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View Full Version : When was the Golden Age of fast food?



Stephen Tashiro
11-04-2014, 4:07 AM
When was the Golden Age of fast food? (I mean fast food from chain restaurants like Burger King and McDonalds.)

It might vary by food type - burgers vs tacos vs chicken vs fish.

Burgers:

If we are emphasizing "fast", the Golden Age might be now. I'm imipressed with how fast burger orders are filled.

If we are emphasizing taste then I think the Golden Age was when burgers were grilled instead of microwaved and when fries were cooked in oil that had bacon grease in it - or whatever unhealthy thing McDonalds used for fries in the old days. I don't know the dates that define this period.

I seem to recall a time when "with onions" got you a substantial amount of onions. Nowadays, "with onions" means "only enough onions so that someone who gets onions by mistake will take them off instead of bringing the burger back". I think "with mayonnaise" was not a common option decades ago. However, if a place offered mayonnaise it was normal mayonnaise. Nowadays, they seem to put on some sort of liquid.

Tacos
Is there another national chain besides Taco Bell? I haven't eaten fast food tacos very often, so I don't know the history.

Chicken
Whenever the Golden Age was, they didn't use the oil that the Colonel uses today. I think it is canola based and it reminds me of linseed oil.

The chicken at burger places has the same tough texture as the chicken in frozen dinners. I haven't detected any change in it over the years.

Fish
I think the fish sandwiches at burger places now are better than they used to be decades ago. However, they are still somewhat tough, like the fish in frozen dinners. As to Long John Silvers, nowadays I only go to Long John's after enough time has passed for me to completely forget my last visit to Long John's. I can't remember how their fish was decades ago. Perhaps they've improved in recent years.

Jason Roehl
11-04-2014, 7:53 AM
For me, I'd have to say the '80s, maybe into the early '90s were the golden age for fast food.

I worked at McDonald's for my first job in '92. I ate a LOT of it then because I could get it for half price, so I had some during every break. During this time, the burgers were cooked on the clam-shell grill (42 seconds for the 10:1 patties and 1:06 for the 4:1), then placed in a steam cabinet. After the burgers were assembled, they were nuked for a few seconds <10, as I recall, in a 2000 or 3000W microwave. A few years later, they had done away with the microwaves, which I found out because I would special-order them "non-nuked". BTW, that's one way to get fresher food at a fast-food joint--order it slightly different from the standard.

Now, I try to avoid fast-food burgers altogether. They're just plain way overcooked due to all the lawsuits over the years, and devoid of any good beef flavor. My inlaws farm beef cattle, so I'm a touch snobby in that area. I try not to let my schedule get to the place where I don't have time for a decent meal, which helps me avoid grabbing the fast food on the run.

The one exception, though, is the McRib. Man, I love those things--they're like cocaine patties. Limited release on them this year, so I don't know that they'll make it to our area. I don't care how processed they are, I like 'em (I mostly avoid processed food--my wife makes a lot of things from scratch, and we preserve many home-grown veggies).

David Weaver
11-04-2014, 7:56 AM
I'd also say the 1980s and maybe 1990s. It was so cheap back then to get a lot of the fast food and different stuff was coming out left and right (and I don't mean healthy foods).

I still like Arby's and Wendy's, and the occasional mc donalds.

I'd still rather go get marginal fast food than a $150 dinner where the chef was taking a nap while preparing my food. Far and away the least satisfying experiences have been those over $100 dinners for two where the food is dull and your wallet is really light.

Pat Barry
11-04-2014, 8:31 AM
Now - so many choices, so many locations. Food quality - eh, never been about quality - just fast and fresh. Take for example White Castle. Is Taco John's national?

David Weaver
11-04-2014, 8:37 AM
Now - so many choices, so many locations. Food quality - eh, never been about quality - just fast and fresh. Take for example White Castle. Is Taco John's national?

Not unless his last name used to be bell.

Duane Meadows
11-04-2014, 9:10 AM
There was a golden age of fast food? Must have missed that:D

Doug Ladendorf
11-04-2014, 9:23 AM
There was a golden age of fast food? Must have missed that:D

The "Taco Bell" tolled the death knell for tacos IMHO.

We generally avoid fast food these days with the exception of an occasional Wendy's on road trips.

Myk Rian
11-04-2014, 9:27 AM
Back in 1970 or so we lived near a McDonalds that advertized 3 Million sold. Not billions. A Burger King was next door to it.
That was when they made them good.

Bill Edwards(2)
11-04-2014, 9:37 AM
Golden age for them or us?

We lived in Tucson in the late 50's and early 60's. The drive-ins flourished.
Frankly I thought they were the 2nd generation of fast food places, diners being the first.There were great, fast and cheap drive-ins. Places offering Texas burgers before they were called Texas burgers. Even the Big Boy's drive-in was a great place. There was a place near the university that made burgers much like now. Fast and cheap, plus you had to get out of the car and go to the counter. It was certainly the harbinger of things to come, ala McDonalds.

Mel Fulks
11-04-2014, 9:39 AM
When The Colonel had his chicken recipe franchised to mom and pop restaurants and roamed the country in white suits
allowing no changes and sternly fine tuning the procedures of the franchisees. Makes R Mc Donald seem....clownish.

David Weaver
11-04-2014, 9:58 AM
The other thing I think that makes it less of a treat now is that it's not really a treat any longer. It's a large consumption item for a lot of people.

When I was a kid, in the 80s, we had fast food every other week on a Friday evening. In the between weeks, we went to a moderate sit-down restaurant (a chain type, but something inexpensive). Fast food was a treat because you only got that junk once every two weeks. For the same reason, it wasn't really a health threat because we didn't eat like that the rest of the week.

Even my parents now, who were stingy, get fast food several times a week because they're retired and they just don't care to prepare food as much as they used to. They are, though, careful about what they get both in price and in quality (no lardburgers or turnovers or any of that stuff).

Rod Sheridan
11-04-2014, 10:07 AM
Golden age for them or us?

We lived in Tucson in the late 50's and early 60's. The drive-ins flourished.
Frankly I thought they were the 2nd generation of fast food places, diners being the first.There were great, fast and cheap drive-ins. Places offering Texas burgers before they were called Texas burgers. Even the Big Boy's drive-in was a great place. There was a place near the university that made burgers much like now. Fast and cheap, plus you had to get out of the car and go to the counter. It was certainly the harbinger of things to come, ala McDonalds.

Hi Bill, what is a "Texas Burger"?

Regards, Rod.

roger wiegand
11-04-2014, 11:01 AM
In the late 1950's when there was a novelty factor and McDonald fries were made on site from fresh potatoes and fried in tallow. Happy to say it's been well over a decade since I've set foot inside one of those places. There's too much good, local, and almost as fast food available now to bother with the godawful sludge the chains pump out.

Chris Padilla
11-04-2014, 11:18 AM
I worked at Taco Bell in the late 80s while in high school. All our beef and veggies were delivered fresh every morning. We also pressure-cooked all the pinto beans and then whipped 'em up right there in the large pressure cooker. Near the end of my stint with Taco Bell, we started getting more and more pre-cooked beans. The food we put out was pretty darn good but now, I'm not sure what they do to save money, cut corners, etc., but it was good stuff back then.

Bill Edwards(2)
11-04-2014, 11:32 AM
Hi Bill, what is a "Texas Burger"?
Regards, Rod.

Like Whata Burger: usually an over sized patty and an over sized bun.

Dave Anderson NH
11-04-2014, 12:24 PM
Postulating that there is or was a Golden Age of fast food is kind of like asking which trip to the dentist is most enjoyable. Fast food is by nature devoid or mostly devoid of flavor, freshness, and health. If I did have to pick a time period though it would be before the advent of the mega chain places. Local ownership in the 50s, 60s, and even into the 70s meant a higher level of quality and a greater variety of choices.

Bill Huber
11-04-2014, 12:35 PM
Taco Bell sells food, I thought it was the Mexican phone company....

I do remember when McDonalds was really good but I think that was in the 60s.
Now I think most all of it is junk, Whataburger and Wendys to me are the 2 that are the best.

Jerome Stanek
11-04-2014, 1:58 PM
I liked Burger king and Arbys back in the early 70s. Arbys had real roast beef that was slow roasted back then My BIL was a manager of one and he would have to get there about 4 hours before they opened to get the Roast beef in the oven. The only thing I hated about them was you it seemed like you always got a small chunk of grissle in your sandwich

Jim Koepke
11-04-2014, 2:04 PM
The only thing I hated about them was you it seemed like you always got a small chunk of grissle in your sandwich

That is called portioning control. Everyone gets the same sandwich every time.

jtk

Doug Ladendorf
11-04-2014, 2:15 PM
I remember getting the Texas Burger at Dog n' Suds when I was a kid. Of course I had to get a root beer float too. That may have been the golden age for me - tray hanging off the window.

Scott Donley
11-04-2014, 2:43 PM
Don't forget A&W, after eating you you get a quart or gallon jug of root beer to go, those were the days.

Duane Meadows
11-04-2014, 3:55 PM
Don't forget A&W, after eating you you get a quart or gallon jug of root beer to go, those were the days.

+1 on A&W!

Kevin Bourque
11-04-2014, 4:26 PM
When I was a teenager in the 70's Burger King didn't have stacks of cooked burgers in a warming tray like they do today. They were made to order in a giant flame broiler machine. They were also much bigger than todays micro-burgers.

Tom Stenzel
11-04-2014, 4:59 PM
I'm putting in my vote for Arthur's Creatures -er, I mean Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips. With the fat fries and hot Vernors ginger ale. Whatever happened to them?

And an honorable mention goes Yaya's chicken. Another one that vanished and I miss.

-Tom

Chuck Wintle
11-04-2014, 4:59 PM
After watching American Graffiti I would have to say the Golden Age was in the late 50's and early 60's. People then were not worried whether the food was of good quality, only that it was cheap in price. Also obesity was much less prevalent so much less negative press about the consequences of a fast food diet.

Dave Lehnert
11-04-2014, 5:00 PM
Who remembers Burger Chef?

Jerome Stanek
11-04-2014, 5:53 PM
Who remembers Burger Chef?

We liked going there along with The Red Barn

Tom M King
11-04-2014, 6:54 PM
I have no idea about the question, but the first house I ever built was bought by a couple who owned six McDonalds in a major city. They had put everything they had into a franchise when McD was just getting started. They said all their friends, and people they didn't know, told them they were crazy for putting anything in a business that sold burgers for 15 cents. They wrote me a check for the lake house.

Ole Anderson
11-04-2014, 8:40 PM
Not sure what you mean by golden age. I'd agree that McDonald's fries were better before they got healthy. But the menu used to be very limited, and no breakfast. With a few exceptions, I say fast food is better now than it used to be, largely due to a widely expanded menu with some pretty good offerings. Wendy's chili and their salads come to mind as does Arby's market fresh sandwiches, particularly their BLT. But I have to admit that my most frequent buy is a plain McDonald's burger, no pickles with a cup of water, and I am out less than a buck. Not a great lunch, but cheap and it gets me by until dinner as I am often on a mission and their stores are on my common routes. And they are fast on the drive thru compared to most other chain drive thru's. McDonald's, you love to hate them.

Jerome Stanek
11-05-2014, 7:18 AM
I also like MR Hero when they had about 50 different sandwiches and Rigatoni by the bucket.

Joe Tilson
11-05-2014, 8:20 AM
If you think about or are old enough to remember back to the late 60's; now that's when fast food was really good! A & W's papa burger, wow what flavor, the big mac was pretty good too because if had real lettuce and tomatoes on it. The tomatoes were vine ripened and not the high pink boxed tom's of today. The lettuce came from a head not a bag(taste awful). For us, it is much more cost effective to eat at home. We eat for much less than a trip to any fast food outlet. Yes, we do eat fast food, but we have learned what to buy when we go out. An example would be: double cheese burger vs big mac, the double cheese burger is a big mac without the lettuce, tomato, and an extra bread, and it just cost a buck. Just my two.

Sean Troy
11-05-2014, 8:29 AM
Back in 1970 or so we lived near a McDonalds that advertized 3 Million sold. Not billions. A Burger King was next door to it.
That was when they made them good.
And you could get a Big Mac, fries and shake for less than a dollar.

John Coloccia
11-05-2014, 9:18 AM
Golden age is right now, IMHO. Just don't go to the chains. I can walk into my local, small, family owned supermarket, and get a fresh sandwich made for a less than $5. I can go to the hot food section and get soup, salad, ready made meals, etc. I can get a fresh pizza or calzone. They even have a sushi chef that comes for a couple of hours every day. Even the large supermarkets are doing this sort of thing now.

If you live near a Whole Food, you have the same thing going on, but more of it!

And don't forget about delis and things like that.

And there are the local burger stands.

And there's the Indian place where I can get a take-out meal for $6 from the buffet, and it takes just a couple of minutes.

And there's the falafel place.

There's the Japanese place where I can get a sushi for just a couple of bucks per roll at lunch....or a bento.

And none of this stuff really existed when I was growing up. Yeah, I could potentially get a sandwich at the Italian deli, and maybe some antipasto kinds of things, but our choices were cook, eat out, pizza, hot dog truck, or McWendy King. Now, the choices are so vast, I'm really surprised that larger fast food chains aren't hurting, but they keep popping up.

Brian Elfert
11-05-2014, 10:39 AM
Where I live now I don't have much choice for fast food besides chains. There is a VFW with a pretty good burger and fries for lunch for $5, but it takes a little longer and there is a tip expected. I do notice the prices have gone up by a good 10% in the last six months.

Rich Engelhardt
11-05-2014, 11:06 AM
I have no idea about the question, but the first house I ever built was bought by a couple who owned six McDonalds in a major city. They had put everything they had into a franchise when McD was just getting started.LOL!
I remember the first time we went to a McDonalds.
My brother dragged the whole family across town to McKnight Road in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh to see the place you could buy a franchise for - - cheap.
He wanted my dad to consider buying one.
We got there & first thing dad was upset about was you had to eat in your car. Worse than that though, there was no car hop, you had to get out and walk up to the window and order. Then when he wanted a burger with no onions and was told he had to take onions because that's the only way they were made, it was the last straw.
He said there was no way a place doing business like that was going to survive.
We teased dad about that his whole life!


Anyhow - golden age was defiantly in the 1970's.

John Sanford
11-05-2014, 11:33 PM
Local ownership in the 50s, 60s, and even into the 70s meant a higher level of quality and a greater variety of choices. I have to partially disagree with you there. First, most fast food franchises ARE locally owned. Second, local ownership in the 50s, 60s, and 70s could mean a higher level of quality and greater variety of choices, but it could also have meant lower quality and less choice. Part of what made McDonalds and KFC successful is that when you pulled into a one of them, you knew what you would be getting. Consistent, decent food, quickly at a low price.

John Sanford
11-05-2014, 11:44 PM
Who remembers Burger Chef?

I do. My mother was the manager of one of the busiest stores.

Another poster asked about national taco/Mexican food chains. I believe Chipotle, a quick Mexican food chain that McDonald's played a major role in, is national. In the true "fast food" segment, the next largest is Del Taco, a chain that originated in California and now has over 500 locations in the West.

John Sanford
11-06-2014, 12:03 AM
When I was a teenager in the 70's Burger King didn't have stacks of cooked burgers in a warming tray like they do today. They were made to order in a giant flame broiler machine. They were also much bigger than todays micro-burgers.

You can lay some of the blame for the change on the EPA (Federal and state). Air quality regs and the cost of natural gas during the 90s led to the rise of the steamers/warming trays. They light off the chain broiler and run a bunch of patties through, load up the warming trays (and sometimes even more trays in the cooler) and shut down the broiler. The Jack In the Box fiasco also plays into this, because before that, both the industry and customers were less tolerant of well done burgers, whereas since then well done is the only way you'll get a burger at a chain fast food joint. The inexorable move to well done that a warming tray would bring no longer presents a problem. Then there is the cost factor. Not only does mere infrequent use of the chain broiler mean lower costs, but the steam trays mean that the product has a longer "shelf" life, leading to less waste. Wendy's was the first to directly address the cost of lost patties by tossing them into the chili. (Yes, that's why Wendy's has chili... they found a profitable way of repurposing aging patties). The last benefit to the warming trays is surge. I remember hearing tales as a child of the store getting caught flat by sudden surges and they simply couldn't crank burgers out fast enough because of the limits of the chain broiler. Warming trays allow them to better handle surges.

All the above said, I definitely prefer the burger straight off the broiler, AND having the smell of charbroiled beef in the air when I roll up to the joint.

David Weaver
11-06-2014, 7:24 AM
The only burger king burger I've had in the last ten years was along the PA turnpike, and the turnpike has a bargained group that does all of the restaurants (as in, you'll see people working at burger king spring over to another restaurant when that gets full).

The burger I had was so soft from sitting in the steamer as to have nearly no texture at all. It was horrible. I'll bet I could've taken it out of the bun and held one and and the other end would've flopped over.

I still like the taste of mcdonald's food, especially the big mac, but that probably has more to do with the level of sodium in it (I never let them put in the "special sauce", but the cheese has plenty of salt).

In a nod toward our habits of overconsumption, when I take the rare trip to mcdonalds and get a big mac meal, with diet soda I feel afterward like I haven't eaten that much.

Jason Roehl
11-06-2014, 7:57 AM
That's because you haven't eaten that much, David. A Big Mac has two 10:1 patties, which means each patty is 1/10 of a pound, pre-cooked weight. So that's 3.2 oz of meat before they've cooked every last molecule of fat out of it. If it was 80% lean beef, that means you're left with about 2.5 oz of beef. Take away the calorie-laden special sauce, and there's just not that much there--some lettuce, a couple slices of processed cheese, a couple slices of pickle, and some rehydrated onions. (Sing it with me: "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun!"). Add half a tater's worth of fries and the 0-calorie diet soda, and it's really not that much food. If you consider much of that food in the first place. I know I couldn't make it through the day with a Big Mac meal as lunch. Maybe if I had two.

Brian Elfert
11-06-2014, 9:03 AM
Another poster asked about national taco/Mexican food chains. I believe Chipotle, a quick Mexican food chain that McDonald's played a major role in, is national. In the true "fast food" segment, the next largest is Del Taco, a chain that originated in California and now has over 500 locations in the West.

I really like Del Taco. None local so I've only eaten there a few times on a trip through Utah once or twice a year. Taco John's is a close second.

Jim Rimmer
11-07-2014, 2:06 PM
Whataburger and Wendys to me are the 2 that are the best.

You and Bill Edwards hit it. Whataburgers are not cooked until after you order. I hear complaints about them sometimes but they have great burgers IMHO. It's a Texas thing, I guess.

Paul McGaha
11-07-2014, 4:10 PM
McDonald's started out using fresh potatoes for the fries, they really were a lot better back then.

These days I get a burger from 5 guys once in a while, maybe some chicken from Popeye's every few months.

PHM

Tom Giacomo
11-08-2014, 10:40 PM
Well if your really old you can remember in the early 50's when Mc Donald was the only fast food in town, no Taco Bell, Burger King. There was no big mac or double cheese burger. The only thing on the menu was burger, cheeseburger, fries, drink. A burger was 12c fries 15c and a large drink 10c. This was a great place to take a date, you could both eat with only a dollar in your pocket. I guess I'm getting too old but those 12c burgers tasted much better and where a lot larger than the $3 ones you get today.

Phil Thien
11-09-2014, 10:13 AM
I'd have to say the last straw was when McDonalds started playing with the composition of the fat used for deep frying. 2nd runner up was when the filtering systems for the deep frying fat were installed so they wouldn't have to change-out the fat as often.

The aftertaste left by the fries isn't pleasant.

I like Arby's roast beef sandwiches thought. Just the sandwich, no fries or anything else.

David Helm
11-09-2014, 2:16 PM
In the 50s, when I was a teenager, the place to go was the White Castle. Square burgers (small) done on a flat top grill, decent fries and cheap. I and my friends would skip school, get bags of burgers and fries, stop at a nearby tavern to get a gallon jug filled with draft beer (nobody seemed to care about age in those days) and go play poker all day. Having said that, there is not a fast food joint that I would darken the door of these days. Life is just too short to eat crap!

Jerome Stanek
11-09-2014, 3:10 PM
back in the early 50s we lived just down from a drive in restaurant and across the street was a dive in theater we would order from the restaurant when we were busy in the greenhouse. Some of the best memories of my childhood.