Are fast food chains lousy everywhere?

Question

A local online newspaper recently reviewed the worst KFC in Wales and mentioned that out of a total of 38 branches not one ranks higher than a three on TripAdvisor. Being a nation not renowned for our cuisine you can appreciate how shit these places must be to get ranked so low
www.walesonline.co.uk/.../worst-kfc-wales-barry-island-24440310
It's been my personal experience that fast food places like KFC, Mcdonald burgerking etc are nearly always pretty lousy and disappointing. Even more upmarket places like nandos is just a KFC with a knife and fork. The big pizza chains are no better than the ones you get at the local kebab shop.

WhiteSteve · Accepted Answer

Yeah, they’re usually not very good in the US either. Some are better than others, but almost none of them are any better than “serviceable.” Once a place has more than a few locations, it starts becoming about maximizing profits, at the expense of quality.

There’s a place called “Wings Over…(insert town or city)” that specializes in chicken wings, bone-in and boneless, and they feature 5 levels of heat for Buffalo-style wings, and many other common and not so common sauces to toss them in (BBQ, honey mustard, teriyaki, etc). I’m medium-sure (and about to knock out for the night, so fuck research, lmao) that they originated in the town I went to college in, my third year there. I had just moved off campus and got a flyer stuck in the door. My girlfriend and I ordered them. First time, we learned the hard way that they didn’t fuck around with the heat levels. We got the second highest heat, thinking we liked things a little spicy, and Cliff Notes, I ate like two wings and tapped out, and spent like 45 minutes drinking milk, eating bread, and trying to wipe the burning sensation off of my tongue with a paper towel in the bathroom mirror😂 But THE NEXT TIME we got it, lmao, we got it much milder, and tried the boneless ones…. holy shit, I still think of these wings two decades later.

Anyway, point is, on the menu they boasted “always made fresh, not that frozen junk!” This place blew up, and suddenly, maybe a year later, that quote disappeared, and there was a dip in quality. Still very, very good, but the were never quite the same as that first tear. From working at a bar/restaurant that tried to venture into selling boneless wings, I learned that it’s not easy. It either took forever to cook and the orders would pile up and take too long to prepare and serve, or, after the owner and head chef decided to keep the time down by par-baking the chicken strips ahead of time of deep frying, reducing the time, the finished product was a little rubbery. This other place did it way better lmao, but I’m just saying there’s a way to do it right, and I don’t think it was sustainable for delivery service at a college of like 30,000 people, and 30,000 more townspeople. So they went to “frozen junk”, I guess. I don’t know the ins and outs, but it stayed good for like ten years. But they expanded and franchised, and thats when the quality became way more average. I got some for old times sake, maybe like 5 years ago, and it just wasn’t even close to the same.

I’ve nodded off like twice and lost the plot, I’m gonna stop rambling and bail, but I think my point was fast food does indeed suck elsewhere for reasons of cost efficiency or issues of mass production. Aaaannnnddddd…. ZONK😴😴😴

MrOracle · Accepted Answer

Wow, that thing looks as dry as a desert. That crap definitely would not fly here - the fast food chains know all too well that they're competing against Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out, and you've got to bring your A-game or you will get demolished. Obviously McDonalds and Burger King can't fully compete with those two, except on price, but they still have to try harder, because if they don't, more people will be willing to wait in the longer line and pay a little more to get the much better food.

jennifer_bloom · Accepted Answer

I am just going to guess KFC is disliked in the UK due to laws about legal ingredients that decrease taste or the cost of local meat that raises the cost of their food. I’ve had KFC but never in the UK, while visiting France, McDonalds was my food of choice. In Canada, KFC is liked but not too much because they never advertise so are getting forgotten.

douride2 · Accepted Answer

Lousy tasting bad slow service fast food that isn't even fast are only some of the reasons I don't patronize so called fast food outlets.

Anonymous · Answer

My experiences at Burger King are generally good, far better than Mcdonalds.

With regard to KFC, my understanding is that it was bought by Pepsi and they stopped giving any kind of crap about the chicken which is why it doesn't taste anything like it used to, they threw the top secret recipe out the window and just load everything up with garlic salt to make you thirsty now.

I dont like any of the big brand name pizza places.

The best fast food local to me are as you said local independents and often out the back of a van or trailer even.

Even the independents are a crap shoot though with many of them serving up total garbage.

I've never been to a Nandos so i dont know what they are like.

It is wildly counter intuitive though that the best burgers around are almost certainly to be found from some random van parked a the side of a main road.

Oigit · Answer

The best fast food place I have found are ran by people who are ocd about the food and policies. So places where you don't get soggy old ass fries, the fryer oil isn't super old and you don't get that burger that has been on the flat top for too damn long. Fast food isn't quality dining at all. But when you have good owners/managers running the place it is better then what you normally get.

MCheetah · Answer

The fast food places in South Korea are pretty good, compared to the US and Europe. And Five Guys is pretty damn good fast food if you're willing to spend twice as much money; $10-$15. That being said though, it's still fast food. What do you expect? Korean McDonalds

molonski2 · Answer

What can I say , but just completely agree , its all utter CRAP , the places suck , its not food , and the Nandos analogy is spot on. Crap here in Australia , a little cleaner in Thailand ( cheap staff ) but food the same crap , and the relative price ludicrously expensive.

Crap everywhere , world wide , its not " food " , its processed rubbish.

Texaskid1 · Answer

Fast food tends to be shit but there are a few gems:

Jimmy Johns... they make excellent and tasty sandwiches.

Whataburger ( mostly in Texas)... their fries suck but I like their burgers very much.

Also, Domino's pizza does it pretty good. I think they are better then Pizza Hut.

Subway sandwiches are also pretty good too. There is also a place where here in Texas called Schlotzsky's which is really , really good fast food and actually expensive. One meal cost me about (US) $16.00 which is very expensive for fast food. To this day it is one of the best fast food meals I have ever had.

Lliam · Answer

No doubt. I rarely go to fast food chain restaurants anymore. The food is crap and full of chemicals.
I much prefer eating at, or getting take-out from, independent businesses or small franchises that depend on having good food in order to attract customers. Even most food trucks have better food than the large fast-food chains.
Finding places like that is golden.

matchrestore · Answer

They're not great most places, but that's not the point. The point is to be okay and consistent. You walk in and order the same meal in any restaurant in the chain it should come out the same. If you want a great dining experience you're not going to get it with fast food, or even national chain sit-down restaurants. Try something locally owned and independently operated for that

bean2k21 · Answer

The ones here are shit. When I went to Paris, McDo was really high quality. My brother, who lived there at the time, said the Parisians don't stand for shit food so the McDo has to up their game there. It made me feel pretty betrayed because why should you get better food just because you're French. I guess the McDo here markets to ghetto ass people. But, you know, fuck it there's loads of other places.

andreasderjuengere · Answer

Yes I think they are lousy all over the globe. ''Economists'', ''managers'', general greed and the indifference of consumerists has made the majority of humans a bunch of pigs to feed.

FilmGuy93 · Answer

Fastfood tends to be fire in college towns in the US. Like the best, most well put together McDonalds you will ever have is 2 blocks off of a major university campus.

hahahmm · Answer

Nope! If you go to McDonalds in Japan the food is amazing. The burger is like 3 star fine dining steak. So it all depends on the country. In a country where people are used to paying for BS the quality is lower.

AviatorTom · Answer

Fast food places are fine... if you're looking for fast food and don't care how good it tastes or how good (or bad) it is for you. I eat fast food maybe once a month, and there are some local fast food places that aren't too bad.

Mark987 · Answer

Before the pandemic.. I find that all the fast food chains were decent. Now forget about it... there is always something wrong with the order ( something missing, made horribly).

MikeInHawaii · Answer

I’d say the mom and pop pizza places are almost always better than the big chains.

exitseven · Answer

As a rule i do not eat at any of these places. Maybe once or twice a year. I would rather go to a family owned place in town that has been here forever.

goaded · Answer

Someone did a analysis of KFC's "eleven different herbs and spices", back when they were still advertising that, and they found salt, pepper and monosodium glutamate. That was it.

Astarlessnightsky · Answer

Yes, at least every Fast food chain restaurant, i've been was lousy.

jamesgoldman · Answer

Yeah its the only product triangle between quality, price and speed You can pick 2, fast food is low price and low quality

KatherineJ · Answer

Yep, fast food is lousy anywhere you go. The exceptions being In-N-Out Burger, Whataburger, Panera, and Chik-fil-A.

NYCQuestions1976 · Answer

Pretty much. That's why I only eat fast food once or twice a month. Chick-Fil-A tastes okay, if you decide to (or must) have something fast.

IsoUser · Answer

You brits seriously couldn't make decent fried chicken on a good day lmfao. I do however prefer your fish and chips with vinegar omg soooooo good

jimmy2 · Answer

Most are today I make it better than them at home now

Snsl153 · Answer

It's fast food. Of course they're lousy.

jahaims · Answer

I find restaurant chains in general to be lousy.

Zolly99999 · Answer

Yes pretty much !

Ithink_igoodperson · Answer

popeyes very nice i think

BLP11520 · Answer

So many are bad it is better to eat at home

BuLLdogLover03 · Answer

I love kfc

Andres77 · Answer

No but...

Twalli · Answer

Probably

In_Trance · Answer

Pretty much

panamared1 · Answer

mostly yes

kolt45 · Answer

Yes they are

Are fast food chains lousy everywhere?

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