The shrinkflation
6d 5h ago by piefed.ca/u/mystrawberrymind in mildlyinfuriating from media.piefed.ca
Just a paper bag now. At this point they’re gonna bring back the supersize but it’ll just be a large lol
Give money to shitty company, get a shitty product.
Yeah, last time I went there was over a year ago and had a similar experience to op, now I go to my local shop. Same price now as mcds, but I get almost 2x the food and it's better quality.
You can get a burger and fries (or a bunch of other things) at many of bar and grill type places around here for less than mcdonalds. Several of the ones near me will do carry out if you want to call ahead and put an order in too. Hell, I got a steak dinner for like 15$ a few weeks ago.
I've eaten there three times in five years. Each time was due to a social situation. Overpriced and nasty is how I rate them.
I actually miss mcdonalds here in Japan because it's actually pretty tasty and did pretty fun collabs with IPs my kids and I like (except the pokemon and chiikawa ones, those were just stupid and irresponsible). Haven't had it in a year or so to keep my elbows up and support my Canadian brothers and sisters.
Now, I just go to MOS burger or just make my own. Unfortunately, the independent ones are a bit too pricey for my food budget.
Other countries with standards held out a lot longer. Still, it’s a megacorp that prioritizes profit above all else.
Exactly. I shouldn't get too attached to any megacorp, even if I enjoy their products or services.
Did McDonalds leave Japan in the last few months? I was there last year and McDonalds was nice because free wifi and some locations are open 24/7, not the worst place to get work done during US business hours.
Oh no, sorry, they're still around. I meant I avoid it because I'm avoiding as many American products as I can.
Wife doesn't like burgers, had never been to Steak n Shake. (Must be a Filipino thing because she cant' cook 'em either.)
First bite, "This is the burger I have been looking for!" She loved the seasoning so much she bought 2 bottles, $5 each.
Forget what we paid, but it was on par with McDonalds, including the $5 tip. The restaurant itself and waitress kinda sucked, "Do you have coffee?" "We're out." So make some? This is a restaurant. Something else basic was out, I forget. But the point stands, a proper sit-down meal was the same cost as McDonalds, except delicious.
And don't start me on local Mexican dives and trucks. I can get 3 deluxe street tacos for $10, less than some of the gross combos at McDonalds. And that place is a little high!
...is Steak n Shake considered a proper sit-down meal? Thats still fast food. Most of them have drive-thru's.
Yeah, weird in-between dining model. Still beats McDonald's inside where they have purposefully run off dining customers in favor of drive thru.
Still, way better food, brought to you and cleaned up, same price.
I'm so glad that so many fast food chains are disappearing in my city. There's so much local cuisine here.
Compared to when I was in the Midwest, where there was a dozen of each franchise.
Soon:
"That'll be $39.99 with our special in-app-only deal."
$59.99 without the app
plus tip
"You want a tip? Here's your tip: 'Fuck You, Clanker, I'm eating!'"
Plus value added tax, city tax, and over the counter delivery fee.
Plus $20 handling fee
Is this a miniature or one of those things where they make actual tiny food?
This is the original. Polymer clay.
Nah, it is just a really big hand
Anything is edible if you believe it.
OK, Art Vandelay.
Ai generated?
It sucks how ai cheapens ALL art like this. There has to be a word for when something is mistaken for AI.
“Slop rot”
Thought of it when listening to npr mentioning the last two year’s Webster dictionary words of the year. Brainrot (2024) and Slop (2025).
I like it
yeah sorry.. I also don't know it anymore.. I just didn't know it was AI or real anymore.. its horrible.
This is the original, 2011.
I found this image dating back to 2014, it's probably even older, so not AI generated.
I went to the website and apparently it's a miniature, the artist has been doing this way before the A'I' craze: https://www.aiclay.com/philosophy
"What is this? Fast food for ants? It needs to be at least...three times bigger."
wait until they can feed you paste but make you think it tastes good.
This is how I feel about certain expensive meal replacement supplements.
soylent mignon is made out of rocks!
In Belgium, when you go to a 'frituur' and you order 2 small fries you get this amount of fries:
As it bloody well should be. More than one order of fries of any size should be a life-altering amount of potato
That's like 5 Guys burgers in the US
its called that because you need 5 guys to finish 1 meal!
Calm down with the inaults
Thats like five guys
Similarly, any chip shop in the UK outside of greater London. I've taken to ordering a medium chips for my wife and I, because a large is just Too Many Chips.
In London, however, they serve a tragically small amount of chips in many chippies. Fuck London.
a large is just Too Many Chips.
I've yet to encounter such a phenomenon.
I think I've gotten too old for a large. The spud, coupled with a beers leaves me feeling uncomfortably bloated.
They really go overboard.
Like even the smallest portion, you can eat with 4 persons and all be full.
Yeah I was in Belgium last year and them OG fries were the best. Really good quality mayo too.
Sounds like a classic australian fish & chip shop. "Minimum fries" gets you a bag the size of your head.
Except they will give you a parcel of chips instead of fries
Who the fuck goes to a chippy and orders a "Minimum fries" lol???
Wasn't even in Belgium but in France near the border and there was one of these shops setup in a kinda temporary thing on the highway. Still felt a bit peckish after the tiny triangle sandwich so ordered a small fry, was greeted with not much less than pictured here haha. Had to share them to get through it.
Lots of them, but man they're all little nubs. That would annoy me.
If you've never eaten Belgian fries, they're really good
Wtf, that's a medium from like pre-covid.
Oh well, restaurants were neat, time to learn how to coom.
EDIT:
... cook.
.... ... .. god, damnit.
9 yo me could've helped a lot
... sigh ...
Of all the degenerate things I've done as a horny kid, fucking my McDonalds meal is not one of them.
... but, its a fucking hilarious typo, so it stays, lol
Picturing that makes me grimace.
god damnit i had to read this a second time, 2 hrs later, to realize what you did there.
That sloppy bun with the mayo spilling over the sides
His tramp stamps were between the rolls, so I aimed.
"Oh, Hamburgler!", he cried
9 yo
Damn, kids really be starting young these days
I ORDERED ONE LARGE FRY AND YOU GAVE ME A BUNCH OF FUCKIN LITTLE ONES
I acknowledge there are lots of regional differences, but that is absolutely not a large fries here in the southern US. Here, a medium(regular) fries comes in a cardboard envelope style container and they overfill it so there are fries all over the bag.
They do it to make us feel like we are getting our money's worth, but in reality, potatoes are cheap as shit for them. Here, a large McDonald's fries is almost a meal in itself. Eating a supersized McD's meal here is almost enough to make you throw up.
Guessing OP's picture is from Europe or a Micky D's inside of a theme park.
I'm in the US and my fries come as pictures. San Francisco Bay Area
I ate at a McD last week in NV and the fries were in the expected cardboard carton and not as pictured.
Yeah. These are from the San Francisco Bay Area as the other commenter said lol
That's wild to me, but good info to know.
A large fry is almost $5 now where I live. It is probably .10 of potatoes .15 of oil and .30 of labor. The mark up is incredible.
I don't get the point of fast food chains anymore. Never really ate there, but I always had the idea it was a cheap place where to eat.
This past year I've been once in burger king, where I spent about 10€, and I tried KFC for the first time, where I spent some 15€. I did not eat enough even at such a high price.
With 15€ i can go to an actual restaurant, why would I go to a fast food place?
I don’t get the point of fast food chains anymore.
It's all in the name. You can get through a fast-food drive through in about 5-10 minutes. Dining in and cooking tends to take thirty min to an hour.
With 15€ i can go to an actual restaurant, why would I go to a fast food place?
Because you're fighting traffic on your way home to feed your spouse and kids.
They are so understaffed these days that they are no longer fast anymore.
I think the real reason they exist is because of addiction. They've got people addicted to 7,000 times the amount of recommended daily sugar, fat, and salt content.
They're still trying to rake in that high despite it now costing 5x the price, at 1/3 the quickness and 1/2 the quality.
If they started from scratch today - I don't think they would go far.
They are so understaffed these days that they are no longer fast anymore.
The food itself is pre-prepared and re-heated on the spot. Go when there's not a rush on and you can get your food in minutes. Go during rush hour and you'll still be in and out much faster than at a sit-down establishment (that's also inevitably understaffed).
They’ve got people addicted to 7,000 times the amount of recommended daily sugar, fat, and salt content.
I've heard this line and I think there's an element of truth to it. Food really does taste differently if you've been eating the high salt/sugar junk for an extended period.
But you can get junk food anywhere. You don't need McD's to make it for you. Gas stations have soda fountains. Grocery stores have microwaved meals full of preservatives and sweeteners. You can just make yourself a hamburger at home, it doesn't have to come from a store.
It just takes time, a certain degree of skill, and a kitchen with functional appliances that you're going to need to clean up after you're done. McD's just goes in the trash afterwards. Far faster to buy a burger than cook one.
It’s all in the name. You can get through a fast-food drive through in about 5-10 minutes.
Because you’re fighting traffic on your way home to feed your spouse and kids.
Go when there’s not a rush on and you can get your food in minutes.
Sorry but this is circular reasoning.
If you don't have much time then you go when you're able to. Which is lunchtime or after work. Which is the same for everyone else. Which is why you have to wait in line for half an hour. Which is why the "saving time" aspect doesn't make any sense. It doesn't matter if the food is ready made if you have to wait behind 30 other cars ahead of you.
A takeout order anywhere else will be ready when you get there if you call ahead of time and you can just go in and get it. No need to wait a single minute.
The truth is that fast food is made to be addictive, not convenient.
Not where I live, no. And wouldn't I rather take them to an actual restaurant? I mean, if we leave the house to go eat somewhere I'd rather take the family to a nice place and eat something good.
Dining in and cooking tends to take thirty min to an hour.
Don't know how much faster the fast food is, when I've been to that burger king I tell you I have been fighting with that automatic ordering machine for 10 good minutes before I actually succeeded.
If I have to go to the shop, order, get the food and take it back home I'm better off cooking at home.
I never used them, but I guess at this point if you really don't want to cook nor to go out you're better off with those applications which allow you to order food at your place from any restaurant.
I can understand eating out when you have no time to get back home, but then I have much better options where to eat at the same price or even cheaper.
Just spend like $3 more, go to Cava, and end up with enough leftover for another 2 meals
Cheapest burger and fries will send you 7 euros back. One can buy Doner for that price which will include potatoes, tons of salad and meat, sauce (sometimes even 3 of it) and a piece of bread. Kebap is the new fast food and it is all round better than any fast food chains of today.
Yeah Taco Bell is the only fast food that I'll still get every now and then, but that's only because I consider it to be it's on genre of food that's separate from actual Mexican or Tex-Mex food. Even the prices there have gotten ridiculous
10-15 euros is a large amount of money where I live at, it would feed a family of five for a day.
You're living in a country where nearly everything is accessible in 15 minutes of walking or less, and besides you cook your food, I guess your local resto serves cheaper food. However, I also guess there's some inflation going on and/or higher cost of living, that's why you see fast food restos as being more expensive, although they do exist partly because of convenience, especially if in a car and a drive-thru makes it faster to grab whatever lunch or dinner off from the order window.
At least around me, I feel like the drive-thru is often noticeably slower than parking and going inside. The last time I got McDonald's at the drive-thru, I was waiting for over a half hour to get my order. To make it worse, I was stuck in the inner lane, so I couldn't even say "fuck it" and drive off until I was third in line. At that point, I had spent a good 25 minutes waiting, so the sunk cost fallacy kicked in and I waited some more. When I got to the window to pick up my order, it wasn't even warm.
I don't get fast food as much anymore, but when I do, I order through the app and go inside to pick it up. At least then it doesn't feel like I'm stuck in gridlocked traffic.
McDonalds here in London is comical. I'm not even near the inner city (Greater London) and I'm surprised they get business these days.
The last time I wanted a burger I checked, and a meal was going for around £11+
I walked for five minutes and found a local place, paid about £7-8 for a proper good burger meal with better quality ingredients... They even asked me what kind of bun I wanted (went with brioche).
The meat wasn't as thin as a pencil either.
Their competition is other expensive British food, so I could see the logic there.
Theres mcds in vietnam, selling their crap at american prices, where you can walk 200 feet in any direction and get amazing food for like 60 cents.
That's crazy! I hope the sales from the McDonalds branches, in Vietnam, are at least contributing to the country in a meaningful way through taxes etc.
(I don't know about that sort of thing, I just hope the huge difference in price at least has some benefit to locals).
Same thing where I am, I could go to Wendy's and get a meal for 15 dollars that won't fill me up or I can go down the street and get a breakfast burrito the size of my forearm and a large drink that'll last me until noon for 15 dollars. While I may be rather lanky in my arms that's still a fucken forearm worth of food thatll hold me over till dinner.
One of the odd effects I've noticed with the last round of inflation is that prices are converging. Cheaper places raised prices more than more expensive places. I never liked McDonald's - the french fries are good but I've never chosen to go there, only had them incidentally. But it was cheap. Not now, it's more like going anywhere, so why would you go there? As someone else said, I can get tacos down the street, closer than any fast food place and they are pretty fast, or we go to the cafe up the street, they did have inflation but at least the money stays local.
Are the contents less by weight? I don’t doubt your frustration. But when I was a kid, the happy meals came in a cardboard box, but now they come in a paper bag (at least in Japan). Obviously to save money. Maybe they just cut the cardboard box to save money? FWIW I actually ate a large fries yesterday and they came in the traditional packaging, so this was surprising for me.
It seemed like less but I can’t deny that it could be placebo. It seemed like we got through it pretty fast though
Not sure what the rules are where you are, but one way is to check the menu for calories if they need to be listed.
Then you can tell exactly what the size difference is between a small, medium and large, assuming they aren't lying about the calories, and that they actually fill it to the proper size listed per the calories.
In the UK they still use cardboard boxes but in France they use reusable plastic boxes. They also use reusable plastic cups for drinks.
wdym reusable? You take it back to the restaurant next time you go? You eat in and they collect it after you leave?
https://food.ndtv.com/news/mcdonalds-france-goes-eco-friendly-introduces-reusable-cups-and-containers-3900488
I think it only applies for eat in but not 100% sure.
I was going to say they should go porcelain if it's in location but I guess they don't trust kids with them. Can't stop thinking of microplastics tho
I work at a McD's, our large fries come in 6oz tall cardboard boxes, not whatever the fuck that is. My only guess is that the area you're in has extra taxes on cardboard waste or a supply chain issue.
I keep wondering when the Reddit fad of bitching about McDonalds will end.
The food is shit. It has always been shit. There was never a time when the food from McDonadls did not suck. There was never a time when eating there was not a waste of money. There have always been better options including better burger fast food chains….
There has never been a time when it was a good idea to eat at McDonalds for a variety of reasons.
So like the idiot who keeps smoking it is entirely that idiots fault.
If you buy food from McDonalds it is entirely your fault.
STFU about it.
I think its people being bitten for the first time. I hadn't been there in years because theres not one near me. When I went a few months back I did do a double take checking the receipt with what I actually received.
I was expecting a low-end shitty budget option. The game changed and I didnt expect it.
Uh-huh..
If this place was Reddit it would be called Karma farming.
The bitching about McDonalds is the shit as the bitching about Pick Up Trucks.
If you don't like the content you can simply not engage with it.
Right back at ya..
Tell me you weren't alive in the early '70s, without telling me you weren't alive in the early '70s.
Oh I was alive in 70s. I saw Star Wars and Jaws in their openning run.
WTF does that have to do with what I posted?
Because McD's has gotten worse.
It's still always been shit, but it has also gotten worse. I assume they're trying to say McD's wasn't garbage at some point in the past simply because they have gotten worse, but... a burger has always been a cheap shitty meal. They just charge a normal meal's price for them these days, because Americans are used to eating expensive shit.
They've cut corners somewhere this century and the meat turned to cardboard. Their burgers were tastier when I was a smoker.
In the early '70s a Big Mac was the size of The Whopper at the time, so it was huge. It was also decent value back then, IIRC the Big Mac Meal was like $1.50 back then.
You can still get a version of the original Big Mac at Plant Power these days, but it is completely vegan.
No, the big mac was never the size of a whopper. I don't think it has changed much at all. Look it up.
What did change was when McDonalds was well worth it: 5 cheeseburgers for a buck. But that was the 50's.
I don’t remember how much McDonalds cost in the 70s. kids tend to not retain that information.
Thing is do remember this. In 1978 I could get a burger from a place called The Duck Inn for 75 cents. It was huge and delicious. At that same place a chicken dinner was $1.50.
Here is a picture of the place https://www.shorpy.com/node/20743
Amazingly The Duck Inn is the only restaurant costs I remember from my childhood, because the place was two doors down from where my family and I lived.
I went to college in the 80s and started to learn about nutrition and the environment and found out how shitty fast food was/is.
McDonald’s didn’t turn to shit in the 80s. It always was shit.
Bullshit! Mcnuggets were amazing back in the 80's.
it is funny seeing americans complain about not being able to eat like disgusting slobs though
I'm not defending Mcds , but everyone can choose to eat whatever they want. Everyone has fast food of any kind everywhere,. It's not my place to judge whether they eat it or not. You never hung out with your friends at a fast food joint because that's what you could all afford at the time ?
I think the spirit of the post is that all fast food horribly shifted to being terrible in the last decade. Mcds happens to be one of the most prominent ones. KFC is cardboard now, Chinese food containers are now half of what they used to be. A Korean fried chicken place cut the wings in two and called them separate pieces, so you have two buy two now to get the same amount of chicken as before. With the smaller portion , the price has gone up 50% across the board.
Maybe some countries have not seen their food quality and price shift so quickly, but in Corporate America, consumers are getting squeezed like never before. The dollar has lost 50% spending power everywhere in America.
One of my favorite local takeout lobster sandwiches used to be $17 less than 10 years ago, now it's $40, and it's the same size as before.
I ordered 4 cheeseburgers and devoured them all in a single sitting. I need bigger burger so I'm full!!
HEHE Truth.
I really wonder what they'd consider "small fries" then.
Two. Two fries is a small.
2 inches
Fuck Ray Kroc, that whole company is rotten to it core. Stop supporting these giant shitty companies.
Bag of potatoes, a knife, oil, a pot and thermometer. Now you can have a snack that is a million times better and cheaper.
Double fry the potatoes for that authentic fish and chip style fries.
What do you do with 2 litres of oil then?
This is always my concern. Actually frying something takes minutes, but heating, cooling, straining, and storing significant volumes of oil just doesn't justify the convenience. If I want fried food, I'm going to a restaurant.
Bought a deep fryer a couple years back, once you're done with it, and let it cool down. You can turn a knob and it will filter itself and empty into a storage container. Once the oil has gone bad, I have a Home Depot bucket with a lid that I dump it into, once that is full I take it to the dump. Once the filtered bits are dumped in the compost, everything else goes in the dishwasher.
I fry in peanut oil, I have 2 air fryers but some things need to be deep fried.
I bought a deep fryer for $100ish. Makes it easy. Turn it on, come back 10minutes later, cook food for 4 minutes and then eat. It is a bitch to clean though but depends on how thorough you want to be.
That literally solves none of the complaints.
It heats, cools, you can buy one with automatic filtering, and it stores the oil. That's literally all the complaints they had?
It does but your comment didn't say that outright and people who just avoid deep friers because they don't want to deal with the oil probably don't make assumptions about deep friers making it easy to deal with that stuff.
I didn't realize deep friers were more than fancy pots with stoves and temperature control built in and baskets so you don't have to fish the fish and chips out with tongs. If I had more space and less fat, I might even have gotten one now that I understand they can also help manage the oil.
Probably better to get a rice cooker, though.
My ex had a nice one that he used about once a week. Made his kitchen smell like fast food after a few months. I'd like to have one except for that
I do it on a little table outside my back door. It definitely stinks up the house otherwise. My fryer has a little lid that you can put on it after the oil cools. You can reuse the oil a bit depending on what you're cooking.
Drink it
I agree. Don't waste it, just drink it.
It's the next Big Thing: Oil Cocktails!
Air fryer and you don’t need any oil. And they come out as crisp as if they were fried in oil, and they’re healthier.
Air fryer really changed the way I cook.
Fresh potatoes still need a layer of oil over them in order to be crisp in the airfryer.
Frying is the transference of heat through oil or fat. Air "frying" is just heating.
You can reuse it several times by running it through a cheese cloth. Otherwise just put it in a jar/pitcher/empty oil bottle.
Make churros. Mix same amount water and flour with a bit of salt. Press out with a churro maker, fry for 2 minutes, cool, sprinkle sugar and serve with hot chocolate
Cocktails. Just need some bottles.
You don't actually need that much oil if you use a parchment paper origami box
I fry other things, and know the oil struggle, but for fries, I've been using the air fryer recently with success. (America's test kitchen recipe works)
My wife fries them in a cast iron pan with a little oil.
It’s call use a smaller pot and less oil. You don’t need 2 litres every time you fry…
Restaurants also reuse oil a bunch by simply filtering out the big particles.
One the oil has cooled down and run through a filter you can store it again for later.
I'm cooking for several persons. Even with just 2 litres I have to do batches if I make fried tofu or Pakoras.
Okay so you have use for 2 litres. Why did you ask what to do with two litres of oil?
Did you mean after? Let it cool and filter and store it for the next meal.
Get a dedicated appliance which also stores the oil. Put the whole appliance away, including the oil, after use. Been doing this for years and you can store oil like this forever
You should be filtering the oil and eventually it does get burnt out. But yeah it’s super easy to maintain a basic deep fryer.
Mine has an integrated filter, so I don’t even have to care of this. The oil pan and accessories are dishwasher safe, so super easy to clean. And in my case, where I only use it like 4-5 times a year, I don’t have to change the oil often. Using the same oil for 2 years now without issues.
I know, I don’t eat like this usually lol. I’m just doing night shift and it’s only fast food and convenience stores open right now😆
This is another reason why night shift workers are unhealthy. Sorry. Normally we think it's the lack of sun or vitamin D..
If you want it to be really good, use beef tallow instead of oil.
Go away RFKjr
He said beef tallow, not bull semen.
Just because RFK jr is a brain-damaged POS doesn't make vegetable oil automatically the better choice.
https://youtu.be/SBG7LAbeUh4
They are talking about the Minnesota Coronary Experiment, which suggests that using vegetable oil reduces cardiac disease, but leads to earlier death.
Rejecting science because it happens to be included in the garbage that an idiot believes would make you an idiot as well.
Edit: While re-reading what I wrote, I realize I'm also taking about the scientist who ran the study. He believed that his study would show that vegetable oils are healthier than animal fats. When the results proved the opposite was true, he hid the data.
You’re reading too much into my stupid quip. I honestly don’t care which frying medium is “healthier”, you’re still frying shit. “Steam burns you more than boiling water”… bitch, they both hurt.
And your whole house can smell like a chippy!
Use the overhead fan. Also if you filter and store the oil once it’s cooled down it won’t smell at all.
I do use the overhead fan. And I move the whole fryer, oil and all, outside when I finish cooking, till I can clean it. I store the oil in the garage as well. Still stinks the house out everytime I use it.
They'll never have that limp, soggy, and oversalted McDonalds feel like that.
Yeah they will be far far superior. Especially if you blanch and double fry the potatoes. Salt levels you can determine yourself too. Make it as salty as you want.
McDonalds Rep: It's not really fair you dug up Andre the Giant to hold our large fries in your picture.
Wasn't the large fries always a ripoff? I think someone showed once that it's only marginally more fries than a small fry.
Historically, it was one of the cheaper items on the menu. In college (20 years ago) I could get a large fries for under $1. Back in the 80s/90s they were practically free. Like, loose-change free.
Also one of the tastier meal items given that they went so fast you could safely assume they'd be fresh, why the sandwich options could be sitting in the warmer for half an hour or longer depending on the speed of business.
When I worked in fast food all fry containers got 1 scoop of fries. If you got a large, you could squeeze more in, but mgmt disapproved. So it's kind of a mix bag
I'm actually pretty OK with this. Portion sizes were generally kinda oversized, especially for not-so-healthy fastfood.
You say you're OK with it, but are you also OK with the constant price hikes for less quantity of the shitty food?
That's a good question, answer is generally that it depends. Do I want to spend more money on stuff? Of course not.
But if the price is the same or negligibly more, then I'm better off not incurring the bodily damage of consuming excess calories. The smaller the default size of the suggested meal (eg, a combo) the better, unless it hits the point where it makes me order a second meal or extra sides.
That preference reflects my own privilege, health perspective, and lack of self-control though. I know it's a different call for everyone.
I am, helped break my junk food addiction. Now I never pay for it.
If you eat at McDonald's you deserve everything you get.
I can't discern the size of the fries based on this picture.
OP might have massive hands.
I guess ‘Large’ now stands for ‘Large Disappointment.’ Shrinkflation is getting out of hand.
You're holding that bag very kindly. It looks like you're fondling it. I see you have a deep appreciation for McDonald's fries... I can't imagine how painful the shrinkflation must be for you!
Mcdonalds these days suck ass.
The 2010s were great. Very nostalgic and McDonalds was one of my first and my best memories of America. Glad I got to enjoy them before they went to shit, cuz otherwise kid-me would've have the impression that "all western foods suck". (I mean it's hard to even know how to look for local non-chain "western" restaurants... since the reason I know what a McDonalds is because back in China, we also had them, but I think it tasted different... don't remember)
I mean seriously, is it just me or does like Papa Johns and Dominos and even Pizza Hut all went to shit?
P.S. I remember my mom telling about the Pizza we had in Pizza Hut in China... like she said it was expensive and it was only a very small pizza (like individual-size). I don't even remember having it in China
Glad I got to enjoy them before they went to shit, cuz otherwise kid-me would’ve have the impression that “all western foods suck”.
... This is like someone saying "Guys I thought American chocolate was awful, but have you tried this Hershey's stuff?!? It's so good!" Like I'm glad you had a good experience but... but I'm sorry that was your good experience.
For real. It's like when people think Kraft Singles are representative of American cheese
We did slip up a tiny bit by literally calling it "American cheese". Slight strategic error on that one.
They can't call it that anymore
Not sure I understand, I'm sorry.
Kraft is literally not legally allowed to call Singles "American cheese"
Oh, yeah. "American Cheese" (and other processed cheese) does technically have to be made from primarily cheese, which is a concerningly low bar for "cheese based consumable products" to fail to meet.
I mean, for context, I was like 8 years old when I first got here. I didn't really know the difference between fastfood vs "real" restaurants so I just categorically grouped them all together.
Honestly, I still don't really know what "real" western food is.
I remember going along with family to a cousin's sweet 16 birthday party and I think its was western cuisine or something... like I heard they spend a lot of money on it (the cousin's parents were kinda middle class rich) and I disliked most of the food they served, didn't eat much, don't even remember what they served. Ended up going home kinda hungry lol.
I think I just go so used to Chinese food, I didn't feel confident exploring other types of "western" food... other than like burgers, pizzas, cheesesteaks, subway sandwiches / hoagies. Which I know, living here for like over a decade, I still don't feel quite "American" because of my picky eating habits.
Honestly, I still don’t really know what “real” western food is.
French cuisine is the most classically famous example, but pretty much every western country has hundreds of years of it's own extremely distinct culinary identity (ex: Germany, Spain, Italy, even the UK (despite the jokes)).
If you just mean the US though, it doesn't exactly have it's own unified thing going on beyond what you've listed (burgers, pizzas, etc) but there are plenty of foods, and even a few entire genres of food, that are very closely tied to the american identity (Texmex is the best one I can think of). The most "american" american food I can think of is probably hotdish which... I don't actually recommend seeking out (please don't hurt me, I just don't think the majority of casseroles are all that great)
Don't forget barbecue
Isn't that primarily a spanish invention? US has a culture built around it absolutely, but most places also incorporate it somehow, especially oceania and any former spanish colonies. It's not really an "american" food per se as far as I'm aware.
I'm specifically referring to American barbecue, which is absolutely it's own unique thing (or several things since it varies by region)
Ah, I was indeed specifically talking about the meats - I did forget there were all the other traditional accouterments that go along with American barbecue.
Well the West is know for their baked goods and pastries. Like croissants, donuts, churros, etc. Like in East Asia and South East Asia a lot of the pastry that is for sale is based on Western recipes and they are different from the local pastry recipes.
its mostly meat, and maybe some kind of bread, very high incidence of type 2 amongst western countries, after asians started incorporating alot of sugar in thier diet, type 2 was in the rise in them too. vegatables are lacking in thier cousins, much like with European ones.
they changed after renovating thier stores in '19 to have those kiosks, it was never the same.
Good. Smaller portions are what many need these days. And the high price of fast food is a great incentive to eat at home.
Can't lie, that looks massive.
Kind of crazy when I just saw they announced a new "group" fry which is an XXL fry that basically allows them to sell you an even bigger version of the original supersize fry by saying its meant for groups.
"I'm something of a family of four myself."
I wouldn't feed this artificial crap to my pets.
Good, always use vet-approved pet food for your pets.
But I’ll definitely take some fried potatoes covered with salt for myself. Nothing artificial about it, just processed.
What exactly is artificial about potatoes, oil, and salt? Which of those ingredients specifically are artificial?
Here in colombia when you order any size fries from McD’s they are only a small amount. Doesn’t matter if you order large or small. Always a small amount. It makes me sad because their fries are really good even though they’re fake.
How are the fries fake?
Meh, pretty ok with this. America needs a serious downsize on processed food.
I remember getting ice cream from McDonald's - must've been 15 years ago. It was somewhat nice, but then the whole "the ice cream machine is broken" thing started and I haven't bothered any more. Can't tell about the rest of the food, but I share the sentiment that if it's getting shittier and shittier, you shouldn't support it.
remember the salads, last time i bought that 10+years ago while still in community, i heard they discontinued it.
While I understand the temptation of McD's fries, I stopped eating completely out during the pandemic and never went back. I got used to making my own meals. It's much cheaper, and I know what's in the food.
I do miss KFC, tho.
I miss KFC for completely different reasons. Mainly because it's not even KFC anymore, and they finally managed to take over the Corbin, KY store and kill off The Colonel's recipes.
“Large” is a state of mind now 😅 If you’ve got the receipt, it’s worth a quick feedback ticket—sometimes they’ll toss you a replacement or coupon.
Funny, here in Germany the small ones come in cardboard. There is no actual small anymore.
don't paper bags give more?
This is a terrible picture for anyone actually trying to understand the quantity of fries there.
That’s awful but bro… please… clip your nails. I’m begging you…
Genuinely had to scroll up to see what the problem was... Those are genuinely some of the least offensive nails I've seen (the temptation to say "this year" is unreal, I feel like I now understand the primal urge to make dad jokes)
Tell me you’re a smart person when you keep buying low quality shit you don’t need and complain about the quantity of that same shit when it isn’t sold by weight or volume.
Maybe change your eating habits.
Hell yeah. Why the fuck are people ignoring op eating literal slop?
Because you sound insufferable when you call fries "slop."
Please find your nearest treadmill.