Ask Lemmy

They‘re everywhere and while the quality isn’t great, it’s a known quantity. McDonalds is never amazing but it’s very rarely terrible. A random hole in the wall is always unpredictable and a proper restaurant usually much slower and more expensive. Also, I’m weak for the Big Tasty sauce.

Well, you see, the combination of mayonnaise and melted cheese creates a chemical chain reaction in my brain that makes me feel good.

Before the pandemic I was on the road sometimes and it surprised me how many towns / tiny cities would have 1 grocery store and then a couple fast food chains as the only (obvious) to-go food options.

Many seem to have one particular mini-mart or gas station that has surprisingly good food, but you tend to need some local knowledge to find that.

Lovers of asparagus, how and why do you eat it? No matter how it is cooked, I don't enjoy it. There's something about the taste I do not like. I had some again recently, and it was just as bad as I remembered it.

Why do you eat a food I don't like?

I feel slightly less dirty afterwards than at McDonald's...

Also a vegetarian. I love the salt, the fried and the fast. I hate cooking enough that I’ll work and exercise more to outrun as many of the negative aspects as possible.

Stop calling it food

I think most people only have shit fast food near them as a convenience food. I traveled through the south a lot last year and realized that most of the country must just be massive suburbs separated by strip malls and fast food buildings. Even brand new developments are all banks and Culver’s or some crap.

It’s a stark contrast to urbanized areas. We get so much more in options for convenience food that I don’t even consider fast food as existing.

Some people like the taste and don't mind paying for the convenience - full stop.

Also the vegetarian option at most fast food places is generally more expensive and worse tasting

I eat fast food on every road trip. I don't really travel for the food in random small towns on the way. So if I get hungry, I get either gas station food or fast food.

It's not because it's good, it's because it's fast.

BK is always trash though. Bucc-ees is relatively good, so is Quik Trip. And Dunkin makes pretty good iced coffees for a decent price.

Pre-pandemic it was cheap and fast and 24/7 and there were genuine quality items you could get if you knew them and as long as you're not some moron who buys fries/meals and only solo main items, like chicken legend at McDonald's.

I would walk for 5 min at like 3AM or whenever felt right in central London and have a £4 meal back at my flat. Cheap, quick and easy.

Now it's all gone, it's three times as expensive, all the good items have been removed like the aforementioned example and they shut at 6pm. It's just worthless.

Now I WFH rurally, used to go to subway for a quick breakfast on busy days because it was a 10 mins walk, but they shut too and now it's some shitty asian restaurant and/or german kitchen retailer.

I eat it on occasion. I actually really like the taste of Burger King burgers, but I have internalized the fact that the burger I like is 1800 calories by itself, with another 400-500 for the fries, and for that reason, I don't eat it often. I also have to take into account that, yes, it's expensive stuff now.

My parents raised me on fast food so I probably enjoy it more than most due to the aspect of being conditioned to it.

I don't go to BK regularly, but can confirm my experience with their Impossible burger was also disappointing.

We have not gone to a fast food in the last fifteen or twenty years, if not more. Why would we? It's not welcoming, the food taste like... cardboard, it's rarely a pleasant place to eat, and people are often noisy. When we want to eat a burger, we cook it ourselves with fresh food. Yep, when we want to have some, even the fries are handmade. There is just no comparison.

Sometimes a Culver's cold custard just hits different.

Especially hits your wallet that shit makes burger king look like it's still the 70s.

Sometimes I channel my spirit animal

And I hunger for a pile of garbage.

Same. I've only had fast food once since 2020, and the experience was like yours: gross and expensive.

Before I went WFH, I ate FF pretty regularly. Mostly because it was, well, fast and offered a variety (there's at least 8 or 9 places within walking distance of my office).

My job only gives a half hour for lunch. I used to pack a lunch, but that gets tedious after a while and takes extra time out of my morning to prepare. Then if I want to heat it up, there's always a line to use the microwaves or to get to the refrigerator in the break room. By the time my packed lunch is prepared, I've got just enough time to wolf it down and head back to my desk.

Going out for FF at least let me take a walk, get some fresh air, and gave me a variety over the handful of things (or leftovers) I would pack from home.

If I ever have to RTO, that's the aspect I'd be most upset about.

Hi, that's me. I get an hour for lunch during the week, and there are a handful of fast food places minutes from my work. I drive through, and sit in the parking lot eating my lunch and playing games on my phone. It's my quiet time for the day.

There's a bit of a game for some of these fast food places. Most people just roll up and order a #1 or whatever was in the commercials. That's how they get ya!

Sometimes you need to download the app, or check the menu for a budget meal. A slightly smaller burger and less than a pound of fries is an adequate meal for around $5-7.