No Stupid Questions

Seeing the brand names you cited, I'll assume you're in the US, so my comment may or may not be as useful as some brands are way different in France (for example, Subway is decent most of the time).

Growing up I sure got less and less attracted to fast food, and trying it occasionally did feel bad in some case. Although there's a definite shift in not wanting to clog my own arteries, it's not all there is to it. Some brands really feel awful now (McDonald's being the worst fast food out there these days), but there are also other that still "hit that spot" (BK mostly). I think it's safe to say that some big names let themselves go bad, AND it is still possible to find good fast food stuff.

With that said, it do gets more expensive, as everything else. The craving for fast food really become less common as time pass, and although it's still good while eating, there's still a tinge of guilt afterward, knowing it's both too expensive for what it is (I mean the actual food, not necessarily that it's too expensive for service and stuff) and that it's not that great for yourself.

I'd say if you keep them as an occasional treat and know a few good places to indulge, it can work. But it sure feels like it requires more thinking than just dropping in any fast food joint to have a good time.

Is it just part of the enshitification of everything?

Yes

Have I just gotten old

Get off my lawn.

Yes, and you can thank private equity for it.

Mmmm, tastes like supply chain optimization.

Fast food is called "fast food" because it's fast, not because it's food.

Apart from that, there is probably no production chain that has profited better from making things the cheaper way than anything related to food.

So this does not just concern fast food, but the HFCS loaded soda you drink, your bread swimming in dough raising and stabilizing chemicals, or your tinned soup made from water, starch, food coloring, flavors, and preservatives.

Just because of the masses produced and sold, any cent saved on a single Burger quickly adds up to a million dollar in extra profits. Don't expect them to waste that money on better ingredients or flavor, as long as you keep buying that stuff, they keep on making it worse to save yet another cent.

It’s gotten worse, however, I think the perception is compounded by how expensive it is now and also just eating better as I get older. Now that I know how to cook real, delicious food, fast food just seems so much grosser than it used to. It’s a little worse compared to 10 years ago, but much worse compared to the 80’s and early 90’s, depending on the chain. For example, Taco Bell was a LOT better back in the 80’s. You were more likely spend a bunch of time on the toilet later, but hey, give a little take a little.

Not just fast food, chains and franchises in general. Local only may be more of a quality gamble when trying things out but when you find that unassuming diner or small restaurant that takes pride in their daily soups, and doesn't do delivery or apps, and closes at reasonable times for their workers, and is usually packed on weekends, you've found something special.

I'm 60 now and am literally a Boomer; fast food has definitely gotten worse. Especially in the last 10 years or so. The foods and processes have been tweaked and tuned to the point that the value of the food hovers just barely above the price and not a tick more.

Health concerns also play a role. McDonald's fries are a good example. When I was young they were cooked in beef tallow and they were so good they would roll your eyes back in your head in in ecstacy (not kidding). They switched to vegetable oil due to health concerns over saturated fats and they've just never been the same.

We sense less and less as we get older. I’ve learned this from observing my kids and seeing them react to things like needles and spicy food with such greater sensitivity than me. I can remember being like them, too. But I just plow through experiences now with less sensation of them. Part of it is that my senses are physically more dull, but also important: my cognitive filters are much more established and sensations that are outside of them get little notice. Meanwhile my kids are like raw nerves at the mercy of every experience that comes their way. Bubble gum probably doesn’t blow your hair back anymore either but I bet it was awesome when you were a kid.

29 and it's worse now

I used to actively enjoy Carl's Jr, they made good burgers, especially for a fast food place

Starting 2022ish they started all tasting.... Bland? Like no matter what's put on it there's a never-ending bland flavorless ness underneath it all and it sucks

Basically everywhere else too but that's the one I noticed

KFC has gotten shittier chicken. I don't even eat there anymore. I would rather get a rotisserie from a food library.

Wendy's has gotten worse with their 'sauced nuggets'. I'm 100% convinced the quality of meat in their chicken nuggets got worse and the new CEO is trying to cover it up by adding sauces as a gimmick.

It has gone to shit.

In some cases like McDonald's, the ingredients have been on par while the cooking quality has tanked.

For a lot of other places, both the cooking and ingredient quality tanked.

Taco Bell is probably one of the few major chains I still eat at because their ingredients are hard to fuck up cooking and putting it together isn't that difficult.

Maybe folks have just grown out of most fast food. It is generally too greasy for my stomach now. Most candy feels so sweet to me now that it makes me a little nauseous.

27 years old here, its gone to complete shit. Last mcdonalds I tried was just weirdly uniform mush with barely any discernable flavour.

I think it was always shit, you and your taste buds just grew up.

At the time I ate lots of fast-food I also liked to drink lots of soda and ice tea, like 2 liters in one sitting when hung over. Now I puke a little in my mouth just thinking of that garbage.

Both?

Yes it has gotten worse and time is a relentless asshole.

As far as I can tell, Wendy's took a dive after the founder passed away, and Pizza Hut took a dive at least 20 years ago.

The rest it seems dependent on location. I often wonder how much of the variable issues of quality I see are result of continued pressure on the workers as capitalism continues to grind them down.

It doesn't pay a living wage so the people working there don't give a shit about anything

Brand names have gotten worse, that's not you. Cost saving measures upon making sizes smaller while still raising prices. I swear, KFC mid-2000's was amazing compared to the bland oily ones of today. That said, you probably have gotten desensitized to them in general as you grew older too.

Local fast food is still really good for me, but I'd just avoid major brands like Mcdonalds. They've become synonymous with trash food.

The other day I ordered a burger and they put tomatoes on it even though I asked them not to. I was about to complain, but decided to take a bite anyway and…huh. The tomato had no flavour whatsoever. I used to not like the taste of tomatoes but how could I object to this?

So what does this mean? Are my taste buds not functioning like they used to? But I spent lunch looking it up and apparently, there is a fair consensus that tomatoes, along with a host of other fruits and vegetables, really are blander today than when I was a kid. For something I never liked, this kind of works out but…

I work at McDonald's, it is not good and is best avoided.

The feeling bad part is aging.

Quality has absolutely gone down, though, while cost has gone way up.

I think enshittification is hitting everything, but it's probably also that you are old. I find that I just can't eat the same way that I could 20 years ago.

I’m in my 40s, and I’ve found that fast food quality varies up and down from year to year and location to location.

The answer is probably "yes"

1. Food is probably worse.
2. Your taste buds might have changed.
3. Your gut bacteria might be different.

I have a couple reasons for believing each.

1. Nutrient concentration in food has decreased over time (Veritasium talked about a fascinating explanation for this) and the desire to find low cost alternatives like HFCS over cane sugar changes the taste of food.
2. "Children prefer higher levels of sweet and are more sensitive to bitter tastes until adolescence."
3. Your gut microbiome literally changes over time.

I stopped eating fast food during covid and never got back into it.

The one time, post covid, I was out and stopped to eat, it was gross. But it'd been so long, I genuinely don't know if it had always been gross and I lost my acclimation to it, or if it was actually more gross than it used to be.

Anecdotally, I've heard complaints online that the quality has gone down while the prices went up, so it probably has gotten worse.

It's gotten worse. I don't bother eating any of it because I make better food at home.