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Fast food now vs fast food in the 90's. What's better?

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I was reminiscing about older times with a friend the other day and somehow we got into old fast food restaurants that either don't exist anymore at all or exist sparingly anymore, and we came to the conclusion that fast food in the 90's used to be way better.

I don't even really eat much fast food anymore at all, but if some of the old school places used to be better, and the places that still exist got rid of a lot of their best stuff.

Pizza hut's personal pan pizzas used to be the shit back in the day. Now their stuff gives you the shits. I had a couple slices of Pizza Hut pizza because a friend offered it to me a few years ago and I was hungry and it gave me massive diarrrhea and tastes like shit.

Burger King ditched the rodeo burger and their fries used to be better in the 90's.

KFC had better and more menu items. I went in there a year ago and they have such few items anymore. No locations I have been to in the last decade have their bbq baked beans as a side anymore, those were pretty good back in the day.

Wendy's is kinda the same I guess, haven't been there in a while.

Roy Rogers used to be a lot bigger, it was my favorite fast food place, that's gone.

Little Caesar's of the 90's was the best fast food chain pizza spot. They kinda fell apart, their locations dwindled significantly, and then built themselves back up to what it is now. It's a lot different, pre-made pizzas sitting in ovens all day waiting to be picked up.

McDonald's I can't really speak of, I've only eaten there like once and hated it.

I think the only thing better today is the selection of mexican fast food restaurants, but that's about it.


Where do you stand? Depending on where you live and what restaurants you like, it could change completely.
 
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bucyou

Member
I'd say 90s but Im pretty sure its just the nostalgia talking, same as I think TV show was wayyyyy better in the 90s, You couldnt fuck with that TGIF lineup, full house, family matters, step by step, etc
 
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MC Safety

Member
Yeah, I definitely miss Roy Rodgers. There are still a few around, but it's nothing like it was in the chain's heyday.

In and Out is probably my favorite burger place. I have no idea how it's changed over time, if at all.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Yeah, I definitely miss Roy Rodgers. There are still a few around, but it's nothing like it was in the chain's heyday.

In and Out is probably my favorite burger place. I have no idea how it's changed over time, if at all.

The state of Maryland has like 30 of them for some reason. And I think there's only like 40 left in the entire country.
 

Mista

Banned
90’s! I mean who remember the McChicken when it was tasty and McDonalds in general being the bomb?! It was those days:

Styrofoam.png
 

MC Safety

Member
The state of Maryland has like 30 of them for some reason. And I think there's only like 40 left in the entire country.

Yup, I just looked it up. Three restaurants in New York, where I used to live. And 29 in Maryland. Forty-eight Roy Rodgers left; Wikipedia says there were 650 or so in 1990.
 

highrider

Banned
Fast food was probably unbelievable in the beginning of the industry. Food was all local back then, no huge corporate farming. I bet the first McDonald’s had over the top good burgers.
 

MetalAlien

Banned
You guys should have tried it in the 80s before they gave us the ultimatum on price vs quality in the early 90s. They literally told us either pay more for what we got, or pay the same with lessor quality. You can guess what happened.

Besides going back to watch all my favorite movies first run again, the main reason I would use a time machine is for the food, umm and Dinosaurs.
 
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DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Yup, I just looked it up. Three restaurants in New York, where I used to live. And 29 in Maryland. Forty-eight Roy Rodgers left; Wikipedia says there were 650 or so in 1990.

Their burgers and chicken sandwiches were so good for fast food quality. Some locations even had a good salad bar and fried chicken.
 

SegaShack

Member
Burger King used to have amazing and crispy fries as well as chicken tenders. McNuggets were better before the switch to white meat only.
 

MC Safety

Member
Their burgers and chicken sandwiches were so good for fast food quality. Some locations even had a good salad bar and fried chicken.

Yeah, it's a shame. It was fast food, and I don't want to romanticize it, but it was very good. There was one by my house that I miss very much.

The last time I ate Roy's was at Penn Station in New York City. I think that one's gone, too.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
In England we used to have our birthday parties at McDonald's as kids. No shit. The staff would cordon off a section of the "restaurant" and put up balloons, banners and stuff. They'd do games, you'd get to go behind the counter and use the ice cream machine and stuff, and you'd get to pick out happy meal toys from the boxes in the back to take home. It was great.

Can't for the life of me imagine doing that today.
 
In England we used to have our birthday parties at McDonald's as kids. No shit. The staff would cordon off a section of the "restaurant" and put up balloons, banners and stuff. They'd do games, you'd get to go behind the counter and use the ice cream machine and stuff, and you'd get to pick out happy meal toys from the boxes in the back to take home. It was great.

Can't for the life of me imagine doing that today.

I had my 9th birthday party at Burger King circa 1998.
 

Jaxx_377

Neo Member
I just glare at them when they are rude.😒

I worked at a very busy Macdonalds through High School (early 90's) and I remember when we had an order come through there was a clock on the order screen and if the times were above 150 seconds out store manager would be on our ass to get our times down and if the food was even remotely not up to where it should be people would actually get fired.

Now whenever I go I sit there for a minimum of at least 10 minutes and half the time I get cold fries and dried burgers. No one wants to help and half the staff is standing around doing nothing. This seems to be the case at almost all the fast food places around eastern Mass. where I live. I like taking my kids here and let them run through the playspace especially when it's raining but the food and service are a friggin joke now

I will say whenever I go on a road trip or vacation and get into more rural areas or areas that cater to tourism the service does seem to be much better.
 

Weilthain

Banned
Mcdonalds is pretty cool these days. At least in my area.

Walk in, use the touch screen to order, someone brings it to your table. Nice looking decor. Food is not bad. iPads for the kids,balloons and colouring pencils etc,

They still always forget ketchup though.
 
I've been very surprised by the quality of fast food in the time I have been in America. Where I grew up in Europe, McDonalds and Burger King were the only two choices and that was very mediocre.

Over here, I think the two most insane fast food experiences I've had is Five Guys (great burgers, fries, hotdogs and milkshakes) and Chipotle. Chipotle is just awesome. One bowl with brown rice and guac usually comes out to 10-12 dollars. and that is enough for two people. I really think Chipotle is great and good value. I think the quality of food is a lot better than anything else, and its a lot healthier. I've never had a Burrito, but the bowls are great.
 

Ten_Fold

Member
I was too young so I’m not sure but I think kfc use to be much better, I think whenever they stopped making bbq boneless wings is when they went downhill for me
 
Shout out to Pizza Hut and the Book It! club that got me the personal pizza for free since I love reading. Also, Bigfoot was a game changer back in the day. They even ran that X-Men VHS/comic combo when the animated series came out. Modern Pizza Hut is boring.
bagpizza.jpg
 

Mihos

Gold Member
KFC before they switched oil, and Arby's in the late 70s was the shit.

Of course back then, outside of the manager, fast food was considered a kids job and no one ever expected it to be a career to support a family on.
 

Fbh

Gold Member
I remember when Pizza Hut came to my country back in the 90's it was more of a restaurant and it was pretty good. I even remember my Italian grandpa visiting one time and commenting on how surprised he was by the quality of the pizza.
Now it's the crappiest fast food pizza you can have with the absolute cheapest and lowest tier ingredient they could probably find.

Also I might be misremembering but I'm quite sure KFC actually tasted like chicken before. Now it's this greasy hard to define thing (we got Popeyes not too long ago and that one is at least a bit better, I also love their fries)
 
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Fast food was probably unbelievable in the beginning of the industry. Food was all local back then, no huge corporate farming. I bet the first McDonald’s had over the top good burgers.
This is why In N Out is (still) so good. They will never open a restaurant outside 200 miles of one of their commissaries. They demand freshness.
 
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