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For those who ate fast food in the 80s and 90s (1 Viewer)

Wouldn't know.  Quit at roughly 2000.

Quality of all food has taken a dump since the 90s so I'm gonna guess fast food has fared no better

 
Seems about the same to me. I think it’s mostly nostalgia that makes people think a fast food burrito was actually better 20 years. 

 
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Fast food is probably the same. Like, I loved a quarter pounder back then, but also I was living in a small town in Texas without a ton of other options. Didn’t know what a good burger tasted like.

 
I know that the Taco Casa in Gainesville, Texas tastes the same now as it did then. That’s pretty much the only direct frame of reference I have.

 
I think it was more the eighties when fast food tasted good. There's a whole segment on this on one of those undercovered shows where they do whether McDonald's fries tasted better then or now, and it was clearly then due to ingredients no longer used for health concerns. 

 
bentley said:
Fast food is probably the same. Like, I loved a quarter pounder back then, but also I was living in a small town in Texas without a ton of other options. Didn’t know what a good burger tasted like.
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Good point. Our palettes are so much better now than they were 25-35 years ago. The food culture, quality and availability wasn't close to what we have now. Our standards for food are higher. 

 
Fast food restaurants that existed in the 80's definitely lowered their food quality to attain cheaper prices.  A lot of people prefer cheap prices over quality and food science has given them the ability to serve low quality food at very cheap prices.  In about 1990, Taco Bell overhauled their menu, lowered their prices, and switched their restaurants from the brown southwesterny looking buildings to the brightly colored restaurants you see now.  A bean burrito had cost 79 cents and the price was lowered to 59 cents.  That is when they stopped making their beans from scratch.  They had been made with lard and made from dry beans.  One bright spot is that while the old school fast food restaurants almost all have lowered their quality, the fast food restaurants that have been popping up over the last decade or two are almost all high quality.

 
Fast food when I was a kid was like a treat you got for being good. Pretty sure it was the equivalent of crack cocaine to me as an 8 year old. 

 
Don Hutson said:
  One bright spot is that while the old school fast food restaurants almost all have lowered their quality, the fast food restaurants that have been popping up over the last decade or two are almost all high quality.
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My immediate thought was it is better now. Then I read the thread. The bold is why I thought that.

 
McDonald's was great in the 90's.  We didn't get fat shamed for Super Sizing an order, we got a collectable dream team cup, or Monopoly game pieces.  I don't even care if Monopoly was rigged, I still had fun playing!

 
Those taste buds are long gone and I can’t really go on memory so I’ll just say the quality of fast food has declined as cutting corners has increased imo.

 
I want to say it was better, but in reality it is probably the same, except in cases where you can tell they completely changed something, like Wendy’s beef.  It used to be a delicious, square, fairly thin patty and now it’s a puffy square tasteless meat-like patty

McDonalds and BK seem about the same

Taco Bell seems like it was slightly better back then

 
Ted Lange as your Bartender said:
I remember Pizza Hut pan pizza in the 80s was delicious.  Throw in an ET collectible glass and a few games of tabletop Centipede, that’s a full afternoon right there.
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My local Pizza Hut had an arcade game called Jailbreak.  They kept it for at least 5 years.  And Pizza Hut's cheese is definitely lower quality now than in the 80's.  Domino's, Little Caesars, and Papa Johns have also lowered the quality of their cheese.  I'd rather have a high quality frozen pizza than any of them.

 
Ilov80s said:
Seems about the same to me. I think it’s mostly nostalgia that makes people think a fast food burrito was actually better 20 years. 
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IMO, it's a combo of nostalgia and developing/evolving tastes. There's a lot of things from my younger days that seemed to taste better than they do now. Chef Boyardee is the example I usually use when this comes up - when I was a kid, this stuff was heaven. I even kind of enjoyed this some when my kids were little. At this point, it tastes nasty. I don't think they've changed their product all that much - I've just come to appreciate much better fare. 

 
When was the pink slime era? I think that started in the 80s, possibly 90s, and was banned about 15 years ago.  That was probably the golden era of fast food in the US. 

 
Punxsutawney Phil said:
McDonald's was great in the 90's.  We didn't get fat shamed for Super Sizing an order, we got a collectable dream team cup, or Monopoly game pieces.  I don't even care if Monopoly was rigged, I still had fun playing!
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I think I still have a couple.

Can't really comment on the taste difference from 20-30 years ago. However,  I do miss the Superbar at Wendy's. 

 
Ted Lange as your Bartender said:
I remember Pizza Hut pan pizza in the 80s was delicious.  Throw in an ET collectible glass and a few games of tabletop Centipede, that’s a full afternoon right there.
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Some places- Little Caesars especially comes to mind- have overhauled their whole model and menu.Little Caesars used to have a pizza, pasta, salad buffet that was pretty good (as I remember). Their pizzas were pretty good- could get individual pan pizzas. They have since just gone full on cheap with the Hot n Readys and the food is the absolute worst but it was a smart business move. They have made a killing on those Hot n Readys. A place like Arby's seems the opposite. They have tried to become more diverse and stress quality- trying to imitate a deli. 

The Iguana said:
IMO, it's a combo of nostalgia and developing/evolving tastes. There's a lot of things from my younger days that seemed to taste better than they do now. Chef Boyardee is the example I usually use when this comes up - when I was a kid, this stuff was heaven. I even kind of enjoyed this some when my kids were little. At this point, it tastes nasty. I don't think they've changed their product all that much - I've just come to appreciate much better fare. 
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Oh god, I loved Spaghetti-Os with meatballs. Those meatballs have to be a 1/2 step above dog food at best. 

 
brun said:
I think I still have a couple.

Can't really comment on the taste difference from 20-30 years ago. However,  I do miss the Superbar at Wendy's. 
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:goodposting:

I also imagine the food would not be as tasty now as then but that thing was perfect for a hungry teenager with a little bit of cash in his pocket!

 
CletiusMaximus said:
When was the pink slime era? I think that started in the 80s, possibly 90s, and was banned about 15 years ago.  That was probably the golden era of fast food in the US. 
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That was nothing compared to before TR took office and we could get the good meat that had the sawdust, rat feces and mold in it. 

 
Dunno. McDonalds new fresh not frozen quarter pounders are pretty damn good.  The rest is garbage but those are better than anything from back when. 

 
Ilov80s said:
Some places- Little Caesars especially comes to mind- have overhauled their whole model and menu.Little Caesars used to have a pizza, pasta, salad buffet that was pretty good (as I remember). Their pizzas were pretty good- could get individual pan pizzas. They have since just gone full on cheap with the Hot n Readys and the food is the absolute worst but it was a smart business move. They have made a killing on those Hot n Readys. A place like Arby's seems the opposite. They have tried to become more diverse and stress quality- trying to imitate a deli.
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Little Caesars will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart! Where I grew up, there was a place along the river that a ton of people would "cruise". As a late teen, my buddy and I used to go to Little Caesers for the "pizza pizza" deal - you always got 2 pizzas and the price was pretty cheap. We'd eat a couple pieces on the way down there then find a good place to park, sit on the tailgate of the truck with the rest of the pizza and sell/trade the rest of the pizza - we generally got our money back and stocked up on some beers for the night!

 
It tasted better, but my BAC was usually around a .15 whenever I ate fast food in the late 80s. Sober today not quite as good.

A double whopper heavy everything cut in half was my go to. If you did not get it cut it half it was just too messy to eat.

 
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Dan Lambskin said:
I want to say it was better, but in reality it is probably the same, except in cases where you can tell they completely changed something, like Wendy’s beef.  It used to be a delicious, square, fairly thin patty and now it’s a puffy square tasteless meat-like patty

McDonalds and BK seem about the same

Taco Bell seems like it was slightly better back then
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I worked at a Taco Bell for 3 months my freshman year of college, believe me it was not better. The meat if you could call it that came in 10lb bags we had to cook and add the seasoning.   We tried to make a burger out of it on the grill and it was inedible.  Lots of grizzle in the mixture.  The cheese came in blocks and was the cheapest cheese.    Now I think the meat already comes cooked and seasoned.

 
it may have tasted better in the 80s, but after hearing tales about food prep and hygiene from friends who worked at those jernts ... ehhhhh - no. 

:X

 
msommer said:
Does.Not.Compute
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In Wisconsin, we have a bunch of different frozen pizzas that are pretty good.  They're mostly Mom and Pop shops distributing regionally.  When seeking a good one out, remember that the quality of the pizza is inversely proportional to the quality of the packaging.  The good ones do not have flashy or professional looking printing.  Other parts of the country probably have a lot fewer selections but there must be some half way decent options.  Lottza Mozza looks like it'd be distributed more widely and is pretty good.  The cheese is definitely higher quality than fast food pizza cheese.  I would never buy a Jack's, Tombstone, or even a DiGiorno.  

 
MAC_32 said:
I already know what heaven is like because I experienced a 1990's Wendy's double cheeseburger. 
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:goodposting: My friends and I were into triples. After JV Football on Saturdays we would go there armed with BOGO coupons and see how many we could eat. It was manna.

Wendy's is still close to that. McD's is the one I see the most change in. There was a time when you could order a Big Mac and it was all you could to finish it. It's been relegated to almost a double stack slider now, just sad how the mighty Mac has declined. Last week I had a double Sonic cheeseburger and if you are looking for a throwback to a kinder, gently time for fast food, that was pretty close.

 
We weren’t a FBG family growing up, so there were a lot of buffets in my childhood:  Golden Corral, Ponderosa, Shoney’s, Quincy’s (big fat yeast roll ftw!), etc.  There was a Chinese buffet joint with Mongolian bbq hibachi that was so good it was considered birthday dinner quality good.  China Jade in Orlando with the best teriyaki wings and self serve ice cream station 10 year old That One Guy could ask for! 
 

*yeah, buffets in the 90s might as well be considered fast food

 
Little Caesar's breadsticks, Pizza Hut pizza, and everything KFC (especially the gravy) were all way better.

Everything else is pretty much the same to me.

 
Mcdonalds, somewhat status quo... the burgers are fresher and not sitting around as much as the 80's and early 90's when there would just be a  cue of them.  The fries suck not cooked in animal fat though, and not frying the apple pies hurts

Wendy's, far far better... great quality ingredients for a decent price.

Burger King... a huge huge fall off.  I don't know if they actually still grill in the restaurant, you'd never know it though.  They make a whopper, mayo lettuce and all and THEN microwave it... the most vile swill I can imagine, it takes a lot for me to eat their garbage.

Roy Rogers... status quo

KFC... worse all around but extra crispy was a decent ad (would guess mid 90's?)

Thats the fast food I had exposure to in the 80's and 90's

I have to say, its amazing going to a chipotle or a chick fil A, even Shake Shack, they have to be devastating the traditional places.  

 
Don Hutson said:
In Wisconsin, we have a bunch of different frozen pizzas that are pretty good.  They're mostly Mom and Pop shops distributing regionally.  When seeking a good one out, remember that the quality of the pizza is inversely proportional to the quality of the packaging.  The good ones do not have flashy or professional looking printing.  Other parts of the country probably have a lot fewer selections but there must be some half way decent options.  Lottza Mozza looks like it'd be distributed more widely and is pretty good.  The cheese is definitely higher quality than fast food pizza cheese.  I would never buy a Jack's, Tombstone, or even a DiGiorno.  
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Used to love their naturally rising pizzas bank in the day, but pure garbage since imo.

 
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