• zoostation@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Bottom tier food. Bottom tier company. I don’t know why anyone eats this level of trash anymore. Inflation has hit fast food harder than other types of restaurants, or groceries. It doesn’t make sense justifying paying these prices for this when you can get better food for comparable prices now. There used to be an expectation that this food would at least be cheap.

    • tacosplease@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I went to Arby’s yesterday because it was cheaper than McDonald’s and Taco Bell. Was not disappointed. Arby’s still slaps IMO.

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      This food was never cheap tbh

      The point was convenience - a hot and ready to eat meal that you can grab at any time and don’t have to prepare yourself.

      • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They had a thing called the dollar menu for decades.

        During the 90s-2000s, they’d have hamburger Tuesdays where you can buy a hamburger for like $0.29 cents.

        They had ads where families would come with “a few bucks” and feed everyone.

        • Crismus@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I survived on one meal a day at McDonald’s when I was stuck doing day labor in Seattle around the 2002 crash.

          Back then it was actually cheap to get enough food to survive on for under 5 bucks. I remember the 20 cheeseburger and hamburger deals they had twice a week.

          The price increases to cheeseburgers really hurts, when that was usually my main dollar menu deal.

        • ares35@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          during that time, you could get whopper or jumbo jack or big 'n tasty, etc. for 99c just about everywhere. 3 bucks was all it took to eat lunch…

          even less if you ordered the ‘all american meal’ at mcdonalds: small hamburger or cheeseburger, small fries, small drink. was only $1.79 or $1.89. wasn’t always on the menu board, but i never encountered a store that didn’t sell it even if it wasn’t.

          its almost 12 bucks just to get a whopper ‘meal’ here now.

          • NovaPrime@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            BK around us has the 2 for $6 deal and I’ve found it very useful when we run late and can’t cook. Not dollar menu prices by any means, but most affordable option we’ve found among the fast food joints around us

            • Dudewitbow@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              If using the app, BKs value is generally pretty good because they often have decent coupon deals reletively speaking compared to other fast food joints.

        • alcamtar@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Well to be fair it’s not McDonald’s fault that the dollar is practically worthless now

      • dan1101@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        It used to be cheap. It wasn’t that long ago there was a dollar menu. Now a cheeseburger is $2.79.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          You could always make a cheaper burger yourself. Yeah a pack of buns and and pound of burger would cost more, but per burger it was always cheaper.

          • bobman@unilem.org
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            1 year ago

            Time isn’t free.

            Saying it’s cheaper to do it yourself is almost always true with cooking. It doesn’t really make sense to bring up because you’re comparing apples to oranges.

            In reality, you just want to feel superior to people who eat fast food. Come on, admit it.

            • Chickenstalker@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Dude. Learn Chinese cooking. Abandon your worthless Westoid foods that take 7 hours to cook. Adopt the Wok and Wok Hei will adopt you. Be one with the stir fry.

              • LinkOpensChest.wav@lemmy.one
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                1 year ago

                While I agree that this is a good way to cook affordable meals, it’s still a luxury so many people can’t afford. When I met my current husband, he was working two jobs in different parts of the city and renting a single room without a kitchen. Most of his free time was spent on the bus or train. I’ve known many such people, and fast food’s drastic increase in price has really hurt.

              • bobman@unilem.org
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                1 year ago

                I’ve actually upgraded to mexican cooking.

                Just make a big bowl of taco stuff and shovel it onto a tortilla for a few days.

                Been thinking about getting into stirfries, too.

                • SheeEttin@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Stir fry is great. One big pan of chicken, rice, and veggies, and you’re set for days. Toss some different sauces, cheese, or spices on there to change the flavors up.

          • bitsplease@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            I really don’t think you could’ve back in the dollar menu days. A double cheese burger for less than $1? Unless you’re buying you’re ingredients in a pretty bulk size (which if you’re regularly eating off the dollar menu, you probably can’t afford to do), I doubt you could have gotten much better than that

      • tacosplease@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I used to get 3 double cheeseburgers and a large tea for $4.20 including tax. McDonald’s and Little Caesars were by far the cheapest meals I could buy unless you want to count ramen noodle packs. Groceries were way more expensive. Now both are expensive LOL.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          You could get a pound of ground beef and a pack of burger buns and I think the one time I did the math it came out to 80 cents a burger.

          • tacosplease@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            So $0.80 for a burger or $0.99 for a double cheeseburger. I’ll take the double.

            Besides that, if you only had $5 to spend you could not have bought the supplies to make a single burger for $5. Have to buy at least a pound of beef, a whole pack of buns, etc. Even in your example I’d argue fast food was cheaper.

            • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              Well yeah, the last time I did the math was probably 2006 or something lol

              Though the prices I’m seeing currently are $7.94 for 2lbs, $2.88 for 8 buns, $2.48 for 24 cheese slices.

              $1.51 per 1/4lb cheese burger.

              tbh I have no idea how much this stuff costs without looking it up anymore, I just eat vegetables and beans now lol

      • Bonehead@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        The point was convenience

        And consistency. It may not be the best food in the world, but I can order anywhere between Miami to Miramichi, New York to Nanaimo, or LA to London, and get the exact same Big Mac and fries every single time.

      • FARTYSHARTBLAST@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Except now it takes forever to get your food from a place like this and they refuse to let you order ahead, which is insane.