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Fast-food restaurant

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A fast-food restaurant is a restaurant characterized 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 fast food. In response to increasing backlash against "fast-food," the industry has been trying to move the public away from the term "fast food" over the past five years, shifting to the term quick service restaurant (QSR for short). QSR has not, however, been seen used in regular speech.

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 the individual restaurants 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 (for the UK, see also below).

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

Contents
1 Overview
2 Modern fast-food restaurants

2.1 Australia
2.2 Brazil
2.3 Canada
2.4 China
2.5 Denmark
2.6 Estonia
2.7 Finland
2.8 France
2.9 Germany
2.10 Greece
2.11 Hong Kong
2.12 Ireland
2.13 Israel
2.14 Italy
2.15 Japan
2.16 Malaysia
2.17 Spain
2.18 Sweden
2.19 Syria
2.20 United Kingdom
2.21 United States

3 Fictional
4 Fast-food chains which have disappeared
5 Corporations
6 See also

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.

Because of this reliance on monoculture, on foodstuffs purchased on global commodity markets and on its 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 a McDonald's which made him a folk hero in France, or 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 choices. Among other things, it strives to educate consumers' palates to prefer the richer and more varied local tastes of 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 the 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 (mashed potatoes) 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

Australia

Brazil

  • Bob's http://www.bobs.com.br
  • Burgăo http://www.burgao.com/
  • Habib's http://www.habibs-fast-food.com.br
  • McDonald's http://www.mcdonalds.com.br
  • Pizza Hut http://www.pizzahut.com.br/
  • Subway http://subwaybrasil.vilabol.uol.com.br

Canada

China

Note that the term 'fast-food' is rather deceiving when applied to Asian restaurants. While it is fitting to describe the restaurants as fast-service, the same does not apply to customers. Among cinemas and shopping arcades, people are just as likely to sit down and socialize (over a cup of tea, soup or other products) as they are to grab a bag and take off.

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

The French generally do not go to fast-food restaurants for quick meals, but often buy take-away food from bakeries. French food culture is fairly sophisticated, leading to some outright hostility against typical fast-food restaurants.

Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

Only available inside the Hong Kong International Airport:

Ireland

Israel

  • Burger Ranch
  • Sbarro

Italy

  • Autogrill on the italian network of Autostrada freeways
  • Brek
  • Burger King
  • Chef Express in trains and train stations
  • Ciao
  • McDonalds
  • Pizzarito & Pastarito
  • Spizzico

Japan

  • Becker's
  • Chikuji Gindako
  • CoCo Ichibanya
  • Dom Dom Hamburger
  • First-Kitchen
  • Freshness Burger
  • Kozozushi
  • Kyotaru
  • Lotteria
  • McDonald's
  • Mos Burger
  • Pepper Lunch
  • Sukiya , "Beef bowl"
  • Yoshinoya, "Beef bowl" http://www.yoshinoyausa.com/

Malaysia

  • 1901 Hotdog , http://www.1901.com/

Spain

Sweden

Syria

United Kingdom

United States

Fictional

Fast-food chains which have disappeared

  • Burger Chef - http://web.archive.org/web/20030425145203/http://www.burgerchef.com (link from a former site located at the Internet Archive)
  • Burghy incorporated in McDonald's Corporation Italia

Corporations

See also


Last updated: 10-24-2004 05:10:45