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Is it a pain in the ass to ask for fresh food at a fast food place?

ASleepingMonkey

ASleepingMonkey

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
4,498
Iowa
My internal clock is usually pretty out of whack, so I often find myself going to get dinner later than most people. I'm a sucker for McDonalds, especially chicken nuggets but if you don't go during a particular window, they're not going to be fresh. Fries might be a bit soggy or cold, nuggets might not be as crisp as usually, etc.

So, my question to anyone who has worked in fast food: Would it make me a dick/is it annoying if someone comes through the drive-thru and asks for fresh food?
 
sredgrin

sredgrin

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,276
Yes, especially drive thru. If you want fresh food get take out / delivery to a parking space (which some Mcdonalds do now) and don't block up the lines.
 
bmdubya

bmdubya

Member
Nov 1, 2017
6,538
Colorado
In the drive-thru, yeah it's pretty dickish. You're holding up the line to wait for workers to make you fresh food, which then pisses off everyone waiting in line, and then they'll take it out on the workers for making them wait a long time.

But if you were dining in or grabbing food to-go from inside, I don't think it'd be an issue. Doesn't hurt to ask, the worst they'll say is "sorry, can't do that." It isn't like you'll be banned from the restaurant or anything like that.
 
RecRoulette

RecRoulette

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,044
As long as you know you're going to wait and don't block the drive-thru line it's fine.
 
blame space

blame space

Resettlement Advisor
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,420
doing anything besides reading exactly what's on the menu, paying, and dealing with what you get is an annoying customer move.
 
DarkSora

DarkSora

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,193
I worked in fast food for 9 years and having customers ask for freshly cooked Hot Dogs or Chicken nuggets was a pain in the ass for us as we had to put in a new batch and it would hold up the line.
 
CarpeDeezNutz

CarpeDeezNutz

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
2,732
Wait so I have never heard of this, so what happens, is that you roll up to the window at the drive thru and make them make your food again?
 
Joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,178
How long is the food sitting already cooked in a place like McDonald's? I'm sure a batch of fries goes super quick so odds are that your order fries are older than 5 minutes are really slim.
 
hateradio

hateradio

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,775
welcome, nowhere
blame space said:
yes i would like my nuggies fresh please. i'll wait.
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worth.jpg
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever™
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,576
You're buying food for like a buck. I haven't had fast food in years but when I did I knew that the freshness was a dice roll every time. That's just getting what you paid for haha
 
BLEEN

BLEEN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,956
The trick at at least Chinese spots is "no onions in the fried rice please". Fresh rice every time.
 
OP
OP
ASleepingMonkey

ASleepingMonkey

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
4,498
Iowa
CarpeDeezNutz said:
Wait so I have never heard of this, so what happens, is that you roll up to the window at the drive thru and make them make your food again?
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Well, I've never done it which is why I'm asking so I don't give anyone a headache. Presumably you'd ask as you order so they start preparing it that way instead of refusing what they give you and making them do even more work
 
acheron_xl

acheron_xl

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,460
MSN, WI
If you want fresh food, you don't go during off-peak hours, unless it's a place like Culver's that always makes food to order.
 
Scottoest

Scottoest

Member
Feb 4, 2020
11,417
CarpeDeezNutz said:
Wait so I have never heard of this, so what happens, is that you roll up to the window at the drive thru and make them make your food again?
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You're asking for them to make your food after you order, not just give you stuff that is already made and sitting under the lamps - sometimes for a very long time.

I understand the OP's position. I've had some nugs that were CLEARLY sitting under those lamps for a looooong time. This happens way more often if you're going at weird low-traffic times of day too.
 
OP
OP
ASleepingMonkey

ASleepingMonkey

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
4,498
Iowa
acheron_xl said:
If you want fresh food, you don't go during off-peak hours, unless it's a place like Culver's that always makes food to order.
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I've learned lately to just go at 10:30AM for my lunch when most places are starting to serve lunch but then at night, past normal dinner time, I get hungry and am like "well, I'll probably have to deal with cold food so what's the point".
 
Arttemis

Arttemis

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
6,252
ASleepingMonkey said:
I've heard this is worse because they have to go to the added effort of cleaning the fryers to make sure there's no excess salt and stuff. Heard it's better to just ask for fresh fries if you're going to rather than no salt
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Cleaning a fryer is an extensive process done late at night that involves removing all the oil from the machine. They're not doing that every time someone orders fries without salt. They're just frying a new batch of fries separately.
 
cameron

cameron

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
23,857
Yes.

And all staff are aware of the online "life pro tips" that customers say to get them make fresh food. Don't treat them like they're idiots.
 
ItIsOkBro

ItIsOkBro

Happy New Year!!
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
9,562
if you ask for it fresh we put it back on the grill / in the oil for a few seconds

source: used to work at mcdonald's
 

Deleted member 2802

Community Resetter
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
33,729
ASleepingMonkey said:
Well, I've never done it which is why I'm asking so I don't give anyone a headache. Presumably you'd ask as you order so they start preparing it that way instead of refusing what they give you and making them do even more work
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If they are serving old food and they don't gaf you should probably try a different location.
There is a good Popeye's and a bad Popeye's near me.
Literally the exact same food and price, but one has a good manager and the other one doesn't.

Makes a world of difference.
 
Viale

Viale

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,631
Worked at McDonald's for a summer, and yeah, everyone is slightly annoyed when a "fresh" order comes in. Same exact thing with the "no salt" on fries crowd which happened more often than I personally expected.

On the plus side, it's certainly not the the most annoying customer move by any means.
 
VariantX

VariantX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,933
Columbia, SC
Go during the busy time or go somewhere that prepares food to order. Its fast food, not fresh food. Fresh food costs way more than you want to pay because you went to a fast food joint, and more time you want to wait for it to be prepared because again, you went to a fucking fast food resturaunt.
 
Joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,178
shira said:
If they are serving old food and they don't gaf you should probably try a different location.
There is a good Popeye's and a bad Popeye's near me.
Literally the exact same food and price, but one has a good manager and the other one doesn't.

Makes a world of difference.
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The good Popeye's doesn't call you a motherfucker as they throw the food at you.
 
MercuryLS

MercuryLS

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,578
I always ask for a fresh drop on the spicy chicken sandwich at Wendy's, sorry but it tastes so much better. That's the only time I do that.
 
Stencil

Stencil

Member
Oct 30, 2017
10,450
USA
Yes of course it's a pain in the ass. You just get what you get. That's kind of inherent with fast food. It's not like an employee is going to enjoy throwing out all the old fries and making an entire new batch just for one picky customer at 2am
 
Saito

Saito

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,821
blame space said:
doing anything besides reading exactly what's on the menu, paying, and dealing with what you get is an annoying customer move.
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This needs to be printed, framed and plastered on every square inch of every fast food restaurant.

also; having worked in fast food - this no salt fry trick? Yeah let's just say Morgan freeman good luck on having those fries not fucked with.
 
Nepenthe

Nepenthe

When the music hits, you feel no pain.
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
21,047
Yes, if you're using any kind of service that involves a line of customers waiting on something, and you ask for something to be done outside of the standard services offered, then yeah you're fucking up the line. Retail and fast food methods of working function the most smoothly when they can just throw your shit in a box in seconds and be done with you.
 
RPGam3r

RPGam3r

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,663
I mean you can special order and you'll get something fresher (or what would pass as fast food fresh). There's nothing you can do with their "chicken" nuggets. To be honest I don't think I could tell the difference on those?
 
MoonToon

MoonToon

Banned
Nov 9, 2018
2,029
shira said:
Curious did anyone ever ask for freshly cooked sliders?
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Probably, I don't remember all the things I did there but there was def times I took newer sliders instead of steaming older ones. The work flow is set up so that there's pretty much always a new batch of sliders being made unless it's slow. If it's too slow they just toss the old batch cause they can only sit around for so long. And iirc when it's slow you don't bother making a new batch on the 2nd grindle until the first is over half gone. So if it seems busy you prob have nothing to worry about or if you want you can ask for a newer cooked one.

Seems more likely that people would ask for them to be re-steamed as there's a steamer there just for that. And most of the time if any of them have been sitting out for a bit you just toss them in the steamer before handing them off.

Also, don't order a bacon burger unless it's morning. Bacon takes time to make properly and it's a rare ask so at my place they only made it in the morning and it would sit off to the side until people asked for it. Don't have any left? Welp, saw a woman deep fry it once.
I still love White Castles to this day as that manger tier woman deep frying some bacon that 1 time was the only time I say anything that gave me pause.
 
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