If you suddenly get hungry, where do you go? Of course, there is a chance that you will go to some gourmet restaurant, but you must admit, the probability is rather negligible. After all, the main goal is to get full quickly, with something relatively tasty and, what is important, not for all the money in the world. That is, the answer is obvious - fast food.
For several decades now, fast food has been the main food industry on the planet, and burgers, French fries, shawarma, pizza, donuts and other classic elements make up the lion's share of the diet of many people worldwide. However, not all of us are actually delighted with fast food, realizing that good marketing is far from good food.
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#1
Starbucks. The coffee tastes burnt and is way overpriced.
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#2
Five Guys. It's good, but not "this meal cost me $30" good.
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#3
Subway sucks a*s nowadays. It's so expensive now and the quality is s**t.
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A couple of weeks ago, a thread appeared on the AskReddit community, where the author, the user u/Fueled_By_Tacos (ain't a damn appropriate username?), asked the question: "What is the most overhyped fast food?"
Interestingly, today the thread has almost twice as many comments as upvotes, which means the discussion has been quite lively. So, let's find out together which fast foods people think are really overrated and overhyped.
#4
Panera is overpriced hospital food.
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#5
I travel a lot. The best and most consistent fast food in America is the taco truck/trailer/stand. Regular American fast food has reached a new low in the last few years. Even a simple hot dog surrender now has about a 75% chance of being a major disappointment. Subway has probably fallen the most.
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#6
KFC has been dry and s****y for years.
Image credits: DullerInColour
If you think that fast food is something relatively modern, tracing its roots back to the 20th century, then you are definitely mistaken. The prototypes of fast food date back to ancient Rome, where a significant part of the inhabitants lived in rented rooms in large houses called "insulae." These rooms didn't have a separate kitchen, so the tenants usually bought ready-made food, eating it all down with bread soaked in wine.
Well, and then, already in the 19th century, we go to England, experiencing an industrial boom, and workers who urgently needed to go to the factory didn't always have enough time to cook their own food. Therefore, already in the middle of that century, small shops appeared selling standardized portions of typical British food - fish and chips.
By the way, even then, they were all heavily criticized from the outside - for example, by the heroes of Dickens' famous novels. So we can say that even then, fast food was quite overhyped.
#7
The pricing of fast food makes basically all of it seem overhyped to me because it never justifies the price even if it tastes good. So far the only fast food I would willingly pay current pricing for is Jollibee.
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#8
Chick Fil A.
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#9
I hate Chipotle. It’s just garbage in a bowl.
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Well, in America, the first fast food in the classical sense appeared in 1912 in New York. The Horn & Hardart company opened the first "Automat," where food and drinks were served through a vending machine. It gained lots of popularity - and then came the era of hamburgers, hot dogs and whatnot...
What has always distinguished fast-food chains is thoughtfulness down to the smallest detail, and marketing. Aggressive, viral and not always truthful. For example, in the first half of the last century, the White Castle company, which sold hamburgers en masse, faced scientific studies that questioned the health benefits of burgers. But they successfully dealt with these studies.
#10
Taco Bell, was great when you could eat for 5 bucks. Now it costs more then a real Mexican restaurant.
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#11
McRib, used to work at Mcdonalds, s**t is garbage.
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#12
Raising Cane’s chicken has been described to me BY RAISING CANES FANS as merely a “Cane’s Sauce delivery vehicle.” Again, this was the best description FANS of the brand could give me. Because they primarily make chicken, and the chicken is pretty tasteless, yet somehow, they’re opening up a new one on every other block.
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The company hired people who came to its restaurants during lunch breaks and ordered burgers while wearing white coats. That is, in the eyes of the average consumer of that time, they looked like doctors or scientists. So, well, if a doctor or scientist orders a burger, it means there is nothing harmful in it, right? The result was even an increase in customer flow.
However, marketing has always been an incredibly important component of the expenses of any fast-food chain. For example, McDonald's invested 1.9 billion U.S. dollars in advertising in the United States in 2022, according to Statista, thereby becoming one of the leaders in advertising costs among American companies.
So, yes - when buying almost any fast food from a popular chain, we pay not only for the food, but also for the advertising.
#13
I don't know if this is just a regional thing, but my area suddenly has two Nashville Hot Chicken places in every d**n shopping center and they are all mid, at best.
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#14
McDonald’s. It’s not cheap. It’s not fast. It’s not good. Whatever I want that McDonalds sells, someone has a better one. And it probably costs about the same or less.
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#15
Dunkin. I'm a New Englander so we have them eeeeeeeverywhere. I want to love them. I really do. But the food they have is pretty terrible not to mention the coffee.
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As for overhyped fast food - each of us actually has our own thoughts and points of view on this matter. And that, by and large, is what is wonderful about human society - you can always find like-minded people, as well as folks who will hotly dispute your views.
So please feel free to read this selection to the end and maybe add your own comments - after all, as the ancient Romans wisely said (while eating antique fast food with bread soaked in wine), "truth is born in debate."
#16
I remember back when Sonic first came to my city. It was on the local news and everything. And they sorta suck.
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#17
WINGSTOP. I think the fries are the worst thing on the menu. They’re horribly soggy and underseasoned.
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#18
Shake Shack. Burgers are good, not amazing. Fries are mediocre. Expensive.
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#19
As a fellow Texan, unfortunately, Whataburger ever since it was sold to corporate 😔.
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#20
Zaxby's. Steamed fries, soggy toast, and a couple of nugget-sized "tenders" is not it.
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#21
Unpopular opinion: as a Florida boy traveling to In-N-Out Burger while in San Francisco, it wasn’t great. I’ll take my 5 Guys and the down votes now.
Image credits: TheOtherStraw
