Nancyjane, you and Martha must have read the same article, because she has a thread going about how many people enjoy eating out in restaurants.

Even if I liked fast food, I can't imagine eating it every day, although I have often bemoaned the fact that we have a whole generation of kids who won't eat chicken with bones because their only acceptable chicken comes in the form of nuggets.

Annie

Oops! Sorry. Pretty much duplicated the eating out post below! Ignore if you wish. NT

I actually used to play that documentary "Supersize me" for my students each year. Didn't do much good!

I'd think it would be closer to two of three eat out daily, but it also a function of the health of the local area economy ... and perhaps, locale.

I can't imagine a cooking forum would have those numbers. Clearly it is an American obsession seeing so many everywhere. Not sure how long its been but maybe 30yrs.? We don't eat fast food or even any recognizable chain restaurants and that includes Starbucks.

One exception is ShakeShak. But that is good quality. He sourced his grass fed beef in Ireland (I think) for the London branch. Or maybe Scotland. The portobello burger is killer.

I did go to the grand opening of McDonalds in Rome at the base of the SpanishSteps but that was in 1985 when I was a student in Italy that year and we all were starved for a Big Mac.

Oh, I did have a couple happy meals when some friends were obsessed with those beanyBabies, lol. When was that?....early 90's? One friend was so nuts she bought ten happy meals a day for months. So I never paid for it and just ate the fries.

I refer to it as McDeath but I do occasionally indulge in a sausage egg McMuffin. Perhaps twice a year. We live remotely, so no easy access to "fast food".

The only fast food I eat is when we go to a Lebanese take-out and get falafel. The only other time might be at a food court in a mall and we would get Cajun catfish or Vietnamese food. I've never been to a McDonald's and I've never eaten any of their food. I have gone to In 'N' Out when on a road trip and could not find anything else, but normally on road trips we can find local diners and go there instead. I don't eat that much, and I don't want to waste my meal options on junk.

I confess to an occasional Sonic burger on half-price burger day, but honestly most of the people I know who eat fast food daily do it because it is the cheapest way to eat and that matters nowadays.

It takes a lot of skill to feed yourself for less than $2 a day, which you can do on the dollar menu at a lot of fast food places, and there are a whole lot of people who don't have the cooking skills or nutritional understanding to do it from scratch. As Julia Child said years ago, there's not much nutrition but it fills you up and will probably keep you alive for a while.

When I was young, careless and always starving I would have gladly eaten at FF places all the time. When you grow up dirt poor eating mostly pinto beans and cornbread all your life, FF is a big treat. Now although I still actually like McDonald's hamburgers and fries and sausage biscuits, I only indulge about once every couple of months and that's only when I happen to be out and about at mealtime. I don't think eating FF that seldom is going to kill me. When I had my young son and was working full time, Friday nights I refused to cook and we usually had pizza from the cheapest place around, Lil' Caesar's. Now we only eat pizza a couple of times a year and not from there. I just don't enjoy FF like I did back then. I guess it's because I know what really good food is in my old age.

DH and DS eat out at fast food places during the summer about once a week. During the winter not so much. With my diet restrictions I can't eat anything but plain eggs and plain unvarnished vegetables. Eating out for me isn't much fun.

I eat fast food maybe a couple times a year, usually if I'm traveling and I don't travel very often. We eat out maybe every 2-3 months or so. But I know of folks that eat fast food or eat out daily and sometimes for most of their meals.

yeonassky, since we started Weight Watchers I don't even try to eat out, it's impossible.

Writer's block, you can eat at McD's for $2, but you're going to still be hungry. Take that same $2 and buy cheap bread (59 cents at Aldi) and a dozen eggs and you can at least have a dozen egg sandwiches for the same money.

Rita, I grew up poor, eating cornmeal mush (ugh, still hate it) and whatever my brother could shoot, but I still don't like fast food.

I will admit to a chili dog and a frosty mug of root beer once per summer at the local A&W, but that's the extent of my fast food. Elery, however, loves the stuff and now will stop at Toxic He!!, um.....Taco Bell, and order a chicken taco from the fresco menu, somehow that fits into WW point system. I'd rather just be hungry than eat that, but to each their own.

Even before WW, if we were going somewhere Elery would stop and get McD's and I'd go into a gas station and buy some peanut butter crackers or a bag of peanuts instead.

Annie

Writer's block, you can eat at McD's for $2, but you're going to still be hungry.

I guess that depends on the person. The only fast food near me with a $1 menu is Wendys and a junior cheeseburger and mini fries are plenty for me, although I don't particularly like their food and rarely eat it. Oh, and on the road I occasionally have no choice but taco bell and the cheezy bean and rice burrito is pretty filling, too, although almost totally ersatz.

ETA I'm old enough to remember when a hamburger was what we now call a slider. The Burger King whopper (1/4 lb of fresh beef!) was so large when it debuted that people had trouble finishing one.

I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French fried potato - cheese burger in paradise.

I wonder how much of that is just coffee?

We have some high end and ethnic fast food that's real food, though a bit salty. Even In-N-Out is real food, though it's burgers and fries drive through (some have dining rooms as well).

Sometimes, McDonald's is the only clean restroom for miles and one must, for courtesy, buy more than a beverage. But the last time I was in that kind of situation, which must be ten years ago, there turned out to be an In-N-Out at the same off ramp. :)

I like short order hamburgers, and don't mind national chain burgers if they're properly made. Most better restaurants have inferior burgers. They try too hard to make them "better".

But how much do I indulge in that? As a broke college kid I probably did eat fast food a few times per week, but it wasn't any worse than what was available on campus. As an adult with my own kitchen and unrestricted access to high quality foods of great variety? Maybe once every couple of months. It has to be a circumstance of best choice, like is there something better that's just as accessible? Can I wait until I get home? Will the people I'm with agree to get something better?

In terms of food quality, salt, fat, MSG, etc., I don't know that fast casual, family restaurants, delis, grilles, coffee shops, diners, etc., up to and including fine dining, really, are any better. Fine dining may be the worst for over salting and ladling on more fat. They don't care about the cost of butter!

Restaurant food shapes a lot of our ideas of what food is and should be, but almost none of it is designed for good health. Way long ago, I was in Wyoming and we had dinner at this place that seemed to cater mostly to aging cowboys and hunters. There were some standard family restaurant type offerings, but half the menu was "Pritikin" and trying to be healthy eating. That was smart. Whereas, there's a place in the same kind of market segment not so far from here, near a friend, that's the opposite. It's like all the down home country cooking, where everything is scratch made down to and including the breads, that no one should eat, and the portion sizes make me think of that old bit "Never eat anything bigger than your head." The quality and flavor are vastly superior to McDonald's, but McD's is diet food on all levels compared to this place.

Not that many people who work full time take food to work. So they have to eat out.

dcarch

Depends on where you live, company culture, etc. I know a lot of people who take their lunches, and have break rooms with microwaves, and sometimes even ranges. This depends on coworkers respecting your stuff though. In my one corporate job, just out of school, that was never a problem, even for soft drinks left overnight. They did disrespect my mug once when there were visiting honchos and they needed vessels, but coffee does wash out. :) I just have always wondered which Stiff Suit got my racoon shaped mug with the tail for a handle. :) It's hard to look intimidating while drinking out of a racoon. :)

I find much of it plenty tasty enough but as I've gotten older and healthier, I want to avoid all the weirdo food additives that make it tasty along with all the other preservatives and who knows what.

Still, sometimes I am rushed, tired, don't want another homemade whatever I have to cook and get a taco or chic-fil-a. Maybe once a month at most.

plllog, I stop at McD's when travelling, use their bathroom, maybe buy a cup of coffee and I don't feel badly about it at all. My grandkids eat enough chicken nuggets to keep the place open, and so I figure their bottom line is safe in spite of my free bathroom usage. My grandson does tell me that the new BBQ chicken strips or whatever are really good, and I'll just trust him on that.

dcarch, when I worked I either carried my lunch or walked home for lunch because there was no fast food within 10 miles and the only restaurant in town was awful plus packed on lunch time with all the other municipal workers. My staff and I all pitched in together and bought ourselves a small refrigerator. I brought in a coffee pot and toaster and my boss donated a microwave and toaster oven. The only problem we had was that the local attorneys would come in and drink all the soft drinks we kept in the fridge. I just started billing them monthly, LOL.

Writersblock, I also remember when a Whopper was the biggest burger I'd ever seen. My Aunt took me to Burger King when it opened and told me it was the biggest hamburger anyone had ever seen. She was right and I couldn't eat it all. I still couldn't eat it all, I don't make myself a quarter pound burger here at home either. Even Madi and Maci, who are 5 and 6, aren't satisfied with the $1 menu burger and fries though, they go home and eat something afterward.

When we had the bar we had something we called a 6 to 1 burger, 6 burgers per pound, and everyone thought they were big! (grin) Of course, a fountain soft drink averaged 12 ounces if you bought a large, so things have definitely gotten bigger, not just the food. A foreign exchange student from Germany remarked to me that "food in America is all so big", but I think the rest of the world is catching up.

gardengal, Elery likes it too. He likes it a lot and is perfectly happy with anything from the dollar menu. He's inordinately fond of Wendy's chili, Arby's curly fries and McDonald's coffee, he just doesn't eat it any more. He does still get the coffee, though, and isn't at all reticent to order that "senior" sized coffee.

Annie

"plllog

Depends on where you live, company culture, etc.---"

Long time ago, CitiBank moved from midtown Manhattan to Long Island City in their own high rise office building. L.I.C. at that time was just an industrial area with nothing much food wise. Nothing at all. To accommodate their staff, CitiBank had a great cafeteria with restaurant quality food, free of charge to employees.

Few months later, CitiBank had to add a new employee's gym. because everyone was getting fat.

Finally they made everyone pay. That solved the problem.

dcarch

So they were pre-Google. :) And had the freshman 10 too. I've read about "executive dining rooms", like pre-1980, where everybody above the managerial level was expected to show up for the meal at meal time, and eat whatever was being served, daily. Whether they liked it or not.

Annie, billing the invading soda thieves was a brilliant move! I've heard horror stories about lunch thieves. Makes one want to create recipes for rat sandwich. ;) You're right about the grandkids paying your way at the McDonald's restroom.

I don't judge anyone for eating there (McD's) or any other fast food. I'm just over it. It rarely tastes good, except at the one Carl's that's old enough to have a really real charbroiler. Even there, you have to get there at just the right time so they're in the swing of things, but not so rushed that it comes out sloppily made. That's nowhere near where I live, and the three really good sandwich shops nearby both closed (Carl's probably owns the land and doesn't face rent hikes, or maybe corporate subsidized the location). The one sandwich shop was all hand made, 100% organic, and even if you called ahead there was no guarantee you wouldn't have a long wait anyway. Not fast food. Worth the wait. Another had the most perfect lamb sandwich ever. Sit down service, but worth it. The third had the ambiance and decor of a third tier, third rate, 1970's airport lounge, but the best Italian sandwiches ever. They used to get their amazing, crusty bread--the kind that required teeth-- from a bakery on the other side of town. The bakery is still there, but before the shop closed they changed the bread to the kind of soft, meh, white baguette that they have at chain sandwich shops. Such a shame! All gone now, but Carl's and McDonald's remain.

Sometimes, McDonald's is the only clean restroom for miles and one must, for courtesy, buy more than a beverage.

Pillog, I simply buy the coffee. There's nothing on their menu that appeals to me. But their coffee is actually good.

I don't care what anyone else eats. Back in the day I actually liked that McRib thing, and that's quite artificial!

DH and I eat out fairly often and travel also. We never eat fast food, especially McDonalds. I never much liked fast food when I was younger and completely ignore it now.

You can go to Starbucks and buy nothing, and they still have to allow you to use the restroom. This was in the news fairly recently.

I go home for lunch now because my commute is 1.3 miles and only takes 4-5 minutes each way. I start work at 8:00 so that I can have an hour for lunch. When I lived further from work, I started work at 8:30 and only have 30 minutes for lunch, but I always brought my own lunch, as did most of the people who work here. However, there are also food trucks that come by, and some people buy their lunches from those. Some of the food trucks in L.A. are fairly good, or so I've heard, as I have not eaten from those unless I am at a street fair.

I occasionally get fast food at the farmers' markets, and that tends to be pretty good also. I also like Popeye's Fried Chicken, but it's really not on my diet. There are some take-out sushi restaurants here that are pretty good also, and I often buy ready-made sushi at the grocery store - some of them have good sushi chefs, but not all of them.

McDonald's doesn't charge for the restroom. It's just courteous to buy something. I've faced the same issue at Starbucks of have to buy something first as those poor men in the news, but no one called the cops on us! Actually, we figured out that standing in line for a minute was sufficient to be admitted to the restroom, but we did go back and buy something, again, for courtesy's sake. Still, I'm glad Starbucks changed their policy. Any place whose main product acts like a diuretic for infrequent consumers should have an open door (saving privacy locks) policy on restrooms!

There are ready made items i'll buy at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods that aren't like what one thinks of as "fast food", though they are grab and go. I like some of the salads for that, and I find the quality equivalent or better than many cafes. The food counters at the huge major chain market have attractive looking foods, but when you look a bit closer and rest the ingredients, you want to make a hot foot exit to McDonald's. Seriously.

I work a 12 hour shift. Employees are not allowed to leave the premises during our shift. The company I work for provides each department with a full size fridge, microwave and stove/oven. The one in our office is shared by 5 people. I know now that my peanuts,peanut butter,cheese,pickles and diet Sunkist are NEVER safe. We all know who the thief is. He is the night shift worker on nights when I am off. It's the oldest one among us,who seriously sees no problem with his behavior. He says if we dont want to share it,we should only bring what we are going to eat that day. I am not lugging a jar of pickles or pb to and from work everyday or even every week. We are all adults who know what is ours and what is not. How about just not stealing stuff? Can you manage that?

Our former boss used to bring in 12 packs of diet Pepsi. She would put 3 or 4 in the fridge before she left so that they would be cold the next day. He would drink them at night. She told him, look,can you at LEAST put some of the ones out of the case into the fridge when you drink the cold ones so that I can have cold drinks the next day?(She was a saint,bless her soul) He wouldn't even do that.

Last year,after an 8 pack of diet Sunkist disappeared, even though they were clearly marked "MINE!" in marker,I called and told him that if he took just one more if my drinks,I would kick his @ss. He tried to laugh it off. He told me he had planned to replace them. Bull. Crap. I don't want you to replace it. Stop stealing it and bring your own stuff,i said. He justified it by saying he never wants these things until he sees them. Ugh. I told him that I had informed him of the consequences,and the choice was his. I was only half joking.He hasn't taken MY drinks in a while,but my snacks still disappear in small portions.

I did get justice once though. He has diverticulitis. He stole so many of my peanuts and pickles one night he put himself in the hospital and had to have a chunk of intestine taken out.

It did nothing to deter his pilfering though.......

Well,.that was a tangent. Back to the topic: We don't eat fast food unless it's a last resort. Home cooked or regular restaraunt food is so much better. Plus, SO often gets disgusted at how slovenly and gross some of the employees at such places are,and sometimes won't eat it after we get it for that reason. I get it. If the guy making your food has his pants down past his butt,and you can see through the window that he has to keep pulling them up,nah,not appetizing.

I used to work night shift (11 PM - 7 AM) at a restaurant, and one of the perks was supposed to be that we could eat at the restaurant for free while working there. Well, I never felt like eating during those hours, and so I would occasionally take home half a loaf of bread and a piece of cheese, since I never ate at the restaurant. In addition, I was told to take samples of what I made so that I could see how they turned out. Each night I have three different desserts/coffee cake type things, and I would take two pieces of each one, and so I had to have tea parties to get the samples consumed. I made huge quantities, and so taking two pieces of each item was not a big deal. People who worked there during business hours ate a lot more of the restaurant food than I did. Anyway, I was just saying that I found it odd that someone would have such an appetite during the night shift. I would buy a lunchbox with a padlock if that happened to me.

when I worked at home office for Allstate I saw many that ran out for lunch and hit the fast food places, often after running some errands. We had a cafeteria run by Sodexho that was not bad and had healthy options. When I transferred to the Allstate print and warehouse, the cafeteria was smaller and the staff could set their own menus and recipes. We ate well. I generally brought my own lunch made of leftovers or a salad. People would stop by my office to see the "special of the day".m

Lunch for $1 at a fast food place???? who are you kidding?? The average is $6. Times 5 days you are out $30 a week or more. Grab that extra soda or coffee and even more flys out. Then they complained they were broke.

Yup, a lock box that fits in the fridge, with a padlock, amylou. The only problem we ever had was if two of us brought in the same thing. I had two employees that were addicted to Strawberry Poptarts, although that escapes me. They were always asking whether the box belonged to the other. I finally suggested that they keep respective boxes at their own cubicles or in their desk drawers.

In our office if something was left on the breakroom table, it was fair game, meant for sharing, like a plate of cookies or half a loaf of pumpkin bread. Other items were kept in the refrigerator.

Well, there was one other problem. No one ever wanted to clean out the fridge and food got old/moldy/spoiled. I finally made a schedule with each person responsible for monthly cleaning. Employees had to write dates on containers and if they were more than a week old, they went on the table. Everyone checked the table for their items and if they were not claimed, I tossed them, containers and all.

Annie

Lars,I work 12 hour night shifts,and have since I was 18,though not at the same place. When I work,I usually only eat at work. I guess my (and sir peanut pilferer) body and appetite have adjusted to it.

I appreciate the ability to have and store ingredients and the tools and the time cook a real meal at work as opposed to bringing in takeout or something from home. Such a pity to have someone so obnoxious put a damper on such a rare perk.

Annie,I am always the one to clean the fridge. If I am going to store my food in it I like it to be clean. I do it often enough that it won't get gross. I usually send an email to the others in the office when I am going to do it,so they can label food they don't want me to toss.

The commissary at Sony Pictures where Kevin works is very good, and there are several good places to eat on the studio lot, but none are cheap. One is owned by Wolfgang Puck. Not only that, downtown Culver City has a lot of very good trendy restaurants that Kevin can walk to. For me, I am closer to my house than I am to any restaurants from where I work.

"Lars/J. Robert Scott

The commissary at Sony Pictures where Kevin works is very good,--"

Agree. I have been there a few times. One time they had steak there.Pretty good.

Isn't the executive dining next to the commissary the one operated by Puck?

dcarch

I haven't been to it personally, but I think you are right. The food at their parties is pretty good also, from Kevin's description. I've only been to one of the coffee shops, and it was pretty impressive.

The only fast food we eat is In-N-Out and Del Taco. We eat one of those about once every two weeks. We ocaisonally get pizza, but that’s once a month at the least.

I don't go to hamburger or Mexican chain fast food places, unless I happen to be in Seattle and need food, then I treat myself to a Dick's Cheeseburger. A local chain with a loyal following. Nothing fancy, no sit down, just walk up and take to your car or home. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers and fries, real milkshakes - 3 flavors only, I think. Soft drinks. That's it. Yum.

If I'm elsewhere with no time for a sit down, I will get something at Starbucks. I love their sous vide egg whites with red peppers. Low carb, low cal, low fat, very tasty. Or I might get a low fat breakfast sandwich or cold turkey or chicken sandwich. They are decent and predictable, ready made -fast.

Starbucks doesn't HAVE to let anyone use their restrooms but made a corporate decision to let even non-customers use them. This came after some unfortunate episodes of what appeared to be discrimination against certain types of people who were perceived as being non-customers (probably not going to buy anything). It will be interesting to see how that plays out for them and their customers.

Before I retired (5 years ago) I would text everyone that I was bringing lunch the next day! Someone would make a salad, someone else French bread etc etc. Cut down on eating out! NT

Fast foods is my biggest problem. Honestly. Not even healthy/fitness wise but I just spend so much money on them, I don't even know how. my currency is just slipping away on it lol.

But I can't tell no to that sweet burger or fries... a quarterpounder with double cheese.... wait I'll finish later i need to go out....

Amylou, it makes my blood boil what your co worker did! I would be plotting brownies laced with laxative, yeah, I'm not the easy going relaxed type much!

I'm guilty of eating fast food occasionally, but I try to balance it out with home-cooked meals. I'm a food blogger, so I love trying out new food menu items, but I also believe in satisfying my hunger with nutritious food. Tim Hortons is my weakness, though! How about you, do you have a favorite fast food spot or do you prefer cooking at home?