I haven’t eaten them since I was a pre-teen, but it was because they were bad. Not even worth the cheap price.
We went to Chipotle the other day and I thought it was really good, that time at least. I’m not sure what is supposed to be so horrible about it, the meat is flavorful, I like cilantro and they use lots of it and the burrito is 3-4 meals worth. We do have plenty of good taquerias around too and I think it compares favorably to some ,especially compared to Roberto’s which is very common here. We do have another one nearby that is taqueria-type and awful (Don Turtaco if anyone is in the S. Nevada area). Granted, I mostly go for breakfast burritos, which are life.
My wife says that the local Chipotle really went downhill with Covid and never came back. Missing menu items and ingredients and smaller portions. I never went often (prefer burritos from the local greasy taco joint) but she’s pretty much abandoned them after being a regular up until then.
It was “free”, because i was a kid and my parents fed me. And actually, my refusal was a problem for my mom, who was looking for a cheap easy meal for her kids. Fortunately, my dad didn’t love McDonald’s, either, so she would get McDonald’s for her and my three siblings, and get subs from “Maria’s” for me and my father.
I understand. I can remember the white-bread-and-processed-cheese-sandwich my mom gave me when we stopped by the side of the road on our trip to Ohio (I was four at the time). I threw mine down in the ditch by the side of the turnout. She was also trying to save money, but I was a special brat. I would rather not eat than eat what I hated. I got a ration of sh*t from my siblings, too.
Out here we have Spudnuts, which uses potato flour, and they are pretty damn good.
Same with Popeyes fries, which are damn good when hot.
Yeas, I grew up in the BOOBS region of Maine. Biddeford, Old Orchard Beach, and Saco.
Um, in my part of NY, they put mustard on by default.
They don’t in New York City and Long Island.
Maybe upstate they do, never been there. I only learned that McDonald’s did that in other states on this board, because I have never seen mustard on a burger in person.
It might be a Texas thing. The standard Whataburger comes with mustard but no mayonnaise or ketchup. We do have mustard Whoppers at the Burger Kings here in Texas. At least at the ones around Corpus Christi.
But mustard vs. ketchup or mayonnaise on burgers is a minor difference compared to the correct answer. Which is Pepsi. That stuff is nasty. To this day I still don’t get how Pepsi was beating Coke in taste tests back in the mid 80s.
ETA. Which is also a good answer to the question about what might surprise people in the 80s. They would probably be surprised to know that peak Pepsi was around 1985 (compared to Coke, not total sales) despite the best efforts of Marty McFly 
I bought their frozen sliders from the supermarket for years, loved them. First opportunity to visit a real one, it wasn’t the same and I didn’t care for it. I think it’s the variation in “live” cooking, versus the rigid consistency and quality control of a commercially produced frozen food product. I’ll keep buying the frozen ones, but the actual restaurants, I’ll pass.
Now that I completely agree with. McD’s does have great coffee, and their bacon & egg McMuffin is pretty decent, and the thing that passes for a “hash brown” isn’t bad either. So McD’s is a good choice for a fast-food breakfast. I usually avoid them for everything else. After that very yummy BK Whopper I had the other day I’m even less inclined to ever get a McD’s burger. I also agree with @Mahaloth about Wendy’s being pretty good, but I don’t go there often just because the location isn’t as convenient. I’d also rate BK just a notch better because of the flame broiling.
The interesting question is why I don’t go to Harvey’s more often, which is our version of one of those premium burger places. Their burgers are the closest I’ve found in any burger joint to homemade on an outdoor grill. I think part of the reason is that although they all have drive-thrus, their business model tends to encourage going inside where you can see all the toppings and direct the server what to put on and how much. There’s also the fact that their fries suck ever since they “improved” them many years ago, so I always get onion rings instead. The fact that everything is made to order and the onion rings usually have to be fried on request means the whole process takes much longer.
Yeah…but BK fries are just bad. McD’s french fries are some of the best to be had. On a very few occasions where there is a BK and a McDs next to each other I will buy a Whopper at BK and fries at McDs.
I’ve heard that from others (not about BK fries being bad, but singing the praises of McD fries) and I absolutely do not understand it. They used to be good back when McD’s fried them in beef tallow, but now they’re just bland to the point of tastelessness, IMHO. Good fries to my mind are like the kind served by a local rotisserie chicken place – nicely browned, crisp on the outside, and deeply flavourful.
McD’s fries are certainly not horrible, just very bland. A few days ago, in my continuing experimentation with my air fryer, i made some frozen 5-minute oven fries. I decided I needed to do better and got regular fries (haven’t tried them yet) and maybe toss the regular fries in duck fat for more flavour. But later that same day I had some McD’s fries, and to me they tasted almost identical to the 5-minute fries (except with more salt). I’d consider BK fries to be a notch better – not much, but just a little. Maybe there’s a consistency problem and the quality varies by location.
BK sprays a coating on their fries which I find unpleasant. More like a french fry tempura than a proper french fry.
I have found the same to be done on some frozen fries bought at the supermarket.
That’s increasingly common and I too despise it. We talked about it in a recent thread. Somebody explained that they basically “bread” the fries in a potato starch flour. The “breading” gets crisp instantly, but the potato underneath stays undercooked. Stays crisp longer in transit now that most food is takeout via door dash or drive through, not eaten immediately in-store. But it’s shite from end to end IMO.
Starbucks is nothing special IMHO. I’ve tried it several times and was never impressed.
McDonald’s has the best coffee at a reasonable price.
IHop pancakes are norhing special. They’re ok, but IHop’s brand is pancakes. They should be offering a big selection of pancakes with coconut, blueberries or other fruits. Fruit can be cooked inside the pancake or served on top.
Why aren’t silver dollar pancakes on the menu?
they’re on the kids’ menu…or used to be anyways
Guinness. Eh, I can do without it. Like it less now that Joe Montana is pimping it.
Piss tastes better than shit? What a choice! 
That’s the musty taste I’m talking about!
IIRC the whole Coors thing was they guaranteed it never got warm between the factory and the store (after that they could not guarantee it stayed cold). So, shipping far away was not something they could do at the time (it was possible…just not economical).
The beer still sucks but I will say I have had beer that was allowed to get very warm before sale and that is really, really bad (to the point I wondered if I would get food poisoning…I didn’t but yuck!).