Before you even think about taking a trip to McDonald's, Burger King, or whatever other
quick-service restaurant your stomach desires, it’s a good idea to take a minute to commit
these common fast food ordering mistakes to memory.
If you’re unable to visit your favorite fast food spot as soon as they open, there’s
still an easy way for you to get your food hot and fresh by simply saying, "I'd like
that fresh, please."
Yup, it’s really that easy!
In a Reddit thread on fast food hacks, workers and former workers from several different
fast food chains confirmed as much.
One Redditor wrote:
"The Wendy's I worked at always would give fresh anything if it was requested."
Another poster added:
"I work at McDonald's, and people ask for food fresh, which we honor.
That may just mean you have to pull up and wait extra time for your food, but it doesn't
matter much to us either way."
There are a few other ways to score your fast food as fresh as possible, too.
For starters, time your trip right.
According to one former fast-food worker, the most reliable way to get fresh food is
to go to fast food restaurants that stay busy.
The more orders they have, the more often they have to crank out more fresh food.
Are you a big fan of Carl’s Jr.'s breakfast burger?
Well, if your fast food order ever includes something with eggs, you're going to want
to hear this.
You know how it goes — your order is handed to you and, for a brief moment before you
stuff your face with delicious greasy goodness, you take a quick look at the food in your
hands and you wonder why your egg is shaped so oddly.
At many fast food eateries, the eggs come out as a spongy pale-yellow rectangle folded
upon itself.
If you play your cards right, though, you can actually get an egg that looks exactly
like an egg.
Here's what you have to do in order to snag one of these poached-style eggs, per a Serious
Eats contributor:
"All you've got to do is tell the cashier that you'd like your sandwich made with a
'round egg' and they'll replace your folded egg patty with a real egg, free of charge."
Know what's better than cheap food?
Free food.
In one Reddit thread, a Wendy's worker weighed in with a little-known fact about Wendy's
drinks.
If your Wendy's doesn't have a self-serve drink station, you can still get free refills
without having to commit a crime.
The Redditor said:
"All you need to do is go up to the counter and ask for a refill.
No need to go large when you can go value and get it filled again."
A former Chipotle employee told Reader's Digest in 2017 that employees are required to give
a, quote, "non-heaping spoonful of each food" in an order — but that doesn't mean you
can't ask for more.
A former employee also revealed:
"I used to work there.
Everything extra except for meat and guac is free as long as it fills the bowl/burrito.
[...] The employees will hate you if there's a long line and you keep asking for more,
but it won't cost you anything more than the regular price."
If you aren't using the app or rewards program from your favorite fast food eatery, you're
walking away from a lot of perks, including potential money savings.
In 2017, Insider contributor Madeline Diamond detailed how these programs can be super-beneficial
to fast food fans.
"If you regularly eat at fast food chains, you could save some serious cash by joining
their rewards program.”
She then described a few possible byproducts of using said apps at popular fast food joints.
If you download the McDonald's app, for example, you'll have access to coupons you wouldn't
otherwise get.
You can also snag a free McCafe beverage after you purchase five at regular price.
At Chick-fil-A, ordering through the app earns you points, which in turn accumulate to earn
you free food items.
And, just FYI, in a 2019 study of the best restaurant apps for fast food deals, Clark.com
ranked Chick-fil-A's number one.
“You have my warmest congratulations.”
Given the nature of fast food, most of us order it on the fly.
This means we typically roll through the drive-thru.
“Then I think I would like a large ---- with ---- m.”
Of course, this also means that you'll have to wait for your food.
That doesn't have to be the case, though — if you want really fast food, it might be time
to do a little snooping around to find out whether your favorite fast food restaurant
offers alternative ordering methods.
Are you confused?
“Do you understand the words that are comin’ outta my mouth.”
As it turns out, there’s often a speedier way to place your order.
Many fast food restaurants will let you order-ahead using their online app.
To find out if your local store allows ordering by phone, just give them a call!
Be careful though — many places won't actually start your order until you confirm on the
app that you've arrived, meaning you may still have a wait, but it'll still be a shorter
one.
Have you ever heard the urban legend of the Poor Man's Big Mac?
Well, it's one of those rare urban legends that is true.
The gist is this: Instead of paying nearly $5 for a Big Mac, you ask instead for a $1
McDouble off the dollar menu.
Only, as Twitter user @LandenCantWeld pointed out, you ask for a few specific changes.
He said,
"McDonalds Hack: Get a McDouble, but substitute the ketchup & mustard for Big Mac sauce and
lettuce.
You will NOT regret it."
Fans of this simple substitution swear the modified McDouble tastes exactly like a regular
Big Mac for around a quarter of the cost.
If you're willing to do your research, you'll find there are easy swaps like this at most
fast food restaurants, like at Taco Bell where you can substitute potatoes for meat if you’re
in need of a vegetarian option.
"VEGETABLES!"
You go to a fast food joint, place your order, get your receipt, and immediately proceed
to toss the receipt in the trash without so much as a second glance.
This is especially true if you're going through the drive-thru and the employee at the window
hands you a receipt with a survey at the bottom.
You nod politely, grab your receipt, and shove it into the cupholder or center console where
it will likely remain until the next time you decide to clean out your car.
In a 2016 study, Ttag Systems found that 45.9 percent of people polled didn't even notice
their receipts had offers on them.
As it turns out, this could be a costly mistake.
If you ignore your receipt, you might miss a survey and, also miss out on the reward
of free goodies.
By now, you've undoubtedly heard that most fast food restaurants offer a secret menu.
And while that's all well and good, you don't have to memorize said secret menus to partake
of tasty food that isn't part of the restaurant's typical fare.
You just have to be bold enough to get creative — and ask your favorite fast-food eatery
to indulge you a little.
For example, one Redditor revealed a super-scrumptious Taco Bell hack.
"Okay so you know you like the Cheesy Gordita Crunch.
You also like the Dorito taco.
[...] But did you know that for just 30 cents you can replace your plain Gordita crunch
shell with a Dorito shell?"
Another Redditor interjected and said a lot of customers aren’t even aware that you
can add or subtract items in almost all of the combos and individual items.
You can also add lava sauce to almost anything on the menu.
All you need to do is muster up the courage to ask, since most fast food eateries aim to please.
“And then?”
“No and then, that’s all I want.”
“And then.”
Whenever you're craving fast food, there's quite possibly an internal struggle going
on as you pull into the eatery's parking lot.
Do you go through the drive-thru, or do you walk inside to place your order?
Chances are, you prefer to go through the drive-thru for convenience sake, especially
if you’re craving a Big Mac.
But ordering your food through the drive-thru might not be the best bet.
In a study of 23 fast food chains performed by QSR magazine, drive-thru times were found
to have slowed down significantly, down some 23 seconds from the previous year's average
order-up time.
This slowdown seems to be backed up by a Quora commenter who worked at a McDonald's for two
years.
He stressed the importance of going inside because it’s usually much faster than sitting
in the traffic jam outside in the drive-thru.
“Can I give you two guys a friendly piece of advice, OK?
Don’t EVER go through the drive through.
Always walk up to the counter.”
In fact, there's a separate Quora thread devoted entirely to the topic of whether it's faster
to hit the drive-thru or just go inside.
Clay Nicolsen, former Senior Director of US I/T at McDonald's, said,
"A restaurant may be famous for its fast drive-thru service, so almost all customers go through
the drive-thru.
Because of this, if you go inside, there is no wait, and the service is faster."
Apparently, we've all been making a cardinal fast-food ordering sin, and most of us probably
had absolutely no idea.
Curious?
Okay, here goes: If you go through a drive-thru, you should not check your order at the window
before you pull away.
One Redditor explained that there are timers installed in the drive-thru:
"And once those times get up to about 60 seconds, the boss starts flipping out on the crew because
they aren't working fast/hard enough."
Granted, it sounds like that Redditor suffers from sucky-boss-syndrome.
"He called me a moron, Dennis!"
“Did you threaten this customer or use profanity in any way?”
“Yes!”
“You’re fired!”
However, another Redditor confirmed that — even at fast food restaurants where the managers
don't flip out — drive-thru workers are held to specific time standards.
They said,
"But it is true that we were given numbers about how quick we were, but we were already
doing the best we could, not like being told that we didn't do 2 percent of orders under
60 seconds changed anything."
So what’s the solution?
Know what you want before you pull in, don't start eating while still in the drive-thru,
have your money and change ready and, if you must, check your order super-quickly.
You can also pull up a little bit to do so, though.
Between BOGO deals and other clever marketing campaigns, we the people have been indoctrinated
to believe that you always get more bang for your buck if you buy in bulk.
And sometimes the math really does work in our favor so that we get more for less.
When it comes to fast food, though, that isn't always the case.
On a Reddit thread devoted to secret intel on fast food franchises, a McDonald's foodie
advised against going for larger quantities of a specific menu item — and the reason
is borderline brilliant.
They said,
"McBurger's advice is that a 4-piece nuggets is $1, whereas a 6-piece is $2.49.
[...] Always order multiple 4 pieces for best value.”
These means ordering 8 nuggets for $2 instead of ordering 6 nuggets for $2.49.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Mashed videos about your favorite restaurants are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.