I don’t eat much fast food anymore. The worst experiences I’ve ever had have been at Burger Kings.

I wasn’t impressed by Church’s Chicken either. Or Sonic. I haven’t been, but I’ve heard that Jack in the Box is pretty bad (but also in a good way?).

49 comments

  1. I personally don’t really see the appeal of seafood fast food chains (long johns silvers/captain D’s), and haven’t even felt a reason to step inside one for a long time.

    Of what I visit more commonly, I’ve noticed that burger king had been extremely inconsistent and clumsy of handling orders placed by mobile app, although that’s improved recently. Although I’m the type of customer where mobile ordering or at least a decent app menu can be a important part of how I choose where to eat.

    My local Krystal restaurants charge a 4% fee for using credit/debit cards, which is enough of a shady move that I won’t eat there as a matter of principle

  2. I absolutely do not trust seafood from fast food restaurants. Also Wendy’s isn’t all that good imo.

  3. In my experience Hardee’s lunch although Hardee’s breakfast is a banger. I can’t explain the drop off in quality.

  4. Long John Silver’s has got to be the worst.

    As a good Catholic in landlocked Indiana we went there on Fridays in Lent (coming this Wednesday). It was never good.

  5. Subway. I don’t mind going there every once in a while but their subs are over priced for the quality you’re getting.

  6. Arby’s is absolutely disgusting

    EDIT: it seems like most Arby’s fans have love for this franchise based on nostalgia… I respect that but since my grandparents never took me there after church or whatever, I maintain my opinion that their food tastes as terrible as it looks.

  7. The McDonald’s of my youth where the hamburger was fried fresh and flipped when a buzzer went off are long gone. Now it’s a salt burger designed to bring in the sheeple like deer and cattle to the salt block before they amble off to the creek(soda fountain) to wash it down.

  8. Idk who to rank as a chain overall but I will say thst by far my set experiences at fast food restaurants have been at McDonald’s and Subway. Some of these franchised stores are fucking terrible. Now again that’s not the company on a whole these are outliers but they are outliers that don’t exist in other companies in my experience.

    Gross bathrooms, terrible service, getting orders wrong, understaffed and other issues.

  10. Sonic is very location dependant. It can either be just below 5 Guys and I-n-Out or below McDonald’s depending on which one you go to.

  12. The worst fast food restaurant I’ve been in was a Del Taco, but on average, I think Jack in the Box has them beat. And more in a “I wonder how many roaches they’ve got” way, not a good way.

  13. For me it’s jack in the box or del taco. I don’t eat a lot of fast food though so I’m sure there is worse out there

  14. McDonalds. Pretty much everything on their menu has the taste and texture of cardboard.

  17. I’m basically in fast food heaven (north Texas). We have Whataburger, In-N-Out, Sonic, and Culver’s.. those kick ass around here. We also have chick fil a, chicken express, Williams chicken. Whatever. Throw a rock in any suburb and you’re bound to hit a fast food place in a strip mall setup….

    I’ve *never* had a good meal at Popeyes. Always understaffed, rude employees, not very good food. Like a ghetto chick fil a.

    I’d say subway… but I’ve actually been surprised by them for how decent some of the food is. Especially when you’re on a looooong road trip along I20 going west, and you don’t want to feel like shit from eating DQ or Whataburger…

  19. Probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but the Wendy’s around me are poorly run, horrendously staffed, dirty locations that can’t properly handle their own popularity. Food is also just not that special and their corporate branding has rubbed me the wrong way for awhile

  21. Varies greatly by franchise. The Dunkins in central Indiana are terrible while in Mass, they’re at least decent. The Dunkin I went to in Lowell had like 5 kinds of coffee on tap. Here if I go into a Dunkin they will probably be out of coffee and it always looks like a disaster zone.

  24. Arby’s is typically considered the worst in pop culture. But in my experience it’s Burger King. Too inconsistent you might go to one where it’s the best fast food ever and one doesn’t he street is the worst. I don’t like taking my chances. McDonalds gets a lot of hate but I actually think it’s good, and it’s generally consistent. My ranking is in terms of taste though not quality.

  29. It used to be a legit question of picking between BK and McDonald’s. But the quality went to complete shit at burger king. The chicken tenders used to be good, the nuggets are trash now. I ordered a cheap burger and thought it was a joke at how small and almost paper thin the patty was. This drop in quality also led them to have less business, which makes the speed at which you get an order ultra slow. This compounded with worker shortages of the pandemic. The worker at a typical BK is also a meth user. The place went to shit over 20 years

  30. Jack in the Box is item-dependent for me. They used to have “teriyaki chicken bowls” that were horrible. But their egg rolls and fancier burgers, I like. I also remember JitB having a rash of hygiene complaints in the ‘80s, so for some time after that they were probably actually the place one should go to because of how they compensated for their issues.

  31. I WILL NOT STAND FOR ALL THIS DEL TACO SLANDER WHEN TACO BELL LITERALLY EXIST!!!

    All jokes aside Del Taco is the superior mexican fast food. At least Del Taco is real food

  36. If not for how fire their chicken sandwich is, Popeyes would be the worst. 45 minute wait for chicken ain’t exactly “fast food”

  37. Long John Silvers, and it’s not even close. I don’t even know how they stay in business, I don’t see very many customers there, the food sucks, and every single one i’ve been in the back of has been absolutely disgusting. For context I used to do freelance work and fast food places were frequent flyers so I’ve been in the back of roughly 3 of their locations in different cities and they were all universally terrible.

    The only thing I can think of as to why they are still open is that it’s all just a money laundering business for some criminal organization.

  38. They’re almost all pretty bad. But I think it’s hard to argue with the idea that Long John Silvers is the grossest.

  39. I’ve driven all over the country and been to a ton of different fast food places in a ton of different places. It really all depends on your taste and the individual restaurant. Like when I was living in Florida, Cains Chicken was the absolute worse. Out here in California, it’s pretty good. I’ve been to some crap mcdonalds in Pennsylvania and some swanky mcdonalds in LA. It really all depends.

    I think if I had to single out a single chain, I’d go with **Del Taco** being the worst. They have the largest value menu, but you really do get what you pay for. I avoid Del Taco the best I can. Ive tried **White Castle** a few times and have never been able to finish it its so bad. Panda Express is overrated. It’s never better or cheaper than a random independent Chinese shop. Subway restaurants have gone down hill a lot the past few years. I think they have sacrificed quality for expansion. And I like In-N-Out burgers, but they have the worst fries, easily

    On the flip side, I’m a big fan of Dunkin Donuts. They have the best all day breakfast and are very consistent. Culver’s is the best burgers, Popeyes chicken, pizza hut pizza (I never go when I want actual pizza, for that I go to a real pizza place).

  42. Chick-fil-A just because of their track record of donating to hate groups. I understand they’ve stopped, and kudos to them for that I guess. But it doesn’t undo the damage from the past. They need to make amends before I can stomach their product.

    If we’re just going by quality of food alone, I’d say Applebee’s. I used to love it as a kid. And I still enjoy their margaritas. But it’s so obviously heated in a microwave (obvious because it tastes the same if you bring it home and warm it up in yours). I don’t know if my standards have gone up or if they’ve gone downhill.

  45. Chik fil a, their food is pretty good, but their impact on the community can be described as despicable at best.

    In terms of actual food. Subway has tanked over the years. The quality was way better in the early 2000s, late 90s. Once the V cut disappeared that was the start of the decline. I also miss the Seafood Sensations. I remember their subs were somewhat expensive, but they wanted to be popular which caused the quality to drop.

  47. For me Burger King. The last couple times I went there I got really sick. Haven’t been there in years

  49. It depends on ownership and management.
    The only fast food place I go to regularly is a Wendy’s close to where I work.
    It’s very well run, to the point that I be back at work with a full meal in under five minutes, and I’ve never had an order seriously messed up, or caught any sort of stomach bug.
    As for worst, I’d say any of the chain seafood places are to be avoided.

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