One day, a Redditor took to the subreddit,
r/AskReddit, to ask the following question:
“Fast food workers of Reddit, what should
we NOT order at your restaurant? And why not?”
From there, the thread blew up. To be fair,
many of these incidents may be isolated to
a very few specific locations. Here are the
Top 10 Fast Food Items You Should Never Order
According To Reddit (Part 2).
The Starbucks Secret Menu is Secret No More
The Starbucks Secret Menu is a thing of legends.
It consists of decadent and elaborate beverages,
including things like the Harry Potter inspired
Butterbeer Frappuccino, the Honey Nut Macchiato,
and the Strawberry Sunset Refresher. How on
Earth can baristas manage to remember not
only how to prepare the dozens of items on
the official menu, but the hundreds of Secret
Menu Items, as well? The short answer is they
can’t. Because there’s no such thing as
the Starbucks Secret Menu. You might think
that employees are just saying that because
they want to ensure that the Secret Menu stays,
you know, secret. But, we promise you, it
really doesn’t exist. Most baristas would
be happy to prepare a customized drink for
you, provided that the café isn’t too busy,
and you have a recipe on hand. But don’t
be that person who waltzes into a Starbuck
during rush-hour and demands that they whip
you up a Rocky Road Frappuccino, stat. If
you want to deviate from the official menu,
be patient, let the barista know the exact
ingredients and quantities you want, and don’t
complain about the cost. But really, it’s
just so much easier for everyone involved
if we just stick to the good old Caramel Macchiatos
and Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
Hold the (Mac and) Cheese at Panera Bread
The consensus among Panera Bread employees
on Reddit seems to be that the bakery’s
Mac and Cheese is a total rip off. While a
couple of commenters seemed to simply feel
that it just isn’t worth the price, one
person actually went as far as to describe
it as downright “nasty”. While many of
the restaurant’s pastries are made fresh
in-house, their pastas are frozen and prepackaged.
Before being served, the frozen dishes are
simply reheated. Not exactly the authentic,
homemade cuisine you may have been imagining.
It’s really all about what kind of standards
you have for your pasta. You might be a bit
disappointed with these reheated dishes if
you’re used to your nonna’s authentic
cuisine. A Panera Bread worker actually posted
a video on TikTok 'exposing' the frozen mac
and cheese. The video features a worker placing
a bag of Panera Bread's Mac and Cheese in
a vat of boiling water. Unfortunately, the
Panera Bread worker who revealed the frozen
mac and cheese actually ended up being fired
after the video went viral. When it comes
to Panera Bread Mac and Cheese, it’s really
just one of those things where, if you like
the taste and don’t mind paying the relatively
high price, by all means, have at it. But,
keep in mind that, even Panera Bread’s employees
don’t think you’re in any way getting
your money’s worth.
Little Caesar’s Breads
A former manager of Little Caesar’s chimed
in to say that the fast food joint’s patrons
should avoid ordering pretty much any of the
breads on the menu. They mentioned Crazy Bread
and Italian Bread specifically. Apparently,
these popular side dishes are buttered with...
well, would you believe it’s not butter?
Instead of butter, an imitation product is
used. What seemed particularly distressing
to this fast food worker was that it didn’t
require refrigeration to keep fresh. Some
people don’t notice much of a difference
between the imitation product and butter,
while others agree with this former Little
Caesar’s employee and think it’s disgusting.
Some people are relatively unbothered by this
revelation, which is fair, since a lot of
fast food employees from other restaurants
were reporting things like mold. So, if imitation
butter is as bad as it gets, Little Caesar’s
is pretty okay.
Movie Theater Pop Corn
This one is not specific to a certain restaurant
but more so to certain establishments, movie
theatres. When we think of movie theatre food,
we all think of warm, buttery, salty popcorn.
It's the perfect snack to munch on while you
enjoy a flick. However a user on reddit revealed
the reality of movie theatre popcorn. The
users states to never order popcorn during
that day's first movie showings. He states
the popcorn sold during the first showing
is actually the night before's popcorn simply
re-heated in the warmers. While this maybe
specific to the movie theatre this user worked
at, we could see this being a tactic used
by other movie theatres. On the plus side,
that means the popcorn for the other showings
throughout the day and evening would be fresh,
so it's not a total loss for those who love
a tub of popcorn with their movies. Unfortunately
though, the user went on to paint an even
more disturbing picture."You know those sticky
aisles at movie theatres?" He claims they
attract all manner of bugs like ants and cockroaches
and goes as far as calling movie theatre floors
"bug buffets". This is obviously a pretty
gross thought, and with how dark movie theatres
tend to be, this could be true without us
even knowing it. Hopefully this user just
worked at one dirty movie theatre and this
isn't the case for most of them.
Convenience Store Slushies
We've all heard of the countless issues that
face the dreaded ice machines at various fast
food restaurants. However, a reddit user who
once worked at gas station went on to say,
and we quote "The amount of mold in those
machines would crush your childhood to a pulp."
yikes. That paints a pretty bleak picture
for any of us who've enjoyed these drinks
on a hot day. We'd like to say this was an
isolated issue, and this reddit user just
worked at one dirty gas station, but this
is just a reality of these machines, wherever
they are found. So whether it's a slush puppy
at the corner store, or a slurpee at 7-eleven,
we suggest you proceed with caution when ordering
these, no matter how hot it is and how refreshing
they may seem, you might be drinking more
then just fruit flavored ice.
Taco John’s Beans
This warning goes out to all of you in the
Midwest. A Redditor who used to work at Taco
John’s implores you to stay away from the
beans. Reportedly, they should be safe to
eat during peak hours, when lots of orders
are coming in and fresh food is constantly
being made. But outside of rush hour, it’s
not recommended that you order them. Turns
out that the beans are just left to sit on
a hot table. When they start to dry out, instead
of being thrown out and replaced with a fresh
batch, water is simply added to plump them
back up. Yum. So, if you find yourself craving
Taco John’s beans, try to time yourself
accordingly. Stop by right at lunchtime and
you’re good to go. For reference, some of
the Taco John’s food items including beans
are their Bean Burrito and Refried Beans.
Finally, if you’re a big Taco John’s fan,
you should be happy to hear that this particular
employee didn’t have anything else bad to
say about the establishment. In fact, they
still eat there themselves!
Tim Horton’s Iced 
Coffee
Calling all Canadians (and anyone lucky enough
to live near one of the rare Timmy’s outside
of its natural habitat)! Many Canadians are
incredibly passionate about Tim Horton’s,
and won’t hear a bad word about it. However,
some employees would have us know that it’s
not necessarily as perfect as the great white
north makes it out to be. For one thing, the
“always fresh” motto is a bit of a stretch,
since most of the pastries are shipped frozen
to each location. But that’s not such a
big deal. What’s harder to get over is the
fact that, while many locations have very
strict policies on cleanliness, some neglect
their frozen base machines to the point where
they can start to get moldy. The employee
who reported this tidbit also added that the
iced coffee, which is supposed to be kept
no longer than twelve hours, would actually
end up sitting out for far longer. To help
put your mind at ease, many other employees
chimed in saying that this was not the case
at any of their locations, but, still, it’s
hard to know which restaurants you can trust.
Wendy’s Baked Potatoes
The thing about Wendy’s Baked Potatoes is
that they’re not inherently bad. Actually,
they can be quite good. The issue is that
it’s like you’re playing Russian Roulette
each time you order one; you never know how
long it’s been sitting out for. The reason
behind this is that baked potatoes are a pain
to prepare. It takes anywhere from thirty
minutes to an hour bake them, and their shelf
life is only about sixty minutes. Because
they’re so annoying to prepare, and aren’t
the most popular item on the menu, it happens
that a single batch is made around lunchtime
and then used for the rest of the day. So,
if you go at the right time, you could get
a piping hot, delicious baked potato. But
if you go at the wrong time... well, few foods
are as disgusting as a dried-out potato. One
employee was kind enough to offer up a life
hack to help better the odds that you’ll
end up with a fresh potato. Apparently, the
less ingredients there are on the potato,
the fresher it’s likely to be. According
to this employee, it's because when a potato
is ordered with a-lot of toppings they are
more likely to use an older potato that's
been sitting around for a while, as all the
toppings will mask the "stale potato" taste.
That's a bummer for those of us who like our
baked potatoes fully loaded.
KFC’s BBQ sandwich
Prepare your stomachs for this one. Hopefully
you’re not a fan of KFC’s BBQ sandwich,
because it’s about to be ruined for you.
After approximately four years of working
at KFC, They claimed that the chicken used
in these sandwiches is the same chicken that
was deemed too old and stale to donate to
nearby homeless shelters. Instead, it was
soaked in BBQ sauce for hours on end, to get
it to the point where it was soft enough to
eat. Afterwards, they claimed the meat is
kept in a heater for an ungodly amount of
time, waiting for people to order the BBQ
sandwich. This former KFC employee ended their
tell-all comment with a confession, which
read: “I still order it, though”. Turns
out, even knowing a restaurant’s dirty little
secrets isn’t always enough to stop the
cravings. Sometimes the food just tastes way
too good. The other thing to note about this
sandwich is that it is not available at all
KFC locations. It's an item that the owners
of each individual franchise can choose to
put on the menu and also take off the menu
whenever they want. That's good news for those
who wanted to steer clear of this one, but
bad news for those who still wanted to try
it, like the employee.
Lemons...From Any Restaurant
If there’s one thing fast food workers can
agree on, it’s that lemons are bad, regardless
of where they come from. This seems like a
weird entry for this list, as lemons aren’t
exactly a staple fast food item, but, when
you think about it, it’s surprising how
often they pop up. Unfortunately, it’s a
rarity for a lemon to be washed in a fast
food restaurant. As one commenter pointed
out, this is a big deal, because the lemons
go through a lot, with all the transport and
storage it takes for them to finally end up
in the restaurant’s kitchen. For them to
simply be sliced and dropped into your drink...
It’s pretty gross. On top of that, they’re
often left to sit around all day after being
sliced, which isn’t so great either. And,
since these things all go hand-in-hand, maybe
it’s time to stop ordering drinks from fast
food establishments.
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