When was the Golden Age of fast food?

[Stephen Tashiro]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

There was a golden age of fast food? Must have missed that

[Doug Ladendorf]

There was a golden age of fast food? Must have missed that

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]

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)]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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)]

Hi Bill, what is a "Texas Burger"?
Regards, Rod.

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