Food QOTD #71: How often do you eat fast food?

How often do you eat fast food?
What do you consider fast food?
What are your favorite fast food chains?

I have yet to find a fast food place that gets food faster to me than grabbing a protein bar or warming up a frozen pizza in the microwave. If I break up my work day with fast food, I'm always frustrated with how long I have to wait, and add that to the hassle of driving/walking there in the first place, and limited vegetarian menu options... there is literally zero appeal for me. I really only go to fast food places when we're on road trips. I keep thinking that if there were a fast food option with moderately yummy, nutritious vegetarian things, I would be there in a heartbeat. But I'm not sure that's the case.

My go-to places are Taco Bell and... taco bell. I am familiar with the vegetarian menu options at other places, but I'm just not a fan. In 2000-2002 I would get excited about my weekly trip to Burger King for a garden burger and a side of onion rings. I don't know if the burger has changed, or just me, but I just don't like them anymore.

I'd like to think that my tastes are maturing and my ability to cook my own food is improving. But it could just be that I'm too lazy to strap my girls in their car seats and drive someplace just to get some food. Too lazy for fast food. Yeah. Let's say that.

 

often
I eat what I want, no shame.

But, I also expect quality...I don't care if it's McD's or Taco Bell, a buffet or some "organic" pricey joint...it better be good.
If it isn't then I won't eat there.

However, mostly I eat in moderation.
And I like to cook at home.
Nice meals...made decently.

But if I'm about, working, tired, in the mood, etc...I'll make use of them.

I think if people ate with reason, with budget in mind, then there's no issue.
It's just that people eat too much...and too often...and forget about the cost.
Don't have the extra large combo whatever every time.
Try just the sandwich with some water.

But if you eat a whole Papa John's meatsa pizza with extra cheese...so be it.
Just don't do it a lot...make sure you balance it out.

I like it all
McD, Taco Bell, Hardee's, El Pollo Loco, Jack in the box, Chipotle, Potbelly's, Rubio's, Five Guy's, etc and so on of the chain stores.
Then there's all the little joints, the one offs, the lunch trucks, the "type" shops which do certain styles...Italian, Chinese, Greek, Mexican, etc...an more.

I'd say, I eat breakfast home...and most dinners.
I like going out for lunch, it lets me to get out of the office...and I don't like carrying my lunch.
Then again, most times I have a simple half sub from Harris Teeter deli ($3.50) ...half of that at 11, half at 4...so this allows me to wait until the end of my long commute. (and I can take my time with dinner)

But, I like variety.
So if I'm in the mood...I do what suits my mood.

Rather than calling Fast food...why don't we call it "easy" food.
Because I get a damned good (and large) homemade lasagna with a fresh mixed green salad and homemade cannoli (and a can of soda) from a roving lunch truck for just $13
It's fast, it's easy...but it's also quality.
That's the key.

 

I eat fast food less than I used to, but more so when traveling. A stop at Mickie D's provides a bathroom break and maybe some drink or food. I'd say that, except when traveling, I eat fast food only two or three times each week. Usually breakfast or mid-day. Speed doesn't always define fast food, but a lack of service does. That's called efficiency, and is not necessarily a bad thing when the whole idea to keep things (customers and food) moving through. Fast casual is different, in my opinion.
I like McDonald's. Nothing against @Borla's $20 cheesburger joint, but a $1.39 McDouble, (hold the pickles, ketchup and onions only... that way I know they just made it ) hot and fresh off the grill can be pretty good, okay. I love Mexican, but with rare exceptions, don't care for fastMex, even though I have a sister that owns a Taco Johns. Pollo Loco is great, but only a West Coast thing.

A protein bar is a snack or supplement, not breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Frozen pizza (and many frozen entrees) can be as dreadful as any bad fast food. Is it an illusion that a highly processed food product is better somehow because it comes out of your home oven?

I agree about the lines in the drive-thru. Sometimes there's nobody in line at the counters.

Well, vegetarian is, of course, not necessarily healthy. McD's fries, salads, chocolate shake, apple pie are all vegetarian, though not necessarily healthy. What would you suggest that they serve that would be healthy and might actually sell?

Again, vegetarian does not equate with healthy. At Taco Bell you can take away the meat and you have high carbs, high fat, high sodium. Hmmm? Just like an expensive vegetarian Indian restaurant.

I mostly cook at home, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. Sometimes I want something that crunches like a corn chip, and nothing does that but a corn chip, or a bag thereof. Like vegetarian, my lower carb regime falls outside the mainstream. The larger world, it seems, doesn't much give a shit.

 

Try being a low-carb (prediabetic/hypoglycaemic) Vegetarian. With a peanut allergy. I eat a lot of cheese, beans, eggs, and whole grains to keep my sugar levels in check.

I don't have suggestions for things that might sell. If I did, I'd be tempted to open my own. Maybe a drive-through veggie and protein shake joint, where you can get carrot and celery instead of fries, and lettuce wraps on handmade veggie patty burgers instead of buns. But I'd be the only one eating at my restaurant if I did that... So... I'll cook for my family in my kitchen.

The frozen pizza was an example. Not a current staple in my life, for obvious reasons. Not all frozen pizza is highly processed, especially when you make and freeze it yourself.

I like Taco Bell because I can get bean and cheese burritos with a side of nacho cheese or sour cream, ditch the tortilla, and feel kinda like a normal person. Or a 7 layer burrito where I sub beans for the standard meat.

 

There used to be a veggie sandwich place here that had a drive thru (it's not fast food w/o a drive thru) a couple of tables and an order counter inside. They served veggie sandwiches on house made bread and also wraps with different kinds of tortillas and pitas, some gluten free, and some things like egg salad and humus. Good food, (I ate there several times) but was also expensive, and incredibly s...l...o...w. I used to get celery stuffed with cream cheese and had to watch while someone laboriously, with a knife, spread the cream cheese on each individual stalk. Sheesh, why not use a cake decorator's tube? And I felt guilty because of all the people waiting behind me. Then one day it was closed. I hate to see small business start-ups fail.

There was also an espresso stand that tried juice smoothies for a while. But you could pour six cups of coffee and make a couple of lattes in the time it took for one smoothie, so it slowed the line down too much and they discontinued it.

The burger and fastMex places have at least engineered their systems to make it fast, if nothing else.

 

The answer to this question depends on whether pizza counts as fast food, I think. We order pizza usually once or twice per month from the local place. But like, burger chains? Never. It's not appealing. I can make food better, faster, and cheaper at home.

 

Those were sooooo handy! When I explain them to people, they always give me a confused look. It's not just for liquor, you can get milk at them, too! Great for those days when you're too achey and hurty to get out of the car and into the store, but need stuff.