LeliaThomas.Com

Why Fast Food is Better

Andrew and I went to Subway the other night, and on our way out, we discussed how great fast food is. Now, before I get started on this, we should probably drop some preconceived notions. Fast food does not immediately mean junk food, despite how synonymous the terms have seemingly become in the last few years. Fast food means what it sounds like it does: food, that is served fast, so you can get the hell out. To me, this is a great invention that I am willing to pay for, because it saves me one of life’s most valuable assets, time.

Over the years, and the older I get, the more I’ve come to realize that the “restaurant experience” is extraordinarily overrated in the same way that shopping at the mall is. And, just like it’s better to buy crap off of Amazon, it’s often better to buy my food and leave.

I believe fast food will become more important in years to come, because the concept makes sense when you take our increasing need for flexibility in our fast-paced schedules. As more fast food places open up, and more business is done at them, the food will get cheaper, too, which is one of the few things stopping all restaurants from getting visited more frequently.

The reason I’m writing this is partly because of my conversation with Andrew, but also because of an article from the Christian Science Monitor today, Los Angeles in a stew because of taco trucks. This article is about the mixed feelings toward one of Los Angeles’ latest interests, a mobile taco restaurant. Here’s an excerpt:

Swarmed around Leo’s Taco truck on Eagle Rock Boulevard, about 50 night patrons are stuffing their cheeks with carne asada tacos – and chewing over one of this city’s big controversies: taco trucks.

“Why should a taco vendor be able to park in front of someone else’s restaurant and steal his customers away with cheaper food?” asks one man, spearing pinto beans on a paper plate with a plastic fork.

“But making them move every hour is a bad idea,” says another as he orders a veggie burrito. “How can a truck vendor keep loyal customers if he has to move so often?”

….The new county law makes parking a taco truck in one spot for more than an hour punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail, or both. It replaces a longtime but rarely enforced measure that fined trucks $60 if they stayed in one spot longer than 30 minutes. The law affects unincorporated areas of the city – where about 60 percent of the population lives – and includes East Los Angeles, one of the biggest concentrations of Mexican-Americans in the United States.

…With less-expensive menu items and lower overhead, the mobile kitchens were forcing established restaurants to close early and suffer losses, according to the East Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.

So, here’s what we can take from the above: (1) the market loves meals on wheels, (2) the government still has a bias against free parking (assholes), and (3) “established restaurants” can’t take the competitive heat (and so should maybe get out of the kitchen–and get a truck!).

This is a fine example of what I’m talking about. It’s highly unlikely that anyone is going to that taco vendor because it has better food than an authentic Mexican restaurant. People also aren’t going because there’s some magic sauce that’s making them addicted to the food, to the point that they can’t stop themselves and are going to be obese soon. People are going because it’s cheap and saves time and probably tastes all right, perhaps even good or excellent. It’s cheap, because you aren’t paying for waiters and much overhead. It’s fast because it’s in a friggin’ truck. Duh. There’s really no mystery here, and if we really lived in a functioning free market, people might be upset with the change but would also be willing to adapt. Sadly, though, most are just willing to whine. “He’s taking my business because he’s meeting a neeeed that I’m not. Poooor meee. Why should I have to change?” Boohoo, indeed. Get a truck.

As for health, some fast food is unhealthy, perhaps even a majority of it is for now, but there’s no reason it has to remain that way. Restaurant owners who would be willing to take a risk and either convert their “restaurant experience” into a fast (food) turnover establishment, or mobilize, are likely going to reap huge rewards. It just makes sense. Who has time to go to a sit-down-and-wait restaurant when they have an hour for lunch, and driving to and from their workplace takes them 10 minutes or more in thick, lunch-hour traffic? Dinnertime is only slightly different. If I’m really tired, I’m not interested in fixing a good-tasting meal for myself, and it’s usually not your usual restaurant I’m going for, either. I’m headed for something fast, so I can hurry back home and put on my favorite attire: baggy pajamas pants. There is a reason there are only long lines at the extremely good restaurants and the fast food businesses, during mealtimes. Mediocre businesses don’t stand a chance against those two groups, really.

It’s not that I don’t like to occasionally go to a nice restaurant where there’s a cheery waiter or waitress. (Not too fond of those who hate me and spit in my food, though.) It’s more that I think times have changed and people don’t always want the restaurant experience that is still the most widely available. A serious market need would be met if more restaurants would cater to the fast-paced schedules and lives of today. People just want to eat. Again, it’s not a mystery.

Now, speaking of (questionably-healthy) fast food, Australia would be meeting one person’s market need if they brought a Taco Bell over, and none of this crappy, expensive Taco Bill junk, either.

Comments ordered from oldest to newest.

Edrei

This is why I prepare my meals over the weekend. Get or roast some meat. Wash the lettuce, chop up some tomatoes, capsicum and onions. Shred the carrots. That’s pretty much the main meal whether it be salad, a sandwich or some side while I cook some steak. I don’t usually have time to cook these days so these will have to do.

The plus side, it’s cheaper and much healthier as well. The life of a poor uni student. Compared to some fast food joints, I’m saving heaps.

Lelia

Yeah, fast food is more expensive here, where there’s less competition in the industry. I eat at home quite a lot, mind you, it’s just I realize I could say a ton of time if there were more fast food options (including some healthier ones). While I would spend some time getting to the establishments (unless they were mobile live the tacomobile!), I’d save far more not having to prepare anything or clean up after the meal. I’ve tried what you said you do, and I just can’t take it for too long. It’s not often that I can have the same thing every day–unless it’s potato chips, but that’s a different story–and if I don’t eat what I’ve prepared, it goes to waste. That’s no money saver, for sure.

I just need a maid. And a million dollars.

Esther

You’re absolutely right, Lelia, in that the sit-down variety and Roach Coaches (as I affectionately call them around here) serve totally different markets. I work at a place that is in Beverly Hills but just a block away is the BH/LA line - which I’ll sometimes cross in order to get to the Roach Coach on the other side. (One could spin that into a chicken crossing the road joke, couldn’t he?) On the same token, though, I think that in the case of Roach Coaches, it’s somewhat known that the food they serve is of the grubby variety. ;) They might sell tostadas or salads, true, but as for tacos - that stuff is just greasy goodness! Very true about the convenience being king in this case, though.

Eli James

What I really do hope, Lelia, is that fast food will soon be as healthy as other kinds of foods. Cause I like fast food as much as you do though the health factor seriously gets in the way of loving fast food wholeheartedly. Plus, to a certain extent, having irregular meals is a lot unhealthier than eating regular - even fast - meals.

At any rate, once it’s healthy enough there shouldn’t be any major argument against fast food. Imagine: Fast, Cheap, Easily Obtainable AND Healthy. It’s going to be unstoppable.

Viva le Subway!

Lelia

In terms of the health side, I think people already have some options in fast food. It’s just a matter of whether they choose them, and that’s something that’s way beyond what should be considered the fast food industry’s responsibility. Nobody makes anyone eat poorly. McDonald’s you can pretty well rule out, though, if you want to be healthy (and in terms of general quality, I don’t see why more don’t, anyway).

I think what I’m talking about here could be made possible if we moved away from the idea that getting waited on is a cool restaurant experience. That’s where all the extra money goes to, even if, in the case of America, those waiting the table get a majority of their income via tip. The jobs would just be converted from dealing with people at tables to fixing more food in the back. Things would be cheaper and faster. Just the way we like it.