Taco Bell hands down tasted better back then than it does today.

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Feeling-Pea5281@reddit

Wendy's had that kickass salad bar in the '80s, and as a perpetually hungry teenager, I cleaned them out. Nobody ever tried to cut me off; they weren't paid enough to get between me and food.

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Kershiser22@reddit

Wendy's had a normal salad bar that was good. Then in about 1988 they changed it to a "Super" Bar that had set spaghetti and nachos and other stuff. It was awesome.

I wish they would at least bring back their salad bar. Not enough salad bars these days.

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u9Nails@reddit

Right? I can't tell if this is something they found it something they created. But it fits GenX.

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

If you have a question or concern, contact the mod team directly and do not post in the sub.

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

If you have a question or concern, contact the mod team directly and do not post in the sub.

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ComfortableCommand44@reddit

The BK Whopper and BK Broiler chicken sandwich were awesome back than. Also the Cousins Double Cheesesteak.

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u9Nails@reddit

BK was awesome. I've always remembered it being bigger than other restaurants, and had that charbroiled flavor.

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Responsible_Name1217@reddit

Taco bell was a money proposition at 2am. How much food can I get for $5.

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AJ_in_SF_Bay@reddit

The beef 'n cheddar on the onion rolls used to be better, and they were dirt cheap. Get them and get some BBQ and horsey sauce, and it was decent. That and a jamocha shake, and I was a happy kid.

I went to an Arby's on a road trip about a year ago, and everything from the roast beef to the sauces seemed like a synthetic photocopy of what it used to be.

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Back in the 80s, Taco Bell made their guacamole in house. Had a friend who worked there in high school and early college years. She had to cut and scoop 1-2 cases of avocados every shift. Food was measurable better in quality back then. Plus you could have entire meals from the 59/79/99 cent value menu.

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GenXPowaah@reddit

All of the food in the 80's was good, why you ask because it was 100% real. Meaning, they didn't use anywhere near the amount of food preservatives and additives that are used in 2026.

Arby's, used to be the bomb, Taco Bell man what you're eating now isn't Taco Bell folks. There used to be wars with McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's all 3 had delicious food, it usually came down to who was closer versus who's food is "better".

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HawkingzWheelchair@reddit

Remember Subway? Oh how far they all have fallen.

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AJ_in_SF_Bay@reddit

Subway used to be halfway decent when they first launched, didn't meter out ingredients and toppings so miserly, and they really did bake different kinds of sandwich rolls on site.

Now I wouldn't go to a Subway if you paid me.

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AboveGroundPoolQueen@reddit

Del taco

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Midnighthowler60@reddit

Better throw pizza hut in this list too. 80s - mid 90's fast food was amazing.

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Infamously_Delicious@reddit

It wasn't fast food then. They were real restaurants with waitresses and beer and jukeboxes and video games.

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Carinyosa99@reddit

I didn't really get much fast food back in the 80s but we had a place here on the East Coast called Roy Rogers which was sooooo good back then. They closed down and were bought out by Hardees I believe. A few have since opened up here in Maryland but not many locations and it's not as good as it once was.

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AJ_in_SF_Bay@reddit

Good lord, I remember Roy Rogers. That was good stuff!

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Wndrunner@reddit

I don’t remember much about the fast food in the 80s. I remember it was a treat to go to Burger King with my mom and her sister an go thru the drive thru and eat in the car.

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hlv6302@reddit

59 79 99 was peak society

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AJ_in_SF_Bay@reddit

Got me through college. 59-cent bean burritos—barely enough sustenance to survive.

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RedneckMarxist@reddit

Fresh made McDonald's Double Cheeseburger is still great. Same as 1980. Problem is, you have to request fresh cooked.

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Then_Bison5277@reddit

And then it comes with extra bodily fluids

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JuJu_Wirehead@reddit

Eh, I wouldn't exactly call myself a connoisseur of fine dining back then. But I know I wouldn't touch that stuff today.

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CrumblinEmpire@reddit

I vividly remember enjoying Der Wienerschnitzel chili-cheese dogs like they were sweet manna from The Gods. They were 50¢ each. It’s an odd thought because I haven’t eaten a hot dog in decades. Someone tell me that they are still that good.

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danksince98@reddit

taco bell tasted the same today as it did in 80s and 90s

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miggismallz33@reddit

Sorry. It does not.

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danksince98@reddit

taco supreme tastes exact same way to me ..still delicious..chicken chalupas i see no difference..maybe some of their other stuff changed but thats all i eat..never once said omg this used to be so much better..never even thought it

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Active-Possibility77@reddit

Different sources for ingredients. The cheese and meat were very different, as were thr shells

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Mikeyjf@reddit

No way! A burrito supreme had black olives, tomatoes, onions, real melted cheese. It was awesome back then.

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Igmuhota@reddit

Crazy thing for me looking at that list is that my answer would be all of them, to varying degrees.

Haven’t had fast food in over a decade, because it became simultaneously expensive and disappointing enough that I switched to choosing better options with less frequency and never looked back.

All that being said, Taco Bell and Arby’s felt like they fell the farthest, maybe because they had further to fall, relatively speaking. Almost like they went from being food to, well, whatever they are now.

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Upper_Economist7611@reddit

Old school Taco Bell- nothing like it!

And I would kill for a fried McDonald’s apple pie!

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brendini511@reddit

BK has them right now, but I haven't tried them yet.

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Ichigo2819@reddit

Go to Rally's, they have the old McDonald's style apple pies

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1955chevyguy@reddit

Try a Whataburger apple pie!

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SoCalChrisW@reddit

If you're ever in Southern California, there's a location in Downey that still fries them.

https://yelp.to/hD4IKb2cBT

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Fanabala3@reddit

No kidding. When McDonald’s fried their food in tallow was the best.

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Fan_of_Clio@reddit

Taco Bell is definitely trash now

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TheSpatulaOfLove@reddit

They’re all trash.

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Cowboy-Dave1851@reddit

Hardee's for me!

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

Low Effort - Posts or comments that hold no value to the sub may be removed. This includes but isn't limited to:

First/Last
Pictures, comics, or memes with no context (Yes, you need to put forth some effort.)
One word comments (ex: This!) *A headline with no further context for a photo or meme. NOTE: The headline is not context. Make the effort to write something.

If your post is removed under this rule, you are free to add context and repost, but do not repost it without changes.

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78Anonymous@reddit

KFC was pretty good in the eighties. I remember when the Zinger was introduced.

Didn't know Wendy's until the late nineties.

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Dino_Spaceman@reddit

KFC hot wings were amazing. I stopped going entirely when they were removed from the menu.

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Initial-Succotash-37@reddit

Wendys hamburgers were really good back then

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thatpunkyrat@reddit

I wish I had gotten to experience the old Taco Bell. It's almost $8 for a quesadilla 😭

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Dino_Spaceman@reddit

Wendy’s yellow era can never be beat.

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SanMig-In-Bora@reddit

If you’re constipated, Taco Bell works better than meds.

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CriticalStrawberry15@reddit

Fiber tends to do that if you don’t get enough of it

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PossibleDiscipline90@reddit

They want to be more efficient by adding so many preservatives and junk now. Then they charge more for it.

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mrv_wants_xtra_cheez@reddit

Used to be made from real Mexicans, now it’s just ground up mudflaps and microplastics.

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G0R_G0R@reddit

Arby’s 5 for 5 couldn’t be beat, 99 cent whoppers at bk got me through high school as well.

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Mysterious-Ruby@reddit

When I was pregnant in 1996 I picked up the 5 for 5 with the intention of eating 2 and giving my husband the other 3.
I ended up eating all 5 and went home without dinner. Lol

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lochinver@reddit

I would say Hardee's. We also had a chain of Taco John's the next town over that was good back then.

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PeevedProgressive@reddit

Pretty much everything tasted better back in the day. What's that word the kids are using today? Oh, yeah, enshitification!

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miggismallz33@reddit

Taco Bell and KFC. The flavor has really changed from the 80’s to now.

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mrskeetskeeter@reddit

Literally every tasted better “back then” because they would use ingredients that were a lot healthier than what they use today. Today’s food tastes different because they use cheaper less healthy ingredients that doesn’t taste nearly as good as they used to. That goes not just for Taco Bell, but just about everything in the food industry.

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skspoppa733@reddit

Wendy’s used to be so good that you’d have a hard time finishing all of it.

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learningbydoing2025@reddit

Do I see whataburger?

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Thin-Quiet-2283@reddit

Wendy’s !

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Melodic_Caramel1777@reddit

Taco Bell and Wendy’s were the best back then.

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jasnel@reddit

Love the picture of the Taco Bell Cinnamon Crispas! They were a pain in the ass to make, but they were delicious. They were replaced by the far less labor intensive Cinnamon Twists.

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McSmackthe1st@reddit

KFC. I hadn’t been there for a long time and went a couple of weeks ago. I’m eating my food and wondering if the Colonel had forgotten to bring the 7 herbs and spices to work that day because it had no flavor.

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Quality_Qontrol@reddit

Carl’s Jr

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Purplish_Peenk@reddit

Showed the picture to my Husband. His response? that’s like asking me which child is my favorite!

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cheloniancat@reddit

Roy Rogers

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Ididnotpostthat@reddit

I would make a full meal out of a single simple hamburger and that fixing bar.

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changelingcd@reddit

Old school KFC was changed the most.

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TheArtfulDuffer@reddit

Rax. The superior roast beef chain.

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Teanutt@reddit

Yes! I loved Rax!

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Manic-Finch781@reddit

"Best" would be whichever one contained less sodium

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JonesinforJonesey@reddit

Kentucky fried chicken in my neighbourhood was pretty good back in the day.

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dcamnc4143@reddit

Wendy's back then. It's a travesty today.

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Ididnotpostthat@reddit

I think it is still good as far as taste, I just don’t like the high prices and hamburgers that are the size of a half dollar coin.

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McSmackthe1st@reddit

But when you want a Baked Potato in a pinch there’s no better place, well, there’s no place else really except home.

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ilovebbcitv@reddit

Licks

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A_Tom_McWedgie@reddit

Nothing better than ordering a burger and having the staff do a weird white-rapper routine.

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Particular_Act_5396@reddit

All of them tasted better in the 80s than they do now

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emc_lmt@reddit

Arby’s was sooooo much better in the 80s. KFC too.

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RiffRandellsBF@reddit

Taco Bell: Your body spent the least energy converting it to soft stool for easy evacuation.

Take from that what you will.

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A_Tom_McWedgie@reddit

We called it being in “Taco Hell.”

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finny_d420@reddit

One place I lived I had an Arby's and McDonald's next to each other. I would get a regular roast beef from A's and fries from McD. Then I stop at the corner store and get a NY cream soda seltzer for my drink.

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Advanced_Nose_7738@reddit

Taco Bell. And their Run for the Border commercials were a favorite of mine.

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LordZany@reddit

Of course it did! They use to make their own beans, fry their own taco and tostada shells, shred their own cheese (real) and lettuce!

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OctopusMugs@reddit

Roy Rogers

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nosmelc@reddit

BK was better than Taco Bell in the 80's. Taco Bell was better by the 90's.

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syzygialchaos@reddit

Was going to say Burger King. Their pre-change fries were the best.

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TBarzo@reddit

I'm not saying it's the best, but Taco Bell hit harder back in the '80s. Cinnamon Crispas anyone?

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absherlock@reddit

Genos.

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crackersncheeseman@reddit

All of them had the best. Fast food was just better back then.

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phatsackocrap@reddit

We have Taco Casa around these parts. Allegedly one of the original owners of Taco Bell split off and created this, which has basically the original menu. It's a time capsule. Much recommended, if you can find one near you.

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Commercial-Border227@reddit

I was just telling my son this a couple of weeks ago!

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GloriaToo@reddit

The OG encherito with the olive was so good.

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MaximumJones@reddit

They are all in collusion to raise prices and lower quality.

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Pure-Accountant-5709@reddit

59, 69, 99....all the way

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DaddyRhyno79@reddit

That wasn’t the 80’s. I the 80’s the regular tacos (crunchy or soft) were 39¢ and the Mexican pizza was like $2

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MikeMaven@reddit

White Castle!

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tfg9999@reddit

Nah

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ibringstharuckus@reddit

100 % . I worked there in the 80s. Ground beef was fresh.Had to cook and season it in a big pan with a meat rake. Tacos had to be fried. Lettuce and tomato were chopped/diced in store. When they switched to freeze dried/dehydrated meet, I stopped eating there.

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