# Which fast food items still taste the same as they used to, let's say 20 years ago or longer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 8, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328 "2024-02-08T21:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/101 "2024-02-21T19:15:19Z")
I agree with that. Who has perfect taste memory? ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/102 "2024-02-21T20:39:46Z")
What is “unhealthy” about fat, calories, and sodium? All 3, in fact, are required for survival. Sausage McMuffin w/cheese are pretty tasty, though a lot of that depends on whether the particular restaurant is simply phoning it in or not. I make them at home now and then and they are _fantastic_ compared to the restaurant versions. A well run franchise can get kind of close if they are fresh. One, an English muffin isn’t in my mind, intended to simply be a piece of limp bread with a lot of holes in it. They need to be well toasted, nay unto “almost burnt” for lack of a better term. A little crispy. This might be tough to maintain sitting under a heat lamp. I cut ‘em some slack there. Butter is also part of the recipe, or used to be anyway. That’s what all those nooks and crannies are for. Overcooked egg, tasteless cheese, dry “raw” muffin, flavorless sausage, etc. It’s a revelation to discover how such a basic, simple sandwich can be improved greatly by good quality ingredients and careful prep. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/103 "2024-02-21T20:49:18Z")
Pepperidge Farm remembers. (be sure to tip the Veal and try your waitress) I don’t claim perfection, but I know Pizza has declined noticeably. It isn’t necessarily a complicated food. Frozen pizzas, oddly enough, have in some ways improved quite a bit. Somebody once wrote a cook book that revolves around _ratios_ of ingredients. Good (or at least acceptable) pizza to my memory bank revolves around a certain amount of cheese to sauce to crust ratio. I’ve no doubt what buggered it all up was the increasing costs of ingredients. I don’t require “extra” cheese or “extra” sauce, assuming adequate amounts are installed in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/104 "2024-02-21T21:19:46Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > What is “unhealthy” about fat, calories, and sodium? All 3, in fact, are required for survival. So is water, but people drown all the time. But I’m with you on home made sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches. Someone once gave me a toaster that grilled a sausage patty and poached an egg while toasting the muffin. I found that extremely thin sausage patties still delivered the flavor experience I liked. Sam The Cooking Guy recently made this variation with pastrami, ricotta scrambled eggs, and french fried onions that looks great: [Sam’s pastrami egg and cheese sandwich](https://youtu.be/T_D4G70LVeU?si=aZKPuDLOQE6pOKEz) ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/105 "2024-02-21T23:12:40Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > One, an English muffin isn’t in my mind, intended to simply be a piece of limp bread with a lot of holes in it. They need to be well toasted, nay unto “almost burnt” for lack of a better term. A little crispy. I have one of these little guys and other than finding a Canadian bacon slice the right size, my home-made McMuffin’s are perfect and you can toast the muffin as long as you want! > **[Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker with Timer - Dark Gray - 25478](https://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-breakfast-sandwich-maker-with-timer-dark-gray-25478/-/A-14437927?ref=tgt_adv_xsp&AFID=google&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000012576704&CPNG=PLA_Appliances%2BShopping%7CAppliances_Ecomm_Home&adgroup=SC_Appliances_Small%2BAppliances&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=c&location=9011574&targetid=pla-1459926608136&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1247068&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA29auBhBxEiwAnKcSqnfp2nzndvFuxVZ7Zaj3V0BhNZCIWIZpLkIkqT5dfMHvpBDa_yQrXBoCyfEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)** > > Read reviews and buy Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker with Timer - Dark Gray - 25478 at Target. Choose from contactless Same Day Delivery, Drive Up and more. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/106 "2024-02-21T23:18:57Z")
Long John Silver’s. We only have one in Little Rock and it’s located on University Drive just a short distance south of the University of Arkansas Little Rock so I don’t go to it very often. I went to LJS a few weeks back and the battered fish & shrimp tastes the same way I remembered. It was so awesomely bad for me that it’s a good thing I don’t get there more than once every few years. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/107 "2024-02-21T23:31:14Z")
My grandparents claimed that Arby’s roast beef sandwiches were never the same after the [1972-73 meat crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_meat_boycott). I’m a little surprised that a) White Castle burgers haven’t changed and b) the chain still exists. Because the fare has always been _controversial_. Generally speaking, while processed food companies like to tout their original recipe, they routinely tweak them: > **[Is Coke's 127-year-old recipe the same? Not quite](https://apnews.com/article/0fb44a8236d6417e8685396b553f9c82)** > > ATLANTA (AP) — Coca-Cola keeps the recipe for its 127-year-old soda inside an imposing steel vault that's bathed in red security lights. Several cameras monitor the area to make sure the fizzy formula stays a secret. But in one of the many signs that... ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/108 "2024-02-22T00:38:24Z")
> [@sunacres](#): > > So is water, but people drown all the time. Sure, but that doesn’t make water unhealthy _per se_.I think the constant drum banging, repetition over and over has had a detrimental effect. There isn’t anything “unhealthy” about an egg sandwich, and it’s just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/109 "2024-02-22T00:41:09Z")
“Colonel” Sanders of KFC said their gravy was turned into “sludge” after they changed the recipe, presumably after he retired, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/110 "2024-02-22T00:41:59Z")
Wow! I didn’t even know I needed that. Thanks, have to check this out. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/111 "2024-02-22T02:44:02Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > “Colonel” Sanders of KFC said their gravy was turned into “sludge” after they changed the recipe, presumably after he retired, or something. Sanders sold his 600 restaurant franchise in the mid 1960s, which quickly figured out that its value was in the brand rather than the food (which was difficult to mass produce). The Colonel was appointed brand ambassador and continued to criticize the corporation’s decisions in his habitually salty language. He traveled 200,000 miles per year, making promotional appearances until he died at age 90. You can’t fire your mascot. Interesting guy. > **[Colonel Sanders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Sanders)** > > Colonel\[a\] Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 – > December 16, 1980) was an American businessman and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC). He later acted as the company's brand ambassador and symbol. His name and image are still symbols of the company. > Sanders held a number of jobs in his early life, such as steam engine stoker, insurance salesman, and filling station operator. He began selling fried chicken from his roadside restauran... ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/112 "2024-02-22T02:55:27Z")
I remember the jokes- he kicked the bucket. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/113 "2024-02-22T15:01:00Z")
I would note in the review section, users suggest the muffins need to be toasted first, to achieve the crispy, crackly goodness that many like. It is an interesting device though and at least isn’t expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/114 "2024-02-22T15:46:46Z")
I appreciate I am the common theme and so it’s likely on me, but no one will ever convince me ALL fast food has not gotten worse over the course of my 4 odd decades on this floating rock. Except **A&W** , if you can find one. That building is a time machine to the 50’s so if you go in warn someone about what Trump will do in 60 years. And now that I think about it perhaps **White Castle** also is as good or as awful (both simultaneously!) as it has always been. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/115 "2024-02-22T17:20:26Z")
America in Decline - Even Their Junk Food Sucks ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/116 "2024-02-22T21:11:09Z")
I dunno. A McDonalds cheeseburger still tastes and smells like the McDonalds cheeseburger I remember as a child. I would say overall fast food has gotten a lot better with stuff like Five Guys or Chipotle or Jersey Mike’s. (Some of those might technically be “fast casual”, but it’s all the same to me). There’s a lot more choices out there. The only chain I feel has definitely gone downhill is Arby’s. Everyone else is just as mediocre as they’ve always been, though the flavor of mediocrity may have shifted. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/117 "2024-02-22T21:18:52Z")
I treat/punish myself to a Jack in the Box ultimate cheeseburger once or twice a year. It seems to remain the same gooey calorie bomb it has been since the 90s. “Cheese cheese meat meat cheese and that’s it, baby don’t you know it’s hot and juicy…” ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/118 "2024-02-22T23:31:43Z")
Yes! about A&W. The small town where I taught still has one that includes dine-in or eat in your car. Either way, if you order the root beer that they make on premises, it’ll get delivered in a frosty mug with a nice head. Even if the taste is different (I think it’s close enough), the experience is the same as it always was. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/119 "2024-02-23T00:28:58Z")
We have an A&W unchanged from at least the 80s. It’s kind of fun. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/120 "2024-02-23T01:26:08Z")
I used to work at A & W in the 80s… Never ate there again … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328.md?page=7)