I stopped going to corporate fast food and my life got easier. If you are a hungry person like me, a couple of mental rules I set up.
If I actually want to eat out, I need to be motivated enough to go out and get it myself. (No more doordash/grubhub/uber/ anything).
If I’m willing to spend my hard earned money, I will only spend it on good, local food. No more McDs, I go to my local burger joint now. No more dominos, I go to the sticky tabled pizza joint.
If neither of those sound good, then I’m not actually hungry enough.
Now that fast food is no longer cheaper than a sit-down restaurant, it just means that fast food has no use case anymore. You’re better off picking up a grab&go type thing from the grocery store. Fast food used to be cheaper, more consistent, and faster, but with the concession that the quality wasn’t great. Now it’s expensive, it completely sucks in unpredictable ways, and it isn’t actually that fast. It’s like the industry only exists for people who are on a road trip and also want to punish themselves for some reason.
If you’re not traveling, $7 at my local Publix’s butcher can buy you some decent sushi or a fish & vegetable entree w/ either salmon or talapia that cooks in 17-18 minutes.
Publix subs also rock and are filling
stoners and idiots will keep them afloat for decades.
Fast food is often the only restaurant option for people working night shifts. I used to clock out at 5am. You know what’s open at 5am, when you’re hungry but too tired to cook dinner because you’ve been on your feet for ten hours? Fast food. Maybe a diner if you’re near a truck route, but honestly that’s not much different.
It’s far from the only way society ignores the needs of people who keep everything running behind the scenes, but it sure was annoying.
My life has definitely gotten better since I started doing this. Local restaurants are almost universally better anyways
I did the same thing when the pandemic was over, although I’m never really sure where to go in my neighborhood so in effect I hardly ever eat out
Somehow this is a really good idea. I’m delegating “Coupang Eats” from my phone, it’s too easy yo use.
This is pretty much how it is in most of Europe. At least generally in the UK drinks are served by the people working there and the machines are behind the counter.
I remember some years ago burger king sometimes had self serve drink machines. But cannot say I’ve been inside one in the UK for some time. So may no longer be the case.
The other exception is Costco which seems to work like an outstation of the USA over here. They have the self serve drink machine that is almost always out of syrup and allows refills.
Having said all that it does seem like penny pinching.
does seem like penny pinching.
Not even penny pinching. Gouging. You could steal gallons in a cleverly disguised backpack and still not even negate their profit from the 3 bucks or so you paid for a cup.
Here in Finland, since their return in 2013, Burger King has sought to differentiate from other chains by having self serve drinks and unlimited refills.
France banned soda refills a few years ago to combat obesity. Honestly that makes sense to me.
At least a couple years ago the burger king on the ring road around bluewater had a self serve machine. could be gone now though
Yeah and I’m sure probably 10 or so years ago I saw it in the one in lakeside retail park.
Yeah, our BK has that s well. Love it because you can mix the different options. I always mix regular with Lemon Fanta (Fanta is drinkable in Europe :D)
The BKs here in germany have all these machines
If they leave a dedicated water fountain I see no issues. You shouldn’t need employee assistance for freaking water.
Never travel to Germany with that mindset.
Yeah, I’ve heard getting water in restaurants is weird in several countries in Europe. Sparkling water is apparently default in some places (italy I think?).
In Germany it is and you gotta pay for water.
It’s illegal to charge for water in the US.
One of the only fucking things we’ve done right in this country, right up there with banning coin-op pay toilets pretty much everywhere.
I remember my mom having to order “Leitungswasser” whenever we went to a restaurant when I was a kid. And ice in drinks isn’t a thing there, either (or wasn’t then, at least).
No, it’s not. People will complain regularly about places like Burger King and McDonald’s who throw ice cubes into drinks. I, personally, hate it as well. I don’t want my water close to the freezing point, and I would rather not get bumped int the teeth by lumps of frozen water that dilute my drink and hurt my teeth.
What, do you bite the cup when you sip? You shouldn’t be bathing your teeth in whatever you’re drinking like that unless it’s just straight water
Straws negate the ice bumping your teeth problem, but not the other things. It’s an acquired taste. I’m fine with either, personally.
Why I now don’t ever go there. The one dollar drinks and the fries was something I went to for a treat every once in a while, now I just not go to any of the fast food or even restaurants
Besides in and out because I know they won’t change anything, they haven’t changed anything sense idk forever
It’s amazing watching the language of people who don’t even realize they have an addiction.
If I’m going to spend $20 - $30 for a burger and fries and a drink, I will go to a local diner and give the money to people who need it, and who care about their food, and what’s more, those burgers are almost guaranteed to be vastly superior in quality.
When I was young my friends and I would stop at a McDonald’s for value-menu snacks on the way to paintball or my family would stop there when traveling for convenience and cheap food.
Now that the “cheap” is gone, what exactly are they offering? For the price of one of their meals I can buy ground beef and make burgers for everyone. I’m so confused how institutions like this survive. Oh yeah, a population addicted to fast fixes of sugar and high-calorie carbohydrates.
I have no idea why anyone still goes to McDogsbreath (I’ll likely hear some reasons in responses to this comment, but I’ve heard them before and don’t buy them). Back in the day I rarely had positive experiences when I was dragged out there reluctantly. Plasticy food of subpar quality, and very uncomfortable, plastic furniture.
And in recent years, between the prices quadrupling, the limited menu for people who don’t like burgers, the shite Wi-Fi, and now them not even being willing to lose 10c on a relatively small % of customers who get a soda refill… Why go there at all! There are so many better fast food options than that disaster of a chain.
Sometimes I just have a hankering for fresh McDonald’s fries.
How are you traveling back in time 20 years?
I’m not sure if they changed, or my taste changed, but the fries are almost inedible to me now. They smell fantastic still, but they just taste so fake.
They did change at some point in the 2000s, they used to use meat in the cooking, they don’t anymore
Their fries just fucking get me. They carry the meal. I don’t eat McD’s often but the fries always deliver the exact disappointment I’m expecting and I eat every single one.
Gotta eat them fast or they go sad and floppy in 5 minutes
I believe you’re thinking of in-n-out.
It’s cheap, quick, and good for a burger delivered to your window.
But it’s not cheap anymore
It’s gone up but the ranting that is over $20 is overblown. I can get 2 bacon egg and cheese bagels for 4.50. Or I got a triple quarter pounder meal and a happy meal for like $20.
I agree with you that it’s shitty. The reason I go there is because the one near my house is the easiest place to get in and out of on the way to the highway when I’m going to my friends after work and need to grab something for dinner. 2 Mcdoubles is pretty cheap and have decent amount of protein. $6ish for dinner I can eat in the car.
The problem is that the soda machine takes maintenance and gets destroyed. They make a huge margin on Soda so I doubt that’s the problem.
A bit surreal since they never had either here in Germany, at least in the 40 years I can actively recall. In fact they’re suspiciously trying to improve themselves here, which feels even more surreal.
In fact, I’m pretty sure free refills is only an American thing. And that kind of culture is the biggest cause of obesitas. McDonalds definitely isn’t healthy in Europe either, but at least we don’t have it as bad as it could be 😅
If it were a tech company everyone would be screaming about them telling you what you should be eating.
We don’t have many big fast food chains here in France.
But MacDo seem to be indeed the only one trying to be decent.
The staff is still very much underpaid/overworked but at least they try to reduce their waste and improve the quality of the food.
Still a soulless corporation but it seems they are actually doing things pretty well.
What about Quick? I always like to go there when in France or Belgium, are they assholes?
Bought by Burger King.
Sad :(
this really only works if the business has a good relationship with the customers. we have a pizza place near us that has been around for like 50 years and they have a self serve soda machine but they also charge .25 cents for refills. it’s not much but it still helps them out and the majority of people have no problem with it.
One of the things I haven’t seen yet is that this may push people to upsize their drinks so McD’s can charge more. If you know you can’t get a refill some may choose the larger drink.
Profit.
Sodas tend to have a huge margin. It might cost you a dollar but it cost them like 7¢
Not that its that big a deal honestly. You aren’t going to not drink soda.
Just make the drinks 75¢ and have certain hours where drinks are even cheaper to encourage sales. Corporations can find a way to make this work in more than just their favor. The last place anyone wants to get gouged is where they eat. I know it’s cheaper to cook at home, but after a year of working at a McDonalds I have concluded many people can’t cook, and thus have relied on automated means of foodservice. The modern drink dispenser at most stores is co2 powered mechanisms that automate almost everything down to just the push of two buttons, but the co2 is relatively cheap compared to the cost of plastic. They can cut corners because they already do, and the auto dispenser is a great example of why drinks should be cheaper because it’s faster to make them and no more refills should entitle us to lower costs as consumers. McD knows they messed this up, and it would be nice to see them lower prices and double down on some really cool automation tools, like an automated wrapping machine or maybe something even cooler that just does all our jobs so we don’t have to.
There is some physiological reasons around making it a single dollar. The big money maker for them is the meal bundles where they can sell you a bunch of stuff for a lot more.
it would be nice to see them lower prices and double down on some really cool automation tools, like an automated wrapping machine or maybe something even cooler that just does all our jobs so we don’t have to.
Corporations: “first part: lmao. Second part: we’re working on it, but you’re not going to benefit, just us. As is tradition.”
Just like the good ole days
I wish had a dime for every time I’ve seen a homeless person walk into a McDonalds, Jack In The Box or similar, just fill up their skanky ass cup (I even saw one take a cup out of the trash can outside first) from the machine and walk out, of course without paying. Like it or not this move makes sense. I don’t mind asking an employee for a refill.
Ah I see. You’re part of the crowd who sees homeless people are subhuman.
Yes, let’s make a worse experience for everyone in the name of hurting vulnerable people who are already suffering immensely. And you approve because it’ll save a multibillion dollar company 10 cents. Cool. That says a lot about you.
Well, your response is telling as well. You night not notice, but there is a serious twist in your logic: why is it on McDonald’s to feed the homeless? It shouldn’t be and they cannot be called out for not doing it. By blaming companies for stuff like that, you obfuscate where the blame should really go: everyone in any form of government and everyone supporting bullshit narratives that social welfare and capitalism are polar opposites and cannot go together. Don’t waste your energy on fucking companies. They will not foot the bill the government should.
If they paid their damn taxes in proportion to their use of our public services and share of income maybe the government could actually do that. But hey, you’re the one who decided that the homeless person trying to survive was sufficient justification for more widespread corporate greed.
It’s the governments responsibility to make companies pay their fair share of taxes.
Exactly. Don’t blame fucking companies for doing what companies were always about to do. Blame the government for letting them. If you get mauled by a lion, you won’t blame the lion, you (or your heirs) will blame the zoo for saving money on the fence. Why is it different with companies?
So because the zoo fucked up I shouldn’t be upset with the lion for mauling people? You can be upset at two things simultaneously, and you sure as shit don’t need to support making life harder for the people already being mauled. That’s some “Boys will be boys” defense right there.
there is no defense in there. I never defended the company. I just called your stance that companies ought to do social welfare unreasonable. I very much like everyone to do social welfare stuff, but to blame companies when they refuse to do what the fucking government should is just a pretty twisted stance, innit?
that’s not a ‘problem’ everywhere.
if they dump the free refills here and still take 15 minutes to make a simple order, i’m going elsewhere. i’ve already cut way down because of cost and time, i’ll just forget they exist entirely. three competitors are literally adjacent. all three also have free refills, and all three can beat mcdonalds service times. prices are basically the same now, mcdonalds hasn’t had that advantage since before covid.
I have literally never seen this but jack in the box is not a thing near me so likely pretty different area. All the same its easy to see why. One thing I have mentioned in inflation talks is how much the cheapest most base things have went up and soda is one of my poster children. Can still get 99 cents but only as a super loss leader which before was like 69 cents. buck 25 or buck 50 is still basic loss leader. 2 for five is a basic sale and they are 3 bucks not on sale. So it definitely doubled. Previously the cups cost more than the soda but I think that is changing.
OBVIOUSLY they’re ALSO going to drop prices since they don’t have to give free refills now! THANK YOU Benevolent McJob Creators!
I boycott McGenocide months ago and it was surprisingly easy. There’s much better food to eat out there.
McGenocide is definitely a new one. Honestly you probably shouldn’t be eating fast food more than once a month. It is a McGenocide to your insides.
That’s not surprising as it was likely to be abused on day one
The problem with cold drinks is they cannot sell it hot enough to give 3rd degree burns so the free refills must go.
Who goes there anymore. The only reason to go in the past was the price. That’s been jacked up so fuck them.
