Which chain restaurant has fallen off the most in your opinion?

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Pristine-Ad-4996@reddit

Beefeater

Used to be half decent but now...

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Toby are atrocious now.

Last time I went the veg and potato's were raw, the meat was mostly fat and the gravy was cold.

Sent it back and walked out.

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It was among my very first casual dining experiences, I felt in the 00s it already had problems

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Soldarumi@reddit

I, too, have fond childhood memories, but I will never go back. My wife got so stressed at me a few months back when we went. There's one next door to our cinema, so we stopped in for a bite before a film. Not busy, by any stretch.

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M90Motorway@reddit

Yeah I tend to not trust restaurants that have a lot of things on their menu unless they are easy to prepare using simple ingredients like actual Italian food. Reheated eggs kept in ice water sounds pretty disgusting I can’t lie although I’m not surprised they also do that!

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gavco98uk@reddit

can you explain what "hot hold item" means for the non-chefs on the board? I assume you mean pre-cooked, then kept warm?

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meesterdave@reddit

Sure. Your Bolognese comes in pre-made and is then warmed to temperature. It will sit (covered) in a bain Marie, basically hot but not boiling water in its own metal container for up to 2 hours so it's ready to go when needed.

The pasta is cooked just before it's al dente then chilled and stored in the fridge until needed. The line cook will take a portion and put it into hot water to finish the cooking process before plating it all up.

Another burton born here. I definitely remember eating here and it was good, but must've been the best part of 20 years ago.

F&Bs was never amazing, but it was decent for the price point back in the days they had the broad menu. My kids always wanted to go there for birthdays as they had the little musical bit when the cake came out which was a nice touch. Walked past the one in Covent Garden last week and the menu is very small and the prices are mental for what you get.

Shame really.

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UnSpanishInquisition@reddit

Only place that does American breakfast, harvester sort of does but I want egg and bacon not fried chicken.

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icecreamivan@reddit

Defo nostalgia. It was always expensive and shit. First time maybe early 2000's. Was hugely disappointed.

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Lego-hearts@reddit

I think I remember their breakfast still being okay? But that was about two years ago.

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Perseus73@reddit

Yep this. Used to be decent then the food just went super greasy, the food invariably came out covered in little burnt bits from the fat and the customer service became atrocious. I had two bad visits, one where the server didn’t even give me my change after paying cash, and I had to argue to get my change vs them just not giving it back and taking it as tips (!). That was about 2013. Never went back.

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Crivens999@reddit

Used to there in the mid 90s as was right next to the cinema. Food was pretty nice and liked how they played a learning Italian CD in the toilets. However infamous for being appalling with wait times. You would need to book at least a two hours in advance if you wanted to make the film. Ask for the bill and it took like 20 mins. Every sodding time

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Working_Bowl@reddit

Yes! In the late 90s/early 00s, the Frankie and benny’s near us was great. Always busy and had a queue. Really fun atmosphere, the bar was busy as did decent cocktails too (before cocktails outside of a posh hotel or bar were a thing). Food was good, service was great. Such a shame it just declined to the point it was a ghost town with awful food. It only closed a couple of years ago, but have no idea how it stayed open as long as it did.

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badtpuchpanda@reddit

NSFW

Frankie and Benny's was definitely a treat for me growing up.

Offered free drinks, pretty much laughed in her face, told her we refused to pay for anything and if she wanted to be awkward about it we'd go to the Manchester Evening News. So we got a meal for two with dessert and drinks for free in the end but still would never go back there again.

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Matsudai by any chance?

The thing that scares me about Wagamama’s as well as the price is the calories, it’s classed as a ‘healthy option’ on delivery apps but 800cal for a salad is wild.

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OldGuto@reddit

Yeah that's the one. Would far rather spend my money there than at Wagamama.

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djbigball@reddit

I used to go to Everyday People like once month but since the jay raynor piece it’s basically impossible to get a table

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Fully agree - it never seems fresh any more, and always has the appearance of something that’s been reheated in a microwave.

Tbh I always felt it was mediocre, it just lacks serious competiton over here in UK.

Doesn't help they keep removing my favourite items from their menu's.

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hellobeatifulworld@reddit

I came here to write this :) Wagamama went downhill so much compared to what it used to be

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feesh_face@reddit

It’s a very recent thing, but seems to hold true in two I’ve been to. Smaller portions, not as flavourful, questionable menu changes. Shame, used to love it.

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HotChoc64@reddit

I will never understand the Reddit Wagamama hate, never heard reflected it in real life

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Ruadhan2300@reddit

I've always found it incredibly overdone. Not bad quality, just overengineered food.

It's a place for trendy startup CEOs to take their investors for lunch.

Agreed 100%, even a few years ago it was something to look forward to.

Last time I went I received a thrown together meal with far too much oil used, left my mouth feeling greasy and as someone who loves spice and heat, I can tell you it was not balanced and was chucked in at the end.

The marketing looks really great. The style of photography in the images, the smart layout of the menu and the decor of the restaurants is genuinely nice. The quality of the product was a big let down and I enjoyed the Edamame starter more than anything. Oily, stodgy, coaster-esque roti and a katsu dip, not so much.

Needless to say the place was still packed out, the crowd of people was very diverse and I feel like it’s become a bit of a British/Japanese version of Nando’s.

Not worth the £42 a head I have to say and I doubt I’ll be back any time soon but maybe it’s a case of massive growth and not being able to hire enough chefs to meet the demand.

I hope the can turn it around because it really could be a great option!

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vientianna@reddit

Miller and Carter. When I first went about 5 years ago I thought it was great, now it feels rushed and lacking quality

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Former_Wang_owner@reddit

It's always been crap. My mate sums it up best with "it's where scaffolders take their missus when they are I the dog house." He's a brickie before anyone calls him elitist.

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BB0ySnakeDogG@reddit

Definitely has that "what working class people think is posh" vibe. Like leopard print and American fridge freezers.

I say that as a supermarket employee who likes Spoons food.

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Wentzina_lifetime@reddit

As someone who works in a spoons kitchen. No you dont

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Don’t come after American fridge freezers! We got a side by side when we redid our kitchen and I love it.

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BB0ySnakeDogG@reddit

FulaniLovinCriminal@reddit

It's always been crap.

Yep. Went there once, under our table was an entire portion of wedge salad - a quarter of an iceberg lettuce, covered in dressing. Next to it, a menu, and a salt shaker.
When I told the waitress, she seemed unphased. She came back with our drinks and made no motion to begin clearing it up, so we moved tables.

Our new waitress was completely oblivious, and we saw the old one just seat another family at our old table about 15 minutes later, having not cleared anything up.

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FunMathematician4638@reddit

It’s been good most places I’ve been to on work, I always go for a medium rare ribeye though, not sure about anything else

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daz1987@reddit

Yep. My local Miller & Carter is terrible, yet everyone raves about it, when there's an independent steakhouse 2 miles down the road that absolutely blows it away, yet it's hardly spoken about.

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Alarming-Bear-6614@reddit

Have to agree with this, we have a fantastic local steak restaurant where we go regularly and thought we would try Miller and Carter for a change. Big mistake, clearly microwaved starters and the quality of the steak was awful. Worked out more expensive than our usual restaurant so we’ll never go back.

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Alaskan_Pipeline666@reddit

I was really pissed when I recently ordered the Banoffee Cheesecake. Somewhere in between the 1st time I had one from M&C and falling in love and the 2nd time expecting a repeat of heaven, they stripped out the decent sugar and replaced with fucking garbage chemicals.

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Red-Rum-7140@reddit

There were some quality innovations, also a lot of empty platitudes towards frontline staff, even pre-covid. Things went noticeably downhill over the 10 or so years I worked there; all the so called support for chefs working silly hours when short-staffed, in insanely hot kitchens in summer, like take breaks, stay hydrated, went out of the window when it meant slightly slower service times and complaining guests. 'Eat out to help out' left us completely fucked over and it was just crickets coming out of head office. So many GM's have had mental health problems, despite the widely touted "we are mental health first aiders and are here for you bs), utterly unsurprisingly given the ridiculous constraints on staffing and budgets, where they were expected to make up all the hours cut from the budgets. Fresh food quality coming in was increasingly poor. No wonder people's experiences are following suit

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Informal-Method-5401@reddit

Worked as a GM for PCP, when it first became part of M&B. Think it was VPK back then. Did a few years with M&B but you could see the cost cutting even pre-Covid. All M&B premium brands are style over substance

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Minimum_Possibility6@reddit

That would have been before my time. But at head office even at the turn of the decade you had people who cared about the quality, most of the crew that I knew were actually decent headed down the road to work at Banks/Marston's although they seem to be going through a huge restructure now

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HELJ4@reddit

I went for the first time recently and the service and décor was very Harvester.

Constant_Order_8209@reddit

The one in centertainment Sheffield is literally an old Harvester which backs this up

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PissedBadger@reddit

That harvester closed because they had a kitchen fire.

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TerminalJunk@reddit

Old enough to remember Harvester from the late 90's & early 00's, back then the local one actually had an old time vibe about it. Lots of wood panels, farm equipment on the wall / hung from the ceiling etc. and was a pretty nice place to be in.

Been to Miller and Carter this evening with the in laws. Food was nice but service very poor. We only had mains but they brought out the salad wedges as a starter and we didn't get the steaks for another 40 mins 😂 was very strange.

The_SaintXVI@reddit

I went there in June for the first time and it's not worth the hype people give it, I got a better steak in a local independent Italians for less money

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shadowking432@reddit

Must of really fell off cos I've never even heard of the place lol.

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vientianna@reddit

Started off as a middle class steak restaurant

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TransatlanticMadame@reddit

Well the Lakeside location definitely sank - Lakeside's Miller and Carter restaurant becoming 'eyesore' | Echo (echo-news.co.uk) . Fortunately no one was hurt.

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l0stlabyrinth@reddit

Given how stingy they are with maintenance at Lakeside in general, I'm not particularly surprised the boat sank.

Everytime I go there there's at least one escalator or lift that's out of service, often long-term too.

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T33FMEISTER@reddit

Yeah I agree with this. It used to be incredible when it first came out.

Always loved it, thought it was great value for the food and experience.

jewbo23@reddit

Compared to most of the companies mentioned, Honest Burger is still pretty young. So maybe we just have to give them time.

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tdrules@reddit

Once they start opening outside of big cities every chain goes to shit so will follow Honest’s openings.

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SingularLattice@reddit

My local Honest Burger closed.

My disappointment gave way to joy when I learned that the bacon gravy is super easy to make. You’ve not lived until you’ve drenched your toad in the hole with the stuff.

https://www.honestburgers.co.uk/news/recipes/beef-bacon-gravy/

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Moonjellylilac@reddit

Perhaps you want to look into five guys being kosher and how they slaughter animals. It’s savage and barbaric.

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Anandya@reddit

I don't think they are Kosher. Remember, cheese burgers are not kosher.

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diditforthemonet@reddit

always used to hear people go on about going to tgi fridays in the 2000s, but there was never one near me! I went to one in stockholm the other year and thought it was pretty crap, was bewildered by the hype. makes more sense to hear it’s generally gone downhill

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Randomn355@reddit

Even 10 years ago it wasn't that great.

The portions were just really big.

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fussyfella@reddit

I only really remember TFI Fridays being good for 3 or 4 years after they appeared, then they went downhill rapidly - which was decades ago!

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Fit_Faithlessness637@reddit

I only went to one for the first time about 2022 everything in there was sticky and the food? It’s extremely apparent it’s right out the freezer wasn’t even up to Wetherspoons standard very sub par for the price

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NorthernOverthinker@reddit

I can remember TGI’s in its prime and it was honestly a real treat to eat there.

I went last year for the first time in 10+ years and couldn’t believe the difference. The biggest issue for me were the portion sizes. I went with my husband and we both ordered burgers from the main menu and both were served on what I can only describe as starter plates. So small.

I think it's a bit more at weekends, but not bad value really considering how expensive everything is these days.

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jamnut@reddit

About 17 quid with the ice cream and drinks. Aim for 17 slices and a couple of drinks and you're quids in

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karmakollapse@reddit

It's not just that PizzaHut has dropped in quality... it's that it's dropped in quality multiple times.

It was fantastic in the '80s/'90s, maybe childhood nostalgia goggles, but it was definitely very good.

'00s... I mean it was still pretty good, but even then I remember people saying it dropped in quality since it's heyday (from responsible, non-nostalgia driven adults)

'10s... definitely worse, but still a reasonable take away option.

Last time I had pizza hut was last year and it was disgusting.

I don't blame them for making money -- but I don't eat there any more.

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elsbelsboo@reddit

Was looking for this comment. I really enjoyed it when it first opened and had plenty of family meals there, but now it is just overpriced underwhelming food . A lot of my local ones are shutting down

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SuperSpidey374@reddit

Franco Manca’s service has gone downhill. Food still great though.

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KittenFunk@reddit

Franco Manky pizza is a collective delirium. I like topping on my pizza. Yes, it's cheap, but you're paying for mostly dough.

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AussieHxC@reddit

Food is not great.

Tried their pizza once as it looked like the right kind of thing but sadly it's terrible mass produced crap. There is no skill or care put into it.

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thetapeworm@reddit

I've only been once, they didn't put any of the "creamy dressing" the menu advertised on the salad that was ordered, I asked a waiter to check, he came back 5 minutes later after speaking to the "chef" and said it had dressing, at best it was juice from the tuna.

So I asked if I could have some dressing to put on myself, minutes later a really angry "chef" came to the table with a face like thunder and shouted "I hear you want MORE dressing" and slammed a tiny jug of it on the table before storming off.

Cakes and Sandwiches shop that wasn't bakers oven or Greggs... it did have that vibe... only ever have been to one once...

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Kitchner@reddit

but in my opinion it's Patisserie Valerie. Used to be genuinely nice, but the last time I tried it I swear it was no better than something you could get from your local Cafe Nero.

PV was subject to a crazy accounting scandal and rushed into administration and nearly all collapsed. The ones that are left aren't really being run strategically from what I understand

The chicken remains unique in the chain food industry, it's pretty tasty and nicely seasoned at the higher spice levels. The experience, with music and bottomless drinks, is also a bit nicer and more relaxed than many other chains (thinking TGIs and others at the price point).

It's not winning prizes, but then nothing should be aiming for that at this level. But for a guy with a relatively small-town upbringing, Nandos is a refreshing change from the shitty pies, burger and Sunday roast you'd get at pubs or the pizza and pasta of Italian chains.

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aR2wo@reddit

For a place that almost exclusively specialises on chicken, the veggie options are actually pretty decent too imo

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Like?

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Nartyn@reddit

Depends where you live mate. I don't know what types of restaurants are around you do I.

Going to chains in general is always going for lower quality food over going local.

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Spid1@reddit

Well exactly. That's my point. If you go somewhere unfamiliar and want something reliable then nandos is a safe option.

I've had it once in my home town in 6-7 years but I've had it multiple times when I've been out of town and wanting something to eat

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Ryanthelion1@reddit

I like the think of it as the McDonald's of sit in restaurants, half a chicken and 2 sides is £15 can't really argue with that

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Nartyn@reddit

The chicken remains unique in the chain food industry,

There's so many peri peri chicken restaurants nowadays. There's 3 different ones along a road in my city.

The experience, with music and bottomless drinks,

Free refills on soda isn't a good thing, it's just a fat person thing.

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susususero@reddit

If I'm there for an hour eating spicy food, a couple of refills are quite appreciated. I'd be ordering two drinks anyway so not having to wait to order my second is a real benefit, not 'just a fat person thing'. (what a nasty thing to say).

There may be more peri chicken restaurants now, but Nandos are by far the biggest chain doing this, if not only chain to my knowledge.

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sc00022@reddit

It’s still the same as it’s always been. You might just get slightly smaller portion sizes than 10 years ago. People on Reddit just love to hate what’s popular.

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b0bscene@reddit

It all seems the same to me, just a lot more expensive.

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matomo23@reddit

Inflation though.

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All the people who loved it in the tens have grown up, have proper bills to pay and can’t afford a Nando’s now, or they can but they are smarter with their cash.

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MateoKovashit@reddit

What no?

Social media had the "cheeky nandos" scrote vibe. Kids and wankers galore. That has gone now and it's just a decent chicken restaurant that serves quick and mostly nice food every time.

I swear to God meatball marinara footlong for £5 was my early teenage survival food.

From what I've heard, people who own subway franchises are not doing well.

The clip I watched was from the USA, and there were no rules about how many subways could be set up in your area, and subway themselves were ripping the owner off.

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Psyfuzz@reddit

Inflation has very rarely ran above 5pc within the U.K. over the last decade, with the BoE’s MPC generally having done a good job at keeping around the 2pc target rate.

Check the BoE inflation adjustment calculator. £5 in 2012 = £6.99 today, so Subway has still outpaced broader CPI.

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wildOldcheesecake@reddit

Aye but you’ve got to ask yourself is it worth it. To me, subway is not worth it.

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A-Pint-Of-Tennents@reddit

Aye the point of Subway specifically was that it was cheap for a really big sub. Once that's gone...what's the point? You can just make a sandwich yourself or go elsewhere and pay similar for better quality.

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peanutthecacti@reddit

I remember it being £5 for just a footlong and drink, no snack, in 2012/13. We used to go at least once a week in college.

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TonyBlairsDildo@reddit

Both would have cost roughly one hour of minimum wage. Inflation has warped people's intuitive expectation of prices.

2010: ~ £5/hr

PastorParcel@reddit

'Back in the early 2010s.'

Well, that statement made me feel old! I haven't really adjusted to the idea this isn't the 20th century anymore, let alone had time to develop nostalgia for stuff that was only a decade ago.

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APar93@reddit

Literally my college lunch on a Tuesday, back when I ate meat and was a skint 16/17 year old

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YQB123@reddit

My housemate got one Uber'd to her last week and all I could think was: "...why?!"

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mikolv2@reddit

I went to subway for the first time in about a decade recently, same as you I was used to £5 footlong + drink. I was expecting it to be a bit more expensive but my order cost me something like £12.50, it's so not worth it any more.

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Environmental-Bus466@reddit

The customer feedback was so bad that they reverted all the changes within a couple of months.

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jacksbackmk@reddit

Subway cookies are great though and amazing value.

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ChipCob1@reddit

The app is really weird, sometimes if you buy 2 or 3 subs (even when discounted) you somehow earn enough points for a free one.

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WealthMain2987@reddit

I used have subway as a treat once a week/fortnight. Loved the subs but now it is super expensive for what is worth

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JTitch420@reddit

I went to a subway in south mimms services and they refused to serve me because they have touch screen order points. A truly abysmal services

Dead to me now

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Pen_dragons_pizza@reddit

Personally, this place has always been rubbish to me.

Absolutely nothing about it is all that special or tasty enough to not warrant me buying the ingredients myself for half the price and making it at home.

I’ll just never understand the fascination with subway

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spammehere98@reddit

I can't get past the sweetness of the breads.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/01/irish-court-rules-subway-bread-is-not-bread

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Huge-Celebration5192@reddit

They put a voucher through my door a year ago or so. Only subway in my town is about a 10 minute walk. Went and ordered a foot long and gave them the voucher when paying.

Appropriate-Divide64@reddit

American chains in general are incredible in China. Pizza hut does things like beef wellington and steak. KFC is incredible. I'll miss their coffee. Starbucks is unbelievably slick (although priced waaaaay to high for china compared to Lickin or Chagee).

My theory is that they give you the high quality service and stuff during expansion to establish themselves into the culture, before cutting and enshitification reduce the quality.

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Phinbart@reddit

Yeah, that place seemed to be a lot better when I was a kid... but I think part of it may be misplaced nostalgia or something. Luckily, my nearest branch is quite decent; it's on the same industrial estate as a McDonald's, but because the KFC is further away from the main road it's comparatively a lot quieter and so a better experience. I had to stop going to the one in the town I went to uni in, though; time it took the orders to come out was inversely proportional to the number of people waiting, and I started to get chicken that appeared undercooked.

I think the stuff with the chips a few years ago might have been part of a run of different new things and quirks to drum up interest in the brand. They're really going ham on ads on TV at the moment, which is striking.

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HazelCheese@reddit

Similar for me. Maccies always packed so I go to the KFC.

Now that we've got some Popeyes popping up, KFC really ought to step their game up because from my experience Popeyes is just superior.

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charlescorn@reddit

The op was asking which have fallen most. KFC has always been greasy shit.

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cankennykencan@reddit

Good point. I retract my comment

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tonification@reddit

In this thread: the dead hand of private equity.

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Ok_Store4257@reddit

Well this is it, and every time I’m in a group and a chain restaurant is suggested my heart sinks.

It’s always a disappointment, and life’s too short and expensive to be paying for disappointment.

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SuspiciouslyMoist@reddit

It's the lifecycle of restaurants/food shops.

Starts as one branch.
Does well, opens one or two more branches.
Opens even more branches, city- or region-wide.
Becomes well-known and popular.
Gets bought by private equity, purchase enabled by debt.
To service the debt and extract profit, everything is pared back to the bone.
Goes to shit, and either stays as a national, but shit brand or dies horribly.

See, for example, Pizza Express, Pret, Wagamamma, Byron, etc.

Which places are next? Gail's Bakery looks like the sort of place that someone would do this to. Bread Ahead seems to be opening more branches in London.

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Itsalwayssunnyinreas@reddit

pizza express hasn’t changed at all? still just as good as it used to be

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SuspiciouslyMoist@reddit

It was bought by a Chinese private equity firm in 2014 and has definitely got worse since then. I guess it depends when you mean by "used to be". In the 80s and 90s it was better and there were far fewer competitors serving good pizza.

Precisely.

First they came for Café Rouge. Their minute steak and frites was bangin and 100% reliable in about 2000.

Tesco devoured Giraffe which is a haunted shadow of its former dependable self.

Now they're coming for Côte Brasserie. Quality is nosediving.

Next they'll take apart the indies that got or are getting scaled -- Bill's, Breakfast Club, Leon...

Fit_Faithlessness637@reddit

Thought you was gonna say Wimpy 😂

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Deadened_ghosts@reddit

Little Chef & Happy Eater!

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Fishfingerrosti@reddit

I remember once receiving an egg disk which they claimed was scrambled egg. They were always shite.

slip_cougan@reddit

Little Chef - so many childhood memories.

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WeeGeesUnicorns@reddit

The A9 in Scotland used to have Little Chefs on it, both directions! We'd always stop at one for breakfast on our drives home from Aberdeen to Glasgow!

Pizza hut, had loads of resturants in england growing up as a kid, ice cream machines and massive sharing pizzas. It was the place to be before the cinema with family or having a kids party.. Now your lucky to see a small one still standing

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Plumbus93@reddit

TGI Fridays

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Accurate_Prompt_8800@reddit

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Electrical-Guard9689@reddit

The waitress sat with you???

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chrislomax83@reddit

Yeah, not all the time but while she was taking the order.

We were on the 2 person bench sat across from each other setup and she came over and kind of nudged me over while she took the order.

Wife and I were in the middle of a conversation and she sat down chatting with the usual “what are you guys up to today” patter.

It got awkward when she outstayed her welcome of just taking our order and was trying to make other conversation. Wife and I were just looking at each other wondering if it was some type of bet or joke that we didn’t get.

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matomo23@reddit

Sitting down briefly at the table while they take the order is quite common in the US. As in-I’ve spent months and months in the US and probably eaten hundreds of meals there and have encountered it about 10 times or so.

Americans certainly wouldn’t think it’s odd. So maybe that’s why.

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Swim-Global@reddit

I just want to add here - I worked at a TGI’s in my early 20’s. They literally train you to do this sort of thing! Sit down, crouch, get at eye level, act over familiar and over friendly. I got fired for not being ‘happy’ enough!

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chrislomax83@reddit

I’d been to a few TGIs and it was never this intimate before. It seemed to be at this particular venue.

It might have been because it was so cold that she needed some body heat.

TeddersTedderson@reddit

And now they're in Administration

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yousmellandidont@reddit

They all do it. It's so frustrating, I swear a restaurant chain rises, has some good food, then the investment firms come in, unleash the accountants, who go round cutting all the costs, I.e. quality, and the once-decent chain turns to shit.

Frankie and Bennys, as many have mentioned, used to be pretty decent. Loch Fyne, Zizzi, Prezzo, Ask, Harvester, TGI, Chiquito, Taco Bell, Chimmichanga, Miller & Carter, and so on... I used to enjoy all these places, but these days, the majority of it is just overpriced bland food. Some of it isn't too bad, but the vast majority, truly is a shadow of its former self!

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Randomn355@reddit

Maybe in the last 10 years your bar has just raised.

You know a bit more about cooking, you understand how to make a decent dish in 20- minutes etc

I mean, it's been a long, long time since Beefeater was anything other than on the bottom rung of chain restaurants. Harvester, Brewers Fayre, Toby Carvery. Don't get me wrong - we had pretty much every family birthday during the 90s in one of them. But after the turn of the century they just became mass-produced, lowest of the low quality food.

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Capital_Punisher@reddit

But after the turn of the century they just became mass-produced, lowest of the low quality food.

They were always shit, but the 'better' options were not as readily available as they are now.

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Bord_Board_Gamer@reddit

I’d personally put Harvester and Beefeater on a tier just above Brewers Fayre, which sits with Hungry Horse and Sizzling Pubs on a true bottom tier of microwaved, just about edible food that fills you up and you can’t complain at the quality because you knew what you were getting into when you walked in.

Beefeater still (for their steaks at least) cook on a proper top, and everything is cooked in an open kitchen. Where I fault Beefeater is the removal of the unlimited chips, the free side salad, etc. The rest of the food was decent but not great, but the extras really helped elevate it. Beefeater breakfast is still my favourite of the chains (though it’s been a couple of years since I went to one for breakfast admittedly!!)

Harvester went very downhill at the same time that they changed their chips, but we went a few months ago and were pleasantly surprised, and you still get the salad bar, which is still as I remember it being. Without salad bar, Harvester wouldn’t be worth going to, and even now it’s only worth it with a voucher (same for beefeater)

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Harvester has always been crap but it was cheap and cheerful and the salad bar made it good value.

One of the "Sides" is just butter too :)

Red’s BBQ.

The original one in Leeds used to be seriously good. Beautiful trays of slow braised and smoked meats and a whole range of house made sauces, dips and marinates. It was the perfect spot for an afternoon of IPA’s and gratuitous, carnivorous, excess.

I last went about 2 years ago and fuck me was it bleak. The BBQ was genuinely worse than something you’d do yourself on one of those £2 disposable things and all the condiments had gone, replaced by just Heinz BBQ and ketchup. I’m honestly shocked it’s still in business.

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domsp79@reddit

Nottingham one has closed down. We used to love going there, and 5 years ago I had my 40th birthday party there.

I used to go to the one in Nottingham fairly often, and it just turned to shit, the food became so tasteless and bland.

When it first opened (I'm going back over ten years in Leeds) it was genuinely good BBQ - at least going by the word of my American expat buddy who also lived in Leeds at the time and insisted we go there.

It went downhill relatively quickly sadly but as mentioned, the first few years it was amazing food.

Never really found a decent alternative in Leeds tbh

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adamjeff@reddit

The first one in Leeds got rave reviews from BBQ and food places alike. The guy you're replying to either went during the decline or is a bit mistaken, for the first 2 years Red was in the running for best in the country. About 4 years later it was inedible trash.

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Ryanthelion1@reddit

Probably the biggest drop in quality I've experienced, used to be a proper nice treat. The final time I went friends were visiting and they hadn't experienced going to one and we hadn't been in a while so I was excited to show them.

I was put off them ever since they organised the rounding up of a load of their staff to be handed over to immigration officers.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/27/immigration-raid-on-byron-hamburgers-rounds-up-30-workers

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ramxquake@reddit

You preferred it when they used illegal, trafficked labour?

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blueheartglacier@reddit

If the Home Office comes knocking and tells you that you need to do this to your staff you probably comply because the alternative is implied to be very serious consequences that mess up your company. It's borderline coerced under threat for the company

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Sweaty_Leg_3646@reddit

Right?! I hate seeing this trotted out - absolutely no legitimate business is going to decide "actually no, we are going to refuse to let the Home Office deport a bunch of illegal immigrants who conned us."

How, exactly, do they expect this to pan out? And why do they think it would be applauded that Byron actively stopped its employees being punished for crimes?

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Their cheesetruck special belongs in the god tier of food

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stuaxo@reddit

Stopped going to Byron when they told a load of staff to turn up one day just so they could be deported.

VC, private equity and hedge funds are essentially the death nail for any chain restaurant. As they always cut costs and increase prices. In order to fund the buy out, to pay the tax free loans that they've taken out on the business and to pay the management fees that they charge the chain for their consultation work.

I'm surprised that Pizza Express is still going. As the loans that the VC took out on them, were due to be repiad in about 2021. With little chance that they would be paid off. They most likely just got rolled over somehow.

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tmr89@reddit

I’m surprised about Pizza Express, too. It’s £17.65 just for a pepperoni pizza. Crazy. It’s okay pizza, but can definitely get better value elsewhere

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Astra_Trillian@reddit

You used to be able to log into any table from anywhere, no need for location services. This allowed you to collect stamps and get to gold status and get some decent discounts without spending any money. I used to apply the discounts if I’d logged into a table where someone had ordered something I could get for free (dough balls, kids meal, soft drink iirc).

alloitacash@reddit

Nando’s, chicken thigh portions are pitiful.

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thetapeworm@reddit

The chicken is tiny these days which I can almost excuse them for due to inflation but when you're paying close to £20 a head and the "filler" stuff like chips, rice and peas etc is sent out in such tiny portions the appeal is lost.

I've never understood why a place will scrimp on things that must cost them pennies and leave customers disappointed just to make a bit more profit for a short period of time until everyone goes elsewhere.

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alloitacash@reddit

Recent time I went one of the thighs was about one mouthful. I’ve been reluctant to go since.

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Leeds2112@reddit

KFC

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Admittedly it's still 5+ years since I went to one but they somehow managed to make it all taste the same near regardless of what you ordered.

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Immorals1@reddit

Wetherspoons.

Wasn't exactly high quality, but it was cheap and cheerful.

It says a lot when even the chap from Rate My Takeaway ends on a low, he's notorious for giving high scores for bang average stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCtc2jtlubU

I don't recall ever having a decent Wimpy but they were never really a thing around my neck of the woods growing up and then when I did try it I went for a bendy sausage which was just weird.

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Metal_Octopus1888@reddit

Regretfully I’ve never set foot in Yo! Sushi despite always meaning to at some point. No conveyor belt? That sucks… don’t restaurants (or businesses in general) know what fun things like that are anymore?

The steak was tough, thin and flavourless. Complete waste of £20.

To be fair I never order steak unless it's at a dedicated steak place. The truth is 80% of British customers don't know what a good steak is and most chains don't cook the steaks from scratch.

Pasta is sort of the same, unless it's a good Italian place I don't bother with pasta. I can cook drum wheat pasta from scratch and make a sauce at home and it will taste better and cost way less than eating out.

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oalfonso@reddit

If you aren't a dedicated steak place, then the option is Wetherspoons. They are going to sell you the same meat, cooked the same way and for half the price.

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CooroSnowFox@reddit

Try going to one that is not attached to an airport, they do seem extra focused on getting out ASAP and really maybe not the best.

It can be hard to answer this fairly because our memories play tricks with us. Were these places actually good in the past - or did we just enjoy them more when going to them as teenagers/young adults when the whole experience was still new and exciting?

Someone put that Yo Sushi now only has 'supermarket quality' sushi - but how long has Sushi been in supermarkets?

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nd1online@reddit

Sushi has been in supermarkets over 20 years already. I worked in Tesco doing fresh food stock control way back in 2002 and I remember we sold sushi set in the sandwiches area. Granted it was only maybe 2 or 3 different options but they were definitely there

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MicroDyke@reddit

I used to quite like the Tesco's sushi in a meal deal, but it's horrendous now! Dry and horrible!

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el29@reddit

I did a report on Japan when I was early teens so 20+ years ago and my grandma got me sushi from M&S so we could eat it and write about it. -10/10 gross don’t recommend to a friend. Put me off fish for Eva

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Ayanhart@reddit

The main thing that's ruined Yo! for me has been how they've changed the fundamental dining experience.

WealthMain2987@reddit

Never understood the hype for pret. Is it more of a symbol thing? Their sandwiches and coffee weren't very nice.

I've always thought it was quite expensive, even back around 2008/09 when I used to have it regularly, because you'd get 5-6 plates coming up to £20ish and it wasn't that filling but I liked it.

Not really been much in the past few years though

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WarmTransportation35@reddit

Every time I see their boxes and prices, I imagine how Itsu is consideraboly cheaper for the same thing.

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decentlyfair@reddit

I avoid chains these days as I think they are overpriced for what you get. I went to the Botanist or might have been Alchemist and a vegan platter was best part of 20 quid and most of it was dry and unpleasant and the things they put on it didn’t go together. The whole meal was expensive and not worth it. For me it isn’t simply about cost as I will pay for good food but object to pay a lot for nastiness or mediocre food.

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dpk-s89@reddit

What I've learnt from this thread is that a significant amount of chain restaurants have upped their prices but reduced their quality. Why have we accepted this?

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GavinF83@reddit

I don’t think people have accepted this. It’s no coincidence that a number of the restaurants mentioned here have gone into administration or are on the brink of it.

Air-Flo@reddit

Air-Flo@reddit

I think McDonald's is still good if things are cooked properly. It's lost a lot of consistency otherwise. I can't remember exactly what I was watching when looking through the kitchen, but I just remember seeing someone do something and thinking it either looked wrong, or sloppy, or like they were skipping a step, or leaving things to overcook despite the beeper going off. Other times I've had McDonald's which seems perfectly cooked and tastes amazing, so I know it can be done.

The worst part for me is just how damn long it takes to get food. I don't know how their internal system works, but it seems like it doesn't matter if you order something big or something small, you're still going to be stood waiting 10-15 minutes every time.

It was the best place in the early days of the burger revolution. They did an amazing panko fried chicken with satay sauce burger. It’s no longer on the menu and it’s overpriced and shit now… just money men and woman milking a brand for all it’s worth

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TheKnightsTippler@reddit

They used to do a really nice burger that had a slice of fresh beetroot in.

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811545b2-4ff7-4041@reddit

Oh lordy, those satay burgers were fantastic.

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Real_Palpitation_728@reddit

Ohhhhh lawd

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SlippersParty2024@reddit

I remember when it first opened in Brighton, it was really good, had a great falafel burger for us non-carnivores and you'd get a big portion of fries. Then, and I kid you not, it wasn't even like a year or two later, the burgers SHRUNK, and the portion of fries SHRUNK even more, but the prices went up.

I stopped going.

Places like that deserve to lose customers.

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giblets46@reddit

With some of the chains going downhill, I wonder how much is them going downhill, or the competition just leaving them behind?! TGI Fridays used to be cool and exciting back in the 90s (maybe as I was in my early teens). Went back in late 00’s and it seemed overpriced then for what you got. Frankie and Bennys was/ is the same ‘New York Italian’….. burgers, pasta, pizza, steak… all done better by Italian, pizza or Burger places.

On a similar vein… planet Hollywood. Hard Rock Cafe… too (though I’ve one experience in the London Branch in the late 80s IIRC

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sophosoftcat@reddit

I don’t know about you but I splash my cash a lot more readily as an adult than I did when I was a teen, so the fact that everyone has the feeling TGI is no longer worth it means it must have declined.

Like, if I spent 20 quid on a dinner out back in the day and remember it being amazing, but now I spend 40 and it’s shit, this feels like more than just rose tinted glasses.

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CooroSnowFox@reddit

Both TGI and F&B are trying to do all that you can probably find other places

simpleton394@reddit

KFC
I went to try to get a meal from KFC, the place has TOTALLY changed.
I'm SPECIAL NEEDS, elderly, and not capable of using this touchscreen junk they have now. One of the humans employed by that company was about to help me then she spotted a discarded Poppy lying on the ground which she tried to hand to me, which I refused (who knows where the filthy thing had been? Plus ew COVID-19 risk, plus ew it's been on the ground!)

She starts ranting at me about that being for “the soldiers” and treating me like a non-human non-entity not of this planet. (I know what the poppy is a symbol of, my maternal grandfather was in the Merchant Navy.) That rankled first, but the fact that she was being so unprofessional, just made me really uncomfortable.
I replied, “if you think I'm touching that filthy thing, you've got another thought coming! Furthermore, I'm a pacifist. I don't believe in fighting, I believe in using words. Just forget whatever I was trying to order, I'm out of here.” and I turned on my heel and marched out of there.

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Burger king. I went into one maybe a year ago. The lights were all off, apart from the kitchen, and when I opened the door, they turned the lights on just for me. It was like a time machine. The decor hadn't changed since the 80s or 90s. No fancy electronic screens with the menu, just a really old one with bulbs behind it. The tils were ancient. Everything was old. Very strange.

I add, this was a Saturday afternoon, but didn't havr any customers so kept lights off unless someone came in. Seems dodgy to me. How can a business stay afloat like that?

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Pwnage_Hotel@reddit

GBK - when it had its original owners, its entire selling point was the “Gourmet” factor of super high quality New Zealand beef. The burgers were genuinely incredible meaty goodness.

First death was when they abandoned this model for cheaper beef.

Final nail was the recent sale and menu change. Eye watering prices, half the good options gone (no sweet potato fries), buns are awful, and they are trying to pivot towards smash burgers where the margins are presumably better. The local one near me is dead - never anyone in there.

Ironically, there is now a huge gap in the market for what GBK used to be - an actual high quality burger place.

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jbkb1972@reddit

We used to go to an harvester about once a month, but the last time we went in there which was a couple of years ago we looked at the menu and none of us could see anything we wanted so left.

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tak0wasabi@reddit

TGI Fridays. It was the treat of treats to go there for bottomless soft drinks, wings and potato skins when I was a kid. Took my own kids there recently and it was gross.

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Jaded_End_850@reddit

KFC is now carrying ‘Junk’ status with me.

Remarkable-Ad155@reddit

I rarely eat at them often enough to have an opinion on which ones have relatively "fallen off" (not a flex, just live in a small place) but there's 2 that stick out as particularly overpriced shite;

Nando's: dry chicken, way overpriced, doesn't hold a candle to the kind of churrasco chicken you can get in Portugal for a fraction of the cost:
Carluccio's: absolute tasteless wank, the one in my nearest big town shut as it couldn't compete with the actual good independent Italian places there

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MateoKovashit@reddit

churrasco chicken you can get in Portugal for a fraction of the cost

You know it's south African right?

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Remarkable-Ad155@reddit

The chain is South African, the concept of grilling chicken marinaded in a sauce made with piri piri arose when the Portuguese colonised Mozambique, which borders South Africa and (at one point at least) had a significant Portuguese immigrant community.

Per the "origin story" on Nando's website (emphasis mine);

One afternoon in 1987, two friends went for lunch at a humble Portuguese eatery. As their meal drew to a close, they knew they’d tasted something that had to be shared.

https://www.nandos.com/heritage/our-story/

The logo is even the Barcelos cockerel:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooster_of_Barcelos

They also serve Super Bock beer and Pasteis de Nata. Oh, and "Nando"? Short for Fernando. Portuguese enough for you?

There are a shit ton of places that serve bbq chicken like this in Portugal, often called "churrasqueiras", and pretty much every one is a) cheaper and b) better than Nando's.

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TheGreatBatsby@reddit

There are a shit ton of places that serve bbq chicken like this in Portugal, often called "churrasqueiras", and pretty much every one is a) cheaper and b) better than Nando's.

Obviously. But this is about UK chain restaurants.

It's not exactly reasonable to travel to Portugal for some cheaper, tastier chicken though, is it?

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Gulbasaur@reddit

I dated an Italian about ten years ago who rated Carluccio's quite highly at the time. It was never amazing but given a choice of unexciting Italian chain restaurants, that was his favourite.

I think it ticked a box for him that it was reasonably authentic and reliable rather than great, though.

I don't think I've seen one that's actually still open recently.

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animalwitch@reddit

There's at least one in Bristol and it's always busy. I've never been myself

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coraIinejones@reddit

There’s one in Chester still open

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CooroSnowFox@reddit

Carluccio's has pretty much disappeared entirely... again just other places did it better and crowded it out.

Nando's is an attraction, given the amount of attention they give to the looks of each restaurant (I know since I was working for them)... and after a while it's just chicken and heat and everything else is just basic additions (Chips, peas etc.)

hotchillieater@reddit

I'm not sure yo! was ever really that great. My wife used to work there about twelve years ago and it wasn't that good then. But it was cheaper

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TheSecretIsMarmite@reddit

Not only is it an app based ordering system but it encourages you to add a tip when a conveyor belt brings you your food and you have minimal interaction with a human being. That was the last time I went in Yo Sushi. The conveyer belt was the only gimmick worth taking the kids for.

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meesterdave@reddit

I've been in UK hospitality for 20 years, it's sad to see the decline of places I worked in and loved at their peak.

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watsee@reddit

I remember going to Frankie and Benny's for the first time in my teens, about 15-20 years ago & being really impressed with it.

I'm not sure if its due to getting older & eating in much better places, or whether the place has just gone down the toilet, but I went to the branch in Bristol Airport just before covid-times and was quite honestly appalled.

The food was absolutely dire and the service was non-existent. It was literally a bunch of kids running around having a go at playing restaurant; some of the staff were also being extremely inappropriate with each other. Extremely.

I asked for my bill 4 times before getting pissed off as my flight was due to board & going to the waiter station to say "If you don't take payment for this meal right now I'm leaving for my flight" and got a real 'Kevin the Teenager' response from the spotty irk who I'd now forced to do some work.

The overall experience was bad enough for me to write a complaint email on my iPad whilst I was eating my meal. I got an insincere apology and a token £10 voucher as a response; as if I'd actually go back to another branch and use it.

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bink_uk@reddit

I seem to remember KFC tasting quite different when I was a kid (like 20+ yrs ago) I swear something was changed from the 'secret recipe' of 11 herbs and spices and its now just a generic flour coating.

In fact they don't even mention the 11 herbs and spices these days.

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Wilkox79@reddit

I genuinely don’t have a chain that I like going to anymore. The food is always bland, lacking any kind of standard and pretty much everything crap, they’re always under staffed and frankly I’m amazed that any of them are still in business

Since COVID most things just seem insanely expensive and largely unjustifiably so. Whenever we have money to spend on going out we always try and spend it at/with independent pubs/cafes/restaurants

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braziliandarkness@reddit

I agree, but there is one chain I think is actually brilliant - Giggling Squid. It has the feel of an independent Thai restaurant and I've not had a bad dish there. Then again there are only about 15 outlets and concentrated around the South East. I really hope they don't try to expand too quickly and drop in quality.

Yeah Yo Sushi is a let down these days. It used to be a very good experience. The food, “ table 9!!!” Would be shouted from the speaker with a Japanese, broken English twang when you pressed the button on your table which was always fun but in all honesty, most things in society have gotten worse.

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DigitalAssets@reddit

I can't wait for TGI Fridays, Harvester, Frankies and Bennys, Yo Sushi and a few others to shut down

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TRFKTA@reddit

As a coeliac and cider lover - The Stable.

It used to be known for having lots of different ciders available as well as very good gluten free pizzas for which you were charged no more than the normal pizzas.

Apprehensive-Store48@reddit

I don't even know where to start. As someone counting the calories, I am at a loss at how so much of the food at a lot of these places are so calorific as well.

Best part of 1,500 calories for a veggie burger, and some fries. It doesn’t even fill you up either. You can make the same at home for half the amount of calories and be fuller. It just makes me wonder what on earth is going into this food. I don't tend to bother anymore as a result of it and stick to independent places unless it is a special or needs-must occasion.

Carluccios used to be worth it, about 2 years back the service was awful, food undercooked, lacking in quality and of course; overpriced.

They also produced shit coffee. An ITALIAN restaurant couldn't make a decent damn coffee.

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CooroSnowFox@reddit

Carluccio's still exists?

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Fiennes@reddit

There's one platform-side at St Pancras, London.

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mrbadger2000@reddit

Wagamamma. Used to be real food. Sudden drop off a few years ago. Haven't been back since.

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Certain-Trade8319@reddit

Waga is absolute dogshit now.

We used to enjoy going as a family, relatively cheap etc.

Their prices are now ridiculous for the portion sizes.

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LJ161@reddit

As a mum - yo sushi comes in handy during the holidays cause they have a 'kids eat free when you spend £10' offer (or at least they did the last time I went) so I can have a couple of plates and my kid gets an entire bentonite box and is entertained by watching the conveyor belt and chefs.

That being said I'd never go there for any other purpose now days as its overpriced in my opinion.

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specialdelivery88@reddit

I eat at Nobu whenever I am in the city. The prices has increased, £40 for my favourite lobster dry miso starter but it’s still an amazing dish. I’d advise people dismayed at Francine and Benny or KFC going downhill to try a better quality cuisine. You won’t be disappointed

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nimpog@reddit

After Covid? harvester. I don’t like being followed around the salad bar by staff. And I just don’t think the food hits as good anymore

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Schallpattern@reddit

Harrods Food Hall.

It's just not the same recently.

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Worked with a mad pizza chef called Shafiq who used to throw plates at me if I was not 'on the ball'.

Jimlaheydrunktank@reddit

Pizza Hut in the 90s was amazing..

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gpeccadillo@reddit

Lol was it fuck. The all you can eat buffet was a bit of a novelty, but the quality of the food was about as good as it is now: passable.

Better than most of the competition at the time, but mot a patch on traditional or Neapolitan pizzas or whatever.

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I disagree that standards there have "fallen off" per the OP. They were always average, but the novelty has worn off and perhaps their taste for sushi is now more refined and sophisticated.

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CooroSnowFox@reddit

I said it elsewhere, but it's like Nando's... the novelty wore off there and it's just ANOTHER place that exists... it's the special places you find that stand out rather than the wide chains in places.

It was exciting back in 2008-2012... but I found it's not the only thing and probably moved away to Italian etc. in that time and the menu shifts over time.

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Nrysis@reddit

Wimpy

I didn't even realise they were actually still a thing until recently when I discovered there are still a few remaining.

Stepping inside one, it seems that nothing has actually changed since I was last aware of their existence in the 90's, and the burger tasted like it had been frozen since then too.

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gogoluke@reddit

So it's stayed the same and gone down hill. Did you have a Schrödinger Burger?

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Tasty-Explanation503@reddit

Never got the hype with Hard Rock cafe, just a load of signed outfits/guitars on the walls and overpriced food and cocktails.

Naff

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slip_cougan@reddit

It's shit

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Ruadhan2300@reddit

In general most fast food has gotten way more expensive without much qualitative improvement.

Ordering KFC for three costs £40

Ordering a full meal from the Indian restaurant (not takeaway, actual restaurant) down the road costs around the same but you get proper restaurant quality food.

Same deal with the Chinese takeaways too.

There is no reason other than wanting KFCs specific offerings to order from them.

McDonald's is little better.

My local McDonald's routinely gets our order wrong, and the fries are often cold by the time it gets to us.

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lucky1pierre@reddit

Go back to Yo! on a Thursday afternoon at the minute - they're offering an hour of bottomless conveyer sushi for £30. Me, my wife and daughter went last week, and it was exactly how I'd expected it as a child (I never went as a kid).

£200 of sushi for £76, and the fun of just grabbing something from the conveyer to eat, too.

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Kooky-Leather-5563@reddit

Gotta be honest.... wetherspoons

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Outrageous-Side-6627@reddit

All fast food restaurants, tbh the price rises have made it too expensive to eat. It used to be a cheap meal you'd on the go, but now it's not worth it. The ingredients they use make it an unfilling meal.

You are better at buying ingredients in cheap supermarkets like aldi and making replications of meals at home

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KelbornXx@reddit

I have a theory that its because all of the standard fast food places and pubs improved the quality of their food and the chain restaurants, started cutting corners . KFC, McDonalds etc. used to be so bad in the 2000s but have improved greatly since (I know McDonalds has gone down again recently). But those aren't the places you would go for a nice meal or a special occasion. Once the chain places started going downhill, people weren't prepared to pay a lot of money for a poor meal and instead ordered a big takeaway (Indian, Chinese etc.).

People now are still willing to try somewhere new but will not go back if they have just one bad experience. I'd much rather order a curry from my local Indian restaurant which has never let me down. I think a lot of people I know are similar.

I spend a lot of time in America and various European countries and the food is noticeably got worse over the last decade, so its not just the UK.

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pease_pudding@reddit

McDonalds used to be cheap convenience food

They got a bit ahead of themselves and started charging restaurant prices for a shitty burger fries and a drink.

Now its all gone tits up for them, and they are trying to claw back all the customers who have left. But instead of lowering prices which their CEO admitted they need to do, they are instead offering up bigger and more varied burgers for more money.

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leffe186@reddit

Chiquito’s, wow. My wife’s American and we met in Birmingham UK. Remember we went to Chiquito’s there once and the comparison to even the most bog-standard Mexican Restaurant in Ohio was eye-wateringly bad. We cried with laughter.

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El_Scot@reddit

Yeah, I never understood why they were so popular. I ate there once and it was so bland, it was about 6 years before I went back again.

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Michaelh12345@reddit

I used to really like Chiquitos breakfast burritos.. where I live it was next to a F&B and no one thought of Chiquitos as a breakfast place and scurried into F&B, but Chiquitos was amazing. Went quite frequently 2017-2020 and could get breakfast for me and my daughter with drinks for < £10..

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I know it's fashionable to bash what with them being in big trouble, but TGIs a couple of months back was legit the worst food I've ever paid for. The lowlight was the mac and cheese with hardly any cheese and mushy overcooked pasta, worse than the made for babies £1 plate you'd get in charlie chalks. Vile burgers. Clearly all frozen and microwaved rubbish

In the 90s they did proper fresh quality food, sizzling fajitas, crab claws, incredible ribs and burgers. Such a shame it's been cost cut unto oblivion.

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143019@reddit

Panera was the first quick restaurant that wasn’t always fried foods, and my kids would eat the food there. We went all the time. Went back for the first time in a few years and it is terrible now!

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Different-Order6835@reddit

KFC was the bizzle when it came to the UK in early 90s ish ? Maybe late 80s . Some of the franchisees are better than others but the chickens are tiny now. It's a bit weird.

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gs3gd@reddit

Prezzo.

Used to be decent food at a reasonable price, often with lunch deals during the week.

Now it's massively overpriced, tiny portions that take forever to arrive at your table.

Been twice in the last couple of years and was the same both times.

I didn’t even know they still existed! I went to the Yo! sushi in my city as a ‘treat’ when I was a broke student, also back in the 2010s, and also with a fellow edgy anime weeb! At the time it seemed like the height of luxury, also coming from a small town with the typical 2 fish & chip shops, a chinese & an ‘town name tandoori’ as the only options for eating out. Sad to hear it’s just supermarket sushi now, but I also do think a lot of cities & bigger towns have got decent sushi options these days.

Frankie and Bennie's. Used to be that every 'dinner out' that my family had in the 2000s/2010s was there, especially if it was a birthday dinner.

I can't remember the last time we went to Frankie and Bennie's.

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Careful-Tangerine986@reddit

I mean I know it's not a restaurant but I got a McDonald's yesterday for the 1st time in about 4 years. It was always cheap shite, of course, but you knew what you were getting.

What I got served yesterday wasn't edible. Most of it got thrown in the bin and it cost nearly a tenner for a meal and some (3!!) mozzarella sticks. I'll never eat there again.

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Browbeaten92@reddit

Well, I didn't grow up in the UK, but was recently in Canada where I did and went to a mid range family restaurant there called St Hubert. It's rotisserie chicken and something I grew up with.

Have to say I was amazed by the overall quality to price ratio. It's like a typical roadside/highway restaurant, but they do table service and have a bar, so Miller and Carter vibes. Meant to be upmarket and not fast food.

I visited the Leicester branch about two years ago and it was disgusting. It was just filthy, the staff were disinterested and the choice was really poor. Won't bother again, used to love going to the one in Reading when I was a student about 15 years ago.

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b-roc@reddit

I think that might just be your Yo Sushi!

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BaseballFuryThurman@reddit

anime-obsessed teen

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Scumbaggio1845@reddit

It was never really that great unless you went on a Monday and they have done nothing to keep up with new competition. It’s old hat now.

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