Admit it, we all have our own guilty indulgences at the drive-thru. The crispy saltiness of freshly fried fries, the comfort of burgers in the dead of night, the sugary delight of a milkshake fast food can be irrepressibly pleasurable. But beneath all those friendly smiles on either side of the counters and speedy efficient service lies a chaotic grease-stained world that few patrons ever glimpse.
Who most appreciates this truth? The employees. They are the ones on the ground, perspiring through dinner rushes, working with temperamental machinery, bending and twisting over the quirks of a temperamental menu. They have come to form very strong opinions over the years about certain dishes especially the ones that make their job ten times harder.
This isn’t a complaint site. This is a snapshot of a glimpse of what drives fast food workers crazy. Some are too complex, some are sanitation nightmares, and some just take too much effort to make. Here’s what they wish you’d stop ordering in stealth mode:
1. Hard-Fried Crab – A Delicate Disaster
At a fast seafood chain, the kitchen nightmarish dish is this one. Employees have to dig out whole crab, place a crab cake on top, cover it gently, and hope it won’t fall apart when cooked in the fryer. The dish occupies fryer space for over 10 minutes, so it is a time waster particularly when shells break or fingers get burned opening it up for packaging.
2. Customised Creations – Chaos on a Bun
Most workers are happy to make small changes, but when customers try to build their own masterpieces, all is not well. Orders like “grilled cheese, no cheese, but bacon, onions, and four sauces” baffle computers and destroy the entire line. It makes production lines harder to control, wastes food, and is more likely to lead to internal chaos on the back line.
3. Quesaritos (Chipotle) – The Standby Villain
Quesaritos are a favorite, but they are despised by employees. They involve taking a burrito wrapped in a grilled quesadilla essentially doubling the preparation during lunch. As soon as one person orders it, then everybody else does, and a decent lunch rush is converted into a total congestion on the prep line.
4. No-Salt Fries (Wendy’s) – A Salty Conundrum
Requesting salt-free fries is harmless, yet it provokes a stampede of extra work. The workers must undergo the process of preparing an entirely separate batch from scratch to prevent contamination from the salty ones. While the timers tick away and the drive-thru windows clog, some workers confess they’ve had to make the choice between doing it right or maintaining the pace.
5. Grillmaster Angus (Hungry Jack’s) – High Maintenance, High Pressure
This is a gourmet burger that looks great on paper but is a nightmare to produce. Patties must be grilled hot, toppings measured accurately, and everything closely monitored. Producing one during rush hour between several dozen plain-vanilla orders thrown together will ruin a whole shift.
6. Chicken Fajita Pita (Jack In The Box) – More Trouble Than It’s Worth
This relatively low-key menu item consists of microwaving pre-cooked chicken, grilling onions, warming a pita, and building the entire thing by hand. The pita craves tearing, the filling spills out of it, and it never really looks edible when it gets put on the plate. Add in the blisters from dealing with hot bread, and it is no wonder that the crew quietly moans when it lights up on the screen.
7. Buckets of Family (KFC) – Game of Chicken
It is not the size of the order that annoys staff but asking for exact cuts. Customers desire breast and drumsticks, but sometimes supply does not meet demand. It is becoming stressful to disappoint the customer or take alternative options at the last minute, and this most often than not leads to complaints, frustration, and a longer wait.
8. Wendy’s Chili – Not As Fresh As It Looks
Wendy’s chili lovers are unaware that this thick, home-cooked-flavored chili is made from leftover burger patties typically the ones that dry out, get frozen, and then get re-heated after a few days. Employees say the meat is chopped grill remnants boiled and then put into the stew well past its best.
9. Subway Tuna – Mystery in a Bowl
Subway tuna is one of those menu items that is not popular, and even employees are apprehensive about it. They admit to being informed vaguely about what goes into it and that it often arrives in unlabeled containers. Freshness and origin issues have made it a dish most employees do not want to serve or eat.
10. McDonald’s Coffee – A Brewing Problem
The coffee is fine, but what’s cooking beneath that is not. McCafé machines to the top with crusted layers of last day’s leftovers are just some of the tales of horror told by former staff. In most of the stores, staff members are not trained on how to sanitize them and some parts never do get sanitized, creating a setting for what one staff member described as a “sludge surprise.”
11. Starbucks Whipped Cream – Warm and Worrisome
Whipped cream doesn’t sound too terrible until it’s been sitting out at room temperature for several hours. When it’s slammed, it is whipped in advance and sits out to expedite the process. Reheated hot milk under a rush scenario is a dangerous combination, and most employees confess they wouldn’t serve it themselves.
12. Dairy Queen Hot Dogs – Reheated and Recycled
When you’re biting into a hot dog at Dairy Queen, you might be eating minutes-old last night’s dinner. or the night before’s. Workers have said they would usually save leftover hot dogs until tomorrow, heat them up in the morning, and get through to when it is all gone. It’s money saved, but not freshness.
13. Chuck E. Cheese Salad Bar – A Germ Magnet
The salad bar can look very inviting, but the reality is that it has a poorer reputation. Tongs are commonly left in the trash cans, cross-contamination is rampant, and closing time cleaning is more an exercise in fulfilling last night’s leftovers than disposing of them. Some employees avoid it altogether, half-jokingly calling it the “Bacteria Bar.”
14. Arby’s Roast Beef – Not What It Seems
Arby’s roast beef sandwiches consist of a compressed loaf of beef produced from broth-steeped pieces of spent beef. The loaves are heated, sliced, and kept under heat lamps for hours. While it is safe, employees mention the possibility of the meat drying out, becoming spongy, and being rather far removed from what customers would want tender slices.
Behind every delicious, convenient fast food lies a team of hardworking individuals who are bringing it all about in less than perfect conditions. Those beloved menu items have some baggage for the staff that is working on them. From prep horror stories to health issues, it is no wonder that there are employees who quietly wish you’d order something else.
