• Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Depends where you are from. Food standards are higher in Europe, McDonalds can’t use cardboard for their burgers. Has to be actual beef.

    McDonalds isn’t as hated in the UK or Europe as it is in America.

    • sushibowl@feddit.nl
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      4 months ago

      I’m from Europe, and this doesn’t match my experience. McDonald’s is bottom tier fast food. Probably KFC is worse, but that’s about it.

      In general, to me it always seemed like Americans value fast food and chain restaurants way higher than Europeans.

      • Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I think there’s some wiggle room on “bottom tier,” but yeah, it’s down there somewhere. I dont think KFC is worse, not in my experience. but regardless of this, the meat is real in the UK (at least) and across Europe (at most).

        Your individual tastes are subjective. I was arguing that the quality difference of a mcdonalds burger and a restaurant burger is not as big a chasm as OP made out. I’ve worked in plenty of restaurants, and many buy their burgers from the same suppliers that fast food places buy from. It’s the same meat in a different setting. In fact, I used to order food for a whitbread chain restaurant and a greene king chain restaurant, and a lot of it came from the same manufacturers. But people would swear by the quality of the more upmarket whitbread restaurant over the cheaper greene king one.

        • sushibowl@feddit.nl
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          4 months ago

          Your individual tastes are subjective. I was arguing that the quality difference of a mcdonalds burger and a restaurant burger is not as big a chasm as OP made out.

          I agree that they are basically the same meat from the same cows, but in my opinion there is still a big quality difference due mainly to preparation. A McDonald’s beef patty is too thin, too homogeneous, and overcooked. The lack of flavour is the result of optimizing for cooking speed.

          If you are willing to wait 5-15 minutes for your burger to be cooked you can achieve dramatically better results from the same cow.

        • SRo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          4 months ago

          Doesn’t help that the meat is real when the patty is 2mm thick. McD is so shit it’s ridiculous.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        4 months ago

        If every business has to keep to certain food standards, then McDonalds will still be bottom tier as they are in every other region. But the quality is still higher because every other business is too.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        4 months ago

        Mcdonald’s food in Europe is at least edible though. It’s not necessarily high quality but it’s not as bad as American to seem to make out.

        Not that I really eat there very often because to be honest there are better places, but the existence of better places does not necessarily mean they’re terrible. Just not as good as the better places.

        They may very well be bottom tier but the whole ladder is higher up in Europe.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Where I’m from in NorthEast US

      • Taco Bell is absolute bottom, is not food
      • KFC is mostly chicken skin and fat
      • McDonalds is bottom tier that’s actual food

      I don’t go to any of them willingly.

      Minimum acceptable fast food

      • Chipotle
      • Five Guys
      • Panera

      Then again, on road trips, I generally stick with whatever swill paid to be in rest areas, so I don’t have to get off the highway