# 'Fast' Food **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 21, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549 "2003-05-21T14:00:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/21 "2003-05-22T03:55:52Z")
One New Year’s, I went to a Subway at the Embarcadero, desperately hungry, and they ran out of bread. To be fair, they were the only goddamned place open within a mile, despite the fact that there were going to be thousands of people in the immediate area. The store probably didn’t have enough space for all the bread they woulda needed. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/22 "2003-05-22T04:02:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by musicguy \* > \*\*I was in the drive through of an “El Pollo Loco” ( a chain of fast food restaurants in California) which is also a “Fosters Freeze”(ice cream) recently. I ordered a banana split and some other food. When I got to the window, they handed me the other food items and told me it would just be a minute for the banana split. 15 minutes later, I asked what the holdup was? They confessed that they had sent an employee to the grocery store because they were out of bananas! Geez folks, you could have told me you were out of bananas so I didn’t have to wait for for someone standing in a checkout line at the grocery store across the street. By the time they told me, he had returned and they were busy preparing it. Of course the rest of the food was now as cold as the ice cream… \*\* Fosters Freeze is my arch nemesis. I _always_ have to wait a good 10 minutes there (MINIMUM) for my food. Every time. I was there with the now X one time and he ordered a sundae. They say it’ll be a minute. Cool. So we go and wait at the “pick up” counter. And wait. And wait. 3 customers come in after us and get their food. We’re still waiting. For a freakin’ _sundae_. Finally the X walks up to the cashier and asks what’s up with the sundae from hell (the “from hell” part is mine of course). The cashier screams to the guy in the back “you gotta sundae back there?” he goes “oh yeah, I forgot” she looks at my X “it’ll be a minute” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/23 "2003-05-22T04:34:35Z")
[My current fast-food complaint is that the chocolate shake machine seems to be “down” at a lot of places in my neighborhood. How can you go to a McDonald’s three times in a week and be unable to get a chocolate shake? It’s wrong on many levels. \*\* [/QUOTE] Agreed ☹ I’ve decided that the Ice-Cream Machine is the most unreliable, useless machine known to man because no matter which restaurant one goes to, there’s NO ICE CREAM AVAILABLE BECAUSE THE MACHINE IS DOWN! Maybe all the ice cream machines can be rounded up and melted down for scrap or something.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/24 "2003-05-22T05:40:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Plastic Ninja \* > Burgers on tap…ew. I want my burger solid, thankyouverymuch. Welcome aboard(s), **Little Plastic Ninja**! ---
**Author:** ![Zelmph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/46a35a/32.png) [@Zelmph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zelmph)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/25 "2003-05-22T06:55:47Z")
The KFC near me seems to be chronically low on chicken. (Yes, I eat there enough to notice a pattern. I have a problem. Damn you Colonel Sanders!) Anyhoo, a couple of weekends ago, I asked the drive-through guy why it was they always seemed to be out of chicken. He said they weren’t out of _chicken_, they were out of _breasts_. And whatever it was I ordered had to have a breast in it, so I had to wait. That was just the rule. Which I guess is good – if I ordered a three-piece meal and got three wings, I could see myself being less than thrilled. ---
**Author:** ![The\_MacDairmuid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_MacDairmuid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_MacDairmuid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/26 "2003-05-22T07:29:33Z")
Does KFC in UK boil the chicken? ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/27 "2003-05-22T09:30:44Z")
ewwww not as far as I know they don’t. I might complain about the wait, but the chicken is usually good (fried). Well as misery loves company, I’m glad to see I’m not alone in waiting for my ‘fast’ foodstuffs. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/28 "2003-05-22T12:03:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SweetLucy \* > \*\*[My current fast-food complaint is that the chocolate shake machine seems to be “down” at a lot of places in my neighborhood. How can you go to a McDonald’s three times in a week and be unable to get a chocolate shake? It’s wrong on many levels. \*\* Agreed ☹ I’ve decided that the Ice-Cream Machine is the most unreliable, useless machine known to man because no matter which restaurant one goes to, there’s NO ICE CREAM AVAILABLE BECAUSE THE MACHINE IS DOWN! Maybe all the ice cream machines can be rounded up and melted down for scrap or something.🆒 \*\* [/QUOTE] Is Microsoft making ice cream machines now? ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/29 "2003-05-22T14:29:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \* > \*\*they have hamburgers at KFC in HK? Rock! \*\* Well, I just mentioned ‘burgers’ - I was actually talking about the Zinger BUrger (chicken) …mmm. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/30 "2003-05-22T14:53:24Z")
I’d rather wait 5-10 mins than get a piece of chicken that’s been sitting under the heating lamp for 4 hours. My friend’s sister works at KFC and we usually go there for free food. Since he knows how to use the cooker he "custom’ makes all his food (like a ‘double’ big crunch, or poutine with extra cheese and gravy). The fish and chip shop that I used to fequent did not keep fish and chips sitting around. They always made it fresh when I ordered it, which is something I prefer. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/31 "2003-05-22T15:26:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The MacDairmuid \* > Does KFC in UK boil the chicken? No. For two reasons: 1. Because if it did they would have to change the name to KBC. 2. Because a pot of boiling chicken would be called soup. ---
**Author:** ![The\_MacDairmuid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_MacDairmuid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_MacDairmuid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/32 "2003-05-22T17:15:58Z")
Thanks, **Kal**. I hadn’t thought of that. :smack: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/33 "2003-05-22T17:27:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tcdaniel \* > If people buy dented cans and marked down packaged meats, they’d do the same at f-f restaurants > > My experience at McD (a long time ago) galled me at the waste of timed out burgers. Hell sell’m at half price. > > Some people aren’t that picky, they just want to eat and run. When I worked at Burger King some decade or so ago, I was also galled at the waste of food - if a burger sat under the heat lamps for more than 10 minutes, it had to be thrown out. I asked why we didn’t just sell them cheaper, or give them to a homeless shelter, or any other solution than wasting food. The manager explained that food that’s been heated and let sit is a prime breeding ground for bacteria, and the corporate offices determined it was cheaper to throw away old food than it was to defend themselves against the inevitable lawsuit of “I bought this hamburger that was expired and it gave me rabies” or some other cockaninny story. Yeah, if the fast food restaurant has a “buy at your own risk” sign above the expired food, knock yourself out … ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/34 "2003-05-22T19:29:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > I’m convinced KFC is not a fast food place. Anywhere that people regularly pop in and spend $60 (usually right in front of me), violates the whole principle. **$60?!?** At KFC? _Please_ tell me this is take-out for a lunchtime party somewhere, and not a family of four sitting down to snarf $60 worth of fried chicken in one pop… ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/35 "2003-05-23T18:05:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kferr \* > \*\*Agreed ☹ I’ve decided that the Ice-Cream Machine is the most unreliable, useless machine known to man because no matter which restaurant one goes to, there’s NO ICE CREAM AVAILABLE BECAUSE THE MACHINE IS DOWN! Maybe all the ice cream machines can be rounded up and melted down for scrap or something.🆒 \*\* Is Microsoft making ice cream machines now? \*\* [/QUOTE] Uh, I think a little translation would be helpful right now. “I’m sorry but the shake machine has broken down” … _translates into_ “We just cleaned the shake machine and if we make a shake for you, we will have to clean it again.” ---
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/36 "2003-05-24T22:07:17Z")
My first summer at McDonalds, I was working at a ghetto store where everything in the world was broken. The first week of June, the ice cream machine died. It wasn’t fixed until the last week of Novemeber, because it pretty much required an entire new machine, and the corporation didn’t want to put up that much cash for a dying store. Every day, for 6 months, we had people screaming and yelling because they couldn’t get their sundaes. It was insane. MY favorite was the lady who threatened us with calling the corporation…please, call them, maybe they’ll fix the damn machine… ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/37 "2003-05-24T23:12:04Z")
> [@](#): > > And ‘fast food’ definately isn’t cheap anymore either. You’re going to the wrong fast food places, dude… or, at least, you’re ordering the wrong things. Avoid McDonald’s like the plague. Not only is their food actually infected with the plague, it’s overpriced by about 100%. A buddy of mine, the other day, had a BIG hankering for McDonald’s for some ungodly reason. He ordered a Double Cheeseburger for 99¢. To supplement it (because he didn’t think it’d be enough), he got a regular cheeseburger. It was only AFTER he sat down and enjoyed his food, and I saw his receipt, that I pointed out to him that the regular cheesburger was $1.09… 10¢ more than the double. Yes, that’s right. McDonald’s literally charges you MORE for LESS. Contrast this with Burger King… the Whoppers may be too expensive these days, but their regular cheeseburgers are 50¢, all the time. Sometimes, when I REALLY have the munchies, I just pick up six of them and gorge myself. My favorite, though, is Carl’s: I’ve made their spicy chicken sandwiches a staple of my diet. 'Course, if I want REAL fast food, it’s In 'n Out, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/38 "2003-05-24T23:33:15Z")
Let me just interject and say: **"cockaninny"** I love that word! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![auntnut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@auntnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntnut)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/39 "2003-05-25T00:39:46Z")
In this “I want it fresh, and I want it yesterday” world, I can’t help feeling sorry for the food servers…they get the brunt of our verbal abuse. A few years ago, I went into a Micky-D’s, and ordered a burger and fries. The poor cashier got a scared look on her face and said “I’m sorry, but it will be 5 minutes for the fries to come up” I laughed and said “hey! the day I can’t wait 5 minutes for my meal, I guess I can just go home and try to cook it myself faster.” She looked SO SHOCKED and relieved, I figured she was used to being yelled at…poor thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549/40 "2003-05-25T00:55:30Z")
I’ve about given up on fast food. When I want fast food, I go to one of the neighborhood Vietnamese pho restaurants. Now THAT is fast food. Beef noodle soup, in which you put hot sauce, sweet sauce, mint, lime…a positive bouquet of flavors on the tongue, nutritious, lowfat – everything fast food AIN’T! I pity all the poor souls who’ve never experienced the delights of pho. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food/176549.md?page=3)