What even is the point of fast food now?
- ✅ Fast (edit: sometimes)
- ❌ Good
- ❌ Cheap
It has jumped the shark and serves no purpose now, other than screwing working class people in food deserts out of their hard-earned money.
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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not even fast anymore to my experience
I've stopped doing fast food. Last time I was out running errands over lunch I went to a pub instead. I chatted with the staff got a cidre, burger, and fries for like $30. It was great, worth the time and money.
Yeah, we have a few local places that will do to-go orders, so we give them our money instead. The last few times where we grabbed fast food because we were traveling or just super busy, it was just a shit experience. I’m okay parting with my money if it’s going back into a local business.
My wife and I have also started shopping in smaller grocery runs. So we will buy food for like 3 meals ahead of time, and then do it again after a few days. We find that we have much less food waste and we make less impulsive decisions. I just wish veggies didn’t suck so much now.
Available at off-ramps while travelling. That's the only time I get it.
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If a fast-food burger costs the same as a burger in a restaurant, then something’s wrong...
I have a non-chain fast food place near me, doesn’t even have indoor seating, just a small waiting space (holds maybe 10 people if you pack them in such that the personal space bubble is tiny) and some picnic tables, but no drive-through.
They’ve managed to keep prices pretty low; Big Mac or whopper equivalent is $4, for example and I think fries are some 2.50 for the large. While that does add up since everything is ordered individually, the quality is superior and it’s local-family-owned, so well worth it. And it’s very very popular even without the drive-through convenience. The local McDonald’s hardly gets any traffic by comparison.
Just goes to show it can totally be done, if not for outright greed.
This rules. I love finding places like that.
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There are still places with surprisingly good value for money, but they're rare. Greggs has been this for me, recently, though maybe a useless point of reference for anyone outside the uk
Your instance name is so peak 😂
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Not just food, it's the new business model. Just give them something for their money, it doesn't have to be good, or work properly, it just has to be profitable.
That's what I've been screaming about AI since the beginning.
Take self checkout kiosks for example. Anyone that is old enough to remember what the grocery store was like before the kiosks would know how much faster a human cashier was then the stupid fucking machine. There was no tabbing through 20 screens of fruit to find the plantains, there was no "sorry you have to scan every pencil individually and place them in the bag one by one because we can't do multiples", and there was never, ever, an unexpected item in the bagging area.
The doctor I go to has replaced all their front office staff with self check-in kiosks. You cannot check in with a person anymore. If you are unable to use the machine you have to press a special button and wait for someone to come from the back and press the buttons on the kiosk for you. The time to check in for an appointment with the person used to take under a minute. The kiosk takes 10+ and has a 25% error rate.
But none of that matters, because the machines don't draw a paycheck, and they don't care about anything else.
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Optimize for minimal complainability, maximal annoyance and minimal effect of actual complaints
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Maybe stop doing that then. I can get a weeks worth of food for that kind of money and it tastes good.
I'm disabled and homeless and eat veggies, fruit, pasta, bread, cheese and protein on a daily basis at about $7 a day. people eat fast food because they are lazy, not poor.
Yes, with 1 other caveat.
People will also eat at restaurants because they're ashamed and embarrassed of their own cooking ability and don't want to look bad in front of their peers.
I wanna say first that is a tragedy you are homeless and I wish the best for you in finding permanent lodging but your statement raises some questions. How are you preparing these foods? If you are as homeless as you purport, are you using a campfire, or a communal kitchen, or are your meals prepared for you? How are you procuring your groceries?
No OP, but just so you are aware, homeless can mean no permanent domicile in lots of ways. So, someone living out of their car, camping, staying ad hoc in shelters or hostels or cheap accommodation is all different versions of homeless.
Fair.
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I am fortunate we have enough mental energy to go to stores to buy ingredients to cook our own meals most days.
Its similar, to what is referred to as “adhd-tax” I am still in this picture more then i would like.
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I cook dinner 95% of the time and honestly, it sucks. I don't blame people who have the money eating out constantly, but i can't afford that crap and i would be 300 lbs.
$25 can get me either a terrible pasta dish at olive garden, or 2 meals at a local diner, so i usually go to local small places. Screw $15 burrito's and $18 hamburgers, i'll make them at home.
me cooking at home 😎
Don't be afraid! You get better the more you do it and you learn more about your tastes.
I stopped eating most fast food for this exact reason.
funny how all the local places are still tasting just as great yet corpo places are slinging literal shit for food.
Its an expensive lesson. Life's education is never cheap
The best burgers I have had, have been from small back alley places. Had one a couple of months ago, lovely quarter pounder with chips (fries) and a drink for around £6 here in London.
Had less of an upset stomach too, although I do still check the hygiene ratings for the places which helps in this regard.
TIL the UK has publicly available hygiene ratings. I like that.
Ah thanks for pointing that out, I forget not all US States have it.
Nearly every restaurant I've been to, and take away place, has proudly shown their hygiene ratings as a sticker on the window. These can be verified via a website too. It's very useful as I get an upset stomach rather easily.
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I had a Whopper and fries at Booger King last year for the first time in a couple of decades. With a drink it was like $20 which is pretty absurd. It actually tasted pretty good and the fries were fresh out of the fryer (which is basically what makes fries good), but I just felt so physically bad after eating. I don't know what it was, probably the massive amount of salt in it.
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Despite being a childish choice, any new restaurant I go to I order the chicken tenders. It’s pretty hard to mess those up (and they’re usually on the cheaper end).
I like to “get a review” from my wife and friends on their meals, and then I’ll decide if I want to branch out to the full menu if there’s a return visit.
I’m sort of the opposite. I usually aim for their advertised “flagship” meal. If they mess that up, I know it’s not worth returning.
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Recently got back into cooking. Learn 2-3 easy recipes that can act as a base for the rest of your meal. Get a rice cooker and an instant pot. White rice is quick so its ADHD friendly, plus ricecooker will handle everything in case of distractions. Same for the instant pot.
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I spent about this for a burger at one of those char broiled joints. Tasted like a burger you’d get at a park bbq, overcooked cheap meat. I can make a burger at home 100 times better
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I like that this post is coming right as I'm planning to tighten my budget a fast more/lose weight.
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