Burger King, Fishponds

Burger King opened their first restaurant in Miami in 1954, ever since they have been expanding at a phenomenal rate. There are now over 11,000 restaurants worldwide, and like every single one of them, they’re all the same. Sub standard food, substandard service and generally a sub standard experience.

But wait, hang on….this is a fast food restaurant, not a posh establishment with a 3 star Michelin chef at the helm. Oh course, how ...
...like one?

Burger King seems to treat their customers like cattle, they treat you like the poor animals that you’re eating. They don’t care if you’re burger is cold, if there is a major problem, they just offer you another greasy-cholesterol loaded slab of meat to make up for the one that didn’t quite meet your unnaturally high (and rightly so) consumer standards. Yes I hate Burger King, and no…I am not an animal rights activist, I’m ... more

Burger King opened their first restaurant in Miami in 1954, ever since they have been expanding at a phenomenal rate. There are now over 11,000 restaurants worldwide, and like every single one of them, they’re all the same. Sub standard food, substandard service and generally a sub standard experience.

But wait, hang on….this is a fast food restaurant, not a posh establishment with a 3 star Michelin chef at the helm. Oh course, how could I forget. But honestly folks, have you ever received exactly what you expected without being slightly disappointed with the amount of money that it costs? It is a restaurant all the same, surely they should act like one?

Burger King seems to treat their customers like cattle, they treat you like the poor animals that you’re eating. They don’t care if you’re burger is cold, if there is a major problem, they just offer you another greasy-cholesterol loaded slab of meat to make up for the one that didn’t quite meet your unnaturally high (and rightly so) consumer standards. Yes I hate Burger King, and no…I am not an animal rights activist, I’m just a poor old little consumer who is finally saying what he’s always wanted to say. Do not go there.

My experience of takeaways has been varied and wide ranging. If I want to get a quick snack, I go to a coffee house or somewhere with some sandwiches. Albeit cold and soggy, it’s got identifiable ingredients, a tomato looks like a tomato and tastes like one too. I have gone to BK many times, and each time I have left full, but slightly deflated.

The Food:

BK’s Bacon Double Cheeseburgers are a dietician’s worse nightmare; however, they say you might as well have one of those, instead of a sandwich. Bread sits at the bottom of your stomach and doesn’t do you a whole lot of good, at least with a BK Burger you get a smaller amount of bread and some protein thrown in via the burger itself. They are normally quite flat, and taste burnt. There is flame grilled and then there is incinerated.
The buns are normally soft and not soggy; the salad is normally sparse and very un-salad like. The chips are like eating salty sticks of cardboard. Though BK have finally taken the hint that Salt is bad for you in large quantity, they have introduced packs of Lo-Salt. This is horrid stuff and tastes more of pure sodium rather then ‘salt’.

The Service:

I was once given the wrong order in BK. Fishponds BK are abysmal when it comes to getting the right order. There is less spoken English and too much apathy to the customer’s orders. That’s when they get the price right. According to Fishponds, £2.99 and £2.99 does not equal £5.98, but £8.17. Work that out, but don’t tell them or they’ll get offended.

The Décor:

They didn’t exactly get Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen in. It’s bright and retro, enough to give passing mosquito’s nightmares. I walked in to my local BK in Exeter and stood waiting for the cast of Happy Days to appear, of course they didn’t. Too much neon lighting and not enough attention to creating a pleasant atmosphere to relax. The seating is a joke. The average waistline has exploded in size since the 50’s, yet they still create seating for midgets, or people with short legs. Not bad for kids, however I am 6ft 1’ and according to the designers, everyone is a maximum of 5ft 10.

I feel I am being slightly unfair to BK, after all what can you expect from a fast food outlet. The staff are always miserable (who can blame them), the floors are nearly always dirty, on the other extreme they’re cleaning the floors so they have to close half of the restaurant of because someone spilt a Coca Cola this morning. The experience of going to BK is getting worse in my opinion. It’s time someone taught them a lesson.
 

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