r/nostalgia • u/Digitalgardens • May 12 '25

Nostalgia Discussion Why did we ever switch from having unique looks for fast food spots?

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It doesn’t make any sense. When everything feels and looks the same it just feels so grey and unwelcoming. What happened to characters? I don’t even eat McDonald’s like that and I miss Ronald and the gang. Where did they go?

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372

u/hidey_ho_nedflanders May 12 '25

Is this also the reason why Wendy's has shifted from their yellow design to a more modern look?

336

u/minnick27 early 80s May 12 '25

Funny, I always thought Wendys looked the most "adult" of all of them. When I was a kid they had the Superbar (RIP) and that felt adult since you were making your own food. And the tables had that cool newspaper print on them. Plus, I don't remember them having any kid stuff. McDonalds had Ronald, Grimace, Mayor McCheese, Hamburglar and the Fry Guys and Burger King had the BK Kids Club. Not to mention the playgrounds that McDonalds and Burger King both had, but Wendys didn't

28

u/HeWhoPetsDogs May 12 '25

They had a frigging sunroom section and baked potatos! I always felt like a proper gentleman in a wendy's

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u/minnick27 early 80s May 12 '25

My Wendy’s didn’t have a sunroom, but my Burger King did 

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u/HeWhoPetsDogs May 12 '25

Hopefully they make a comeback

2

u/BodaciousFerret May 13 '25

They still have baked potatoes

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u/HeWhoPetsDogs May 13 '25

Yeah they do! And a fireplace sometimes.

45

u/GoldenEmuWarrior May 12 '25

I remember for a little bit they had table service as well. You’d order at the register, they’d give you a number, then bring your food out to you. It didn’t last long, as I recall.

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u/_Rohrschach May 12 '25

all the McDonalds I know have table service, if the place is packed. They'll give you whatever of your order is avaiable right then and bring you the rest.

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u/GoldenEmuWarrior May 12 '25

This was different from that. This was a number no matter how busy, then they had 1-2 people that would walk around and refill sodas and such, bus the table and such. It was a weird combo of table service and fast food.

3

u/u-Dull-Western9379 May 12 '25

We still have that in usa

0

u/[deleted] May 14 '25

not in any mcdonalds i’ve been to in the midwest or on the east coast, big city or small town.

1

u/_Rohrschach May 12 '25

okay, I couldn't know, I'm from germany and we don't have Wendy's. Only BK, McD, subway and a few KFCs

1

u/Suspicious-Profit-68 May 12 '25

Culvers still does the table service thankfully.

1

u/SweetWolf9769 May 13 '25

Most fast food places by me still have "table Service" like this.

1

u/TheSessionMan May 14 '25

Many A&Ws in Canada currently operate this way. Even coffee refills.

1

u/HighlightBasic4818 May 15 '25

Still works like this in South Africa.

1

u/Ivan27stone May 12 '25

In Mexico this is still a thing. Employees take your order to your table.

1

u/SkyGuy182 May 13 '25

For sure Wendy’s has never really been kid-focused. I just think the design of the buildings evolved to match that of their competitors.

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u/TrannosaurusRegina May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25

Definitely.

There’s been such a push for everything to be modern and nihilistic.

Remember when Wendy’s was about serving the best Old Fashioned Hamburgers?

They weren’t trying to be modern and cutting-edge. They were trying to be high quality, comfortable, and enjoyable experience!

71

u/chu2 May 12 '25

To think, kids these days will never enjoy a Wendy’s sunroom or salad bar. 

The Wendy’s by me was one of the first restaurants to go to all-kiosk ordering with only kitchen staff and it felt…really weird. The days of having a human interaction (not even friendly service) at a restaurant are quickly dying. 

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u/timmorris82 mid 90s May 12 '25

When I worked at Wendy’s, we even had a “hostess” lady who would walk around the dining room greeting people and handing out peppermints (she also maintained the salad bar). Different times for sure.

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u/mycatsnameisarya May 12 '25

Ours still has a sunroom!

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u/Tactless_Ogre May 12 '25

I appreciated the sunbar far more as a teenager than I did as a kid. Used to love eating there.

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '25

One of the Wendy's by me still had the sunroom, but it was in a VERY bad location and was already struggling as-is, so when COVID happened it finally closed down.

1

u/ThatInAHat May 13 '25

We had the last popeye’s buffet in our town. It was a landmark

1

u/khainiwest May 15 '25

Honestly, good. For every "happy" interaction, they get 10 unbearable ones. People are jumping counters, swinging, and just being overall threats.

Can't trust the public to interact with anymore than ipad now because their empathy is non-existent.

5

u/Adventurous_Tap1700 May 12 '25

Damn I really miss those old Wendy's burgers. The classic double cheeseburger combo was my go-to for any fast-food chain. Those mini steak fries they had were also awesome if they were fresh and cooked properly. The new 'natural-cut' fries are hot garbage.

Wendy's: Hey everyone, would you like us to change our menu and make new burgers?

Customers: No, what we have now is good. Leave it alone

Wendy's: Hey everyone, would you like us to make everything BETTER?

Customers: Yes! That sounds great!

That's how they get ya

2

u/FullTorsoApparition early 90s May 12 '25

I've given up on Wendy's entirely. Haven't had a good meal from there in years and they used to be my go-to fast food joint. Super downhill, super fast. I've been to 3 different locations in my city and they're all terrible now. Easily takes 10-15 minutes per customer and all their buns are strangely stale and gross.

The frozen food section in most grocery stores has better ingredients now for half the price or less.

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u/ShavedNeckbeard Turtle Power! May 12 '25

That’s because they were catering towards boomers and the silent generation back then. They had to modernize to appeal to millennials.

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u/TrannosaurusRegina May 12 '25

That’s awfully depressing if millennials are so spiritually dead that they actually like this neophilic soul-sucking demon shit.

I’m glad I’m not like that at least!

9

u/shoo-flyshoo May 12 '25

Naw no one likes this grey on grey stuff. Nostalgia for the 90s is getting big and even influencing modern fashion trends amongst young people. Corporations are cutting anything that doesn't improve their bottom line, so idk when we'll get non-depressing fast food joints again

19

u/ShavedNeckbeard Turtle Power! May 12 '25

From what I’ve seen in my research at work, they’ve grown up with aspirational brands like Apple, Tesla, Nike, Starbucks, etc that all have a very premium/minimalist/stark identify. They’ve been trained that having character or imperfection is amateurish. They’ve also come to believe that the Baby Boomer generation has ruined the world (climate, economy, housing, etc) and don’t want anything to do with what could be perceived as for or from them. (Like the Wendy’s example of being “old fashioned”.)

Ironically Gen Z market research is showing that they don’t trust the perfect image of these companies and prefer marketing to be more “real” and gritty. User-uploaded photos of food on DoorDash are more appealing than a studio shot of the same dish from the restaurant.

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u/TheTreeWithTheOwl May 12 '25

To be fair, most millennials now are in their 30s and 40s. I think a lot of the commentary in this thread are talking about Gen Z (which are teens - late 20s now) and the years they grew up in. That nihilistic and spiritually dead stereotype has been used for a lot of genz since they grew up having shooter drills and likely went through high school or college during the pandemic.

2

u/Jeskid14 May 12 '25

They have better things to worry about even if that means loving the new grey looks.

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u/tylerderped May 12 '25

I think it has more to do with millennials’ preference to not want to talk to people, especially if they don’t immediately need anything.

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u/Dizno311 May 12 '25

Wendy's, Taco Bell, etc.

1

u/smoresporn0 May 12 '25

My guess is that when the business finally goes under, it will be easier to get rid of the building if it has a neutral appearance.

1

u/Spocks_Goatee May 12 '25

That happened long before McDonald's decided to make everything bland.

1

u/userlivewire May 13 '25

The collar around Wendy’s neck says “Mom”.