I think we have two classes of “fast food” now. The higher class places like Five Guys, Poke Bros, Panera are going to cost you more, and you’re not going to go there every day (or even every week), but they’re pretty damned good.
The OG fast food places - McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr., Arby’s, Taco Bell - they’re just not good enough to command the higher prices that the new class of fast food can. Not to mention that the quality of all of those chains has declined dramatically in the last decade. Obvious drop in quality plus increase in price, people notice that.
… They have always been. There is fast food and fast casual.
Fast food would love to be fast casual, they sell the idea to seem like fancy fast food. Like McDonald’s having table service through the kiosk, etc.
But this isnt new. It’s literally the business plan of the places you mentioned to not be fast food.
Sadly the Panera here has become garbage. The staff were seemingly wholly replaced, they look unhappy all the time, the food and ingredients have shrunk, and now you have to hope you hear them call your name so you can go pick up your food from a completely different counter (they used to bring it to your table which was a nice perk of going there), or stand around like an idiot for 10 minutes while your kid or significant other holds a table for you. And to top it off, the cinnamon roll changed again.
I don’t mind not having the food brought to me, but they could at least give us the hockey pucks again to alert us when the food is ready. Perhaps that’s just this specific store.
I used to love Panera. Maybe somewhere it’s still good.
Except you can get a Duo meal for $7 at Panera that’s soup sandwhich and chips and that’s 3$ cheaper than McDonald’s
Lol no you can’t. I didn’t believe you, so I checked. $11.79, and that’s for mostly cheaper options of the pick 2 (broccoli cheddar + frontega chicken). And I live in Missouri, where shit’s cheap.
And I live in Missouri, where shit’s cheap.
Also “The show me State” and you got shownnnn awwwwwwshit boyeee
;D
Lol
Sorry, they are called Duets, not duos. They still come with apple/bread/chips. You cant sub anything out, but it’s still a good portion for healthier fast food option.
Whoopsie doodle. Well $8 ain’t $7 either.
But yea I’m shocked there’s anything reasonably priced @ Panera.
They must have gone up in the past few months. It was 6.99 last I got them I thought. Oh well! Still cheaper than a big mac or whopper
Last time I tried to get fast food was like 2 or 3 months ago. I went to Taco Bell, saw that the beefy 5 layer burrito was like $4.50, and just left the drive through. Fuck all that
Taco Bell is my go to - I am vegetarian so my opinions are slim. But for $7 I can’t get a crunch wrap with black beans, a cheesey bean and rice burrito, and a fiesta potato and a drink with thier app combo. Then after every other meal (like every to weeks) I get a bonus something. So. Yeah, I only mess with the build your own cravings box… 9 dollars for 3 tacos and a drink is ridiculous.
I’ve never met an Panera that has everything in stock, so you’re going to be making a second or third line choice. One of your items is guaranteed to be out. Regular sandwiches, god knows why, are $14.
I used to love Panera back in high school, which was early 2000’s. As someone who hung out with friends at a movie theater on weekends it was the best place to eat at in the same strip mall. I still remember getting sandwiches for $4 or $5 at the time. If I was in high school today there is no way I could eat there, and if I could I also couldn’t justify spending that much. I feel like they are scrambling as well, changing a lot, making products worse, adding items nobody wants, just trying to hit big with one of them. My wife really wanted to try the new caprese sandwich they have, we were dying when she got it and all you saw was bread… when she opened it up there was like 1 slice of tomato and 1 slice of mozzarella and it was the saddest sandwich I’ve ever seen. I thought it was hilarious until I realized we paid over $10 for that joke…
Sharing the pic so everyone else can join in on the laugh.
My biggest gripe with them is they always add one hipster element that totally ruins the sandwich. Oh you want a high end grilled cheese? How about we put a blackberry reduction in that bitch? Grilled chicken sandwich? Why not try one with our new habanero peach marmalade?
I stopped understanding McDonald’s when there’s hundreds of homemade-like small burger places everywhere. They are so frikin tasty and cost the same
I still remember eating an especially tasty one and playing Disco Elysium then dying from heart attack in the game. Somehow it has become a permanent memory
Exactly, McDonald’s niche was a very cheap and quick burger. Why pay $12 for a shitty McD when I can have a $10 burger at the Apple Pan
I don’t get fast food often, but I did go to McDonald’s a week or two ago. I learned that they replaced their fountains so that they no longer dispense water, so you can’t get a free cup of water anymore. You have to buy a bottle of water or a soda.
I don’t intend on ever returning to a McDonald’s.
The charging for packets thing is the one thing that irks me nonstop especially the employees that stick by it. Unless they’re getting penalized, why do you have to gatekeep an extra BBQ sauce for 25 cents?
Sure, keep them behind the counter so people don’t grab 20 but asking for 1-2 extra shouldn’t require a surcharge or separate transaction.
I’m so glad that I live in a big city, where there are hundreds of awesome small burger joints that sell better quality burgers at a much lower price.
Bullshit on the “much lower price”. Give some examples.
I’d argue people don’t buy at McDonalds because their burgers are awesome. Their burgers are average at best. You can definitely get a much better meal with the price of a McD meal.
I wish this was a thing. There’s maybe one place but it’s not even in the same ballpark.
My nearest burger joint is locally owned and charges $11.75 for a single burger and $12.75 for a double. The fries are $3.50.
Yeah where I live there’s a burger urge. Sells shitty burgers for like 30 dollars AUD
Must be nice…
Imagine ‘McDonald’s’ being your baseline fur ‘decent fast food’
It’s descent in some European countries.
That’s what I’m saying though, (as an American) if your baseline grocery budget is greater than the McD ‘value meal’, then you’re likely just allotting your funds poorly.
The avg “$1 menu” item can be bought from your local grocer/butcher for as much as 1/4 price before seasoning. If you’re “going to McD for savings” then you’re the exact reason the world has the problems that it has.
Edit: “is decent” lmao have you ever had more than breadcrumbs? Imagine growing up in ‘potato russia’ and thinking your food has flavor.
Try tomatoes, try watermelon, try something and get out of your brainwashed ignorocracy.
Gradually increasing revenue each year is more sustainable, as it avoids the pressure of constantly surpassing record highs and potentially alienating your customer base. CEOs somehow fail to understand this. Morons.
I won’t go back until hash browns are 2 for $1.
Fuck outta here with this $2.00 hash brown bullshit.
$2.50 Cones were my breaking point. The tourist trap general store next to me does a decent waffle cone for $4.
Jesus, I can’t find a cone near me for less than $6.
It’s worse here in Canada.
3 USD
You can get a pack of frozen hash browns for cheaper than that. Saves time, money, and tastier imo.
And crunchy af in the air fryer.
Takes forever though
Takes about 10 minutes in mine, full power and flip once.
F O R E V E R
FOR-EV-VERRR
FOR-EV-VERRR
FOR-EV-VERRR
Forever ever?
Forever never seems that long till you’re gone.
I do them on a tray in the oven and I don’t even bother with flipping. They still come out great.
Thats the best thing about them, still great the lazy way.
If I’m feeling extra though, I’ll brush some oil on it and salt it, maybe some other random seasonings.
I almost had them tasting like dunkin hashbrowns once, was very nice.
10 min? Vs like 3-5 min in the drive through, but I can do other shit while the air fryer’s going.
Oh, I’m not advocating McDonalds breakfast, but I remember them taking like 20 minutes in the oven. I’m not a morning person, so I do not plan my breakfast 20 minutes ahead, lol.
Air fryer cuts it in half.
Can I shit on air fryers for a second though.
How did everyone just accept this horrible example of marketing and branding nonsense? I literally had relatives explaining it to me like it was a magical new way of cooking just invented.
Its a fucking tiny convection oven.
Its a fucking tiny convection oven.
It’s marketing. They know Americans won’t buy an oven, but we love frying things.
- Doesn’t have to be tiny - there are go full sized
- More convection than convection. While there’s not a clear definition of either, companies that do both distinguish them by windiness
- Many countertop models don’t need pre-heating!
- More automated, no need to think. Just press a few buttons and wait for the ding, like a microwave.
Air fryer is not the oven.
I’m using the tools I have. 🤷
That’s when you throw it on the oven and then take a shower. Just gotta time it with what you normally do half awake in the morning.
people downvoting the shit out of you for speaking truth to Big Homemade Hasbrown
shit takes a minute guys, its ok that not every feature of a home made thing is superior to McDonalds
Yeah, I’m not sure why I struck such a nerve, lol. I just got frustrated because I’m not a morning person, and hashbrowns eggs and bacon take forever! And I can’t get the timing lined up, since I’m half awake, so screw it. Bagel and coffee.
Forever? I think an extra 5 minutes is worth the wait for anything better than McDonald’s.
Shout-out to Trader Joes’ hash brown patties.
Wanna say they’re $2.79 where I’m at. I know for sure they were just under $3
Yep fuck that.
2 for $1.
And egg McMuffins and sausage muffins should be <$3.00.
And the sausage burritos should be 2 for $1.
McDonald’s trying to act like they’re a restaurant and not a fucking logistics company. The market rate of a potato doesn’t affect the price of French fries at McDonald’s when they legitimately own the rights to the only brand of potato that is used to make McDonald’s French fries.
Any company that is known by all doesn’t do what the average person thinks they do.
McDonalds? Logistics company
CocaCola? Logistics company
Ups? Logistics company
Starbucks? Logistics company
Miller/Coors? Logistics company
Shaw’s? Logistics company
W.B mason? Logistics company
Exxon Mobile? Logistics company
Amazon? Logistics company
The price of sugar doesn’t affect Coca-Cola. The price of wheat doesn’t affect millercoors. The price of lumber doesn’t affect wb mason. The price of gasoline doesn’t affect ups. The price of coffee doesn’t affect Starbucks. The price of beef, potatoes, and dairy doesn’t affect McDonald’s. The price of oil (barely) doesn’t affect Exxon Mobile.
These are the fucks that pull the levers. Not the farmers. Not the lumberjacks. Not the oil refiners.
The market rate of a potato doesn’t affect the price of French fries at McDonald’s when they legitimately own the rights to the only brand of potato that is used to make McDonald’s French fries.
McDonald’s certainly has enormous buying power. I do imagine widespread drought or something would impact their bottom line by some pennies if it were severe enough. Anyway, I read:
The Dakota Russet is one of eight varieties accepted [by McDonald’s] in North America. The most recent additions to the McDonald’s North American varieties were in 2016.
Don’t see that one online but other varieties appear popular.
Now, enjoy
PROCESS FOR PREPARING FROZEN FRENCH FRY POTATO SEGMENTS
(Other patents: methods of preparing / cooking food; packaging; equipment used in cooking food.)
I keep hearing that McDonald’s is actually a real estate company
That’s Sears.
$2.79, before taxes. Don’t forget these are US companies. And any charges outside the US have likely already been taxed locally, before international tax was applied.
Don’t ever assume the US gov is paying you fairly. Taxes are only an excuse for them to make even more money by manipulating the rules.
They were making way too much money to begin with, nevermind growth.
Also McDonald’s is just a real estate company, I’m guessing the franchisees are complaining they aren’t going to stick around.
Oh wow… Increased prices resulted in people going else where… Who would have seen that coming 🤔
I mean, you’re half right. Yeah, it’s gotten expensive, but it’s now expensive for McDonald’s-quality food. It’s not the worst of the worst, but you can easily find better quality food cheaper.
Finally. Better late than never I guess.
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How about you guys rethink the food
If you can reconstitute some kind of edible food that maintains some semblance of the low price, I think that’ll be enough. People started going to Five Guys and paying $16 because your burgers are clearly made of mouse shit.
The “food” they have now is the product of decades of incremental changes made to cut cost and tinkering with fat, salt and sugar contents to fool your brain into giving you a dopamine hit for eating it. What they have now doesn’t even taste like hamburgers anymore.
the firm would lean on discounts to try to stop the sales decline
So not even price cuts, just temporary discounts. Eff off!
Dynamic pricing inbound.
Learn how to cook the food first.
In part due to boycotts btw.
