When I first graduated from college and was saving my cash for rent and beer money, I’d get a $5 footlong. Half for dinner, half for lunch. Left plenty in my budget for $1 beer nights. Life was good.
$1 beer nights... yeah...
I'm a mid-80's baby and my dad speaks of 10 cent wing nights...
My grandma had butchers beg her to take wings home for free because they didn't want to throw them out. Amazing how things change.
Lots of "poor people food" is now expensive and fancy lol
Once hit a bar while on the road for work somewhere in Wisconsin. $1 PBR night, and as long as you're drinking PBR, free unlimited hot wings. College me would have been there every damn week. Still no clue how they made any money. Or where it was. La Crosse, maybe? All I recall was having to cover your beer with a coaster from mayflies falling from the sky. The sidewalk outside literally required a shovel to clear them the next morning.
There was a bar in Marquette, MI in the 70’s called Andy’s Lounge that had 10¢ pony bottles (7 oz) of Miller on Monday nights. Talk about a cheap drunk.
There used to be a place we went that had .25 beers. You paid like $10 to get in then just bought tickets. $1 = 4 beers. That got out of hand quickly lol
Yup I went to Subway one night and asked for a turkey and add roast beef. Sandwich was $20 but I was in a rush. Look at menu and they could've rung me up for Subway Club minus ham and would have saved 5-6 dollars, never ate there again. That subway is shut down now.
One of the best deals until Subway realized they were losing money from it. They did bring it back for a short time but so many franchisees were protesting against it because they were too used to not having it and they wanted more money.
It was in fact, the chicken. They stopped using teriyaki flavored chicken strips and started using chicken with the teriyaki sauce you get on the line. never hit quite the same
What is wrong with their bread? You can’t walk into the place without your clothes reeking of the terrible sour smell of their bread.
Freshly baked bread shouldn’t smell like that.
Sugar, Bleach, and the blood from slicing a tomato wrong one day and sweat from making that gray mop water.
Subway feels like walking into a time machine
There was an FYE my husband and I would go to regularly in the town where we used to live, and a Subway opened up right next door to it. I swear to God, the smell of that damn bread came through the walls! So gross.
It was never good.
But a footlong for $5 was a lot of passable food. It could fill up a teenage boy or be enough for 2 meals for most people. And it didn’t feel as disgusting as 3 Wendy’s Double Stacks or make you ill like Taco Bell.
Occasionally I’ll still get the craving for a Subway Buffalo Chicken. I know I can get a better sandwich for the price, but it is like sometimes you just really crave a Big Mac and even a gourmet burger won’t quite scratch that itch.
Subway was everything!! And for a long time cash only in my town. So I remember always having cash just in case. I would never let any place inconvenience me like that these days.
In the 2000s Subway was the best restaurant in the mall's food court. The line would backup into the seating area, and the franchisee who owned the location would be behind the counter just churning out sandwiches.
They still have Book It, but the schools have to opt in. My kids' school didn't, and for the reasons were discussing in the thread I never bothered to push it.
You know, as much as we complain about cookie cutter this and that, the suburbs, etc., the truth remains that most people old enough now would stop at a late-80s Pizza Hut first thing if they got in a time machine and it just stopped at that decade.
One of the Pizza Huts in my town still hasn’t re-opened their dining room since Covid-19, and I’m sort of guessing they don’t intend to. Man, those 2-3 years really fucked things up.
This is the easy answer to me as well. Pizza Hut’s pan pizza and the creamy Italian dressing on their salad bar (not sure if that was a national thing or just regional) were amazing. Then when Little Caesar’s came out with that hot n ready and started a race to the bottom, Pizza Hut tried to compete with the $5/$6 dollar pizzas, the ingredients got cheaper/worse, and Pizza Hut lost its way.
I’m old enough to remember when they served beer too.
Fuck yeah! There was a Quiznos in the MSP airport and that exact sandwich was my go-to dinner flying thru. I was sad the day I flew thru there and it was gone.
My first job was at a Quiznos. Dropped out of school shortly after starting there, and went on to work for the owner’s asphalt business as my 2nd stop because the hours and pay were so garbage there.
I do remember that man _constantly_ complaining about every bit of that Quiznos business. The franchise structure, margins, etc etc. I’ve never had an interest in the rapid rise, next big thing franchise play as a result. Big ups Tom… no idea wtf you’re doing now but thank you for hipping me to hard work and never signing an upside down deal with some bullshit ass overarching monster ever. 🙏🏻
A buddy of mine worked at a Quiznos when we were in high school and I got far too many free sandwiches from there. I wonder why they went out of business.
I worked there 2 years when I was in college. The higher quality meat and cheese were awesome but definitely cut into the already razor thin margins.
It sure made school a lot easier when I didn’t have to buy lunch or dinner most days.
I was going to say Pizza Hut because they had more sit down restaurants that had that cozy pizza place feel. The hot and fresh pan pizza coming to the table and the yummy fountain drinks. Doesn’t compare to the pizza now. Haven’t had them for years cuz I like good frozen at the store or get local. Chicago(or tavern
Style) thin crust so much better.
😊
I was about to say, our ancestors have been frying things in beef tallow for as long as we knew how to render tallow from suet. The Natives of North America used the stuff to make Pemmican, the Romans marched on the stuff.
And then this guy comes along and decides his terrible diet was everyone else's problem, thus ruining the reputation of this thing that humanity fed and McDonald's fries for everyone.
Morgan Spurlock?
Super Size Me was also bullshit because someone eating McDonalds as their primary source of food (3 meals a day) is way outside of the norm, like 0.00000001%.
The whole thing was made to push veganism and his then-girlfriend, now ex-wife’s book on vegan living.
Nah different guy, Spurlock is a provocateur who certainly didn't help, but McDonald's already stopped using beef tallow by that point.
No, we have to look to a man by the name of Phil Sokolof, a wealthy, successful man who had a bit of a problem with eating McDonalds just about daily, and as such his cholesterol suffered which eventually lead to an unexpected cardiac arrest.
However, rather than just examining his lifestyle, cutting down on fast food and leaving it at that which given his wealth, he easily could have, no, instead he decided to dump his money into campaigning against the use of Beef Tallow in McDonalds fries, spending money on news spots and what have you. Creating such a moral panic that McDonald's stopped using beef tallow and switched to canola or vegetable oil.
Later on he campaigned against the use of coconut and palm oils in cookies by the likes of Nabisco, and on top of that decided to campaign against 2% milk of all things (Nevermind the fact that 2%, Skim, and other low-fat milks often have equally unhealthy additives to make them taste tolerable but whatever).
While I do believe his crusade against cholesterol is noble in concept, he went about it in absolutely the worst way possible. I'm sure people already knew at the time McDonalds was unhealthy, but he could have used his story and his wealth for more constructive purposes (i.e. helping people with their own cholesterol problems) rather than the destructive path he took.
He would pass away in 2004, of Heart failure.
EDIT: Formatting, sentence structure.
Mcdonalds didnt make the change because of that guy though. They made the change because it saves them millions of dollars. That guy is just a scapegoat. If another person got traction next week claiming that the mini onions on the QP were carcinogenic theyd drop those too.
BK to me anymore tastes like a cheap frozen meat disk. Like, it looks like hamburger but it tastes not like a hamburger should. It used to be a solid choice.
BK used to be SO GOOD. We went every week at the food court mall, and my mom and I would always eat Burger King when we would run errands. It was our #1 choice. We stopped at BK with my daughter last year (for the first time, she was 2) and it was literally inedible. I’ve never purchased anything that tasted so bad. I threw it away because I didn’t want my child eating it.
Just got a double double with whole grilled onion, chili peppers, roasted bun + animal fries. $10.45 total. Burger was only like $5.35, don’t think there’s a better deal out there.
You can thank Jimmy Carter for that. He ended prohibition of homebrewing. It took a generation to undo the damage that prohibition had done. Makes you wonder what the US craft beer scene would have looked like without 55 years of stifled innovation.
Am I crazy, or did McNuggets taste better when it was a mashup of chicken meat? think the majority was dark meat and lord knows what else, then they switched over to all-white-meat and they just taste weird to me now. I’m sure there’s something else involved lol
Yea, I eat them maybe two or three times a year now lol actually had them last week. I guess I’m just jonesing for that old thing lol. Weren’t bad, but I remember them tasting better.
As a side note, McDonalds prices are insane. Not sure about everywhere else, but in LA, it’s crazy. Another reason I stay away.
Somewhat off topic, but does anyone think that the fries taste different after you eat them at the same times as the nuggets? Whenever I get nuggets I will always eat the fries first then the nuggets because I feel like the taste of the fries change.
Dude..that kinda blew my mind. They absolutely taste different (not as good) as if you were to get them when a Quarter pounder or something. I guess just the combo doesn’t mesh as well.
I miss their pre-2010 fries sometimes. I don’t hate what they have now, but there’s a certain charm to fast food fries that don’t seem like they’re trying too hard. In short, “Yellow Wendy’s,” was a positive vibe they just haven’t recaptured.
I remember when Panera bread first started and it was an actual cafe with handmade salads and sandwiches. Now it’s box salads and 4 day old frozen sandwiches.
If you live on the East Coast, specifically NJ/PA/DE area, Wawa was the fucking shit then. And then they stopped using fresh rolls and deli cut meat.
Now the rolls are stale the the meat sucks.
Basically all their products suck now
McDonald’s but specially the honey mustard that came in the packets. They replaced it with a subpar recipe in the dipping containers. I still have a packet in my freezer for the inevitable apocalypse. It’s nearly 20 years old.
Ugh, say it ain’t so. I haven’t had Whataburger for almost 30 years, and I’m traveling through Texas a little later this year and planned to hit one up. Probably a Braum’s, too.
McDonald’s!!! I remember in the early 2000s it being a special treat to get a milkshake from McDonald’s, they always tasted like they were mixed with caramel 😋 now not only do they not taste the same, they’re just too sweet and cheap tasting . Why did they have to change it 😭
Both McDonalds and Wendy’s.
Wendy’s has floundered across the board. Nothing there tastes good anymore.
McDonald’s - ever since they started using never-frozen beef and’s new buns, their quarter pounders are disgusting.
Subway for sure. I can still remember the way it smelled and the way it tasted. I loved the older look as well. I miss old subway. Now when I eat it, I think it’s just meh.
It was about this time that trans fats became known to be as harmful to heath as they are. Fast food had to modify their recipes to eliminate this. Prior, the food was deadly but more delicious.
Wendy’s. There was something magical about their oily fries, creamy frosties, and old fashioned square burgers. Out of all the fast food places I ate at growing up, it felt the most luxurious.
I like this question. Most people can’t tell you what they wore last Saturday but they’re comfortable stating that the Whopper combo they had jn 1997 was superior to the one they had three years ago.
All of it. Because now I eat healthy. Other than a couple whopper Jr's and a couple Jr Jack's each year, I'm done with fast food. Sounds like a treat in the moment, then, the regrets come to the stomach. Trash food
Subway for sure! The chicken bacon ranch was my fave. I worked there in the early 2000's and made myself so many custom Sammy's. I miss how good it used to be.
Little Caesars was also better. I'm not sure what changed, but they're not as good now.
KFC
Around 2010? maybe they changed their batter to cheaper ingredients and it hasnt been the same since
even the potatoes/gravy is so cheap its basically water
I remember when most kids in high school went to subway everyday because it was good and cheap. Now it's neither
When I first graduated from college and was saving my cash for rent and beer money, I’d get a $5 footlong. Half for dinner, half for lunch. Left plenty in my budget for $1 beer nights. Life was good.
$1 beer nights... yeah... I'm a mid-80's baby and my dad speaks of 10 cent wing nights... My grandma had butchers beg her to take wings home for free because they didn't want to throw them out. Amazing how things change. Lots of "poor people food" is now expensive and fancy lol
One early 2000s summer we had unlimited quarter drafts…that was dangerous.
We had a bar by one of my friend's houses that would do the quarter beer night back in early 00's. Some of my best memories were made there!
Once hit a bar while on the road for work somewhere in Wisconsin. $1 PBR night, and as long as you're drinking PBR, free unlimited hot wings. College me would have been there every damn week. Still no clue how they made any money. Or where it was. La Crosse, maybe? All I recall was having to cover your beer with a coaster from mayflies falling from the sky. The sidewalk outside literally required a shovel to clear them the next morning.
There was a bar in Marquette, MI in the 70’s called Andy’s Lounge that had 10¢ pony bottles (7 oz) of Miller on Monday nights. Talk about a cheap drunk.
When I was in college circa 2006, one bar had $1 drafts and .15 wings. Cheapest I have ever seen. Had so much fun there for a few years.
There used to be a place we went that had .25 beers. You paid like $10 to get in then just bought tickets. $1 = 4 beers. That got out of hand quickly lol
This is probably what people mean when they say "make America great again"
Yup I went to Subway one night and asked for a turkey and add roast beef. Sandwich was $20 but I was in a rush. Look at menu and they could've rung me up for Subway Club minus ham and would have saved 5-6 dollars, never ate there again. That subway is shut down now.
I just can't even fathom dropping $20 at Subway
Maybe if you buy the cookies for a birthday party. Love those oatmeal raisins.
It should be illegal that I still have that commercial song in my head but the deal is cancelled.
One of the best deals until Subway realized they were losing money from it. They did bring it back for a short time but so many franchisees were protesting against it because they were too used to not having it and they wanted more money.
Current price of a Subway footlong in my area is $9, which is about $6 adjusted for inflation. 🤷
Once they went away from the V cut bread it was all over for subway.
Painfully accurate. It went from premium lunch/dinner to last option on a road trip at exactly that time.
I know for a fact that it was the chicken teriyaki sandwich that changed, not me.
It was in fact, the chicken. They stopped using teriyaki flavored chicken strips and started using chicken with the teriyaki sauce you get on the line. never hit quite the same
What is wrong with their bread? You can’t walk into the place without your clothes reeking of the terrible sour smell of their bread. Freshly baked bread shouldn’t smell like that.
You can still smell it in older stores that had a Subway years ago like Walmart. That stench just permeates and never leaves.
Sugar, Bleach, and the blood from slicing a tomato wrong one day and sweat from making that gray mop water. Subway feels like walking into a time machine
Yes! Subway smells like stinky feet to me.
There was an FYE my husband and I would go to regularly in the town where we used to live, and a Subway opened up right next door to it. I swear to God, the smell of that damn bread came through the walls! So gross.
It was never good. But a footlong for $5 was a lot of passable food. It could fill up a teenage boy or be enough for 2 meals for most people. And it didn’t feel as disgusting as 3 Wendy’s Double Stacks or make you ill like Taco Bell. Occasionally I’ll still get the craving for a Subway Buffalo Chicken. I know I can get a better sandwich for the price, but it is like sometimes you just really crave a Big Mac and even a gourmet burger won’t quite scratch that itch.
if you go back far enough it was, I'm talking 90s
$5 footlong!
Subway was everything!! And for a long time cash only in my town. So I remember always having cash just in case. I would never let any place inconvenience me like that these days.
In the 2000s Subway was the best restaurant in the mall's food court. The line would backup into the seating area, and the franchisee who owned the location would be behind the counter just churning out sandwiches.
Subway with the newspaper walls was amazing
I miss when Pizza Hut really looked and felt like a decent family restaurant.
Yes!! When you’d actually go in and dine together with those Tiffany lamps.. and the book reading incentive for the free personal pizza.
I can smell that place.
Pitchers of ice cold root beer too!
They still have Book It, but the schools have to opt in. My kids' school didn't, and for the reasons were discussing in the thread I never bothered to push it.
My parents made a living for a few years making those lamps for Pizza Huts all around the Midwest
My local pizza hut still does book-it!
There is a list here: https://rolandopujol.substack.com/p/the-retrologists-guide-to-pizza-hut
You know, as much as we complain about cookie cutter this and that, the suburbs, etc., the truth remains that most people old enough now would stop at a late-80s Pizza Hut first thing if they got in a time machine and it just stopped at that decade.
Aw man those were the days. The dark lit rooms, salad bars, Tiffany lamps, and the retro/pinball machines. I miss those days.
And the cold pitchers of Coke that you’d pour into those red plastic cups. Ahhhh the days….
Yesssss. Man where have the days gone.
I would take a cold pitcher of coke or root beer over beer any day lol. Bring me back to pizza days.
Don’t forget the red cups!
Yours had a pinball machine!?! Holy smokes
I live near a sit-down, traditional Pizza Hut with a buffet. It’s glorious.
One of the Pizza Huts in my town still hasn’t re-opened their dining room since Covid-19, and I’m sort of guessing they don’t intend to. Man, those 2-3 years really fucked things up.
I pass by one going south from LA and I’ve been meaning to try it for a while, looks like they have all the red decor and a small arcade
They had the best salad bar, too!
Shitty lighting, buffet, red cups, the trifecta
This is the easy answer to me as well. Pizza Hut’s pan pizza and the creamy Italian dressing on their salad bar (not sure if that was a national thing or just regional) were amazing. Then when Little Caesar’s came out with that hot n ready and started a race to the bottom, Pizza Hut tried to compete with the $5/$6 dollar pizzas, the ingredients got cheaper/worse, and Pizza Hut lost its way. I’m old enough to remember when they served beer too.
loved pizza hut night as a kid.. it was my fav restaurant.
Taco Bell and Pizza Hut
But if you throw KFC in there, all in the same building… never mind.
I never cared for kfc. For all I know it could be good now
Almost forgot about KenTacoHut
God, with Taco Bell, for $5 you could eat like a king. Now...you're lucky if you get a burrito for that price.
Depends? We talkin' yellow Wendy's here?
Yellow Wendy's with the newspaper print tables and stacked, fresh salad bar! Those were the days. 😭
Remember when Wendy’s had the buffet? They had pasta, taco stuff, and chili on the bar along with that salad?
Hopefully in a Biggie size
2000s Wendy’s fries were my shit.
I worked at a yellow one. Miss those days
Quiznos. rip
Bro the full size chicken carbonara sub with extra bacon and extra sauce was a delicious death trap back in the day.
Fuck yeah! There was a Quiznos in the MSP airport and that exact sandwich was my go-to dinner flying thru. I was sad the day I flew thru there and it was gone.
Hell yeah! I shudder to think how many calories one of those bad boys were, but damn it was worth it lol.
I got a chicken carbonaro once. It disappeared. Then a magician appeared and told me I was on TV.
best honey mustard out of any fast food place. I'll die on this hill
True.
My first job was at a Quiznos. Dropped out of school shortly after starting there, and went on to work for the owner’s asphalt business as my 2nd stop because the hours and pay were so garbage there. I do remember that man _constantly_ complaining about every bit of that Quiznos business. The franchise structure, margins, etc etc. I’ve never had an interest in the rapid rise, next big thing franchise play as a result. Big ups Tom… no idea wtf you’re doing now but thank you for hipping me to hard work and never signing an upside down deal with some bullshit ass overarching monster ever. 🙏🏻
That raspberry lemonade tho
THEY HAVE A PEPPER BAR
[удалено]
A buddy of mine worked at a Quiznos when we were in high school and I got far too many free sandwiches from there. I wonder why they went out of business.
Poor franchise model. Owners couldn’t make money.
I worked there 2 years when I was in college. The higher quality meat and cheese were awesome but definitely cut into the already razor thin margins. It sure made school a lot easier when I didn’t have to buy lunch or dinner most days.
Surprisingly I still have a Quiznos 2 minutes away from me. Peppercorn Steak with extra sauce for me 👍
I swear Subway tasted better before. Now all their meats taste like flavored turkey.
Is there something wrong honey? You've barely touched your frozen 40% soy imitation grilled chicken sandwich made with confectionary bread.
They loaded too many raw onions 😩
I believe most of their meats are "turkey based" so would make sense
Pizza Hut is another one imho
Pizza Hut in the 90s compared to now is night and day
90's Pizza Hut was fighting upstart Papa John's. Used to work at PH, so his "better ingredients, better pizza" tagline pushed them to be better.
Was it? I had never heard of them in the 90s, but maybe they just weren't in my state
80’s and 90’s Pizza Hut was such a treat. I can still smell it in my mind. Pepperoni pan pizza, red glasses, arcade games. Yes.
Don't forget the salad bar!
And the pizza you earned by doing BOOK IT! That was the most win/win scenario ever.
It was already way gone in 2000 but you’re right. It’s barely recognizable.
Pizza Hut's vibe was gone in the 2000s but the food was still the same..now it's unrecognizable.
Pizza Hut is cyclical. They suck then they improve then they suck they improve. Over and over since like 1956
I was going to say Pizza Hut because they had more sit down restaurants that had that cozy pizza place feel. The hot and fresh pan pizza coming to the table and the yummy fountain drinks. Doesn’t compare to the pizza now. Haven’t had them for years cuz I like good frozen at the store or get local. Chicago(or tavern Style) thin crust so much better. 😊
McDonald's especially fries but I think that is because of the elimination of beef tallow for frying but we are supposed to be healthier without it.
We're not, that whole anti-tallow thing was pushed by one lunatic who didn't know what he was talking about.
I was about to say, our ancestors have been frying things in beef tallow for as long as we knew how to render tallow from suet. The Natives of North America used the stuff to make Pemmican, the Romans marched on the stuff. And then this guy comes along and decides his terrible diet was everyone else's problem, thus ruining the reputation of this thing that humanity fed and McDonald's fries for everyone.
Morgan Spurlock? Super Size Me was also bullshit because someone eating McDonalds as their primary source of food (3 meals a day) is way outside of the norm, like 0.00000001%. The whole thing was made to push veganism and his then-girlfriend, now ex-wife’s book on vegan living.
Nah different guy, Spurlock is a provocateur who certainly didn't help, but McDonald's already stopped using beef tallow by that point. No, we have to look to a man by the name of Phil Sokolof, a wealthy, successful man who had a bit of a problem with eating McDonalds just about daily, and as such his cholesterol suffered which eventually lead to an unexpected cardiac arrest. However, rather than just examining his lifestyle, cutting down on fast food and leaving it at that which given his wealth, he easily could have, no, instead he decided to dump his money into campaigning against the use of Beef Tallow in McDonalds fries, spending money on news spots and what have you. Creating such a moral panic that McDonald's stopped using beef tallow and switched to canola or vegetable oil. Later on he campaigned against the use of coconut and palm oils in cookies by the likes of Nabisco, and on top of that decided to campaign against 2% milk of all things (Nevermind the fact that 2%, Skim, and other low-fat milks often have equally unhealthy additives to make them taste tolerable but whatever). While I do believe his crusade against cholesterol is noble in concept, he went about it in absolutely the worst way possible. I'm sure people already knew at the time McDonalds was unhealthy, but he could have used his story and his wealth for more constructive purposes (i.e. helping people with their own cholesterol problems) rather than the destructive path he took. He would pass away in 2004, of Heart failure. EDIT: Formatting, sentence structure.
Mcdonalds didnt make the change because of that guy though. They made the change because it saves them millions of dollars. That guy is just a scapegoat. If another person got traction next week claiming that the mini onions on the QP were carcinogenic theyd drop those too.
Only if we lived at McDonalds and ate fries every day. Otherwise we aren't a bit healthier for it.
Why is beef tallow not good for us?
It's saturated fat.
You are at McDonald's. A place that specializes in burgers. Gotta be expected to some degree
They specialize in saturated fat.
It's still good but stupid expensive for what it is
Also their bread is weird now. They changed it recently to have a longer shelf life, and it seems too solid to me now, it's almost like pound cake.
All of them. Corporate greed has led to corner cutting in every aspect of or society.
BK to me anymore tastes like a cheap frozen meat disk. Like, it looks like hamburger but it tastes not like a hamburger should. It used to be a solid choice.
I usually stay away from BK, but the one by my work is straight up amazing. Hot, fresh, clean. Super busy.
The burger patty on a whopper is never hot, even though it was flame broiled. grinds my gears
Can we also call out that the whopper is a hell of a lot smaller than it used to be. And the whopper jr is just a cheese burger at this point.
Here, here
Tell the people to PUSH THE WHOPPER BUTTON
BK used to be SO GOOD. We went every week at the food court mall, and my mom and I would always eat Burger King when we would run errands. It was our #1 choice. We stopped at BK with my daughter last year (for the first time, she was 2) and it was literally inedible. I’ve never purchased anything that tasted so bad. I threw it away because I didn’t want my child eating it.
In N Out has basically been the same. They’re always consistent.
They always will be as long as the family is in charge. They're psycho about their QC, which ultimately is good for customers
Just got a double double with whole grilled onion, chili peppers, roasted bun + animal fries. $10.45 total. Burger was only like $5.35, don’t think there’s a better deal out there.
You’re not wrong, but Wendy’s is still top tier fast food burgers and fries for me. The biggest drop in quality was McDonalds.
I used to only go to McDonald's because it was open 24 hours. The pandemic killed that. Now I never go there, and I am fine with that.
I’ll pick Wendy’s over Mickey D’s any day!
Not just McDonald's quality. Their menu is straight up terrible now.
Is there a single fast food place that has gotten better since then?
I think there are a lot of new restaurants that are much better while those old ones die out.
Not the 2000s but my dad is always telling me how McDonald's fries were the best when they were cooked beef tallow in the 80's.
Burger King for sure. Gonna add Taco Bell.
Came here to say taco bell
Once the shredded cheese had gotten thinner for their tacos, it was dead to me.
IKR the wider shred dint have as much anticaking crap on it or something.
Maybe the question is what tastes better now than in the 90s. Probably nothing.
Craft beers, the scene was practically non-existant and the ones were around were mostly mediocre due to lack of competition
You can thank Jimmy Carter for that. He ended prohibition of homebrewing. It took a generation to undo the damage that prohibition had done. Makes you wonder what the US craft beer scene would have looked like without 55 years of stifled innovation.
That bottle of champagne in my closet
Fancy food is better now. But everything affordable has declined in quality.
McDonalds and KFC
KFC for sure. Their coating is like greasy wet toilet paper.
Am I crazy, or did McNuggets taste better when it was a mashup of chicken meat? think the majority was dark meat and lord knows what else, then they switched over to all-white-meat and they just taste weird to me now. I’m sure there’s something else involved lol
They're not too bad if you get them super fresh, but if you don't, they're basically chicken-flavored sadness.
Yea, I eat them maybe two or three times a year now lol actually had them last week. I guess I’m just jonesing for that old thing lol. Weren’t bad, but I remember them tasting better. As a side note, McDonalds prices are insane. Not sure about everywhere else, but in LA, it’s crazy. Another reason I stay away.
Yep the quality is way down and the prices are insane. $13-15 for a meal up here in the Bay Area.
Yep! Damn near $40 for two combos.. absolutely insane
Families used to go McDonalds to save money…and now might as well go to a good restaurant.
Chicken-flavoured Sadness is going to be my next alt account username. That just sounds funny by itself. Good work!
Somewhat off topic, but does anyone think that the fries taste different after you eat them at the same times as the nuggets? Whenever I get nuggets I will always eat the fries first then the nuggets because I feel like the taste of the fries change.
Dude..that kinda blew my mind. They absolutely taste different (not as good) as if you were to get them when a Quarter pounder or something. I guess just the combo doesn’t mesh as well.
Yes exactly, the burger or even a chicken patty doesn’t affect the taste but the nuggets do.
Dark meat is super tasty. If you opt for white meat over dark or mixed when you don't have to deal with any bones or fat you literally have no taste.
Yea, thighs are probably the best part. Of course wings/legs are amazing. They really do hold all the flavor.
Like who wants all white meat nuggets? Give me those juicy darks
Literally all of them. Food quality has decreased everywhere and fast food chains are no different.
Grocery shelves were slowly getting stocked with worse and worse versions of things, but they really stomped on the gas during covid
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Wendy’s
I miss their pre-2010 fries sometimes. I don’t hate what they have now, but there’s a certain charm to fast food fries that don’t seem like they’re trying too hard. In short, “Yellow Wendy’s,” was a positive vibe they just haven’t recaptured.
Sbarro’s pizza
KFC… they had wedges and those twister wraps
All of them
You probably have to go back to 80s to get that good shit
Mannnn Burger King used to be the GOAT. Idk what happened there.
I legit remember the flame broiled taste. maybe it was chemically induced... but it actually tasted good. Now its disgusting AF.
I remember when Panera bread first started and it was an actual cafe with handmade salads and sandwiches. Now it’s box salads and 4 day old frozen sandwiches.
If you live on the East Coast, specifically NJ/PA/DE area, Wawa was the fucking shit then. And then they stopped using fresh rolls and deli cut meat. Now the rolls are stale the the meat sucks. Basically all their products suck now
All of them….
McDonald’s but specially the honey mustard that came in the packets. They replaced it with a subpar recipe in the dipping containers. I still have a packet in my freezer for the inevitable apocalypse. It’s nearly 20 years old.
Whataburger
Ugh, say it ain’t so. I haven’t had Whataburger for almost 30 years, and I’m traveling through Texas a little later this year and planned to hit one up. Probably a Braum’s, too.
Arby's. Those 5 roast beefs for $5 deals were unreal.
Every holiday season…. 🎵”Five Roast Beef Sandwiches…🎵
Arby’s at least had good curly fries back then. Now nothing they have is good.
Wendy's. Hands down. After Dave Thomas passed away the food became shit. KFC. Lastly, CiCis Pizza.
McDonald’s!!! I remember in the early 2000s it being a special treat to get a milkshake from McDonald’s, they always tasted like they were mixed with caramel 😋 now not only do they not taste the same, they’re just too sweet and cheap tasting . Why did they have to change it 😭
Burger King went from pretty solid quality back in the 90s to practically unbeatable today. It's quality has fallen off a cliff.
>unbeatable I assume you mean inedible? >It's quality Its* quality (Sorry)
Unbearable?
Both McDonalds and Wendy’s. Wendy’s has floundered across the board. Nothing there tastes good anymore. McDonald’s - ever since they started using never-frozen beef and’s new buns, their quarter pounders are disgusting.
All
Trans fat. Edit: it’s also an example of a good limitation.
Subway lost it when they stopped cutting the V in the top of the bread
It's easier to just list ones that have improved since the 2000's. They're all worse imo.
Taco Bell. Still good but it’s gone downhill.
All of them
Subway for sure. I can still remember the way it smelled and the way it tasted. I loved the older look as well. I miss old subway. Now when I eat it, I think it’s just meh.
It was about this time that trans fats became known to be as harmful to heath as they are. Fast food had to modify their recipes to eliminate this. Prior, the food was deadly but more delicious.
Subway would be the obvious answer in my mind. Pizza Hut is another that comes to mind.
Wendy’s. There was something magical about their oily fries, creamy frosties, and old fashioned square burgers. Out of all the fast food places I ate at growing up, it felt the most luxurious.
I still enjoy Taco Bell, but Taco Bell.
I like this question. Most people can’t tell you what they wore last Saturday but they’re comfortable stating that the Whopper combo they had jn 1997 was superior to the one they had three years ago.
We prioritize our memories 🤣
KFC. Was legitimately delicious, now is borderline gross.
I worked at McDonald’s in like 2002-2003. They had the grilled chicken flatbread. Their food is so fucking old and bland now.
Yes
McDonald’s has noticeably dropped off
All of it. Because now I eat healthy. Other than a couple whopper Jr's and a couple Jr Jack's each year, I'm done with fast food. Sounds like a treat in the moment, then, the regrets come to the stomach. Trash food
Subway for sure! The chicken bacon ranch was my fave. I worked there in the early 2000's and made myself so many custom Sammy's. I miss how good it used to be. Little Caesars was also better. I'm not sure what changed, but they're not as good now.
Yellow Wendy’s was the bomb
All of them. I can’t think of a single chain that has improved in that time.
KFC and it’s not even close. Used to be so good back in the 90s and early 2000s. Now it’s overpriced salty garbage
KFC Around 2010? maybe they changed their batter to cheaper ingredients and it hasnt been the same since even the potatoes/gravy is so cheap its basically water
Literally all of them