I’m genuinely curious. Years ago, I was a chubby young pothead who lived on fast food. Taco Bell, McDonald’s, KFC, you name it—I ate it. Back in college, fast food probably made up at least 50% of my diet. And it wasn’t just because it was quick and cheap—I actually enjoyed it.
But these days, I find myself craving it less and less. Besides being more health-conscious, it just doesn’t hit the spot like it used to. It’s more expensive than ever, mostly bland, and I feel terrible after I eat it. So what’s changed? Is it just part of the enshitification of everything? Have I just gotten old, or has fast food really gone downhill?
I think it was always shit, you and your taste buds just grew up.
At the time I ate lots of fast-food I also liked to drink lots of soda and ice tea, like 2 liters in one sitting when hung over. Now I puke a little in my mouth just thinking of that garbage.
It has gone to shit.
In some cases like McDonald’s, the ingredients have been on par while the cooking quality has tanked.
For a lot of other places, both the cooking and ingredient quality tanked.
Taco Bell is probably one of the few major chains I still eat at because their ingredients are hard to fuck up cooking and putting it together isn’t that difficult.
27 years old here, its gone to complete shit. Last mcdonalds I tried was just weirdly uniform mush with barely any discernable flavour.
Is it just part of the enshitification of everything?
Yes
Have I just gotten old
Get off my lawn.
It doesn’t pay a living wage so the people working there don’t give a shit about anything
KFC has gotten shittier chicken. I don’t even eat there anymore. I would rather get a rotisserie from a food library.
Wendy’s has gotten worse with their ‘sauced nuggets’. I’m 100% convinced the quality of meat in their chicken nuggets got worse and the new CEO is trying to cover it up by adding sauces as a gimmick.
That ain’t 100% “chicken”
It’s gotten worse, however, I think the perception is compounded by how expensive it is now and also just eating better as I get older. Now that I know how to cook real, delicious food, fast food just seems so much grosser than it used to. It’s a little worse compared to 10 years ago, but much worse compared to the 80’s and early 90’s, depending on the chain. For example, Taco Bell was a LOT better back in the 80’s. You were more likely spend a bunch of time on the toilet later, but hey, give a little take a little.
Mmmm, tastes like supply chain optimization.
Fast food is called “fast food” because it’s fast, not because it’s food.
Apart from that, there is probably no production chain that has profited better from making things the cheaper way than anything related to food.
So this does not just concern fast food, but the HFCS loaded soda you drink, your bread swimming in dough raising and stabilizing chemicals, or your tinned soup made from water, starch, food coloring, flavors, and preservatives.
Just because of the masses produced and sold, any cent saved on a single Burger quickly adds up to a million dollar in extra profits. Don’t expect them to waste that money on better ingredients or flavor, as long as you keep buying that stuff, they keep on making it worse to save yet another cent.
Yeh you don’t like it, sure, but the question was whether it had gotten worse in some way that’s quantifiable different to how it used to be in the past, or if it’s just OP’s personal taste changing.
Oh it absolutely has. I don’t eat much fast food, but it’s absolutely gotten worse. I prefer fried chicken if I’m eating trash food and i have to assume the oil has gotten way worse.
Most certainly. When I was young a burger king the food was better and you did not need to say fresh from the broiler as that was default that way. Ironically mdconalds has in some ways gotten better compared to long ago. they made the warming light thing famous. Wendys I would say has kept its quality up the best but still has fallen. taco bell does some interesting things over time but I swear they have invented new technology to slather less and less of their meat flavored slop onto the product. Chicken places have kept up quality in their main sutff but have come out with more and more cheap stuff to stay competitive and cheapened the sides to. Honestly when you had buck stuff and meals under 5 bucks combined with needing something fast to fill your pie hole it was a temptation, but now with many meals over 10 and anything a dollar is now pure trash I find I prefer to miss a meal than pick up anything. Heck even gas station roller stuff is like 5 bucks now.
I miss $1 jumbo jacks that were the size of a whopper…and cheesy bean and rice burritos that had pico and creamy jalapeno sauce…also for $1…now it’s like everything taste bland and is 1/2 the size for 3xs the money. It’s really shit, about the only fast food I’ll even consider these days is the hot and readys from little Caesars, but even those have dropped in quality.
and you did not need to say fresh from the broiler as that was default that way.
Wait, that’s a thing people do? And it doesn’t piss off the employees?
Yes, and you can thank private equity for it.
I think enshittification is hitting everything, but it’s probably also that you are old. I find that I just can’t eat the same way that I could 20 years ago.
I’m in my 40s, and I’ve found that fast food quality varies up and down from year to year and location to location.
I work at McDonald’s, it is not good and is best avoided.
