I haven't been to McDonald's in years, Burger King and Wendy's in decades. We have been to Carl's Junior in the last year or two as they make things to my wife's liking. My wife's favorite burger place is Red Robin, but the prices are not McDonald's.
I like the Jack-in-the-box tacos, too. Although I remember when I noticed the tiny "Ralston Purina" trademark on the wrapper. That was back in the 80s; RP subsequently sold the franchise.
Oh, and I like McDonalds; the "homestyle burger" is pretty good and I have always liked their big breakfast. I wish the fries were like in the old days, though.
In 71 I worked for my Father in Law for a while and he was an electrical contractor. He wired 400 new apartments in Bryan Tx. It was such long drive from Houston to Bryan everyday we started living in one of the finished apartments after we got the power grid up. No furniture or beds we just slept on the floor. When we did drive back to Houston it was always on a Friday night after work. The first time I ate a Burger King Hamburger was on a trip home from Bryan and it was a really good burger back that many years ago but since that time things changed and it all started to taste like fast made burgers. I also ate from one of the first Taco Bell places in Austin Texas, it was so desolate out there at the time it looked like I was eating in the middle of the desert.
A regional fast-food chain, Chips, had a restaurant near the bridge in Menominee, Michigan. I think it was owned by someone who once played for the Green Bay Packers. Burgers sold for 13 cents apiece in the late 1960s, and they were pretty darned good, as was some of the other stuff they sold. Then, in the early 1970s, a Mcdonald's opened on the same corner and Chips was out of business shortly afterward, although Mcdonald's was more expensive and not nearly as good. I never understood why people opted for McDonald's.
I think in the early to mid 50s everything you bought was much better quality. Take Hamburger Buns, you would think they all taste the same but in the 50s or 60s a good hamburger had a first class bun. Fresh lettuce and tomatoes was easy to get then and plentiful. Before I left here 25 years ago to move to Nevada there was a Dairy Queen in the nearest town from where I live now. They were in near bankruptcy the last time I ate anything from their place and they were not putting tomato on the burgers. It wasn't long before their franchise was taken from them. Today it is another fast food. 15 years ago at the Exxon just across the street from that old Dairy Queen there was a Burger King Franchise within that Exxon station and they had the normal indoor setup plus a drive thru, each morning on my way to work I would go thru the drive thru and grab my coffee and a couple breakfast burritos. I always got to work an hour before opening so I could sit there in my truck and listen to news and have my breakfast. I was feeding a Mother Dog and her litter each morning too. I brought one pup a deaf little solid white dog from that litter home with me because the brothers and sisters of hers were being slaughtered at the end of the driveway at the busy highway when they would try and follow their Mother. I didn't want another dog do to my age but I couldn't stand to see the little deaf dog die like that much less it's family. She lived until 4 years ago and something happened to her internally and she was bleeding internally so they suggested to go ahead and put her down. I miss the company of the dog, but now I got cats !!! 3 new little ones in the bathroom make 11. I plan on taking photos soon, they are already up and walking around but very small. One little black n white like the Mother and two black Tuxedo ones with a little white on their faces. heh
I like Red Robin as one of the few places you can get decent chicken wings and onion rings. The only one near me (in Charlottesville) got shut down by COVID. (It's in a dead mall that had Sears & Penneys as anchor stores, and is slated to become a Home Depot.) I was shocked when they opened back up (Carry Out only), and eventually went back to eat-in dining. I'm not sure I've ever had one of their burgers. When I make the drive, it's specifically for the wings.
In the 80s I worked in Chantilly VA, which used to be farms outside of DC (it's now a city unto itself.) Back then your food choices were KFC, 7-11, and Golden Dragon. That's when I learned to use chopsticks.
Beth mentioned Ralston Purina up above, while I worked for my Father in Law we wired two large greenhouses one on Highway 259. They were pretty high tech and had auto everything. It was Pillsbury that owned those greenhouses. At the time I thought it to be a bit weird but I guess they liked to invest in many things to have some tax write offs. I can tell you it is very hot working inside a glass house in the summer and you can bet we were not late in completing them. The worst was climbing a ladder up to the top near the magnifying glass as I call it and pulling wire. It was cool, a automatic fan would kick on and blow a plastic air bag down a cable line from one end to the other and it had round holes in the bag so it would dispense the same amount of air where it should be directed. It would retract back to the side it started from when the fan kicked off because it had spring returns on the bag. I don't think those two green houses did well because before I left in the early 80s they both had been torn down and the property value was so much higher then just a good business decision to sell the properties.
They have quite an assortment of good burgers here. I sometimes have the fish and chips, but I don't believe I have ever had chicken there.
Yeh, I like a good fish & chips from commercial deep fryers. I miss Arthur Treacher's. There may have been nothing but tan food on the plate, but it was sure good.
From age 18 - 25, I liked their Big Macs & Fries. I haven't been there for 40 years. Except for restroom stops during a long drive.
I can tell when I have a cold coming on, because I have a slight chill and get a hankering for a Big Mac. I don't know why.
A friend from work and I ate lunch at McDonald's almost every weekday for at least 2 years. I wish they had those little kiosk things to order from years ago. We would spend half of the lunch hour standing in line to order. Now that I've become a whiz at using them ( ), it seems like most have moved on to an app to order ahead. Can't keep up. I like their little ($2) cheeseburgers. I don't think of them as a meal. More like a little snack and a chance to get out of the house for a change.