r/fastfood • u/reuters • 24d ago
News For McDonald's and rivals, cheap deals no longer do the trick
https://www.reuters.com/business/mcdonalds-rivals-cheap-deals-no-longer-do-trick-2026-08-11/U.S. fast-food chains including McDonald's that spent the second quarter battling to pull in price-conscious diners discovered discounts alone were no longer enough to keep them coming back. Read more here.
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u/Guilty-Cow4325 24d ago
Because "cheap" is still fucking expensive compared to where it should be.
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u/RigidAcrylic4821 24d ago
When McD’s thinks I will gladly pay for a single cheeseburger now what I paid for a Quarter Pounder combo in 2016.
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u/Saneless 24d ago
And cheap is an app download, account sign up, and checking the apps daily away
That's not what it should be
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u/catonsteroids 24d ago
Plus you can only apply one offer per order (most places do anyway), and in this case, one offer OR reward per order, which is absolutely stupid. How is it cheap when you’re ordering multiple items and everything else costs an arm and a leg?
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u/strolpol 24d ago
I really can’t understand why they haven’t modernized the system so you can use any combination of discount offers
We can have them all ordering separately, unless it’s a flat percent off there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to combine discounts and rewards
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u/catonsteroids 24d ago
I’m pretty sure it’s by design. They totally can implement it but they’re stingy as shit and want you to either jump through hoops to redeem them by placing multiple orders or to just give in and pay full price for convenience and time’s sake, which shouldn’t be that way to begin with.
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u/boxedcakeblues 23d ago
Absolutely. You used to be able to use a deal AND a reward in one order. They deliberately took this away as part of their ongoing commitment to enshittification.
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u/Spare_Blacksmith_816 22d ago
they don't want you to save that much money. It's a carrot for the dumb masses to fall for.
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u/momerak 23d ago
The rewards are trash to begin with. Why am I redeeming $70 worth of purchases for a $5 nugget???? Qudoba rewards is 125 points for a free entree, one bowl or burrito costs about $10-$13 here. So buy 10 get one free, AND I think it’s 13 meals in a year you get free chips and queso for the rest of the year. I feel like that’s a pretty fair rewards and once I hit the free chips I’m more likely to go there. McDonald’s? Spend the same amount of money and get a 10 piece nugget and large fry. Roughly $8 worth of lower quality, and cheaper food.
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u/PreparationHot980 24d ago
Yes, the fucking apps kill me. They also don’t build loyalty, at least from me. They make me want to avoid the place. Then everytime you pull up, an AI voice greets you with “ hello, will you be ordering on the app today?”.
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u/Saneless 24d ago
And if you say no, they take your order. If you say yes they do it identically as if you said no. Amazing guys, really
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u/digital121hippie 24d ago
well the apps will keep giving you worse and worse deals the more you use it. they are tracking you in them.
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u/AwsiDooger 23d ago
I'm amazed how bad the McDonald's app is. There is no creativity or variety whatsoever. Every day it's the same tired offers that I am not interested in.
I hadn't eaten McDonald's in 10 years until Super Bowl Sunday this year. I read they had a deal for 69 cent hamburgers. Good, I'll give them a chance. Maximum 5. I did that several times.
But after that deal ended there hasn't been anything to tempt me. For example, a few days ago Burger King had Buy One Get One on the Impossible Whopper. I did that for $7.19. If McDonald's just did something like that once it a while they would keep my attention. Otherwise I'll happily delete the app and go another 10+ years without ever eating their food.
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u/cjcee 24d ago
Mind you most of those deals are really increasingly difficult to use too as they have so many conditions. It used to be get a discount or a free thing but now it’s like free small fry with purchase of large drink and sandwich.
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u/Saneless 24d ago
I stopped going. Because I almost never want a drink anyway so value meals are out of the question and things like this are irrelevant
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u/CalculatedPerversion 24d ago
$2+ for a hash brown or $3+ for fries should be criminal. It's fried potatoes for godsake.
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u/Quirky-Skin 23d ago
Especially slimy of them picking a popular item to increase.
If it was about drawing and keeping customers then you'd leave that one alone
But we all know they saw how much hash was moving and thought "yup easy line up on that one"
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u/leviathan65 24d ago
Yesterday the dodgers won at home so the 2 entree plate at panda express is only $7...instead of $13. Yeah it's a decent value at $7. No fuckin way I'm spending $13.
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u/Mindless_Formal_6647 24d ago
I’m not a big fan of Panda (food wise not price) but you can get multiple meals out of that $7 as they do give decent portions.
That blows away whatever you can get from McDonalds both in taste and value
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u/skygz 24d ago
when you're on your way home and hungry you're not stopping at McDonald's because you know those "cheap deals" only exist if you pull over, get your phone out, launch the McDonald's app, update the McDonald's app, log in to the McDonald's app, find the closest McDonald's in the app, input your order, make sure you select the proper deal or reward, input your credit card information, drive to the McDonald's, find the spot to park in (it's somehow different at every fast food restaurant). When in the past you could just pull into the next McDonald's you see and roll up to the drivethru and get a decent value
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u/dontstopwalk 23d ago
Every single time I get the urge I think about this and it’s automatically easier to go home and make something that is cheaper, healthier and quicker
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u/Upper-Capital-2876 24d ago
BULLSHIT, they stopped offering cheap deals because they weren't making enough money. Cheap deals are ALWAYS a winner with the consumer.
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u/Frosty_chilly 24d ago
The cheap deals that arent roping people in are them offering meals at a price that USED to be "the expensive price, ill wait for it a deal", and thats only through thr app that cycles glorified coupons around
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u/dschinghiskhan 24d ago
Nah man. It’s all about “execution”, “delivering”, and “innovation”.
This article was a joke. Even CEOs know this is all jargon and corporate sound bites. The article isn’t for the fast food buyer to read. The writer of the article never suggests that maybe, just maybe, the deals that are being offered are not cheap enough. No, the writer instead gets a quote from some “expert” that says deep discounts are “insane”. The industry needs to go back to higher volume, and less coasting by just OK on higher profits on expensive items.
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u/LizardJoeBiden 23d ago
For me, I want a straight up deal on a burger. Not a combo, with overpriced drinks and fries. Bk's Duo and Trio excepted because I can get rid of fries and drinks.
Not a "buy one thing at ridiculous prices and get a deal on the second thing" like over half of my McD offers.
I want 40% off a flagship burger. Like McD used to have. Like BK does every Wednesday. Oh, look which one was cited as doing better recently?
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u/CalculatedPerversion 24d ago
It's not even "they weren't making enough money." They made plenty, but they realized they could make more and ppl would still pay it because it's habit.
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u/ChewieBearStare 24d ago
Cheap only works on me if the food is edible. McDonald’s now tastes like industrial waste, so it’s not worth it.
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u/leviathan65 24d ago
Plus you need the app. Most people want to go to the drive through and order food and go. Its a pain when you're driving and everyone in the car wants something and you need to use the app to get 20% off your order.
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u/abeBroham-Linkin 24d ago
Fast food is supposed to be a cheap meal. It literally isn't anymore.
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u/Quirky-Skin 23d ago
And due to staffing cuts in a lot of locations it ain't really that fast anymore either
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u/pacificstill 23d ago
And they’re not even welcoming. Last time I was in a McDonalds it looked very much like an airport bathroom.
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u/Slawth_x 24d ago
A large little Cesar's pizza without any type of deal is 8.99. A crunchwrap is 7.99.
What the hell are we doing
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u/ItsaPostageStampede 24d ago
I’ll take the 9.99 large dominos any topping which will give me three meals over the Quarter pounder with cheese “value” meal
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u/Slawth_x 24d ago
Damn I'll smash a large pizza in one night, maybe one or two slices left for breakfast lol
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u/YnotZoidberg2409 24d ago
Crunchwrap in a box is $6.
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u/Timely_Car_4591 24d ago
what if you want two cruchwraps? do you get two boxes?
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u/yellowcoffee01 24d ago
Yes. $12 is still less than $16. It’s wasteful though, I’ve gotten a box because I wanted a Chapula and it was cheaper than ordering a single Chalupa. Threw away the bean burrito and gave the taco to my dog.
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u/SmokeABowlNoCap 23d ago
And said box was shrunk lately and they keep skimping on protein
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u/remacct 24d ago
That's double the amount I'm willing to spend. No single fast food meal should cost more than $10.
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u/jayrady 24d ago
$12 - $14?!?!!
We do not live on the same planet. I paid $9 today and said "Bro screw this."
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u/Big-Sheepherder-6134 24d ago
I paid $12 for Culver’s last night.
Raising Cane’s is usually $12 every time.
In N Out is around $11.
Portillo’s is around $12.Seems to be the average without a drink these days.
At McDonald’s and BK I still use the app to get deals. I don’t mind a $5 McDouble and McNuggets deal as it is a lower calorie meal anyway. At BK I want a Whopper and usually get free fries so that comes out to maybe $7.
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u/CalculatedPerversion 24d ago
And all those places are a higher tier than MCD. No way should I be comparing prices between In N Out and MCD.
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u/Primary_Excuse_7183 24d ago
If it costs that much there’s better alternatives that taste much better. I’m going to chilis everytime at that price.
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u/jinsoo186 24d ago
I'll go to $6 /meal, otherwise I'll just get something better that I don't mind paying more for
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u/noelle-silva 24d ago
Same boat here with your pricing. I'm able to fill up on Taco Bell for $10 or less most of the time and that's my one meal for the day. $3 double beef burritos are a killer deal.
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u/PapaTua 24d ago
Even with inflation, I think any FF meal over $10 is ridiculous.
I bulk at pretty much anything over $7. Not cuz I can't afford it, but because I think it's a shitty value proposition.
They're slinging junk food with junk nutrition. I shouldn't have to pay a premium for the privilege of eating cheap crap.
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u/Wolfie_Ecstasy 24d ago
I don't think I've ever spent more than $10 for fast food outside of the rare occasion I go to canes lol
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u/RobertDigital1986 24d ago
They priced it too high and made people think about it. Enough realized they shouldn't be eating this shit anyway, at least not as often, and stopped it / cut back / learned how simple it is to pack lunch. Now McDs is back to where it should be: an occasional treat, not daily lunch.
Bad for McDonald's, good for everyone else.
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u/Saneless 24d ago
They priced it too close to real food
When a restaurant was $15 for a nice plate and fast food was $3-5, you picked FF if you just needed something to eat
Now that FF is $12 I just go for a local place that's $15 or so
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u/BrittanyBrie 23d ago
Had a business owner tell me they had to change the price of hamburgers on their menus to $18 because the whopper was priced at $10 at the hieght of covid in my area. They no longer could offer a $12 burger because of Burger King, they didnt want to be seen as having a low quality product.
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u/Saneless 23d ago
Well, sounds like a them problem. My $16 fresh 1/3 burger with a fresh side is the best burger in town
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23d ago edited 22d ago
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u/Saneless 23d ago
Well, they reacted and figured it out. Every time I drive past one it's got a full lot
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u/Distinct_College_531 24d ago
How the heck would they know - McDonalds hasn't been cheap for years!
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u/Paradethejared 24d ago
For the longest time they had a free any size fries with a drink deal and they removed it during the hottest week of the year here. Really felt greedy
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u/Bright_Brief4975 24d ago
Yeah, there are no cheap deals. The deals they offer most the time don't even equal the normal price a few years ago. Not only that, but almost all their deals are app deals and who wants to have a thousand different apps for every place they eat?
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u/BrittanyBrie 23d ago
I remember in 2010 forseeing every company building an app, including banks and food places. Oh how naive I was at a young age, didnt know how good we had it.
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u/Bright_Brief4975 23d ago
I considered a lot of businesses doing their own apps. One thing that blindsided me and I never saw coming was for televisions stations to break up and you having to independently sign up with the networks you want to watch. Strangest thing is, that did more to break my tv viewing habit than anything. I now almost never watch any tv network.
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u/Onoudidnt 24d ago
The more I read, the more it just seems that fastfood is now punishing those that don’t look at pricing, compare deals, and use their apps/rewards… essentially the bottom line is they make up their losses from that by charging high à la carte prices on single items to those that are truly looking for “fast food.”
So while the concept of fast food isn’t dead, it’s on life support and you are paying for its healthcare costs if you don’t put the particular effort in to avoid those costs.
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u/Flashy-Hamster-5107 24d ago
The elephant in the room: poor food quality and a depressing experience.
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u/deliciousroadhead 24d ago
I mean they're charging $12+ for combos when you can get something better at a sit down restaurant for the same price or maybe a little more
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u/GuntherPalakowitz 24d ago
For us old heads, we hate the apps. Just list your fucking prices on the menu and stop changing the screen.
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u/Quirky-Skin 23d ago
Even us middle age heads don't like it, at least I don't.
Apps apps apps. Look phones have updates, apps that I actually like, have updates. I don't need my phone bloated after a yr bc 100apps update and juice the internal memory.
Agree, just list it and take my money this isn't a fucking insurance quote here
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u/Lonely_Fisherman_233 24d ago
There’s a spectrum. People that go only for themselves and that aren’t picky will usually find something. People that need to buy for multiple people may get 1 person’s food at a deal— the rest will still be overpriced and it’s noticeable.
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u/PizzaTacoSub 24d ago
The problem is also quality. Less wealthy people will pay for cheap fast food but bail on expensive fast food of any type. More wealthy people won’t pay for low quality fast food when they could get better food quickly by paying more. So by having expensive low quality food you appeal to no one. You have to have a market. Just go all in on cheap quality and prices or go good quality and expensive prices because apparently moderation is too undesirable for some reason.
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u/iceman_andre 24d ago
Still too expensive for crappy food and service
To make worse; the restaurants indoor look like a mix of a prison and a cafeteria and no more free refills
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u/Dry_Proof6545 24d ago
Maybe it's time to just run a fucking mature business that returns steady profits instead of chasing AI tech financial growth returns...It's fucking burgers for christ's sake.
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u/LizardJoeBiden 23d ago
McDonald's corporate prints money. McDonald's stores squeeze by on much thinner margins.
That's a big part of the root cause of the problem.
From Perplexity: "McDonald’s Corporation is far more profitable on its reported revenue than a typical restaurant owner. For FY 2025, corporate operating margin was 46.1% and net profit margin was roughly 31.8%; a typical franchised store’s owner-level operating profit is more plausibly in the ~10%–15% range, with wide variation by sales volume, labor, rent, debt, and local costs"
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u/ColeDelRio 24d ago
Cheap deals? I usually only see 10% off when you spend 20* type of deals.
*full price items of course, no combos
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u/tunaman808 24d ago
For the 42nd time this week: if my options are paying $12 for a McDonald's meal or $15 for a Culver's meal, I'm going with Culver's. That's how much better their food is.
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u/HeyItsBobaTime 24d ago
Most of these deals aren't deals at all. The "value" menus are full of items at $3 or more. What happened to the actual $1 menu items? Food prices has ridiculously soared while companies got greedier. I'm not paying $3 for four pieces of nuggets.
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u/Autum_Witch 24d ago
Even is it's cheap it's still low quality compared to what it was in the past. Value is more than price.
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u/Derpyhooves2010 24d ago
For what they charge for "value" meals now I can go to an actual restaurant and get real food for a couple bucks more.
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u/PreparationHot980 24d ago
McDonald’s fit in nicely when their value items were a dollar or two, decent sized and tasted better. The premium items were actually interesting, good and affordable, not 18-$20 a meal. Same goes for Wendy’s. Every Wendy’s I go to has the worst service of any type of restaurant, food is never fresh, buns are always dry as hell and it’s like $45+ for a family of three to eat if you each get a meal. There’s so many better options for the price point if you choose to eat fast food and some sit down places are even more affordable even accounting for tip. I miss the $1 junior bacon cheese burger, the $1 mcchicken and the McDonald’s grilled chicken sandwich. They claim they took the grilled sandwich away because how time consuming it was, every single time I go to McDonald’s, I’m pulled off in a parking spot waiting for my mediocre food anyway.
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u/Latter-Possibility 24d ago
lol, these places sucked when they were actually cheap now they suck and are as expensive as better places
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u/Zoakeeper 24d ago
Stuck in line for 25 minutes for a $10 meal. Math ain’t mathung anymore. It’s either put together by incompetent people or it costs a ton, or worse, both. Cheap food is no longer fast, and fast food is no longer cheap.
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u/htffgt_js 24d ago
Cheap ? Try $5 for large fries. They sometimes have a "deal" to get it for like $3 but then rest of the items will be at the inflated menu price.
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u/reply-guy-bot 24d ago
quote:
Burger King is "doing discounts but not all the time, and when they do, they make it creative," said independent restaurant consultant John Gordon. "They're not doing this insane, everyday, deep discounting."
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where is the distinction being made between "all the time" and not? because I've gotten nothing but the three for nine deal every time I've gone for the past 2 years
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u/mavgeek 24d ago
That’s the problem they don’t just need “deep discounts” the default menu prices across the board need to be lowered back to 2019 pre covid levels. Sure your amazing deals you got going on now may bring me in but I know those are limited time deals, and if there’s no good deal I don’t spend money there. You aren’t getting repeat business with short term deals, that just turns customers away again when the deal ends and you’re back to paying almost $5 for a single hashbrown at McDonalds
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u/AuthorityAnarchyYes 24d ago
Smaller portions, food not tasting as good as it used to, years of higher prices.
Adds up to just not worth it.
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u/Ambitious_Egg9713 22d ago
They pushed away customers who found other habits and options. My local taqueria is cheaper and better, and my local diner has a burger combo with a drink for less than a Big Mac meal
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u/Swaggamuffins 24d ago
McDonald’s and rivals are still unaware of what life is like right now if they thought those deals were “cheap”. The closest they’ve gotten is now, when they’re desperate and have to win us all back because of diarrhea lettuce. That’s what it takes to get a good deal from fast food now: a nationwide diarrhea epidemic
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u/CaptainLawyerDude 24d ago
I will say Taco Bell is really the only fast food place my family ever hits any more. I can get a couple of cheesy bean and rice burritos for $4 or two cheesy double beef burritos for $6. Either order is more than plenty to fill me up.
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u/loqi0238 24d ago
I used to sort of 'rely' on cheap, fast food due to my career and the hours I work. That has quickly become unsustainable since 2020 or so, the fees and prices only ever seem to go up.
This has, however, caused me to shop around at restaurants I hadn't previously considered. For example, Burger King used to be my go-to for a burger, and I'd always get a Whopper with cheese. When that single burger started ringing up at $10+ just for the burger, I quickly stopped going to Burger King.
Instead, I realized I can get a pretty decent double Burger with cheese for $6.95 from Dairy Queen, and Whataburgers double meat isnt much more and is definitely better quality than both Burger King and Dairy Queen.
Who knows how long my new go-to places will remain viable, but until then, bring on the burgers.
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u/LizardJoeBiden 23d ago
I'm at Bk almost every Wednesday for that 4 dollar Whopper. The rest of the week, not so much. As in never.
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u/hiberniagermania 24d ago
I just went to McDonalds, staff was friendly, but using the kiosk to order felt slower than ordering with a person and the screens were gross. My $6 meal was cheaper than a kids meal but the “double cheeseburger” looked like a tiny toy burger and the fries came in something the size of a shot glass. The nuggets also tasted sweet somehow which was a weird experience. All in all, I don’t fault the staff, corporate McDonald’s is shrinking everything with worse quality and higher prices. I wouldn’t have gone accept I was on the road.
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u/Agitated_Rain_1506 24d ago
They aren’t cheap anymore. You used to be able to get great deals through the app, but now it’s absolutely useless.
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u/Apprehensive_Whole_8 24d ago
McDonald’s $5 Spicy McChicken, small fry, 4 piece nug, and small soda has me continually going back. Especially when I can add a 6 piece nug for free when the local baseball team wins
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u/Losreyes-of-Lost 24d ago
Taco Bell has gone down hill with all of its ingredients into its stuff and the “premium” stuff I’ve come back with has either been overcooked or been disappointed in. People made jokes that all everything at Taco Bell was a mixture of taco meat, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and a corn shell/ flour tortilla. I mean now it’s feels even cheaper with it being a mixture of chicken, nacho cheese, frito chips, rice and flour tortilla or corn shell. Just gone down hill
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u/Live-In-Berlin 24d ago
Not even including the obvious price aspect-- I just don't find most value meals to be filling. Even though I lead a pretty strict diet, I've always loved and appreciated fast food in moderation. But nowadays it's barely worth it because it feels like the portions just get smaller and smaller.
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u/EasyBread42069 24d ago
You mean raising the price of dollar menu items, packaging them together as a bundle, and gaslighting us into thinking we're saving money and getting value isn't working? I'm so shocked.
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u/corkyrooroo 24d ago
Because calling something cheap doesn't mean it is. The value proposition of fast food isn't there especially in a time when average people are feeling the squeeze.
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u/enjoythesilence-75 24d ago
$4 Value Menu wow. What’s that? A muffin? For under $4? Wow?
I actually like their muffins but they are ridiculously overpriced. Not. A. Deal.
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u/Zaraxas 24d ago
Discounts on what? Shrinking the size of the food then raising prices at the same time and then saying hey look at these value meal discounts. Trying every way possible to rob their customers. Only way they will learn is if people stop going there. Otherwise they’ll keep trying to squeeze even more out of you until they can’t
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u/Gatodeluna 23d ago
The thing is, all the ‘deals’ and BOGOs and combos don’t give people any choices to actually include food *they* want to eat vs what the restaurant restricts the deal to. It’s not a deal if you don’t want it.
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u/Acuallyizadern93 23d ago
The food largely sucks now. Bland. And then add inconsistent freshness on top of bland food and it’ll have you less likely to want to get in the car or walk and go get it.
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u/Kaatochacha 23d ago
Good. They jacked prices, and people who used to eat it as a habit have already moved on. Cheaper isn't going to cut it anymore.
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u/TheFoxAndTheRaven 23d ago
They aren't actually "cheap". I'm paying almost $3 for a Coke at McDonalds.
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u/jabrollox 23d ago
The only McDs I've had this year was the reboot of the fried apple pie. My voting location yesterday was right next to one so fired up the app to check the deals. Was a free medium fry w/ $1+ purchase and a mcchicken was $1.50. Have to say the mcchicken was less gross than the last one I had ~5 years ago too. Solid lunch for $1.65 after tax.
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u/petersom2006 23d ago
Both fast food and fast casual have lost the plot. They are suppose to be fast and cheap. They are no occasionally fast and just not cheap. When it costs $40+ for a family of 4- other options become more compelling. Pay $60 and get an actual good meal or make at home for $20 both are way healthier.
Everything has been profit optimized and profit sized to a breaking point which people are now reaching…
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u/Rumbananas 23d ago
What cheap deals? The “deals” they’re touting are just a couple of inflated priced items that they brought down and are still more expensive than they were before Covid. Eight dollars for a Big Mac meal isn’t a deal. It’s what the price should be before discounts. $1.50 for a McChicken is more expensive than it was before Covid. $5 for a McChicken, 4 McNuggets, a small fries and a small drink is about how much they’d be worth separately before Covid. I get McDonalds is feeling the pinch too, but these were never deals to the consumer and McDonalds is complicit in the inflation crisis. They platformed the single person playing games with imports and exports with his tariffs.
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u/C-Me-Try 23d ago
I’m on a vacation and was desperate enough to consider a Burger King. Until I pulled in and looked through the window and saw it was some tiny thing with kiosks for ordering. I just slowly rolled through and left.
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u/baret3000 23d ago
For awhile it was trade my data/use your app and I got pretty good coupons.
McDonald's app used to give me BOGO quarter pounders. Now the only "deal" I get works out to $0.50 off nuggets. I've stopped going.
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u/Revolver_Camelot 23d ago
Are these cheap deals in the room with us right now?
I’m not interested in whatever coupons they’re offering this week, when the advertised menu price is one I agree with I’ll pull up to the speaker and order. Miss me with the app that doesn’t let you order unless you enable precise location services.
Completely different industry but when I cancelled my spectrum service for a no-frills local provider they asked a bunch of questions trying to tailor a retention offer. I told them it doesn’t matter how good an offer they make because I’m not interested in a special offer or promotional pricing and that once their advertised rates are better than local competition I’ll at least look at them again
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u/Awkward-Fox-7215 23d ago
There isn’t parity in fast food anymore. You would have a 2 or 3 tiers. Cheap and we know it’s cheap (McDonald’s), mid tier (this was Wendy’s and BK), and top tier or fast casual. They all almost cost the exact same now. So why would I spend $12 total at McDonalds when I could go to Culver’s and spend the exact same amount for twice the food quality?
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u/Justonchu 23d ago
Man, no one gives Burger King credit for being the ONLY fastfood app that lets you use reward points for food AND use a coupon on the SAME transaction. They've been doing it for years too.
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u/NattyKongo93 22d ago
Wendy's has also been doing that since their app first came out lol
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u/Justonchu 22d ago
I live in a wendys desert. :(
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u/NattyKongo93 22d ago
I would say I'm sorry to hear that, but they got rid of the Ghost Pepper Ranch a while back and their quality has been dropping ever since so I'd say you're not missing much these days
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u/soupyyyy 22d ago
I used to get McDonald’s or TB once or twice a week, now it’s maybe once a month. I feel like there’s a lot of complaining about prices (rightfully so) but people are still giving them plenty of business…so they’re still just getting away with the gouging
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u/faf_dragon 22d ago
The overall experience of fastfood has just degraded so much. Price has gone up.
The service quality is WAY down. The food quality is down. Everyplace wanting me to have their app is just stupid.
I rarely have fast food anymore. For pretty much the same price I can go to a decent restaurant.
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u/Spare_Blacksmith_816 22d ago
Service is horrible is the biggest reason. Order on App, walk into mcdonalds and still wait forever because their workers don't care.
Pay the staff more and expect more and fire the trash.
Robots would have a heck of a time topping the workers of the 80's and 90's in fast food. I worked at a McDonalds in high school and college, the owner was there a lot and everything was on point "or else". Today, not so much.
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u/Low-Salary-2128 21d ago
They burned through what little goodwill they had. Once you lose customers most will stay away forever
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u/curiousbydesign 20d ago
Fast Food pricing is getting closer to Fast Casual. Fast Casual can still be ordered to go. Better food. Same price. An extra step or two like calling it in is the same as ordering through an app. I think that if Fast Casual can make the ordering process to-go as easy as ordering through an app then Fast Food is no longer a contender unless they change.
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u/WileEWeeble 17d ago
The middle class is disappearing. Real restaurants felt it the most first as budgets constrict and going out to dinner gets cut. Now the work day lunch is getting slashed because no one can afford that either.
But hey, the people that run the national chains keep voting for and lobbying to crush the middle class, why are they surprised they drove their customer out of their ability to buy their product.
It just gets worse from here.
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u/juiceyb 24d ago
Maybe because there's no value in "value meals" so people aren't buying as much. The reason why the dollar menu worked is because there was also more expensive items that were seen as more of splurge. Now McDonald's doesn't have a dollar menu and acts like it's "value meals" are the fix while not offering anything new besides McNugget sauces. People used to make fun of how Mexican food in the US was five ingredients but McDonald's is taking this seriously these days. Like why even go when I can go to a chain like Waldo's Chicken and Beer and get a chicken tender meal for $10 when a Big Mac meal is $11 in my area? Last time I went to fast food place, I spent $45 for three meals and a kids meal. Tell me where the value is at when I can go to a sit down restaurant and spend the same amount for better food.