Wikipedia

Fast food restaurant

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A fast-food restaurant is a restaurant characterized both by food which is supplied quickly after ordering, and by minimal service. Food purchased may or may not be eaten quickly as well. Often this food is referred to as fast food. In response to increasing backlash against "fast-food", the industry has been trying to move the public away from that term over the past five years, shifting to the term quick service restaurant (QSR for short). Consumers still refer to the restaurants as fast-food despite the industry's efforts to change them.

The food in these restaurants is commonly cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, or reheated to order. Many fast-food restaurants are part of restaurant chains or franchise operations, which ship standardized foodstuffs to each restaurant from central locations. There are also simpler fast-food outlets, such as stands or kiosks, which might or might not provide shelter or chairs for customers.

Because the capital requirements to start a fast-food restaurant are relatively small, particularly in areas with non-existent or poorly enforced health codes, small individually owned fast-food restaurants are common throughout the world.

Overview

Within the United States, fast-food restaurants have been losing market share to so-called fast casual restaurants, which offer somewhat better and more expensive foods. In 2002, the McDonald's Corporation posted its first quarterly loss. With this cultural shift toward healthier, better quality foods, McDonald's and Burger King most notably have begun to move toward selling healthier alternatives such as salads and deli-style sandwiches. This is in a dual effort to match the demand of a changing society and to respond to ongoing lawsuits against the companies.

In 2004, the "Cheeseburger Bill" [1] was passed by the US Congress. This law was claimed to "[ban] frivolous lawsuits against producers and sellers of food and non-alcoholic drinks arising from obesity claims." The bill arose because of an increase in lawsuits against fast-food chains by people who claimed that eating their products MADE them obese, basically disassociating themselves from any of the blame.

Because of this reliance on monoculture, on foodstuffs purchased on global commodity markets and the resulting displacement of local eating habits, the fast-food industry is seen by many as destroying local styles of cuisine. It is often a focus of resistance (e.g., José Bové's bulldozing of a McDonald's which made him a folk hero in France, and the "MCSHIT" campaign in the UK).

For these reasons and more, the Slow Food movement seeks to preserve local cuisines and ingredients, and directly opposes laws and habits that favor fast-food. Among other things, it strives to educate consumers' palates to prefer the richer and more varied local taste for fresh ingredients harvested in season.

Although fast-food restaurants are often seen as a mark of modern technological culture, they are probably as old as cities themselves, with their style varying from culture to culture. Ancient Roman cities had bread-and-olive stands, East Asian cultures feature noodle shops. Flat bread, and falafel are characteristic of the Middle East.

In the United Kingdom, while fast-food restaurant chains are now common, the British tradition of take-away foods such as fish and chips and steak and kidney pie with mash remain popular. Closer to the end of the 20th century, these have been joined by take-away outlets selling ethnic or pseudo-ethnic foods such as Italian, Chinese, and Indian. For more on foods in the UK, see British cuisine.

Modern fast-food restaurants

Although fast-food was pioneered in the United States, it has become a worldwide phenomenon.

Australia

Brazil

Canada

PR China

Hong Kong

El Salvador

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Guatemala

Iceland

Iran

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Malaysia

Mexico

The Netherlands

New Zealand

Peru

Philippines

Portugal

Singapore

South Africa

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

Fictional

Fast-food chains which have disappeared

Corporations

See also

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