can you even consider Chiptole / Panera / Dunkin' Donuts / Papa John's to be fast food?

i don't understand the Taco Bell hate. how can you hate a place where you can fill yourself up with delicious food for $2?

Yeah, I was a bit surprised by Taco Bell, too. I think it may be related to their beef's poor reputation.

Around where I live there are many Taco Bells and most of them are a KFC/Taco Bell combined establishments since it's the same parent corp. The combo joints are by far the worst fast food places ever, although BK is definitely a close second with Popeyes and McD coming in 3 and 4 respectively. For the KFc/TB, long wait times, shitty service, 9 times out of 10 they fuck up your order too and they are generally disgustingly filthy inside. The few standalone Taco Bells have excellent service and are well taken care of. They still don't compare to Chik FIl A though. Chik Fil A's are super clean, your food is always correct and hot, service is fast and friendly. If they have long drive thru lines, they'll walk right out to your car and take your order personally with a handheld device. If you go inside they always have 3-4 dedicated people at the counter getting everyone's food together and taking orders. It's impressive for a fast food place, I understand why they are #1.

yeah KFC and Taco Bell don't really go well together in regards to the timing of making the food on the different menus. Taco Bell is all about speed. at a standalone Taco Bell you can order a taco 12 pack and have it ready in a minute and a half. that doesn't work too well with the KFC menu, where they encourage people to place $20-$30 orders to feed the whole family. sure, they could make your Tacos in a minute or two, but you've gotta wait for this RL caricature of the Simpson family to get their 16 piece meal with 8 sides first.

BTW i used to work at a stand-alone Taco Bell, and i would still recommend their food to anyone. my Taco Bell was super clean, and the food quality was excellent. regulations were strictly adhered to and etc. the only way they cut corners in the kitchen was by holding onto nachos and cinnamon twists for longer than they should. but they tasted fine to me anyway,

I'll go against the grain for a moment and say something nice about McDonald's. However only in regard to their Japanese restaurants. I lived in Okinawa, Japan, for more than three years and the McDonald's there were absolutely fantastic. They had Chick Fil A-tier service in terms of the fries always being hot, the order always being correct, and everything being prepared exactly as it appears on the marketing pictures. It was not unusual to see a Japanese McDonald's employee literally running to your car to bring you hot fries. The cultural difference between U.S. and Japanese service employees is stark.

But we should pay all of our fast food workers $15/hr cause they are sooooo worth it.....

It was funny, because the chick-fil-a about 30 miles from here was backed up out into the street, and filled up inside after the supposed controversy that was supposed to destroy their business and reputation if they didn't retract the statement. So basically, the real reaction is different than what the media would have people believe. The media would have you think the crickets are chirping at chick-fil-a until they retract their statement. Just another company who refused to be bullied, and the people supported them for it. As the saying goes, money talks, bullshit walks.