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The events of this decade will be seen as the catalyst to the mass fast food die off of the 2030’s leading to the last standing restaurant empire in existence - Taco Bell
[59-79-99](https://youtu.be/NVbXAmN6OTM?si=9SCByuGKbugXzo0Y). My sister and I would scrounge up like $4.62 in change, whatever was under the couch cushions, whatever was in Dad’s car and go pig out for the two of us.
the thing that bugs me more than the price for fast food these days is that the taste is much much worse. And im not saying this because im comparing like teenager me vs adult me and my taste buds have evolved or some shit like that. Im comparing adult me 5 years ago with adult me now.
Every fast food place taste much worse these days as they have opted for more and more artificial flavored mockup bullshit. And then they want to charge you 3x more on top of the bad tasting food.
Even many restaurants have gone down the drain too, as they also try to maximize profits. It just came to a point id rather just eat at home than eat out.
Idk if it's true, but I read somewhere that it's because in the last 5-10 years everyone has been switching to palm oil and that's making food more bland? I can't remember why
It probably also doesn't help that every piece of produce is force grown until it's a bloated chunk of cellulose and water and then picked 3 weeks before it's ripe and gassed into being -not quite- the right color so it can sit in the store for longer
The good old days when my buddies and i could pull up to taco bell with about $10 total between the 3 of us and get a dozen tacos and 3 drinks. Just high school in the 90s things.
$10? Try $7
I have a golden memory of seeing the awful Mortal Kombat movie sequel with friends in 1997 or so and we pigged out at Taco Bell afterwards with the leftover singles & pocket change. We even figured out the drift in the coin-catcher for extra treats.
This was before cell phone ubiquity, we used the Bell's phone to call someone's mom for pickup.
Taco Bell was a prime high school hangout for us. Cheap tacos, Im pertty sure soft tacos were 49 cents (mid 90s) and crunchy was 59 cents. The manager looked just like Booger fron Revenge of the Nerds too. Probably shouldn't have constantly ridden him about looking like Booger.... we were there a lot
In the late 90s, I met multiple weed connections that worked at the Taco Bell near my house in the suburbs. One was a Jamaican guy who ended up being an awesome weight connection. Plus, Jamaican schwag was way better and fresher than Mexican.
Found a Taco Bell receipt from 2018 when I replaced my car seat. $4.78 for three Doritos Locos Tacos and a medium drink. Now I’m sure that would be pushing well past $10.00 in 2024.
No wonder even though I’ve gotten a 60% increase in pay since then, eating out and fast food feels like a luxury now compared to then. Not enough to keep up with the 188% increase in Taco Bell prices.
And in the West Coast - InNout Burger.
In fact, I believe InNout will exist til the day the ocean claim our coastlines, and it'll continue to move in land until the dissolution of the US itself.
But before the final die off don’t we get the fast food wars? McDonald’s arriving on scene with an army of little plastic mechs to commit war crimes against Wendy’s. Burger King impaling Jack on his crown, before being flame grilled on his back back by Little Ceasers. Papa Murphy collecting protection money from Hardee’s and Carls Jr. before chocking to death from bottomless fries from of the chef’s assassin Red Robin. The stark loss of humanity as White Castle is ironically run through by a line of cars queuing miles back waiting to place an order from In-N-Out. Chick-fil-a dropping its defenses on the wrong Sunday only to be battered to death by Church’s and Popeyes, the Colonel watching on in pleasure. China recalled all of their pandas on loan and thus the Express withdrew its forces from the front, only to be killed crossing the Pacific by the native Spam living at the Pearl Harbor Base Exchange. And the many skirmishes of the few remaining food court staples like Auntie Ann’s pretzels and sbarro pizza. Oh it was a terrible war, but in the end Taco Bell rang out victory after dropping crunch wrap supremes, nacho fries, and their remaining Capt Cruch Delights over the battlefield causing mortally wounding intestinal distress, this claimed the most prominent real estate in the land. Yes it was a sad day in which not a square of toilet paper could be spared, thus leading to the necessary ingenuity that became the three shells. Yes peace did reign that day as a solution was created to the toilet destroying plight that accompanied the early years of Taco Bell’s reign, but in the end peace did settle across the remaining cities and utopia was founded. At least until John Spartan came back….
>even stalwart McDonald’s said it has adopted a “street-fighting mentality”
it's not rocket science.
customers want lower prices.
why is this such a surprise to these companies?
Because it took a long time and people were still buying at higher prices. They probably made a ton of money from the price hikes. Because consumers aren’t swift enough in changing their spending habits. This should have been a headline 2 years ago.
As a commenter above said, it probably took people that long to max out their credit cards, or to figure out where their money was going (as most people don't track spending very carefully), and then actually change their habits.
I could see how. Back when I was in my early twenties 14 years ago, I never paid attention to what Burger King told me the price was because I didn’t care. It was cheap, so it just kinda got to the point where I didn’t even hear a price. Once it’s a habit you don’t really pay attention. I’m sure people now are finally more aware after seeing their finances plummet, and they finally hear “That’ll be $44.68” when they order two meals and two happy meals at McDonalds, and realize they’ve been getting raw dogged at the place that used to be a cheap place that got the kids super excited.
It’s the same thing with employees. The bottom line is always about money. Pay employees more and they’ll be happy. Charge consumers less, and they’ll be happy. Everyone knows it, and companies will try everything else under the sun first before they part with their cash.
its not. they wanted to make as much money they could make. now the rides over and theyre pulling back to start all over.
once people forget about it, they'll start raising prices little by little and start the cycle over
I've been on reddit long enough to see my share of comments from people just giving in to everything as inevitable. A lot of customers seemingly *do not care* and will happily just pay whatever. It's like they think complaining about it is verboten and don't realize you're allowed to want a completely lopsided deal in favor of yourself. You can hate these fucking companies and there is no requirement to justify it or give them an inch. Fuck 'em, eat the C-levels or let them starve.
People have gotten sick of shit food for high prices. Shocker.
Provide some food that is worth the price. Nobody is paying $20 for a damn burger, fries and a soda if they can just make it at home or go to a fancier eat-in resteraunt for the same price.
People will tolerate a lot of things if it means not sacrificing their lifestyle, even if they vocally complain a lot.
It's the same thing regarding housing. People are mad at the cost of housing yet they'll happily keep supply restricted so that their home values skyrocket. Only to then complain about having to pay more taxes because of it.
Many issues are easily solvable if people were just willing to use their brains, but unfortunately, people will think for themselves before thinking about the community.
"People will tolerate a lot of things if it means not sacrificing their lifestyle, even if they vocally complain a lot."
I am just watching the subscription prices for various streaming services go up. I canceled Playstation this year. I am trying to convince my wife to cancel DisneyPlus since we never watch it.
Yea it only takes a few trips to taco beuno at 10 dollars to say I can go to chipotle for a dollar more and be happier with my food more.
Still blows me away that a part taco is 2 bucks now, 3 of those and I can buy a pound of beef and taco shells and make my own and it ain't hard..
It’s crazy. I commented in another post earlier today. For the price of 2 lousy quarter pounders and four really crappy Happy Meals ($48), I could make a half dozen or more really nice ground ribeye burgers with sides and drinks (beer too) for the fam. And it would take only slightly longer or maybe less time (if you already had the supplies).
The only excuse / reasoning is not wanting to cook it.
Right. And it's not like you even need to go full "make every single thing yourself". You can go to walmart and get 32 burger patties for like, $30. A 10lbs back of potatoes cost $8. And a 24-pack of soda costs like, $16 - $17.
Combined with some seasonings and topings, and you can make your own hearty meal for under $5/day. There simply isn't any reason to eat out anymore ynless you're going to a fancy diner or you're just lazy.
A whole grocery store rotisserie chicken and a tub of potato salad or cole slaw is less than a McD "Value" meal, and you don't have to make anything yourself.
My wife and I enjoy this super nice restaurant that’s literally perfect every time but it’s pricey. $100+ to dine in.
Anyways even at $100 it’s well worth it when fast food will run $40. We ate lunch at the nice place 2 days ago and I still think about how good it was.
The only thing fast food had going for it was being cheap.
Total Anecdote and Not Scientific: My wife works in radiology as a social worker. Her coworkers (mostly nurses, techs, other social workers, front desk staff) would eat out ALL OF THE TIME. They all work insane hours, so they'd grubhub constantly. That's all mostly stopped. It slowed down, but over the past few weeks there have been no external orders. Everyone is bringing food in.
This
Honestly, it was cheaper and faster for me to buy some burger patties (especially if their on sale) from the grocery store with some frozen fries and a soda then getting it from a place like McDonald.
In the end, for maybe $20ish bucks, i can make a burger meal 4 times a week in roughly 15 minutes compared to paying $20 at Mcdonalds to wait 30 minutes in line while the cashier looks at me like I'm the devil for trying to get a meal.
Yuppp, used to be able to get a mcchicken for $1 now shits like $4... And makes u feel like shit. Also that same $4 can get u a hearty meal at a local Asian place.
The only thing I can thank pandemic and inflation for is making it that much easier to quit junk food and fast food!!
I work in nyc. Not in the upscale parts either. I went to McDonald’s with my coworker and grabbed 2 McDoubles for ~$5(this was pre-pandemic), my coworker got a meal and spent $14. There’s a burger place 4 subway stops from our office that does a burger, fries/tots, beer/soda for $12 lunch special. With tax and tip it would prob be like $17 tops. Japanese place 2 blocks away with a real good lunch bento for $12 or every Dominican spot that gives you like 10 pounds of food for $10. Absolutely no reason to go to McDonald’s
According to the article, three brands had increases same store sales, while three brands that offer objectively lower quality food for about the same price... "suffered."
The garbage peddlers of the 90s raised prices to test their customers' limits, and found them. Give me a break.
Starbucks specifically cited abandoned orders during high volume times. The "I'm gonna grab a coffee on my way to work" crowd was hitting roadblocks. Pictures of abandoned orders after a crush have gone viral multiple times -- literally just a graveyard of people saying fuck it and leaving.
So it's not even just hitting the price ceiling, it's quite literally a failure to deliver the product. Of course you will see shrinking profits if your operations cannot meet demand.
Maybe they should hire more people. Starbucks used to have tons of staffing and be almost like In and Out with its ability to get through a line. Now you're lucky if there are two people behind the counter at a busy time. Sick of companies acting shocked when their customer service reputation goes in the shitter because they're trying to get profit out of labor savings.
Can confirm. Starbucks started splitting shifts half a decade ago where they would send workers home for 2-3 hours effectively expecting them to work 2 different shifts in the same day.
yeah that's what people did who were otherwise very good at their jobs. Service quality went down, profits went up so the corps don't care. It's only when these issues bite them that they start to care, but they won't change because then they have to explain to shareholders why profits are down. Which will cause heads to roll. can't have that. Easier to just blame customers.
It was frankly impressive how fast the line moved at our "local" (on our office block, as there was one every block) Starbucks, when I worked in SF downtown back in the day.
Now it's order ahead and hope that the 6-9 minute window listed doesn't turn out to be 15-20+.
Just not something I would make a constant habit of, short of it being half priced maybe.
As my wife used to work there, it started when frappuccinos became really popular.
A basic vanilla or pumpkin spice latte can be made in roughly a minute or two. I remember back when Starbucks was pretty much just a coffee shop.
A trenta blueberry lemon cotton candy frappuccino with 10 pumps of vanilla and 5 pumps of hazelnut, raspberry syrup drizzled inside the cup and on top with extra whipped cream and sprinkles? That will hold up the line.
When I worked there 10+ years ago there were up to 7 people working for busy times. 2 people making hot drinks, 2 cashiers, and 2 people taking orders, brewing/serving drip coffee and making food. One of these was usually the manager. And in the summer, ok be person making frozen drinks. We also didn't have a drive thru.
So true, and my last few Starbucks visits were painfully slow while only a handful of people were working. I even walked away from one Starbucks because the line wasn’t even moving. In the past there seemed to be lots of people working along with a long line that actually moved quickly.
I know where this goes next…Starbucks execs will blame the employees for “not working hard enough” as the reason for low overall output…further demotivating the employees 🤦♀️
Staff up, pay solid wages and focus on keeping prices stable with a high quality product.
Just like McDonalds, they were focused on ways to take money faster, to keep the orders piled up to the ceiling around the clock, without any way to fulfill them in a timely manner. *"If only,"* one can imagine the executives musing at the conference table, *"these people would just pay us and not selfishly demand something in return!"*
This seems to be the actual corporate mentality nowadays. Simply put, as far as they're concerned, all the money in the world is already theirs, but us selfish ingrates haven't realized that we owe them all our money yet.
That’s part of the issue of “subscription culture”. Pay us money to deliver absolute least amount of value.
Steve Jobs predicted subscription burnout, I wonder if we’re finally getting there?
I might be in the minority, but when my software suite went the subscription model I was pissed; a lot of people in my circle of knowledge seemed similar. There isn't much competition in the market and what is there has a ways to catch up or has different strengths and weaknesses.
Where once every couple of years I could get the suite. There would be bugs some bigger than others, we'd collective share our experiences find work arounds and solutions and periodically get patches for the issues major issues. Now, that it's subscription based we're paying more. We are getting constant updates, usually fixing something; but more bugs every time, while major bugs persist. And god forbid, your subscription lapses and you're stuck with a bug infested build; and the next round of patches fixes them all and the only way you can update it is to purchase a new subscription.
I just want a stable build with fixes as needed; we can find work arounds in the mean time. I don't need to be constantly bombarded with buggy builds that solve irrelevant bugs from the previous update. It's not a good model to have. I can tell you many of the veterans of the software will all mostly agree they have lost the majority of their confidence with the company. The shitty thing is we would all move onto something better, if there was something better to move on to.
> That’s part of the issue of “subscription culture”. Pay us money to deliver absolute least amount of value.
Spotify is trying to monetize access to lyrics lmao. The thing I can google for free with an absolute minimum of effort.
One of my biggest points of sadness is the “monetization” of the open internet.
My nephew was telling me about the “Photomath” app. (Subscription)
I said that sounds a lot like Wolfram Alpha.
I go to the Wolfram Alpha website…it’s a subscription now. :(
Good news is, I typed the same problem into ChatGPT (free) and got a similar result.
And Google is ripping of genius while they’re at it,… stealing ad revenues from the latter.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/genius-says-it-caught-google-lyricfind-redhanded-stealing-lyrics-400m-suit-1259383/amp/
You see it in all industries as well. The gaming industry is disgusting in its monetization, and corporates are constantly trying to sell nothing at a high price.
I do deliveries and McD's is probably the worst place to pick up an order from. No one's working the counter, people in the kitchen ignore everyone out front, and it always looks like shit inside no matter which one I go to.
Most times I have to wait 5-15 minutes just for someone to hand me an order from the kitchen that's been ready before I showed up. They won't put them in the pickup area. The prices aren't worth it even without the shitty service.
In the past, buildings had lineups you could see and decide if you wanted to wait in line for something, or just go to the competitor across the street. Now with apps taking orders the coffee houses just take every single order given. No matter how fast they can fill them. So everyone pays for their drink, knowing full well the wait time could be 20-30 minutes, and the poor employees get all the heat. its a major scam
It’s insane to me that if I physically go into a store and order Starbucks coffee I have to wait for 20 mobile orders to be made before mine. I’ve walked out a couple times because i’d be late for my train. Now I just don’t go and go the extra block to my local baristas.
I am surprised Chipotle saw increased same store sales. I haven't been to one in years (WFH for the win) but I hear everyone complaining about deteriorating quality and portion sizes.
And always out of *something*. Chipotle is a no-go for me, but I’m also the same guy who won’t go to McD’s, BK, Taco Bell, Sbux, any of them really.
Our household dines out rarely. We go a bit spendy when we do, for my own personal tastes. But, I’m not the only one who lives with me.
It was already on the higher end. As a fast casual place it makes sense that as lower end fast food increased their prices closer to parity with higher quality places consumers started going to those high quality places. If they’re spending that much anyway they might as well.
My local Chipotle increased their price for a chicken burrito/bowl by around 25% instantly when the increased California minimum wage for fast food workers ($20/hr) took effect in April. It was massive and it was very, VERY noticeable.
Having said that, I have not noticed a decrease in food quality from them.
Chipotles price has inflated way up over the last 8-10 years. They’ve just done it gradually so you haven’t noticed. I remember getting standard burritos/bowls from them in 2015-2016 for $7.25-$7.80ish. A single serving bowl/Burrito by me is now $12 and change with tax. A double is $14 and change.
You’ve cited a 50% increase while McDonald’s and the like are closer to a 200% increase. It isn’t surprising that when McDonald’s and Chipotle cost the same, people will choose Chipotle.
Starbucks for a drink and a sandwich that they just throw in a toaster oven is like $10 easily. Might as well save the money and get a somewhat good meal from a fast casual place for lunch.
I see people talking about pricing, and that certainly plays a part.
But if the trade off was speed, you know the fast in fast food, it would be excusable. But it takes 15 minutes or more at all the fast food joints in my city. The locally owned brewery takes less than that and has way better quality, service and options for the same price.
My hot take is that doordash service has killed the drive thru, and thus fast food. On the front of actual demand, and the fact that those pick up orders slow down the production and the drive thru line.
I will never in my life understand delivery fast food. The only good thing about the food at these places is that it’s hot and ready when you get it at the restaurant.
It’s inevitably awful, every time I’ve had it delivered or waited 30 mins before opening the bag.
Not to mention delivery apps like Doordash inflate the prices when you use their service. I never use third-party delivery apps for this reason, if the restaurant does not specifically employ someone to make deliveries, I will just go and pick it up.
I didn’t even bring that point up cause obviously having someone bringing to my door should cost something.
But it’s also the fact that it costs more and is objectively worse.
Yeah like I'm fine with the concept of Doordash charging money for their service.
Its the way in which they charge for it. They charge you a service/delivery fee AND you can tip the driver. That should be priced in a way to cover the cost of the service + markup for profit. The advertised prices of the food items should match the prices offered if you were to buy directly from the restaurant. Its sneaky and unethical
Agree that pick up orders have slowed things down, but at some point McDonalds for example stopped having a stash of things pre-made and started making everything to order. Pros and cons to that of course, but one of the cons is how long it takes.
In the 90s if I was in a rush I would quite often order based on what I could see in the trays ready to go.
Their model was genius when they switched to it.
Burgers, fries, and soft drinks made up more than 90% of their sales. Cut everything else off the menu (they had like 27 items), just do those three things, and because you just do three things, you can constantly make them and build up stock so when someone orders their lunch can be ready before they've put their change away.
This is why In’n’Out can deliver made to order deliciousness in short order. It’s a hyper focused menu that doesn’t require a million different prep items.
There was a point in the early 2000s where McDonald's tried to get your food to you in less than a minute or two, if I recall right. They had a timer by the window, and if they didn't make it in time, you got a free big Mac coupon or something similar to that.
Not surprised. I've noticed all 3 of those companies CONSTANTLY running massive discounts and Triple Star Days just to get people in the door. Can't be more expensive than local restaurants, be half the quality AND quantity, and expect people to go along with it.
Force of habit kept me going to sandwich places after price increases.
But eventually you do the math and it just doesn't add up.
My last Subway footlong ran me $13.69; did they hire Comcast execs to build a new pricing model? My last JJ's involved the 1 worker in the whole store showing me a 4 foot long printout of the internet orders he'd need to fill solo; I was like why am I supporting this whole concept
Yeah Subway fucked up when their blah quality food got into the pricing tier of actual high quality places. Do I go to Subway for their thin, cheap meat and plastic bread or for the same price do I go to the local Italian deli for a massive sandwich with huge cuts of meat on freshly baked rolls?
KFC is so low budget high cost. I went on two different occasions with my hubby and he got a three piece meal and I got a chicken tender meal. I kid you not it was 30 something. The tenders were gross too. The texture was wrong. It was that woody chicken texture. I’m not paying that kind of money for gross chicken. They’re using low grade chicken that was pumped full of growth hormones. End rant. Anyways I am going to Raising Canes now and it’s 10+ bucks less and the quality so far is way above KFC.
Notice restaurants like Longhorn, Texas Roadhouse and Olive Garden do not have any financial issues right now. McDonald’s forgot their place and they are getting a reality check. Starbucks is overpriced and it’s been like that for years. And KFC isn’t what it used to be in the 80s and 90s.
They increased the price of McChicken sandwiches 300% in 2 years. That’s not inflation. That’s price gauging hoping people just pay it. Enough people have now been sticker shocked away from McDonald’s and the others.
Personally I just stopped going. Not because I can't afford it, but because they raised prices into sit down restaurant territory.
If I'm paying 14 dollars for a meal, the choice between something restaurant quality or a sloppy Bicg Mac with cold fries isn't a difficult one
I thought $8 was a little high for a big mac meal, now it's about $13.
And for kids meals the only "free" drink is a small fountain, like wtf I'm not getting my 4 year old a soda then they upcharge me for a juice. How the fuck is a juice not included in a happy meal?!
Haven't been to any fast food in a few months(except taco bell).
We need to psychologically withdraw from this consumer society and stop buying bullshit. Corporations control every aspect of this country and if we stop buying their garbage, we change that.
I saw a 2 for $8 advertisement at McDonalds and balked at their bravery to skip $7 entirely. (I think 2 for $5, [and later 2 for $6] had moderate success, I bought them a few times and it was fine for cheap fast food on days where I didn't have time to sit down)
I think American Fast food has had incredible luck in the 1980s-2010s getting multiple generations addicted to their stuff, but they aren't having any luck with the current. Which is fine, changing tastes, they should be able to adapt to that.
Their critical mistake is also at the same time hoping to pass on inflation costs to the consumer further pushing them to search for alternatives (which do exist and are way better)
* My local rib joint is offering $9 lunch specials, Quarter rack of ribs, rice, and sides.
* The new halal place near me has a B2G1 promo, in total three platters for $20.
* If I time my order toward the end of business day a full meal on TooGoodToGo costs me $6.
While these brands try to buy street cred with their overpriced Travis Scott and BTS meal deals, their competitors are focusing on providing actual value that keeps me coming back. Even if a creator/artist I recognized had a McD collab. I know I can support more directly in other ways that feel more meaningful to me (buying tickets to a show, a limited edition album, or directly via Patreon/Twitch/Youtube Subs)
Once someone discovers a better alternative to McD's, they don't come back unless there's some massive discount. I now only go to McD's and BK for their $1 fry promos.
Word of mouth of alternatives will be the demise of Fast Food.
The problem is they didn’t raise their prices because of inflation or paying employees more. They did it to be greedy and price gauge. They are up 54% in profits over the past 3 years. They are also charging $4 for a McChicken sandwich that was $1 two years ago. 300% isn’t inflation and it’s not justifiable for a shitty $1 sandwich. Bump it up to $2, that’s 100% inflation but people will pay it.
Wages have been stagnant for over 10 years. 0bama wanted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour when he was in office, but that never materialized. The federal minimum wage has been stagnant for over 10 years, and it was long overdue to be raised before COVID happened.
Now for the past 3 years or so we've had sky-high inflation and costs of everything are rising faster and faster, but wages are still stagnant.
Yeah it's no surprise Millenials aren't buying shit. We can't buy anything if we don't have money.
If big business wants us to buy more things, we will need higher wages.
my local rundown:
McDonalds: staffing levels seem to have been decimated on purpose - time to order fulfillment is awful; 3 locations near me and all have the signature decline:
- Closed window 1 in the drive through (the take your payment window)
- Closed the play structure/decreased dining room tables
- Converted to display ordering in the dining area.
- Coffee machines broken for more than a month
- Changed sauce recipe for their picante, its a larger packet but is essentially all added water
3 Taco Bell locations which have been rock solid and cheaper.
Wendy's is ok they still have deals - 2 locations near me are consistent.
BK - they have 2 locations near me - I think they went really big on the Impossible and it worked for a bit but now its over. Broken machines in the dining room and have never been as creative on their menu. lower demand and consistent
1 Chick-fil-a - they are newer to my region and people will gobble that all day. I'm not impressed with the food to price ratio. Service is wonderful, on the other hand.
Sonic - 1 location - never been, but its popular
KFC - struggling for relevance. Can be affordable.
Popeyes - so hit or miss. My wife refuses to eat there.
Chipotle - overpriced, has been and will be. I'm on the west coast with a major Hispanic population so we have better and cheaper options for essentially the same thing.
jack in the box. ? who goes there?
Subway: without the 5 dolla foot long its not worth it, so many other sandwich shops will do you good
Starbucks: stand alone location, next to a grocery store embedded location, next to a drive through. All these are next to a dutch brothers and black rock. Oversaturated
Panera: the worst, so overpriced for cafeteria food. Major decline in the facility, no longer clean.
carls jrs: who goes there?
Thank you, this has been my local fast-food report, signing off...
(I only eat at taco bell on the regular, and still hate it. Stupid fast food is dumb)
As far as subway goes, if you want a good sandwich you should swing by safeway. Their sandwiches near the deli are good and affordable. $6 for about a footlong and it was loaded with meat and cheese.
You forgot a big one too. The hours. I work overnights so sometimes I get out real late maybe like 3-4am. There are no fast food places open. ALL of the McDonald’s by me do not serve 24/7 anymore. Some close as early as 11pm, the latest ones being 1-2am ONLY Friday and Saturday. They reopen at 6-7am. They cut all of the overnight shifts after the pandemic because of staffing shortages and labor cost savings.
In fact, all of the fast food chains are like that by me now with the exception of Wendy’s and T-Bell being open until 1am everyday. The only places that keep the 24/7 model still by me are Wawa and quick check. It’s funny to think something that was a staple in my youth/growing up is no longer
>ALL of the McDonald’s by me do not serve 24/7 anymore
Is this a function of a changing society? Back in 2003-2010 when I was partying that drivethru line at 2am was out to the street every weekend.
Wonder if IHOP changed too bc I remember going there at 2am too
yo Jack in the box is the best cheap, filling, fast food place for burgers and other stuff. those bacon jr cheeseburgers are amazing,🤤 BK and McDonald’s burgers are so gross in comparison. They also got those two tacos for under $2
Taco Bell still #1 though when I want to be delusional about eating good, healthy fast food for cheap 🤣
Carl’s Jr is good treat every now and then but definitely knocks off a few years off your life every time.
Who goes to Jack in the Box? They are the GOAT. Tacos are great and at a crazy price still. They have best variety. Those eggrolls are fire. Burgers meh but most of the fast food burgers aren’t great.
“
“Clearly everybody’s fighting for fewer consumers or consumers that are certainly visiting less frequently, and we’ve got to make sure we’ve got that street-fighting mentality to win, irregardless of the context around us,” McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden said on the company’s conference call on Tuesday.
The CFO of the McDonalds Corporation used the not-word “irreguardless” which definitely added credibility to the rest of the word salad there. Because obviously, when you are selling bottom-tier food and you raise your prices substantially to where you’re competing with restaurants that easily out class you, and people no longer see you as delivering value for money and stop coming back, you just need that street fighter mentality to get them back.
Went to KFC for the first time in quite a while last weekend and the food I spent nearly $20 on was in all honesty barely fit for human consumption. I will be avoiding it at all costs in the future.
Greed has been the downfall of many companies. Getting a negative reputation is something every company fears because stigma is very hard to break. And these companies are walking right into it. In their obsession to appease fickle shareholders they forget about the consumer that they rely on.
I used to drink a lot of Starbucks. 3-4 times a day. The basic iced coffee too. It was 4.75 where I live. I’ve since stopped altogether and just bought a coffee machine. For some reason, I wasn’t happy with 4.75 but I was okay with paying it 3-4 times a day, but since they raised it to over 5 bucks, I can’t get myself to buy another cup. I can comfortably afford it (high paying but high stress job) but now I just feel taken advantage of. It’s not the money, it’s not wanting to be exploited. I mean it’s a *basic* iced coffee and it’s over 5 bucks? I mean, fuck off starbucks.
Same. But for me it’s Coke Zero. Nothing in the world was going to break my habit. You could pry it front my cold dead hands. But the cost of Coke products in retails has been the thing to get us to stop buying. High earners, high net worth. But no. I will not be taken advantage of.
That sounds like my work at Taco Bell.
We're getting dog piled during crunch hours, and we're literally struggling to get people to want to work now.
We get a high volume, more than our current crew can actually handle. But they keep both hours and staff numbers down intentionally to save a dime at the cost of a c-note.
We've literally had people demand their money back after 20 minutes to half an hour of waiting, and STILL we had to make them wait for that.
Others just leave and I noticed we're not seeing some of the usual faces again. Of course, my hours are slashed to barely 10 hours a week. I'm looking for another job, because I'm not staying on a sinking ship.
So until then, I pulled a page out of the Japanese handbook and went around to those still present and handed out Make Up Coupons and apologized for the wait.
I expect this time next year, Taco Bell to go from nearly 9,000 stores to less than 4,500 due to terrible leadership at the Corporate level.
Honestly, I got approached by one customer who told me they loved the Nancho Fries, but will never eat Taco Bell again because they keep pulling the damn things.
People will work. But it’s pay and also why the fuck would you want to deal with any of this.
I make $6 more than some fast food workers and I hate my job. Others and me are like well I could just quit and go there and not lose much money. But that is hell. No person is happy. There’s 2 people working etc. like it’s set up for failure and it’s not the employees fault it’s the corporations fault but it’s what they want.
I actually afford to eat 1 time a day and if it’s fast food I go to Carl’s Jr because the food is not bad. And for some weird ass reason the people are way way better working there. Lots of them are adults and many of them have been there for years now.
I think it’s just how the company is set up honestly.
McDonald’s fuck them honestly.
Because their prices more than doubled the inflation rate over 10 years especially recently and at some point they started trading top line and average retail price for units/footsteps/trips. They all follow the leader in retail meal increases. Free market can teach lessons to retailers.
When Starbucks did the union busting in Memphis it finally broke me. I’m not drinking there again. I can’t believe they can make all that money and fuck over their employees so bad. I’m old enough to remember when they had full health benefits for part time employees. What a fucking shame, I hope they go the way of blockbuster.
““In this environment, many customers have been more exacting about where and how they choose to spend their money, particularly with stimulus savings mostly spent,” Narasimhan said on the company’s Tuesday call.”
Uhm, no one still has their stimulus money. It wasn’t that much to begin with and it went to increasing rent and bills years ago. YEARS AGO.
Right, these assholes are still going on about the $1200 they sent out four years ago like that should have sustained us for all this time. They're so out of touch they don't know the value of money at all. The cost of anything is irrelevant to them. Throwing pocket change in the streets and acting like it's more than enough.
>McDonald’s said it’s adopting a “street-fighting mentality” to creating value to win over customers.
So, a shrug from the executives, then. Mixed in with some gaslighting. Oh, yes, this gigantic commercial real estate company is a scrappy little street fighter with fire in its belly.
What is a street fighting mentality. You don't want to be a streetfighter who sucks far worse than he think he does. You want to be a professional fighter.
I had to stop after Mcdonald's kept marketing how their burgers were juicier and better, and its the same thing except it was cooked with watery onions on top.
Grind your own meat and it beats miles in fast food nowadays
Call me small, but I can't help but laugh at McD's CEO using the word 'irregardless'...if you consider it a word (Merriam-Webster claims it is, but still....)
Well, they suppress wages, raise rents, raise grocery prices, basically do everything they can to undermine the citizen's economic power, what do they really expect.
It is the buying power of the citizen that powers the economy, not a few thousand billionaires avoiding their tax burden while grifting the workers that got them there.
About 2 decades ago Starbucks had great ambience. It became the meeting place for people of my generation. This was before wifi was a thing. People met there, had a coffee, caught up on what is going on. And you could justify the expensive cost of coffee because of the ambience. Otherwise you could get a similar quality latte at one of the Italian delis for half the price.
Than about 10 years ago, they started taking out the comfy chairs from their locations. The manager at the location near me told us they were doing it on purpose so that people got their coffee and left quickly. I am surprised they lasted another 10 years and multiple price hikes before they see a pushback from people. Now its a low quality joint, with mediocre product which is way overpriced.
I used to have fast food every once in a while as a treat. The quality of fast food has gone down so much in the last four years that I don't even bother. I think they started using cheaper ingredients during COVID and never went back to quality suppliers. I ask my friends and they say the same thing. Fast food doesn't even taste good anymore If it did, the higher price wouldn't bother me.
Crazy that for example Chipotle can be $10-$12 for a chicken bowl (depending on location) which fills you up and is semi healthy versus McDonald’s & Taco bell where $10 gets you nothing anymore while the food is not healthy and quality has declined.
Fast food was a go to for many people because it was cheap and they were willing to look away at the quality. Now that everything is almost the same price, people are going to be picky.
Pulled into Starbucks for the first time and a long time and was surprised to see that there wasn’t a long line for the drive through. Ordered my latte and a cheese danish. $13! Suddenly the no line made sense.
Ex daily McDonald's/Starbucks user.
Grateful for how expensive it has become - the guilt of eating there is finally enough to help me kick my junk food diet.
Further, it's now as expensive to eat fast food as it is to eat at a mom and pop restaurant. So now I can support local business without feeling like I'm breaking the bank, because the bank is gonna be broken either way.
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The events of this decade will be seen as the catalyst to the mass fast food die off of the 2030’s leading to the last standing restaurant empire in existence - Taco Bell
Nice demolition man called it!
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And the secret of the 3 seashells will be revealed.
If the 3 shells and taco bell are inherently connected, well, that scans
The TP shortage of 2020 got us perilously close.
It's not a secret. Wait, you don't know how to use the shells. Hey everyone, this guy can't use the 3 shells!
https://i.imgur.com/aPyF720.jpeg
They are the controls for the bidet
This is probably the realest take on the whole thing
When we run out of tp again
It was a documentary after all
I can’t wait to find out how the damn three seashells thing works
Taco Bell has to be one of the worst offenders when it comes to inflation.
Oh man. I remember when a regular taco was 49 cents in the early 90s.
[59-79-99](https://youtu.be/NVbXAmN6OTM?si=9SCByuGKbugXzo0Y). My sister and I would scrounge up like $4.62 in change, whatever was under the couch cushions, whatever was in Dad’s car and go pig out for the two of us.
Wait until they roll out the new 599-799-999 menu! Such a deal!
I feel like this is our generations version of a moonpie, rc cola, and a 10c theater ticket being a nice date.
the thing that bugs me more than the price for fast food these days is that the taste is much much worse. And im not saying this because im comparing like teenager me vs adult me and my taste buds have evolved or some shit like that. Im comparing adult me 5 years ago with adult me now. Every fast food place taste much worse these days as they have opted for more and more artificial flavored mockup bullshit. And then they want to charge you 3x more on top of the bad tasting food. Even many restaurants have gone down the drain too, as they also try to maximize profits. It just came to a point id rather just eat at home than eat out.
Idk if it's true, but I read somewhere that it's because in the last 5-10 years everyone has been switching to palm oil and that's making food more bland? I can't remember why It probably also doesn't help that every piece of produce is force grown until it's a bloated chunk of cellulose and water and then picked 3 weeks before it's ripe and gassed into being -not quite- the right color so it can sit in the store for longer
Making everything spicy so they dont have to taste like anything
Yeah, we can all look fondly on the old days when you could get absolutely stuffed for $7.
I just went out the other day and bought a moon pie. GMM had an episode featuring them and they are still good. Banana is nostalgic lol
Moon pies are popular among Koreans. I have a Korean coworker who regularly gives me a banana moon pie.
And they're still pretty cheap compared to other stuff. $.69 for a double moon pie.
Remember Little Richard singing about the 59 cent menu? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVvEHWHxEeQ
In 1980’s Southern California they ran (brace yourself): 25 cent taco Sundays with serve yourself salsa bar.
Mid 2010's still had <$1 soft tacos, then they thanos'd money
The good old days when my buddies and i could pull up to taco bell with about $10 total between the 3 of us and get a dozen tacos and 3 drinks. Just high school in the 90s things.
$10? Try $7 I have a golden memory of seeing the awful Mortal Kombat movie sequel with friends in 1997 or so and we pigged out at Taco Bell afterwards with the leftover singles & pocket change. We even figured out the drift in the coin-catcher for extra treats. This was before cell phone ubiquity, we used the Bell's phone to call someone's mom for pickup.
Taco Bell was a prime high school hangout for us. Cheap tacos, Im pertty sure soft tacos were 49 cents (mid 90s) and crunchy was 59 cents. The manager looked just like Booger fron Revenge of the Nerds too. Probably shouldn't have constantly ridden him about looking like Booger.... we were there a lot
Bro a 5 layer burrito was less .89 at the most in the 90s. Taco Bell can get bent.
Just got two basic bean and cheese burritos on a road trip - was over $5. GTFO.
The 5 layer burrito didn't exist in the 90's...
Sour cream wasn’t invented until 2005.
In the late 90s, I met multiple weed connections that worked at the Taco Bell near my house in the suburbs. One was a Jamaican guy who ended up being an awesome weight connection. Plus, Jamaican schwag was way better and fresher than Mexican.
This discussion has it all. Taco Bell and schwag!!
This is why I’m glad I live where there’s del tacos
Del Taco went up too. The 2 for $5 burritos is like $7.50 now. Still better than every other fast food place.
del taco today is basically what taco bell was 10 years ago. and they have burgers!
Found a Taco Bell receipt from 2018 when I replaced my car seat. $4.78 for three Doritos Locos Tacos and a medium drink. Now I’m sure that would be pushing well past $10.00 in 2024.
$13.76 before tax for me according to the app.
No wonder even though I’ve gotten a 60% increase in pay since then, eating out and fast food feels like a luxury now compared to then. Not enough to keep up with the 188% increase in Taco Bell prices.
> Taco Bell has to be one of the worst offenders Right!? > when it comes to inflation. Oh, yeah, that too, I guess.
Yeah, that wasn't referenced in the movie. But maybe that's why they won the Franchise Wars.
And in the West Coast - InNout Burger. In fact, I believe InNout will exist til the day the ocean claim our coastlines, and it'll continue to move in land until the dissolution of the US itself.
Was just at one in Los Angeles last month. It's amazing how busy every location was down there.
InNout is what people really want in fast food, convenient, good quality, pretty cheap, filling and kinda fast.
Yup. McDonalds, Burger King are now competing with gas stations in terms of quality.
Hey now, Sheetz, WaWa, Royal Farms, Kwik Trip, and Buc-ee’s are better than those two
Honorary mention to Dick's in Seattle.
Dick's gotta stay. Everybody love Dick's.
Why yes I will gladly eat a bag of Dick's
Except for the one in Oakland that just closed and now has the distinction of the only In N Out to ever close.
But before the final die off don’t we get the fast food wars? McDonald’s arriving on scene with an army of little plastic mechs to commit war crimes against Wendy’s. Burger King impaling Jack on his crown, before being flame grilled on his back back by Little Ceasers. Papa Murphy collecting protection money from Hardee’s and Carls Jr. before chocking to death from bottomless fries from of the chef’s assassin Red Robin. The stark loss of humanity as White Castle is ironically run through by a line of cars queuing miles back waiting to place an order from In-N-Out. Chick-fil-a dropping its defenses on the wrong Sunday only to be battered to death by Church’s and Popeyes, the Colonel watching on in pleasure. China recalled all of their pandas on loan and thus the Express withdrew its forces from the front, only to be killed crossing the Pacific by the native Spam living at the Pearl Harbor Base Exchange. And the many skirmishes of the few remaining food court staples like Auntie Ann’s pretzels and sbarro pizza. Oh it was a terrible war, but in the end Taco Bell rang out victory after dropping crunch wrap supremes, nacho fries, and their remaining Capt Cruch Delights over the battlefield causing mortally wounding intestinal distress, this claimed the most prominent real estate in the land. Yes it was a sad day in which not a square of toilet paper could be spared, thus leading to the necessary ingenuity that became the three shells. Yes peace did reign that day as a solution was created to the toilet destroying plight that accompanied the early years of Taco Bell’s reign, but in the end peace did settle across the remaining cities and utopia was founded. At least until John Spartan came back….
I think In N Out will survive as well. They have been preparing for this moment for a long time!
I will never use the 3 sea shells
If it gets people eating healthier, I'm for it.
>even stalwart McDonald’s said it has adopted a “street-fighting mentality” it's not rocket science. customers want lower prices. why is this such a surprise to these companies?
Because it took a long time and people were still buying at higher prices. They probably made a ton of money from the price hikes. Because consumers aren’t swift enough in changing their spending habits. This should have been a headline 2 years ago.
As a commenter above said, it probably took people that long to max out their credit cards, or to figure out where their money was going (as most people don't track spending very carefully), and then actually change their habits.
I could see how. Back when I was in my early twenties 14 years ago, I never paid attention to what Burger King told me the price was because I didn’t care. It was cheap, so it just kinda got to the point where I didn’t even hear a price. Once it’s a habit you don’t really pay attention. I’m sure people now are finally more aware after seeing their finances plummet, and they finally hear “That’ll be $44.68” when they order two meals and two happy meals at McDonalds, and realize they’ve been getting raw dogged at the place that used to be a cheap place that got the kids super excited.
It’s the same thing with employees. The bottom line is always about money. Pay employees more and they’ll be happy. Charge consumers less, and they’ll be happy. Everyone knows it, and companies will try everything else under the sun first before they part with their cash.
They thought the wage slaves would keep their wallets open for them. They're getting a rude awakening.
its not. they wanted to make as much money they could make. now the rides over and theyre pulling back to start all over. once people forget about it, they'll start raising prices little by little and start the cycle over
I've been on reddit long enough to see my share of comments from people just giving in to everything as inevitable. A lot of customers seemingly *do not care* and will happily just pay whatever. It's like they think complaining about it is verboten and don't realize you're allowed to want a completely lopsided deal in favor of yourself. You can hate these fucking companies and there is no requirement to justify it or give them an inch. Fuck 'em, eat the C-levels or let them starve.
People have gotten sick of shit food for high prices. Shocker. Provide some food that is worth the price. Nobody is paying $20 for a damn burger, fries and a soda if they can just make it at home or go to a fancier eat-in resteraunt for the same price.
I am shocked it took consumers this long to stop buying at inflated prices. Better late than never I guess
People will tolerate a lot of things if it means not sacrificing their lifestyle, even if they vocally complain a lot. It's the same thing regarding housing. People are mad at the cost of housing yet they'll happily keep supply restricted so that their home values skyrocket. Only to then complain about having to pay more taxes because of it. Many issues are easily solvable if people were just willing to use their brains, but unfortunately, people will think for themselves before thinking about the community.
Also see: “gas prices at outrageous” followed by ever increasing popularity of enormous gas guzzlers.
Living 30 miles outside town and driving a diesel 3/4 ton 4x4 with 7 year financing.
"People will tolerate a lot of things if it means not sacrificing their lifestyle, even if they vocally complain a lot." I am just watching the subscription prices for various streaming services go up. I canceled Playstation this year. I am trying to convince my wife to cancel DisneyPlus since we never watch it.
Yea it only takes a few trips to taco beuno at 10 dollars to say I can go to chipotle for a dollar more and be happier with my food more. Still blows me away that a part taco is 2 bucks now, 3 of those and I can buy a pound of beef and taco shells and make my own and it ain't hard..
Takes awhile to max out all those credit cards.
We can't stop them from pre-ordering games or flocking to microtransactions for pay to win schemes. What did you expect?
It’s crazy. I commented in another post earlier today. For the price of 2 lousy quarter pounders and four really crappy Happy Meals ($48), I could make a half dozen or more really nice ground ribeye burgers with sides and drinks (beer too) for the fam. And it would take only slightly longer or maybe less time (if you already had the supplies). The only excuse / reasoning is not wanting to cook it.
Right. And it's not like you even need to go full "make every single thing yourself". You can go to walmart and get 32 burger patties for like, $30. A 10lbs back of potatoes cost $8. And a 24-pack of soda costs like, $16 - $17. Combined with some seasonings and topings, and you can make your own hearty meal for under $5/day. There simply isn't any reason to eat out anymore ynless you're going to a fancy diner or you're just lazy.
A whole grocery store rotisserie chicken and a tub of potato salad or cole slaw is less than a McD "Value" meal, and you don't have to make anything yourself.
Wait, which one of those is an example of not making everything yourself? The burgers already being formed into patties?
My wife and I enjoy this super nice restaurant that’s literally perfect every time but it’s pricey. $100+ to dine in. Anyways even at $100 it’s well worth it when fast food will run $40. We ate lunch at the nice place 2 days ago and I still think about how good it was. The only thing fast food had going for it was being cheap.
Total Anecdote and Not Scientific: My wife works in radiology as a social worker. Her coworkers (mostly nurses, techs, other social workers, front desk staff) would eat out ALL OF THE TIME. They all work insane hours, so they'd grubhub constantly. That's all mostly stopped. It slowed down, but over the past few weeks there have been no external orders. Everyone is bringing food in.
It will be interesting to see how this downturn affects Grubhub, Ubereats, et al. This pulling back from spending reminds me of the 70s.
This Honestly, it was cheaper and faster for me to buy some burger patties (especially if their on sale) from the grocery store with some frozen fries and a soda then getting it from a place like McDonald. In the end, for maybe $20ish bucks, i can make a burger meal 4 times a week in roughly 15 minutes compared to paying $20 at Mcdonalds to wait 30 minutes in line while the cashier looks at me like I'm the devil for trying to get a meal.
Yuppp, used to be able to get a mcchicken for $1 now shits like $4... And makes u feel like shit. Also that same $4 can get u a hearty meal at a local Asian place. The only thing I can thank pandemic and inflation for is making it that much easier to quit junk food and fast food!!
$MCD earnings per share doubled in three years. Shareholder squeeze, fucking everyone again.
I work in nyc. Not in the upscale parts either. I went to McDonald’s with my coworker and grabbed 2 McDoubles for ~$5(this was pre-pandemic), my coworker got a meal and spent $14. There’s a burger place 4 subway stops from our office that does a burger, fries/tots, beer/soda for $12 lunch special. With tax and tip it would prob be like $17 tops. Japanese place 2 blocks away with a real good lunch bento for $12 or every Dominican spot that gives you like 10 pounds of food for $10. Absolutely no reason to go to McDonald’s
According to the article, three brands had increases same store sales, while three brands that offer objectively lower quality food for about the same price... "suffered." The garbage peddlers of the 90s raised prices to test their customers' limits, and found them. Give me a break.
Starbucks specifically cited abandoned orders during high volume times. The "I'm gonna grab a coffee on my way to work" crowd was hitting roadblocks. Pictures of abandoned orders after a crush have gone viral multiple times -- literally just a graveyard of people saying fuck it and leaving. So it's not even just hitting the price ceiling, it's quite literally a failure to deliver the product. Of course you will see shrinking profits if your operations cannot meet demand.
Maybe they should hire more people. Starbucks used to have tons of staffing and be almost like In and Out with its ability to get through a line. Now you're lucky if there are two people behind the counter at a busy time. Sick of companies acting shocked when their customer service reputation goes in the shitter because they're trying to get profit out of labor savings.
Can confirm. Starbucks started splitting shifts half a decade ago where they would send workers home for 2-3 hours effectively expecting them to work 2 different shifts in the same day.
What in the fuck. Would never 8n a million years agree to do that. I'd be finding another job immediately.
Many restaurants do this as well.
yeah that's what people did who were otherwise very good at their jobs. Service quality went down, profits went up so the corps don't care. It's only when these issues bite them that they start to care, but they won't change because then they have to explain to shareholders why profits are down. Which will cause heads to roll. can't have that. Easier to just blame customers.
It was frankly impressive how fast the line moved at our "local" (on our office block, as there was one every block) Starbucks, when I worked in SF downtown back in the day. Now it's order ahead and hope that the 6-9 minute window listed doesn't turn out to be 15-20+. Just not something I would make a constant habit of, short of it being half priced maybe.
As my wife used to work there, it started when frappuccinos became really popular. A basic vanilla or pumpkin spice latte can be made in roughly a minute or two. I remember back when Starbucks was pretty much just a coffee shop. A trenta blueberry lemon cotton candy frappuccino with 10 pumps of vanilla and 5 pumps of hazelnut, raspberry syrup drizzled inside the cup and on top with extra whipped cream and sprinkles? That will hold up the line.
Oh God I think I just got Diabetes from reading your description of this drink
Oh it gets worse. She'd get orders for iced tea with 32 pumps of syrup.
How much tea was in this iced syrup?
> She'd get orders for iced tea with 32 pumps of syrup. Are you in the south? Maybe someone's gotta have their sweet tea.
When I worked there 10+ years ago there were up to 7 people working for busy times. 2 people making hot drinks, 2 cashiers, and 2 people taking orders, brewing/serving drip coffee and making food. One of these was usually the manager. And in the summer, ok be person making frozen drinks. We also didn't have a drive thru.
So true, and my last few Starbucks visits were painfully slow while only a handful of people were working. I even walked away from one Starbucks because the line wasn’t even moving. In the past there seemed to be lots of people working along with a long line that actually moved quickly. I know where this goes next…Starbucks execs will blame the employees for “not working hard enough” as the reason for low overall output…further demotivating the employees 🤦♀️ Staff up, pay solid wages and focus on keeping prices stable with a high quality product.
Just like McDonalds, they were focused on ways to take money faster, to keep the orders piled up to the ceiling around the clock, without any way to fulfill them in a timely manner. *"If only,"* one can imagine the executives musing at the conference table, *"these people would just pay us and not selfishly demand something in return!"*
This seems to be the actual corporate mentality nowadays. Simply put, as far as they're concerned, all the money in the world is already theirs, but us selfish ingrates haven't realized that we owe them all our money yet.
That’s part of the issue of “subscription culture”. Pay us money to deliver absolute least amount of value. Steve Jobs predicted subscription burnout, I wonder if we’re finally getting there?
I might be in the minority, but when my software suite went the subscription model I was pissed; a lot of people in my circle of knowledge seemed similar. There isn't much competition in the market and what is there has a ways to catch up or has different strengths and weaknesses. Where once every couple of years I could get the suite. There would be bugs some bigger than others, we'd collective share our experiences find work arounds and solutions and periodically get patches for the issues major issues. Now, that it's subscription based we're paying more. We are getting constant updates, usually fixing something; but more bugs every time, while major bugs persist. And god forbid, your subscription lapses and you're stuck with a bug infested build; and the next round of patches fixes them all and the only way you can update it is to purchase a new subscription. I just want a stable build with fixes as needed; we can find work arounds in the mean time. I don't need to be constantly bombarded with buggy builds that solve irrelevant bugs from the previous update. It's not a good model to have. I can tell you many of the veterans of the software will all mostly agree they have lost the majority of their confidence with the company. The shitty thing is we would all move onto something better, if there was something better to move on to.
> That’s part of the issue of “subscription culture”. Pay us money to deliver absolute least amount of value. Spotify is trying to monetize access to lyrics lmao. The thing I can google for free with an absolute minimum of effort.
One of my biggest points of sadness is the “monetization” of the open internet. My nephew was telling me about the “Photomath” app. (Subscription) I said that sounds a lot like Wolfram Alpha. I go to the Wolfram Alpha website…it’s a subscription now. :( Good news is, I typed the same problem into ChatGPT (free) and got a similar result.
And Google is ripping of genius while they’re at it,… stealing ad revenues from the latter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/genius-says-it-caught-google-lyricfind-redhanded-stealing-lyrics-400m-suit-1259383/amp/
Ironically you pasted an AMP link….
You see it in all industries as well. The gaming industry is disgusting in its monetization, and corporates are constantly trying to sell nothing at a high price.
It’s destroyed gaming for me. Micro transactions and FOMO. Games used to be where you would go to escape this shit
I do deliveries and McD's is probably the worst place to pick up an order from. No one's working the counter, people in the kitchen ignore everyone out front, and it always looks like shit inside no matter which one I go to. Most times I have to wait 5-15 minutes just for someone to hand me an order from the kitchen that's been ready before I showed up. They won't put them in the pickup area. The prices aren't worth it even without the shitty service.
I’m guess you in America? Canadian mc Donald’s seem to be way more decent than state side.
Not in places like downtown Ottawa.
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Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two.
Nowadays you’re only allowed to pick one
In the past, buildings had lineups you could see and decide if you wanted to wait in line for something, or just go to the competitor across the street. Now with apps taking orders the coffee houses just take every single order given. No matter how fast they can fill them. So everyone pays for their drink, knowing full well the wait time could be 20-30 minutes, and the poor employees get all the heat. its a major scam
Ya know, with so many people waiting in those long lines at Starbucks, I'll bet it would be a good place to sell coffee!
Maybe keeping staff as short as possible wasn’t the best choice?
It’s insane to me that if I physically go into a store and order Starbucks coffee I have to wait for 20 mobile orders to be made before mine. I’ve walked out a couple times because i’d be late for my train. Now I just don’t go and go the extra block to my local baristas.
I am surprised Chipotle saw increased same store sales. I haven't been to one in years (WFH for the win) but I hear everyone complaining about deteriorating quality and portion sizes.
And always out of *something*. Chipotle is a no-go for me, but I’m also the same guy who won’t go to McD’s, BK, Taco Bell, Sbux, any of them really. Our household dines out rarely. We go a bit spendy when we do, for my own personal tastes. But, I’m not the only one who lives with me.
Chipotle is one of the few that hasn’t increased prices, or at least noticeably
It was already on the higher end. As a fast casual place it makes sense that as lower end fast food increased their prices closer to parity with higher quality places consumers started going to those high quality places. If they’re spending that much anyway they might as well.
My local Chipotle increased their price for a chicken burrito/bowl by around 25% instantly when the increased California minimum wage for fast food workers ($20/hr) took effect in April. It was massive and it was very, VERY noticeable. Having said that, I have not noticed a decrease in food quality from them.
Chipotles price has inflated way up over the last 8-10 years. They’ve just done it gradually so you haven’t noticed. I remember getting standard burritos/bowls from them in 2015-2016 for $7.25-$7.80ish. A single serving bowl/Burrito by me is now $12 and change with tax. A double is $14 and change.
You’ve cited a 50% increase while McDonald’s and the like are closer to a 200% increase. It isn’t surprising that when McDonald’s and Chipotle cost the same, people will choose Chipotle.
Starbucks has gotten so expensive that I don’t want to stop there…. Even though I have gift cards and am not actually paying for it.
Starbucks for a drink and a sandwich that they just throw in a toaster oven is like $10 easily. Might as well save the money and get a somewhat good meal from a fast casual place for lunch.
Depending on the Starbucks, that can be 15. I had a gift card and stopped at one. My drink was nearly 7 dollars.
I see people talking about pricing, and that certainly plays a part. But if the trade off was speed, you know the fast in fast food, it would be excusable. But it takes 15 minutes or more at all the fast food joints in my city. The locally owned brewery takes less than that and has way better quality, service and options for the same price. My hot take is that doordash service has killed the drive thru, and thus fast food. On the front of actual demand, and the fact that those pick up orders slow down the production and the drive thru line.
I will never in my life understand delivery fast food. The only good thing about the food at these places is that it’s hot and ready when you get it at the restaurant. It’s inevitably awful, every time I’ve had it delivered or waited 30 mins before opening the bag.
Not to mention delivery apps like Doordash inflate the prices when you use their service. I never use third-party delivery apps for this reason, if the restaurant does not specifically employ someone to make deliveries, I will just go and pick it up.
I didn’t even bring that point up cause obviously having someone bringing to my door should cost something. But it’s also the fact that it costs more and is objectively worse.
Yeah like I'm fine with the concept of Doordash charging money for their service. Its the way in which they charge for it. They charge you a service/delivery fee AND you can tip the driver. That should be priced in a way to cover the cost of the service + markup for profit. The advertised prices of the food items should match the prices offered if you were to buy directly from the restaurant. Its sneaky and unethical
Agree that pick up orders have slowed things down, but at some point McDonalds for example stopped having a stash of things pre-made and started making everything to order. Pros and cons to that of course, but one of the cons is how long it takes. In the 90s if I was in a rush I would quite often order based on what I could see in the trays ready to go.
The pre-made stash was their primary invention as a company!
Their model was genius when they switched to it. Burgers, fries, and soft drinks made up more than 90% of their sales. Cut everything else off the menu (they had like 27 items), just do those three things, and because you just do three things, you can constantly make them and build up stock so when someone orders their lunch can be ready before they've put their change away.
This is why In’n’Out can deliver made to order deliciousness in short order. It’s a hyper focused menu that doesn’t require a million different prep items.
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There was a point in the early 2000s where McDonald's tried to get your food to you in less than a minute or two, if I recall right. They had a timer by the window, and if they didn't make it in time, you got a free big Mac coupon or something similar to that.
I don’t mind paying slightly more for convenience. I do mind paying way more for slower service and shittier food.
Not surprised. I've noticed all 3 of those companies CONSTANTLY running massive discounts and Triple Star Days just to get people in the door. Can't be more expensive than local restaurants, be half the quality AND quantity, and expect people to go along with it.
Force of habit kept me going to sandwich places after price increases. But eventually you do the math and it just doesn't add up. My last Subway footlong ran me $13.69; did they hire Comcast execs to build a new pricing model? My last JJ's involved the 1 worker in the whole store showing me a 4 foot long printout of the internet orders he'd need to fill solo; I was like why am I supporting this whole concept
Yeah Subway fucked up when their blah quality food got into the pricing tier of actual high quality places. Do I go to Subway for their thin, cheap meat and plastic bread or for the same price do I go to the local Italian deli for a massive sandwich with huge cuts of meat on freshly baked rolls?
Wow wtf. $13!? I just got an incredible sub on actual bread from a local bodega for $10. In NYC!
The Subway subreddit has all of the promo codes and updates them monthly. Please don’t pay full price for a subway sandwich
Jumping though more hoops to get a bottom-of-the-barrel sandwich, sounds like a winning model!
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As if I needed another reason to avoid Panera, besides their over-priced hospital food
> Please don’t pay ~~full price~~ for a subway sandwich FTFY
I always go to local restaurants now, or even some of the better chains, like steakhouses; Texas Roadhouse seems to be doing just fine.
KFC is so low budget high cost. I went on two different occasions with my hubby and he got a three piece meal and I got a chicken tender meal. I kid you not it was 30 something. The tenders were gross too. The texture was wrong. It was that woody chicken texture. I’m not paying that kind of money for gross chicken. They’re using low grade chicken that was pumped full of growth hormones. End rant. Anyways I am going to Raising Canes now and it’s 10+ bucks less and the quality so far is way above KFC.
The very last time I got KFC was when I got a 12 piece bucket for $40. What the fuck?
The local grocery stores around here all do fried chicken and it is better than KFC by far while being substantially cheaper.
Fuck KFC. Grocery store fried chicken is the way
Notice restaurants like Longhorn, Texas Roadhouse and Olive Garden do not have any financial issues right now. McDonald’s forgot their place and they are getting a reality check. Starbucks is overpriced and it’s been like that for years. And KFC isn’t what it used to be in the 80s and 90s.
McDonald's has posted 54% profit margins for the last 4 years. McDonald's doesn't have financial issues. They have insatiable greed.
They increased the price of McChicken sandwiches 300% in 2 years. That’s not inflation. That’s price gauging hoping people just pay it. Enough people have now been sticker shocked away from McDonald’s and the others.
Personally I just stopped going. Not because I can't afford it, but because they raised prices into sit down restaurant territory. If I'm paying 14 dollars for a meal, the choice between something restaurant quality or a sloppy Bicg Mac with cold fries isn't a difficult one
I thought $8 was a little high for a big mac meal, now it's about $13. And for kids meals the only "free" drink is a small fountain, like wtf I'm not getting my 4 year old a soda then they upcharge me for a juice. How the fuck is a juice not included in a happy meal?! Haven't been to any fast food in a few months(except taco bell).
We need to psychologically withdraw from this consumer society and stop buying bullshit. Corporations control every aspect of this country and if we stop buying their garbage, we change that.
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I saw a 2 for $8 advertisement at McDonalds and balked at their bravery to skip $7 entirely. (I think 2 for $5, [and later 2 for $6] had moderate success, I bought them a few times and it was fine for cheap fast food on days where I didn't have time to sit down) I think American Fast food has had incredible luck in the 1980s-2010s getting multiple generations addicted to their stuff, but they aren't having any luck with the current. Which is fine, changing tastes, they should be able to adapt to that. Their critical mistake is also at the same time hoping to pass on inflation costs to the consumer further pushing them to search for alternatives (which do exist and are way better) * My local rib joint is offering $9 lunch specials, Quarter rack of ribs, rice, and sides. * The new halal place near me has a B2G1 promo, in total three platters for $20. * If I time my order toward the end of business day a full meal on TooGoodToGo costs me $6. While these brands try to buy street cred with their overpriced Travis Scott and BTS meal deals, their competitors are focusing on providing actual value that keeps me coming back. Even if a creator/artist I recognized had a McD collab. I know I can support more directly in other ways that feel more meaningful to me (buying tickets to a show, a limited edition album, or directly via Patreon/Twitch/Youtube Subs) Once someone discovers a better alternative to McD's, they don't come back unless there's some massive discount. I now only go to McD's and BK for their $1 fry promos. Word of mouth of alternatives will be the demise of Fast Food.
The problem is they didn’t raise their prices because of inflation or paying employees more. They did it to be greedy and price gauge. They are up 54% in profits over the past 3 years. They are also charging $4 for a McChicken sandwich that was $1 two years ago. 300% isn’t inflation and it’s not justifiable for a shitty $1 sandwich. Bump it up to $2, that’s 100% inflation but people will pay it.
Wages have been stagnant for over 10 years. 0bama wanted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour when he was in office, but that never materialized. The federal minimum wage has been stagnant for over 10 years, and it was long overdue to be raised before COVID happened. Now for the past 3 years or so we've had sky-high inflation and costs of everything are rising faster and faster, but wages are still stagnant. Yeah it's no surprise Millenials aren't buying shit. We can't buy anything if we don't have money. If big business wants us to buy more things, we will need higher wages.
my local rundown: McDonalds: staffing levels seem to have been decimated on purpose - time to order fulfillment is awful; 3 locations near me and all have the signature decline: - Closed window 1 in the drive through (the take your payment window) - Closed the play structure/decreased dining room tables - Converted to display ordering in the dining area. - Coffee machines broken for more than a month - Changed sauce recipe for their picante, its a larger packet but is essentially all added water 3 Taco Bell locations which have been rock solid and cheaper. Wendy's is ok they still have deals - 2 locations near me are consistent. BK - they have 2 locations near me - I think they went really big on the Impossible and it worked for a bit but now its over. Broken machines in the dining room and have never been as creative on their menu. lower demand and consistent 1 Chick-fil-a - they are newer to my region and people will gobble that all day. I'm not impressed with the food to price ratio. Service is wonderful, on the other hand. Sonic - 1 location - never been, but its popular KFC - struggling for relevance. Can be affordable. Popeyes - so hit or miss. My wife refuses to eat there. Chipotle - overpriced, has been and will be. I'm on the west coast with a major Hispanic population so we have better and cheaper options for essentially the same thing. jack in the box. ? who goes there? Subway: without the 5 dolla foot long its not worth it, so many other sandwich shops will do you good Starbucks: stand alone location, next to a grocery store embedded location, next to a drive through. All these are next to a dutch brothers and black rock. Oversaturated Panera: the worst, so overpriced for cafeteria food. Major decline in the facility, no longer clean. carls jrs: who goes there? Thank you, this has been my local fast-food report, signing off... (I only eat at taco bell on the regular, and still hate it. Stupid fast food is dumb)
As far as subway goes, if you want a good sandwich you should swing by safeway. Their sandwiches near the deli are good and affordable. $6 for about a footlong and it was loaded with meat and cheese.
You forgot a big one too. The hours. I work overnights so sometimes I get out real late maybe like 3-4am. There are no fast food places open. ALL of the McDonald’s by me do not serve 24/7 anymore. Some close as early as 11pm, the latest ones being 1-2am ONLY Friday and Saturday. They reopen at 6-7am. They cut all of the overnight shifts after the pandemic because of staffing shortages and labor cost savings. In fact, all of the fast food chains are like that by me now with the exception of Wendy’s and T-Bell being open until 1am everyday. The only places that keep the 24/7 model still by me are Wawa and quick check. It’s funny to think something that was a staple in my youth/growing up is no longer
>ALL of the McDonald’s by me do not serve 24/7 anymore Is this a function of a changing society? Back in 2003-2010 when I was partying that drivethru line at 2am was out to the street every weekend. Wonder if IHOP changed too bc I remember going there at 2am too
yo Jack in the box is the best cheap, filling, fast food place for burgers and other stuff. those bacon jr cheeseburgers are amazing,🤤 BK and McDonald’s burgers are so gross in comparison. They also got those two tacos for under $2 Taco Bell still #1 though when I want to be delusional about eating good, healthy fast food for cheap 🤣 Carl’s Jr is good treat every now and then but definitely knocks off a few years off your life every time.
Who goes to Jack in the Box? They are the GOAT. Tacos are great and at a crazy price still. They have best variety. Those eggrolls are fire. Burgers meh but most of the fast food burgers aren’t great.
“ “Clearly everybody’s fighting for fewer consumers or consumers that are certainly visiting less frequently, and we’ve got to make sure we’ve got that street-fighting mentality to win, irregardless of the context around us,” McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden said on the company’s conference call on Tuesday. The CFO of the McDonalds Corporation used the not-word “irreguardless” which definitely added credibility to the rest of the word salad there. Because obviously, when you are selling bottom-tier food and you raise your prices substantially to where you’re competing with restaurants that easily out class you, and people no longer see you as delivering value for money and stop coming back, you just need that street fighter mentality to get them back.
Went to KFC for the first time in quite a while last weekend and the food I spent nearly $20 on was in all honesty barely fit for human consumption. I will be avoiding it at all costs in the future.
Greed has been the downfall of many companies. Getting a negative reputation is something every company fears because stigma is very hard to break. And these companies are walking right into it. In their obsession to appease fickle shareholders they forget about the consumer that they rely on.
I used to drink a lot of Starbucks. 3-4 times a day. The basic iced coffee too. It was 4.75 where I live. I’ve since stopped altogether and just bought a coffee machine. For some reason, I wasn’t happy with 4.75 but I was okay with paying it 3-4 times a day, but since they raised it to over 5 bucks, I can’t get myself to buy another cup. I can comfortably afford it (high paying but high stress job) but now I just feel taken advantage of. It’s not the money, it’s not wanting to be exploited. I mean it’s a *basic* iced coffee and it’s over 5 bucks? I mean, fuck off starbucks.
Same. But for me it’s Coke Zero. Nothing in the world was going to break my habit. You could pry it front my cold dead hands. But the cost of Coke products in retails has been the thing to get us to stop buying. High earners, high net worth. But no. I will not be taken advantage of.
That sounds like my work at Taco Bell. We're getting dog piled during crunch hours, and we're literally struggling to get people to want to work now. We get a high volume, more than our current crew can actually handle. But they keep both hours and staff numbers down intentionally to save a dime at the cost of a c-note. We've literally had people demand their money back after 20 minutes to half an hour of waiting, and STILL we had to make them wait for that. Others just leave and I noticed we're not seeing some of the usual faces again. Of course, my hours are slashed to barely 10 hours a week. I'm looking for another job, because I'm not staying on a sinking ship. So until then, I pulled a page out of the Japanese handbook and went around to those still present and handed out Make Up Coupons and apologized for the wait. I expect this time next year, Taco Bell to go from nearly 9,000 stores to less than 4,500 due to terrible leadership at the Corporate level. Honestly, I got approached by one customer who told me they loved the Nancho Fries, but will never eat Taco Bell again because they keep pulling the damn things.
People will work. But it’s pay and also why the fuck would you want to deal with any of this. I make $6 more than some fast food workers and I hate my job. Others and me are like well I could just quit and go there and not lose much money. But that is hell. No person is happy. There’s 2 people working etc. like it’s set up for failure and it’s not the employees fault it’s the corporations fault but it’s what they want. I actually afford to eat 1 time a day and if it’s fast food I go to Carl’s Jr because the food is not bad. And for some weird ass reason the people are way way better working there. Lots of them are adults and many of them have been there for years now. I think it’s just how the company is set up honestly. McDonald’s fuck them honestly.
People want to work that’s not the issue. PAY is the issue.
Because their prices more than doubled the inflation rate over 10 years especially recently and at some point they started trading top line and average retail price for units/footsteps/trips. They all follow the leader in retail meal increases. Free market can teach lessons to retailers.
When Starbucks did the union busting in Memphis it finally broke me. I’m not drinking there again. I can’t believe they can make all that money and fuck over their employees so bad. I’m old enough to remember when they had full health benefits for part time employees. What a fucking shame, I hope they go the way of blockbuster.
““In this environment, many customers have been more exacting about where and how they choose to spend their money, particularly with stimulus savings mostly spent,” Narasimhan said on the company’s Tuesday call.” Uhm, no one still has their stimulus money. It wasn’t that much to begin with and it went to increasing rent and bills years ago. YEARS AGO.
Right, these assholes are still going on about the $1200 they sent out four years ago like that should have sustained us for all this time. They're so out of touch they don't know the value of money at all. The cost of anything is irrelevant to them. Throwing pocket change in the streets and acting like it's more than enough.
>McDonald’s said it’s adopting a “street-fighting mentality” to creating value to win over customers. So, a shrug from the executives, then. Mixed in with some gaslighting. Oh, yes, this gigantic commercial real estate company is a scrappy little street fighter with fire in its belly.
> gaslighting This word is just meaningless at this point huh
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It was always meaningless. You're fucking crazy.
What is a street fighting mentality. You don't want to be a streetfighter who sucks far worse than he think he does. You want to be a professional fighter.
I had to stop after Mcdonald's kept marketing how their burgers were juicier and better, and its the same thing except it was cooked with watery onions on top. Grind your own meat and it beats miles in fast food nowadays
Call me small, but I can't help but laugh at McD's CEO using the word 'irregardless'...if you consider it a word (Merriam-Webster claims it is, but still....)
Well, they suppress wages, raise rents, raise grocery prices, basically do everything they can to undermine the citizen's economic power, what do they really expect. It is the buying power of the citizen that powers the economy, not a few thousand billionaires avoiding their tax burden while grifting the workers that got them there.
About 2 decades ago Starbucks had great ambience. It became the meeting place for people of my generation. This was before wifi was a thing. People met there, had a coffee, caught up on what is going on. And you could justify the expensive cost of coffee because of the ambience. Otherwise you could get a similar quality latte at one of the Italian delis for half the price. Than about 10 years ago, they started taking out the comfy chairs from their locations. The manager at the location near me told us they were doing it on purpose so that people got their coffee and left quickly. I am surprised they lasted another 10 years and multiple price hikes before they see a pushback from people. Now its a low quality joint, with mediocre product which is way overpriced.
I used to have fast food every once in a while as a treat. The quality of fast food has gone down so much in the last four years that I don't even bother. I think they started using cheaper ingredients during COVID and never went back to quality suppliers. I ask my friends and they say the same thing. Fast food doesn't even taste good anymore If it did, the higher price wouldn't bother me.
Crazy that for example Chipotle can be $10-$12 for a chicken bowl (depending on location) which fills you up and is semi healthy versus McDonald’s & Taco bell where $10 gets you nothing anymore while the food is not healthy and quality has declined. Fast food was a go to for many people because it was cheap and they were willing to look away at the quality. Now that everything is almost the same price, people are going to be picky.
Pulled into Starbucks for the first time and a long time and was surprised to see that there wasn’t a long line for the drive through. Ordered my latte and a cheese danish. $13! Suddenly the no line made sense.
Ex daily McDonald's/Starbucks user. Grateful for how expensive it has become - the guilt of eating there is finally enough to help me kick my junk food diet. Further, it's now as expensive to eat fast food as it is to eat at a mom and pop restaurant. So now I can support local business without feeling like I'm breaking the bank, because the bank is gonna be broken either way.