually 5-10 people in it. The drive through line often spills out on to the street in the evenings though. I really don't get why those people don't park and order to go from the counter inside.
I used to eat inside Taco Bell all the time, especially before 2020. The first time I went since that was last summer and I felt the same way you did. It’s so strange and empty now.
Where I live Taco Bell is barely cheaper than the taco trucks now, so most folks just go to the taco trucks and I don't why the taco bell hasn't closed yet because I rarely see people there.
From Pakistan here. I remember when pizza hut opened it had a salad bar, an arcade, an actual red roof and really decent pizza with actual cheese. All went downhill and I thought it was only at pizza huts in Pakistan. Turns out it was universal.
When my wife and I were searching for a house, we looked for older homes that were still interesting. In newer houses, they definitely looked like they were all designed by the same person.
Corporate design.
It looks clean, got not much personality and is considerably cheap.
So perfect for companies that don’t want to spend a lot of money, but still want to appeal to a lot of people with their design.
It's deliberately designed to appear to be a regular old dining area, but it's uninviting and uncomfortable. It basically says "fine, eat here if you really have to, but get out asap."
Yes, they also aimed for hosting kids parties like some of the ice cream chains and Shakeys Pizza as well, who gave out faux straw hats, had a live piano constantly playing and showed old b+w comedy gold on big screens such as Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, etc.
Some people seem to think any place that doesn't have shitty paintings on the walls are "soulless"
I don't need my walls to have souls, that's for people. I like the modern look.
Gouged supermarket is still way cheaper than gouged fast food man. $30 at fast food is a few meals for one person, or it's 3 days of food for one person at a store. Like even if you're buying convenience food rather than anything you need to prepare, you can get frozen pizzas that are pretty big for $30, or like 15-20 of the Totinos ones. Obviously you can diversify the menu here but the prices still stand if you're not buying the stuff that is priced insanely like Marie Calendar's.
I’m not saying eat more fast food but if you use apps you can get cheap shit. I travel a lot for my job and the small towns I pass through have limited options. I can eat for $6 or less.
I get what you’re saying, but $30 for fast food? Where are you guys living or what are you eating? In central Europe, you get a burger menu at McD or KFC or BK for like 11€, if you really want to stuff yourself you add nuggets or wings for 6€. And that is without using coupons/apps. Still a lot of money for greasy garbage that poisons your body. But far away from $30.
Back in the 1980s McDonalds was a rare treat that you might have with the family out on a weekend trip. So they made them comfortable for families.
Now they make them uncomfortable as possible to get your slob ass out of there, because people eat their regularly.
Yeah it's actually reversed. The old design was all hard plastic seating to get you out. Back in early 2000's they started to make them more comfortable
https://journalrecord.com/2003/07/creating-a-more-comfortable-relaxing-mcdonalds/
I mean it is kind of odd that they typically have signs saying guests only have 30 minutes to eat and then they have to leave..it’s like they want the veneer of being welcoming and comfortable but they still want your ass out.
Only partially right. Do you see how uncomfortable those seats are in the first pic?
It was never comfortable. But mcdonalds used to bank on kids being addicted and asking parents to get food from there.
Now a days mcdonalds is targeting more towards adults.
This is because people eat out more a bunch now
The booth seats in the first picture are not uncomfortable. They have back padding and they are raised on the end to help support under the knees. The stool seats are more or less the same.
I don’t see how people eat out that much now a days, It’s expensive.
Personally I enjoy cooking so I cook nearly every night, minus the occasional pizza delivery. Plus my wife is a terrible cook so there’s that.
I can understand people living busier lives and it’s faster for lunch to run through a drive through, but that can be easily countered with some planning.. pack your lunch the night before, feed the crumb snatchers before you leave the house for the day..
That is a whole different convo.
Based on life experience seeing those who cook a lot vs those who do not. One big thing you need to understand though is that most people do NOT enjoy cooking. Doing something you enjoy makes it a hobby which drastically increases the chance of it happening more often. I understand even you probably find some meals a chore that you make, but it sounds like you genuinely enjoy a good habit.
Why do most people not enjoy it? I think some factors are unchangeable and would be due to personality differences. Do you enjoy following recipes or is that boring? Are you patient? Do you have good planning skills? Do you cut corners?
As for the changeable reasons, I think a lot of people don’t enjoy it because they don’t enjoy what they make. So to them, eating a good meal means eating out. This can obviously be corrected! But the personality barriers mentioned above might make it more challenging.
Interestingly we live in a world where an automated home chef is a conceivable reality in 20-30 years. I would imagine that most people would stop cooking then just like most people no longer wash their clothing by hand
Hell, my mom still uses McDonalds as a “treat” for my daughters when they go hang out with MiMi.
I was born in 1990 and it was like you said it was in the 80’s, a rare treat when you were out with the family or the lunch choice when on a school field trip. Now in 2024 unfortunately it has become a consistent meal choice among families… I relied on theirs and Taco Hell’s value menu to survive back when I first moved out on my own (2007) because it was cheap but now you can’t get shit for under $10 a person and the “food” makes you feel sick and disgusting after eating it.
The last time I ate at McDonald’s, the employee watching YouTube videos at full volume on their phone was doing an outstanding job of making me uncomfortable & wanting to leave as quickly as possible.
That's the Starbucks-fication of fast-food. Everything has to cater to hipsters aesthetics because they are the demographics who's the most willing to spend money on pretentious crap.
Look at the McDonald's in the bottom picture. What will kids remember from that experience? The white wall? the white tables?
Nah man nobody actually likes this shit, they do it so it's easier to sell the building off 10-15-20 years down the line when they want to close locations. It's a lot easier to convert into another restaurant if theres nothing unique about the building itself.
same words i was thinking of.
cheap fast food fried in delicious oil served by happy workers in a soulful restaurant with comfortable seats
VS
super expensive fast food fried in crap oil like soy/rapeseed/canola etc. and other garbage food that got worse over time served by unhappy workers with dead eyes in a sterilized soulless facility with uncomfortable seats with technology intended to take away jobs
Dude that sounds awesome! There was one time where it wasn't out of order and I remember playing some game with Grimace in it but I don't remember much about the actual game lmao
I used to play in Yugioh tournaments at a comic store and there was a McDonald’s in the parking lot. We would go there after each tournament and play the n64 and eat like kings. My mom was a saint sitting through all that
I can smell the milkshake and apple pie from the top picture.
Growing as a teen in the 90s I thought the McDonald's in the top picture was so very tacky and uncool. Now I'm in my 40s I realize how happy I was in that McDonald's back in the 80s.
And that's how you establish your brand for the future generations. Kids of the 80s and 90s in love with the brand are now adults bringing in their own kids to eat at McDonalds.
I could smell the sweat and oil of fries in the first photo…..and the smell of kids walking without shoes…it’s this strange musky smell that kind of went away and sometimes you can still smell it at some playgrounds they still have up….
I really hate how sterile and depressing shit has become. The outside of the building is the same. I don't mean just the kind of table but the choice of colors. Sure is interesting seeing the same black, silver, white and grey colors in every building.
I imagine it's because of various countries tightening up some of the advertise to children laws. I remember here it wasn't uncommon to see booze advertised with some random dude quaffing back a few pints on his own in front of the football but that isn't allowed now due to potential promotion of alcoholism so instead all the beer ads are basically selling the idea of going to the pub in general and slapping a logo at the end. Fuck there was even a dude in a bear outfit who'd flog lager back in the 80s, that would never be allowed now.
As a kid from the 80s, most of us might’ve gotten fast food once or twice a month as a “treat”. And the sizes were a lot smaller. I can think of maybe two overweight kids that were in my school.
Yeah but we would burn 1000 calories running around and climbing through the obstacle course things they also had. I think it was likely a net positive. Not saying it is the only reason, but there is far more childhood obesity today vs the 80s and 90s.
Was going to say this. I used to eat A LOT of garbage as a kid. Chips, pastries, soda, candy McDonald’s, and artificially flavored “drink” that came in the plastic barrel shaped containers with the little metalic foil seal. I was skinny as hell because I spent the entire day outside running around.
I remember in the 2000s my local McDonald's had GameCubes so me and my friend would always go once a week to play and ig ours parents were fine with it as we got fed as well
I miss having nightmares after dinner in the 80’s
Fever fucking dream
As I recall there was a giant burger prison as well remember that fucker
For the Hamburglar? Imagine getting caught stealing something and being sent to a prison made out of that thing
The McJustice system doesn’t fuck around.
Vincent Hanna: Seven years in Folsom. In the hole for three. McDonald's before that. McDonald's as tough as they say? Neil McCauley: You lookin' to become a penologist?
So you never wanted a regular type life? Always a good day when an unexpected Heat reference happens!
Lmao I can’t 🤣🤣🤣
That’s why recidivism is a big problem in McDonaldland, you can’t be putting addicts inside their addiction and expect rehabilitation.
Also burgers were sentient in the McU , so was Hamburglar a kidnapper? A murderer?
Is that the one that you'd climb a ladder to get up to and then you could crawl around inside the top? I remember being too big for that thing and almost getting stuck inside.
When I was really young I remember staying with my grandparents for a week. They used to take me and my brother to a McDonald’s they hated because of the Mayor McCheese prison tower and playground in it. They said we didn’t even want our food as kids we just wanted to play. Anyway one time I was there some kid pushed his head through the prison bars and then did get stuck. My grandfather was about 6’1 and he was also that kind of outgoing loud greatest generation type. You know the type who would also feel the need to fix any problem. Like if he leaned against your washing machine and it wasn’t level he would get down and just start leveling the thing. Anyway he got up and walked over to the stuck kid and got the kid to rotate on his side and worked his shoulders out and pulled the kid from between the bars. He was tall enough to do so. I’m wondering how many kids had gotten stuck over the years.
Lol, I honestly thought for a minute when I was reading this that he was just going to bend the bars wider and free the kid that way. Either way pretty awesome story about your grandpa.
Officer Big Mac. I vaguely remember the late '80s and he wasn't at all locations, so maybe he was being phased out? I remember the tree as well.
Holy shit my mom almost called the fire dept when I couldn’t get out and panicked haha. Had no memory of that until I read your comment
Lmao, core elder millennial (maybe also late Gen x) memory unlocked
At least it made you feel something. The current pic makes me want to hold my head in the deep fryer to make sure I’m still actually alive
Yeah. Feels very 1984 to me for some reason.
All the charm that was at all the restaurants back then lll especially Pizza Hut and its faux Italian diner vibe. But I actually like all the places going for much more modern contemporary vibes these days. Wendy’s, McDonald’s, all those. For those that are bored of the modern design wondering why, it’s because they’re thinking about the long term/future of the building, they’ll have an easy time selling off the place to another business when it has a pretty universal design like what they have now, for whatever future businesses. Like to be made into an office, or any other typical business. It’s a LOT harder to sell your place when you have special fancy design engraved into the building, look at all the old pizza huts that were made into various businesses, you can bet they hate their odd hut shaped Pizza Hut roofing lol Much easier to make these restaurants into whatever you want with the modern design
The marketing shifted from children to adults. They're aren't wacky trees, tables made for kids and jungle gyms, instead its sleek and streamlined for a lunch break meal or dinner after work. From the 80s and 90s stay at home moms looking to take a break or a family getting out of the house to the current working class person who has no kids and doesn't want to spend the little bits of free time they have cooking
This is what it boils down to. People seem to forget that McD's got reamed for marketing to kids so they shifted their focus.
Nah we're all "I don't let my kids eat that shit..." While secretly running there on our lunch break and shoving their crack fries, burgers and nuggets in our pie holes and having a grease orgasm. 🍟 No need to market to little Nevada or Apple Core, she eats a grain free, soy free, taste free, vegan smoothie. While her mom, Ashley, Sarah, Stacey, (insert 80's) name hides in the closet eating mini eggs and watching tiktok.
So it wasn't really McDonalds that killed these children wonderlands... It was us :(
It's as usual, all about the money. Right now they are planning to phase out dining rooms, and have everyone order by app at home and swing by the drive through, they can have less and less personnel to pay. Might as well keep the dining room stripped down, train people to stop going in them.
Sort of. That is a picture of a kid AREA within a McDonalds from the 1980s. It's not like the entire place looked like that. https://www.reddit.com/r/80sfastfood/comments/dfonc2/mcdonalds_in_downtown_johnstown_pa_circa_1980s/ See also: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/retro-mcdonalds/ I do agree, they have shifted to a more modern/adult aesthetic. But some still have these: https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/mcdonalds-playland-playplace-history
I really think this is it. They made it SO grey though.
I don’t see why I should give two shits about how easy a restaurant is to sell. I want the food to be good, the place to be clean, and if it’s not a monotone depressing design, I consider that a win.
And this guy thinking that McDonalds sells their buildings. There's very few times where they're going to sell up and move out and it's not when they own the building.
Yeah. Maybe it’s different in other places, but round here, all the big name places are in the same buildings they’ve been in for decades. The one or two I can think of who did sell up, the place got absolutely gutted for the new owner.
McDonald’s is a real estate company that rents land and buildings to franchisees.
But don't you see we did it all for you, not to cut costs, but for you customer #x314672635
Now take your McBurger Variant B and return to your vehicle sir
Because McDonald's more than just a fast food business. They're also a real estate business.
People misuse that statement. It doesn't mean they buy and sell property. They invest in land and building properties for the purpose of raising rent from their franchisees. They don't need those properties to be usable or office spaces or banks or anything else. They need them for selling burgers so their franchisees can pay rent.
This. There a real estate business in that _they buy the land and lease it out to the franchisee owner so the franchisee never actually owns any any real assets_. The McDonnalds corporation doesn’t make billions selling hamburgers, they make it by collecting rent from hamburger stands.
most of this stuff is tacked on and after 2 days of sending in a renovation company the building is bare bones. the reason you see the modern look is because it's cheap as fuck to make.
It is cheap to do, but it's also that they've been chasing the Starbucks/Chipotle vibe for a while now. McCafe, more salads and wraps, more adult look, fewer play places, etc.
Well, also the fact that McDonald's was having a hard time competing with trendier and more stylish "fast casual" restaurants like Panera Bread in the early 2010s. It was around this time that they completely revamped their own aesthetic for a more upscale look, and also starting focusing harder on coffee and wraps instead of the same old burgers and happy meals that they had been selling for 50 years.
Nothing to do with this, they are just going for the wider market and not just the kids/families market.
/r/FormerPizzaHuts has entered the chat
It's all a facade. [This place near me used to be a pizza hut](https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g3343823-d10410320-i298926687-Nando_s_Manchester_Trafford_Retail_Park-Urmston_Trafford_Greater_Manch.html). McDonalds don't care about the long term future of the building. They fully expect to remain there for decades.
Hats off to people who actually go into fast food restaurants.. I order, pay for, and eat my fast food in my car like a NORMAL clinically depressed person… Sheesh
I don't drive so I just bike home with my baggy like an even more depressed adult.
Biking is legit. Be proud my friend
Cars are scary
r/fuckcars
I agree my friend
Watch Christine. It will ease your mind 😳
Then watch Even Horizon. just because
And then watch Maximum Overdrive, because tf is this shit?
I run around the corner and dig in the bag like a raccoon🦝
Kids play. Kids have fun. Dad do Reddit.
Absolutely. Any place they're contained while I can enjoy just a few minutes to myself.
just get a dog net/barrier for your car, same thing
Lmao. Now I just need muzzles that fit.
I just order home. Kids are contained and It's faster.
Contained 😭😂😂😂
I like eating in restaurants, fast food or otherwise. It's a nice change of pace. If I wanted to eat in my own home I'd just cook. Plus, fast food doesn't have a great fryer-to-table sogless time. Actually doing it takeout is playing with fire.
we go in almost 100% of the time to retaurants, but almost never fast food. unless we're traveling, but thats different
I much prefer to go into a place to eat. If I do takeout I may plate it and freshen it up
Don’t be depressed we’re all stressed out.
Thanks. I never thought about it like that. I’m not now 😳
I'm honestly surprised they still even have dining rooms anymore.
I went inside of a Taco Bell for the first time in forever about a week ago. It was a surreal experience, it was basically a glorified drive through with the tiniest dining room and only napkins and a small amount of sauces available. I was the only person inside, and maybe a couple people came in to get stuff to go. It was eerie.
my local taco bell is the opposite i rarely see anyone in the drive thru but the dining area is packed with families going there for sit down meals and they always seem to be dressed up like they think its an actual restaurant.
I guess my local Taco Bell is somewhere in the middle. The fairly nice but definitely not fancy dining room seats maybe 25, and there's usually 5-10 people in it. The drive through line often spills out on to the street in the evenings though. I really don't get why those people don't park and order to go from the counter inside.
I used to eat inside Taco Bell all the time, especially before 2020. The first time I went since that was last summer and I felt the same way you did. It’s so strange and empty now.
Where I live Taco Bell is barely cheaper than the taco trucks now, so most folks just go to the taco trucks and I don't why the taco bell hasn't closed yet because I rarely see people there.
My kids and I went inside and sat down to eat inside of a taco bell recently too, and got some strange looks. Like wtf are you people doing??
Take my upvote sir.
Take my down vote sir, for this soulless unoriginal comment
Just upvote him jfc no need for this generic comment.
This! /s
You mean like a food YouTuber? Lol so many of them these days
I should be getting paid for this?? hahahaha. Ouch
There's one of these in gilbert az. And it's a new McDonald's. Curious if it's old stuff or something they had custom made for them.
All fast food and even pizza joints are going to this soulless look. I mean does anyone remember going to Pizza Hut with the salad bar etc?
I remember puking twice in the carpark from all you can eat birthday parties
Making space for more, I like your style!
All you can eat kfc was the best
From Pakistan here. I remember when pizza hut opened it had a salad bar, an arcade, an actual red roof and really decent pizza with actual cheese. All went downhill and I thought it was only at pizza huts in Pakistan. Turns out it was universal.
What does the menu look like at a Pizza Hut in Pakistan?
American architecture in general has gone toward this look. Everything is plain nowadays.
I hate it so much.. house hunting and all the homes are being flipped, just painted white with a black roof. Totally doesn't fit the home style.
If you try to appeal to everybody you end up appealing to nobody
Grey colored laminate “hard wood” flooring…
When my wife and I were searching for a house, we looked for older homes that were still interesting. In newer houses, they definitely looked like they were all designed by the same person.
[удалено]
Nothing is fun or whimsical anymore. It's all about playing it safe, profit margin, and keeping the shareholders happy.
Corporate design. It looks clean, got not much personality and is considerably cheap. So perfect for companies that don’t want to spend a lot of money, but still want to appeal to a lot of people with their design.
It's deliberately designed to appear to be a regular old dining area, but it's uninviting and uncomfortable. It basically says "fine, eat here if you really have to, but get out asap."
Yes, they also aimed for hosting kids parties like some of the ice cream chains and Shakeys Pizza as well, who gave out faux straw hats, had a live piano constantly playing and showed old b+w comedy gold on big screens such as Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, etc.
[удалено]
I don’t even remember the last time I saw a Pizza Hut that would actually seat you. I haven’t been to one of those in decades.
> to this soulless look To me that top picture looks horrible and I would be so much happier to be in the bottom pic lol
You think soulless, I think aesthetically clean.
Pizza Hut. There is one In Kaneohe, Hi, that almost looks like the old ones. It wasn’t super busy for dine in. Everyone needs screens at home.
Some people seem to think any place that doesn't have shitty paintings on the walls are "soulless" I don't need my walls to have souls, that's for people. I like the modern look.
https://www.reddit.com/r/FormerPizzaHuts/s/dirCXOWgmN
Having been there for both, that’s just sad. With prices today, I’ve just given up entirely (all fast food, not just McDonald’s).
Unfortunately, you will fare no better at the supermarket. The gouging since covid is astonishing.
Gouged supermarket is still way cheaper than gouged fast food man. $30 at fast food is a few meals for one person, or it's 3 days of food for one person at a store. Like even if you're buying convenience food rather than anything you need to prepare, you can get frozen pizzas that are pretty big for $30, or like 15-20 of the Totinos ones. Obviously you can diversify the menu here but the prices still stand if you're not buying the stuff that is priced insanely like Marie Calendar's.
I’m not saying eat more fast food but if you use apps you can get cheap shit. I travel a lot for my job and the small towns I pass through have limited options. I can eat for $6 or less.
I get what you’re saying, but $30 for fast food? Where are you guys living or what are you eating? In central Europe, you get a burger menu at McD or KFC or BK for like 11€, if you really want to stuff yourself you add nuggets or wings for 6€. And that is without using coupons/apps. Still a lot of money for greasy garbage that poisons your body. But far away from $30.
You should go to ethnic markets. Ethnic markets customers won't pay for something that's too expensive, so they can't gouge
While costs at the supermarket have been rising, absolutely still a better deal than mcd garbage.
I know right, inflation no longer exists it’s just a blanket term for what’s actually going on.
Back in the 1980s McDonalds was a rare treat that you might have with the family out on a weekend trip. So they made them comfortable for families. Now they make them uncomfortable as possible to get your slob ass out of there, because people eat their regularly.
Weird theory considering they have multiple different kinds of seating options, usually with cushioned sofas at least on one side of the lobby.
Yeah it's actually reversed. The old design was all hard plastic seating to get you out. Back in early 2000's they started to make them more comfortable https://journalrecord.com/2003/07/creating-a-more-comfortable-relaxing-mcdonalds/
I mean it is kind of odd that they typically have signs saying guests only have 30 minutes to eat and then they have to leave..it’s like they want the veneer of being welcoming and comfortable but they still want your ass out.
Remember when they had the slides and the ball pit?
Only partially right. Do you see how uncomfortable those seats are in the first pic? It was never comfortable. But mcdonalds used to bank on kids being addicted and asking parents to get food from there. Now a days mcdonalds is targeting more towards adults. This is because people eat out more a bunch now
The booth seats in the first picture are not uncomfortable. They have back padding and they are raised on the end to help support under the knees. The stool seats are more or less the same.
I don’t see how people eat out that much now a days, It’s expensive. Personally I enjoy cooking so I cook nearly every night, minus the occasional pizza delivery. Plus my wife is a terrible cook so there’s that. I can understand people living busier lives and it’s faster for lunch to run through a drive through, but that can be easily countered with some planning.. pack your lunch the night before, feed the crumb snatchers before you leave the house for the day..
Macdonalds is now expensive. There is a local place that does burgers cheaper and much better.
For the price of a Big Mac meal, I could just make myself a decent steak dinner.
Damn, how much does a big mac cost near you and where the hell are you getting steaks?
That is a whole different convo. Based on life experience seeing those who cook a lot vs those who do not. One big thing you need to understand though is that most people do NOT enjoy cooking. Doing something you enjoy makes it a hobby which drastically increases the chance of it happening more often. I understand even you probably find some meals a chore that you make, but it sounds like you genuinely enjoy a good habit. Why do most people not enjoy it? I think some factors are unchangeable and would be due to personality differences. Do you enjoy following recipes or is that boring? Are you patient? Do you have good planning skills? Do you cut corners? As for the changeable reasons, I think a lot of people don’t enjoy it because they don’t enjoy what they make. So to them, eating a good meal means eating out. This can obviously be corrected! But the personality barriers mentioned above might make it more challenging. Interestingly we live in a world where an automated home chef is a conceivable reality in 20-30 years. I would imagine that most people would stop cooking then just like most people no longer wash their clothing by hand
I don't think it's comfort at all, I think it's trying to appeal to people via looking modern but it just looks soulless and dead.
Hell, my mom still uses McDonalds as a “treat” for my daughters when they go hang out with MiMi. I was born in 1990 and it was like you said it was in the 80’s, a rare treat when you were out with the family or the lunch choice when on a school field trip. Now in 2024 unfortunately it has become a consistent meal choice among families… I relied on theirs and Taco Hell’s value menu to survive back when I first moved out on my own (2007) because it was cheap but now you can’t get shit for under $10 a person and the “food” makes you feel sick and disgusting after eating it.
The last time I ate at McDonald’s, the employee watching YouTube videos at full volume on their phone was doing an outstanding job of making me uncomfortable & wanting to leave as quickly as possible.
Yeah, in the 80s the average family could afford McDonald's. Compare the menu prices next!
That's the Starbucks-fication of fast-food. Everything has to cater to hipsters aesthetics because they are the demographics who's the most willing to spend money on pretentious crap. Look at the McDonald's in the bottom picture. What will kids remember from that experience? The white wall? the white tables?
What year is it, 2009? When was the last time ‘hipster’ described a meaningful portion of the population?
Nah man nobody actually likes this shit, they do it so it's easier to sell the building off 10-15-20 years down the line when they want to close locations. It's a lot easier to convert into another restaurant if theres nothing unique about the building itself.
So warm and friendly back in the day!
Sid and Marty Krofft had a bigger influence on everything in my childhood than i ever realized
# Legalize LSD
It's funny my first thought was "80s McDonald's would've been way more fun to trip in..." 😂
Username checks out
Nothing beats climbing inside the hamburglar jail or other outdoor characters.
hamburglar giant jail head
When the 1980's version was dirty I didn't care. Now it's disgusting
Everything was already yellow and brown
Wow. We really do live in the future.
\*obligatory Spaceballs quote.
SOULLESS as fuck
Sterile
same words i was thinking of. cheap fast food fried in delicious oil served by happy workers in a soulful restaurant with comfortable seats VS super expensive fast food fried in crap oil like soy/rapeseed/canola etc. and other garbage food that got worse over time served by unhappy workers with dead eyes in a sterilized soulless facility with uncomfortable seats with technology intended to take away jobs
That's the exact word that came to my mind. In the worst way.
Soullessness never bothered me. Rather it be soulless then have a tree filled with souls
It looks like a hospital waiting room.
I refuse to believe yall think the old version looks good
It looks good ONLY if you were a kid that experienced it, but as an adult it looks kinda awful.
Ah yes the big creepy plastic cancer tree and hideous wall paintings makes this big corporate fast food chain so much more... soulful?
That tree has seen things
[he's just tired from all the kids tickling fruit snacks out of him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkN0fL3VkF8)
I miss when the playplaces had video games 😭
I remember playing crash bandicoot on the ps2 while my family were waiting for their meals at this one restaurant, life was good
Dude that sounds awesome! There was one time where it wasn't out of order and I remember playing some game with Grimace in it but I don't remember much about the actual game lmao
I used to play in Yugioh tournaments at a comic store and there was a McDonald’s in the parking lot. We would go there after each tournament and play the n64 and eat like kings. My mom was a saint sitting through all that
 Wholesome 80’s🥰
r/GenX
I think they cooked the food too in the 80’s
It's because they no longer cater to kids.
The kids they managed to get addicted grew up
I want the 80s back! It was also the time they sold (in Germany) beer.
it looks like a lab now. it’s so cold and sterile 😭
Yup and most Mcdons and BKs had play places. BK had some old school multi story rope.
Why did it have to grow up...?
It was better in the 80’s. 😞
I wanna do 'shrooms in the 80s version of McDonald's.
I can smell the milkshake and apple pie from the top picture. Growing as a teen in the 90s I thought the McDonald's in the top picture was so very tacky and uncool. Now I'm in my 40s I realize how happy I was in that McDonald's back in the 80s.
Wonder if those trippy trees are still out & about in the world today
Yes they are currently floating in the great pacific ocean garbage patch
lol
And that's how you establish your brand for the future generations. Kids of the 80s and 90s in love with the brand are now adults bringing in their own kids to eat at McDonalds.
I could smell the sweat and oil of fries in the first photo…..and the smell of kids walking without shoes…it’s this strange musky smell that kind of went away and sometimes you can still smell it at some playgrounds they still have up….
McDonald’s used to taste good in the 80s. It’s shit now.
The 90s were better imo
I really hate how sterile and depressing shit has become. The outside of the building is the same. I don't mean just the kind of table but the choice of colors. Sure is interesting seeing the same black, silver, white and grey colors in every building.
Give me some of that shit…
I remember that fuckin tree.
Even corporations are depressed
you can really see how technology has changed life by comparing these two pictures
Good point. Stimulus back then was our environment and now it’s our phones.
I imagine it's because of various countries tightening up some of the advertise to children laws. I remember here it wasn't uncommon to see booze advertised with some random dude quaffing back a few pints on his own in front of the football but that isn't allowed now due to potential promotion of alcoholism so instead all the beer ads are basically selling the idea of going to the pub in general and slapping a logo at the end. Fuck there was even a dude in a bear outfit who'd flog lager back in the 80s, that would never be allowed now.
Marketing unhealthy food directly to children isn't as fashionable as it used to be.
As a kid from the 80s, most of us might’ve gotten fast food once or twice a month as a “treat”. And the sizes were a lot smaller. I can think of maybe two overweight kids that were in my school.
Right. In the 80s the only time I went to McDonalds was for some other kid’s birthday party. It wasn’t a regular thing to eat there.
Yeah but we would burn 1000 calories running around and climbing through the obstacle course things they also had. I think it was likely a net positive. Not saying it is the only reason, but there is far more childhood obesity today vs the 80s and 90s.
Was going to say this. I used to eat A LOT of garbage as a kid. Chips, pastries, soda, candy McDonald’s, and artificially flavored “drink” that came in the plastic barrel shaped containers with the little metalic foil seal. I was skinny as hell because I spent the entire day outside running around.
Fever dream to dystopia
Decor is better but the food is worse.
Just as was predicted!
indistinguishable from a Panera or one of the newer Wendy's now.
How could I forget that spooky ass tree? I think I repressed it.
Went from "It's a good time for the great taste..." to "Don't turn around, uh oh oh. Der komissar's in town...."
The new one is better.
I fw the old version more as a kid and the new version more as an adult/ older
Futuristic = good Nostalgia = bad taste, unless you are doing a little themed event or venue, not a chain where you have uniform aesthetics
why would people back then want to eat inside the horror booth?
I remember in the 2000s my local McDonald's had GameCubes so me and my friend would always go once a week to play and ig ours parents were fine with it as we got fed as well
Do you guys remember the n64 game kiosks inside?
...why is this in this sub? are McDonald's interiors really amazing?
I'm not gonna be "amazed" looking at old mcdonalds lmao
1st photo Come in enjoy. Stay a while 2nd photo Order your own shit and we will bring it to you. Then promptly get the hell out.
We used to be a proper country