I’d you read enough books, you could get your own personal pizza from Pizza Hut. And Pizza Hut was a sit down place with a salad bar and shakers of hot red pepper on the table. Very fancy.
Early to mid 80’s McDonald’s, especially for breakfast. The sausage McMuffin with egg was like it was delivered from the heavens. Today’s version is complete garbage compared to what it used to be
I remember going to the first mcdonald’s in Glasgow in the late eighties with my granda. I thought it was brilliant, but when we got home, my gran had made a massive steak pie and tatties because she couldn’t believe “that muck” would be filling.
Pizza Hut used to be restaurants and were a great place for a birthday party. Pitchers of coke, the pies were better, they had booths and tables. It was the best.
Honorable mention: Friendly’s made a mean fribble.
I always liked old school Drive In’s and there were still a few around when I was a little kid in the 70s that had car hops. A&W and Dog ‘n Suds come to mind.
Wendy’s was pretty cool back then because they had a “Build Your Own” salad and baked potato bar. But hands down, the number one best fast-food joint in the 80s was Taco Bell. They had a $.39. $.49 and $.59 menu where regular tacos were thirty-nine cents, Taco Supremes were forty-nine cents and burritos were fifty-nine cents. A teenager could eat their fill for under $3 and hit a Saturday Afternoon matinee for $5; $1 (with popcorn) at the old Dollar Movie Theater.
Burger Chef was the bomb when I was a kid in the ‘70s. Eventually they were bought out by Hardee’s and it went to shit. Or maybe it was always shit but I was a kid and didn’t know any better.
McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets were made from dark meat and minced skin, and fried in oil that contained beef tallow. There is a reason that children BEGGED for McNuggets.
Back in the 70s my dad was a manager at a Burger Chef. Every day when he picked me up from daycare, he’d bring a fish sandwich, that was pretty cool and I have some weird Pavlovian response to fish sandwiches. I don’t like fish, I don’t eat fish, but I like fish sandwiches. The kids meals were also awesome back then, cool prizes. They had some promotional things where there was a coin in the bottom of the drink cups (between the two layers of cardboard). When I was bored I’d wander the shopping center digging through trash to find the cups and gather the coins.
The awesome prices at Taco Bell along with what I remember being higher quality food, make it the answer for me. I used to get a 6 pack of tacos and Mountain Dew for a few bucks. If you found change in your car then you were at least grabbing a snack from there.
No doubt that eating in at Pizza Hut was top notch. I don’t know if a chain has fallen as far as Pizza Hut.
What you’ll find across the board in fast food, they were all better. We were ok with it being being cheap and mass produced, but not overly processed food. Fast-forward to today, they’ve grown into that and shrink sizes. They expect the consumer to continue accepting it.
A bacon double stack biggie sized combo at Wendy’s used to mean something.
Pizza Hut’s food was 10x better in the 80s than it is today. Go to the restaurant, sit down, get a salad, eat some pan pizza, drink outta the red acrylic cups, ask the waiter (yes, waiter!) to leave the pitcher of Coke. It was great.
Popeyes used to have all you can eat buffets in certain places in Louisiana. I used to stuff myself silly on chicken breasts, chicken livers, dirty rice, and mac and cheese.
In the PNW there was a fish and chips chain called Skippers. They had an all you can eat deal and used to give a discount to kids on the local football team. I ate there at least once a week. Those kinds of joints don’t exist anymore. Unless you count long John silvers, which is absolutely trash.
A Big Mac in the red cardboard box and strawberry shake were awesome as a kid. Also, our KofC pool would have “pizza burgers” at the snack shack: a juicy Lucy with mozzarella in the middle and topped with a marinara sauce. Ah, memories…
McDonald’s was okay but they did this thing back then where they’d premake a bunch of burgers and have them sitting in a little sliding hopper behind the counter, so you learned that if you were in a hurry you’d look up and order a burger that was already made. If you wanted a fresher burger and you were more flexible on choices you’d order one that was not up there.
Also, you could feed a family of 12 for $5 at Taco Bell.
KFC – bucket of Original Recipe used to be amazing. that shit has gone down the tubes.
Wendy’s – the salad bar was a thing of beauty. And, everything was fresh. Bun lettuce, tomato all good.
Taco Bell – everything was fresh and better.
McDonald’s — fries in beef tallow tasted fucking amazing. The fish sandwiches were delicious and $.59 on Friday. The ice cream cone machines worked. The Coke syrup came in big aluminum cans with real sugar instead of boxes of corn syrup.
Burger King — “get it your way” was tremendous. The meat tasted better, onion rings were solid. A whopper was $.99 after 10. Fucking hell.
TGI Fridays (outside the fast food) used to make everything in house. Now (apparently) everything comes out of a bag and gets reheated.
McDonald’s was always #1. Burger King was #2 in those days though, not whatever shit they are now. Taco Bell’s $0.59, $0.79, $0.99 menu was the greatest after-bar stop.
None of them, really. A lot of McDs had playgrounds, but they were all just as shitty back then as they are now.
I was born in 1970, i had fast food only a handful of times until i started working at BK in 1990. We just never went to them except a couple of times when we were traveling.
Pizza Hut was significantly better, maybe even not fast food but a sit down pizzeria with a solid salad bar and a lot of amazing child oriented promotions.
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I’d you read enough books, you could get your own personal pizza from Pizza Hut. And Pizza Hut was a sit down place with a salad bar and shakers of hot red pepper on the table. Very fancy.
Early to mid 80’s McDonald’s, especially for breakfast. The sausage McMuffin with egg was like it was delivered from the heavens. Today’s version is complete garbage compared to what it used to be
I remember going to the first mcdonald’s in Glasgow in the late eighties with my granda. I thought it was brilliant, but when we got home, my gran had made a massive steak pie and tatties because she couldn’t believe “that muck” would be filling.
I do not see many long John silvers anymore. Use to be all over. But not anymore.
Pizza Hut used to be restaurants and were a great place for a birthday party. Pitchers of coke, the pies were better, they had booths and tables. It was the best.
Honorable mention: Friendly’s made a mean fribble.
Rose tinted glasses
Does Sizzler count as fast food?
That was the pinnacle of luxury when I was 10.
Pioneer Chicken.
I always liked old school Drive In’s and there were still a few around when I was a little kid in the 70s that had car hops. A&W and Dog ‘n Suds come to mind.
Wendy’s was pretty cool back then because they had a “Build Your Own” salad and baked potato bar. But hands down, the number one best fast-food joint in the 80s was Taco Bell. They had a $.39. $.49 and $.59 menu where regular tacos were thirty-nine cents, Taco Supremes were forty-nine cents and burritos were fifty-nine cents. A teenager could eat their fill for under $3 and hit a Saturday Afternoon matinee for $5; $1 (with popcorn) at the old Dollar Movie Theater.
Burger Chef was the bomb when I was a kid in the ‘70s. Eventually they were bought out by Hardee’s and it went to shit. Or maybe it was always shit but I was a kid and didn’t know any better.
McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets were made from dark meat and minced skin, and fried in oil that contained beef tallow. There is a reason that children BEGGED for McNuggets.
Hardee’s had amazing hoagie burgers
Chi Chi’s – for the deep fried icecream. I remember that blowing my mind as a kid.
Shakey’s pizza for the dessert Pizza.
Wendy’s for the giant salad bars
Bonanza for the self serve soft icecream.
Back in the 70s my dad was a manager at a Burger Chef. Every day when he picked me up from daycare, he’d bring a fish sandwich, that was pretty cool and I have some weird Pavlovian response to fish sandwiches. I don’t like fish, I don’t eat fish, but I like fish sandwiches. The kids meals were also awesome back then, cool prizes. They had some promotional things where there was a coin in the bottom of the drink cups (between the two layers of cardboard). When I was bored I’d wander the shopping center digging through trash to find the cups and gather the coins.
In NY at least, Roy Rogers was the shit. When ours got replaced by a Wendy’s it was a tough blow.
The awesome prices at Taco Bell along with what I remember being higher quality food, make it the answer for me. I used to get a 6 pack of tacos and Mountain Dew for a few bucks. If you found change in your car then you were at least grabbing a snack from there.
No doubt that eating in at Pizza Hut was top notch. I don’t know if a chain has fallen as far as Pizza Hut.
What you’ll find across the board in fast food, they were all better. We were ok with it being being cheap and mass produced, but not overly processed food. Fast-forward to today, they’ve grown into that and shrink sizes. They expect the consumer to continue accepting it.
A bacon double stack biggie sized combo at Wendy’s used to mean something.
Pizza Hut’s food was 10x better in the 80s than it is today. Go to the restaurant, sit down, get a salad, eat some pan pizza, drink outta the red acrylic cups, ask the waiter (yes, waiter!) to leave the pitcher of Coke. It was great.
Popeyes used to have all you can eat buffets in certain places in Louisiana. I used to stuff myself silly on chicken breasts, chicken livers, dirty rice, and mac and cheese.
Rax Roast Beef. And one of the last remaining ones is still in my home town.
It once had over 500 locations throughout the US. Then crashed and burned in the early 90s.
In the PNW there was a fish and chips chain called Skippers. They had an all you can eat deal and used to give a discount to kids on the local football team. I ate there at least once a week. Those kinds of joints don’t exist anymore. Unless you count long John silvers, which is absolutely trash.
All of them was good. Good customer service and decent quality. Now they’re all low quality and poor service.
Hardee’s was very good in the 70s when I was a kid. Burgers were grilled. DQ was really good then too.
Wendy’s back when Dave was alive.
KFC was top tier fried chicken. Then they fucked with the recipe and the frying temperature and went to hell.
My parents loved Roy Rogers, and apparently have always loved Taco Bell.
A Big Mac in the red cardboard box and strawberry shake were awesome as a kid. Also, our KofC pool would have “pizza burgers” at the snack shack: a juicy Lucy with mozzarella in the middle and topped with a marinara sauce. Ah, memories…
The Wendy’s Super Bar was heaven for us teenage boys and I’m sure our parents loved the cheap prices.
Taco Time was amazing and honestly so was Subway.
McDonald’s was okay but they did this thing back then where they’d premake a bunch of burgers and have them sitting in a little sliding hopper behind the counter, so you learned that if you were in a hurry you’d look up and order a burger that was already made. If you wanted a fresher burger and you were more flexible on choices you’d order one that was not up there.
Also, you could feed a family of 12 for $5 at Taco Bell.
All of them. Everything was fried in lard and beef tallow. Portions may have been smaller but it was real food.
Shakey’s Pizza.
Roy Rogers. I miss that place…
Miami Subs was good late night. Believe it or not, Burger King had a heyday as well.
Fudruckers Hamburgers were really good, they had a great fixings bar to top it off with. They’ve been gone a long time
Little Caesars (including wacky bread)! Throw in a Blockbuster video and that’s a great night!
KFC – bucket of Original Recipe used to be amazing. that shit has gone down the tubes.
Wendy’s – the salad bar was a thing of beauty. And, everything was fresh. Bun lettuce, tomato all good.
Taco Bell – everything was fresh and better.
McDonald’s — fries in beef tallow tasted fucking amazing. The fish sandwiches were delicious and $.59 on Friday. The ice cream cone machines worked. The Coke syrup came in big aluminum cans with real sugar instead of boxes of corn syrup.
Burger King — “get it your way” was tremendous. The meat tasted better, onion rings were solid. A whopper was $.99 after 10. Fucking hell.
TGI Fridays (outside the fast food) used to make everything in house. Now (apparently) everything comes out of a bag and gets reheated.
Arby’s was damn good in the beginning roast on the spit
With with mild horseradish sauce.
RAX.
H. Salt Fish and Chips. Great fish.
Round table was the shit in the early 90s. Salad bar, pizza, arcade games, loose medieval themes.
McDonald’s was always #1. Burger King was #2 in those days though, not whatever shit they are now. Taco Bell’s $0.59, $0.79, $0.99 menu was the greatest after-bar stop.
I really loved Fuddruckers.
Red Barn – I’ll take a Big Barney over a Big Mac any day.
White Castle where you eat 100 cheeseburgers for a dollar
It wasn’t quite fast food but a step up…loved me some Ponderosa salad bars
None of them, really. A lot of McDs had playgrounds, but they were all just as shitty back then as they are now.
I was born in 1970, i had fast food only a handful of times until i started working at BK in 1990. We just never went to them except a couple of times when we were traveling.
A&W
A&W
Red Barn. Taco bell. Burger King. McDonald’s
Burger King.
Wendy’s!
Wimpy
Barnards was the goat
Pizza hut pan pizza, subs, and lasagna neapolitan
McDonald’s pizza and the fries before they changed to oil
Cock
Robin
All of them were better and I mean all of them.
Rax was great
Pizza Hut was significantly better, maybe even not fast food but a sit down pizzeria with a solid salad bar and a lot of amazing child oriented promotions.