Love them or hate them, fast food restaurants are a quintessential part of American culture, offering cheap, quick, and often unhealthy meals that many can’t resist. From a late-night Taco Bell burrito to a lunch-break Big Mac, these establishments thrive on providing flavorful and affordable options. Despite some efforts to include healthier choices, the majority fall short of gourmet standards. Yet, there’s a peculiar charm in their existence. However, some of these places take it too far, becoming notorious for their poor quality and questionable cleanliness. For your benefit, we’ve compiled a list of the worst fast food restaurants to steer clear of.
The Worst Fast Food Establishments, Ranked
Arby’s
“At Arby’s, my college roommate placed an order for a chicken wrap, which was prepared with bone-in chicken wings. I chuckled. Thurm: “He didn’t.”
Arby’s
Dairy Queen
“In 2009, when I finished eating some meal from Dairy Queen, I saw partially dried blood attaching the paper to the bottom of the box. Not even for a Blizzard, I haven’t returned to one since.” – anonymous
Dairy Queen
Taco Bell
Joseph Richardson remarked, “We went through Taco Bell and got some nachos.” However, Kailynn claims that when she reached the bottom of her triple-layered dish, she discovered a full-length, French-tip acrylic fingernail buried among the beans. “That’s disgusting.”
Taco Bell
Bojangles
“RAW CHICKEN WITH BREADING is what is meant to be fried.””I apologize for that,” but just giving my money back won’t do.Turned off.” – Beth C.
Bojangles
Subway
“I went to a Subway in Beaver Dam, Ohio years ago, and the man who was making my sandwich cut his finger pretty badly while cutting the finished sandwich. The blood got all over the counter and the sandwich, so he wrapped the cut finger in a paper towel before wrapping and bagging the sandwich.” – 327FM
Subway
Krystal
“Being from the north, I had never been to Crystal before. I had to look into the statement that it’s “like White Castle, only worse” that I overheard. The burger was quite disgusting, even by my poor standards. Considering the location, the ambiance was pleasant and the fries were quite delicious. Worth looking into, if just out of curiosity. — EatSomeKugel
Krystal
Domino’s
“The last pizza we had from here left us feeling really let down, and the manager (I don’t know his name because he wouldn’t provide it) didn’t help either. Looked like this and took more than 40 minutes to travel less than 2 miles after leaving the store, according to Amy M.
Domino’s
Long John Silver’s
“Whoa, never once more! The interior of fried fish is moist and mushy, while the exterior is crispy. Horrible! I’m not choosy about food at all, so I eat everything that’s edible, but I had to spit it out. In my opinion, that was the worst dish ever.” – Rebekkah C.
Long John Silver’s
KFC
“I took a chunk out, discovered that, and then spit the remainder out. KFC stated that it was most likely a piece of offal, such as a kidney or lung, that ought to have been thrown away. You don’t expect to have that kind of garbage in your food when you go there. “Offal is removed most of the time during the preparation process, but it may occasionally remain,” a spokeswoman stated. – Richard Hartley-Parkinson
KFC
Del Taco
“Have you ever had a negative Taco Bell experience? In one taste, this location will erase EVERY memory of it. Don’t get me wrong, the cuisine here reminded me of taco day in elementary school. The staff was kind, and the place was clean considering it had just opened. The meat was cold, tasted scorched, and was dry. – Dave S.
Del Taco
White Castle
“We stroll in, place our food orders, and are enjoying our time together after a six-week separation. As I bite into one of the onion rings we are sharing, I notice a deep-fried bandage protruding from the onion ring. After presenting the situation to the manager, my parents maintained their composure, but he declined to take any action over our lunch. Upon our departure, my parents abandoned their affection for subpar meat sliders, and none of us have returned to them.” – Rythmi
White Castle
Panda Express
A insect in my stir fry. This bug in my chow mein has a black shell and isn’t even a tiny fruit fly or whatever. Given that it is dead and cooked, I can be positive that this insect was present in the chow mein when I purchased it. AWFUL!!!!!!- Jasmine Q.
Panda Express
Wendy’s
“When I followed up to inquire about it, they were all quite shocked and disgusted. They then had the general manager give me a call, and he said, ‘I can either give you a new sandwich cooked properly or refund your meal entirely.'” I collected the refund because there was no way in hell I was going to eat there again.” – Shannanscope
Wendy’s
Little Caesar’s
Not much worse than it was. We waited for a burnt pizza for forty minutes without even being informed of its scorched state! We tried to eat it when we got home, but after two slices, I was on the verge of throwing up. We didn’t understand this. disposed of two pizzas, totaling twelve out of sixteen slices. Needed to discard everything. Avoid coming here at all, said Luke K.
Little Caesar’s
Checkers
“Unclean! On a Saturday, at around 230 a.m., we went to have some food. As soon as he noticed us pulling up, the cook fled inside with a vehicle full of his friends. After placing our order, we had to wait two minutes to pay as the two men conversed. With his back to us, one of the men—the one who had just finished a cigarette—was handling the meal without gloves while the other was rearranging his underwear inside his jeans. Needless to say, Ashlee B. and I pulled it off.
Checkers
Sonic
“A cockroach was discovered in a Sonic burger. Half a cockroach, that is. The manager informed me I placed the chewed-up burger pile with the half-roach in the parking lot when I went inside and showed him. – Shanlav
Sonic
Auntie Anne’s
What a terrible error. I spent the entire night unable to fall asleep. I think I’m going to pass away. The Auntie Anne’s garlic pretzel tasted so good just then, but after five minutes the crowd moved out of City Center, leaving me the sole person standing. No one will come within twelve feet of me. A terrible event happened. — Kimberlyn U.
Auntie Anne’s
Quiznos
“I’ve heard the Quiznos cat commercial a lot. The commercial’s cat voices are really bothersome. I’ve never heard a worse commercial than this one. Every time I hear it, all I want to do is chuck the remote through the TV. It’s so obnoxious that I mute the TV and leave the room whenever it’s on. I wish I could go to the Quiznos corporate office and give the man who came up with this commercial a hard time. It annoys me to no end. Subsequently, Quiznos chooses to release an equally irritating commercial featuring cats and their dollar menu. I mute the TV once more and walk out. “It’s unbearable,” said Alex333
Quiznos
Hardee’s
“Mmmmmhhhh no, it was my first trip there, and I wasn’t happy. I was let down by the burrito’s taste and its fragrance alone. Not only that, but the environment was overwhelmingly sticky and disgusting. The play area’s tables and chairs smell bad. Come on, wipe that xxx, please. Nope, that was my first and final visit. – Justyna S.
Hardee’s
Jimmy John’s
“I didn’t know there was a huge bug in my sandwich, so I ate part of it and puked.” Thus, I’m grateful. Ashland Kate said, “I’m never eating there again.”
Jimmy John’s
Panera Bread
Even though Panera Bread is a common food for college sorority ladies worldwide, it is nonetheless unhygienic and doesn’t follow necessary cleaning procedures. An ex-employee claims that every soup is supplied frozen in a bag and is thawed in a “sink full of heating elements that boiled water,” which isn’t cleaned all that often or thoroughly. Of course, cleanliness tends to be much less of an issue during a dinner rush.
Panera Bread
Pizza Hut
Most of the pizza at Pizza Hut may not be too awful, especially for fast food, but one former employee warns against ordering salads since the lettuce frequently sits out for too long and spoils quickly. “And the classic wings since, unless we double-fried them for about 20 minutes, they almost always ended up raw.” Ugh.
Pizza Hut
Sbarro
“I was terribly dissatisfied the last time I went to Sbarro in the Superstition Springs Mall food court. I ordered a piece of pizza, as usual. I could not even cut the crust with a knife since it was so thin, hard, and dry. That resembled cardboard. This was not the Sbarro I was accustomed to visiting. Their quality appears to have declined. In all fairness, I have not tried their other dishes and they might be very tasty.” – Linda2181… So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Sbarro
Jersey Mike’s Subs
At Jersey Mike’s Subs, I was employed. I would only refuse to eat the chicken parmesan. “We just microwaved a frozen pre-breaded chicken patty for a few minutes, and it turned into mush in the sandwich,” said Dr. Schleck.
“The meatball sub and the chicken parmesan would never be touched by staff members. According to ravioliguy12, the meatballs were frozen Tyson beef that had been boiled and mixed with spaghetti sauce.
Jersey Mike’s Subs
Tim Horton’s
This beloved Canadian restaurant’s “food” is regrettably less tasty than many might think; an employee revealed that the soups are often infested with maggots and arrive cold. To be quite safe, stick with a bagel with butter or cream cheese. They also said, “The sandwiches are alright but it’s iffy most of the time.”
Tim Horton’s
Burger King
After working late one evening, I made the decision to have dinner on the way home. I grabbed some fries from the bag and put them into my mouth as I drove off since I was so hungry. I had to pull over to the side of the road after experiencing an intense ache around my mouth that caused me to gag. tried but was unable to throw up. spit up what appeared to be twigs and some blood. Charlie Hustles said, “I looked at one closely and realized it was a roach leg.”
Burger King
Carl’s Jr.
“This place needs to be closed! The workers were unprofessional, the burgers were nasty, and the place was dirty.” They should definitely close down because it took 30 minutes to get only two burgers. When we finally did get them, the sauce was all over the place, the bread was falling apart, and the tomatoes on the burgers were rotten. – roperwoman12w
Carl’s Jr.
7-Eleven
One of the dirtiest locations to buy food, if you can even call it that, is 7-Eleven, which serves both fast food and convenience store amenities. First of all, mold grows within the nachos machine since it isn’t cleaned well—or at all, for that matter. What one Reddit user remembered as the least enticing item there was:
“I’m going to suggest any of the hotdogs or tacos between midnight and four or five in the morning. You may be sure that these are presently high-mileage about midnight. Your car might not have as much mileage as that hotdog does.
7 Eleven
Jack in the Box
“On Oscars Sunday, I had a strong desire for JintheB tacos; I had four, and they were okay in my opinion. Several hours later, I woke up with food sickness. I forewarned my Facebook friends to permanently avoid this place, but they all informed me that it was boarded up. The following morning, that stupid place shuttered, and it left my life abruptly.
Jack In The Box
McDonald’s
“I’ve never been a fan of McDonald’s because of their greasy, gross-tasting food and their disgusting pink slime used to make their chicken nuggets,” said Slooshy W.
McDonald’s
Shake Shack
Shake Shake is well known for its fast cuisine, however at least one Bostonian critic had negative things to say about the company. “My burger arrived in a reasonable period of time. I took a seat to savor my hamburger. It completely stunned me. The bun appeared to have been trodden on. The cheese appeared to have been wiped off, reapplied, and then scraped off once again. The burger itself came in three parts. How could someone in the company serve a customer this? I spent six years working in the food service sector. I’m not sure if this is a management issue or if the worker is simply having a rough day. I need to consider both.
Shake Shack
Chick-fil-A
Another business with a solid reputation is Chick-fil-A. ThoughtsOfRS, a Tripadvisor reviewer, was not pleased with their lunch, at least in part. “I normally adore Chick-fil-A and have never had a negative encounter with them. Up till this evening. The sandwich with spicy chicken was undercooked inside and overcooked on the outside. The sandwich that was returned was even worse, but the cashier was understanding when I returned it. I threw it away and declared it a loss. I suppose I’m accustomed to the excellent Hagerstown franchise, but I doubt I’ll go back.
Chick Fil A
In-N-Out
Sometimes even the venerable In-N-Out burger chain makes mistakes, as this TripAdvisor review by Conrad W. shows:
“I’m traveling through California with my spouse. I see the “in and out” sign and take off the 5 to feed my starving wife. There wasn’t enough room at In n Out because we were towing a trailer, so we had to park in the McDonald’s lot across the street. I still believed that getting my wife her favorite necessitated crossing a busy street. I get two sets of numbers three. It was the worst I’ve ever had when I first went out since the fries were cold and the bun was dry.
In N Out
Johnny Rockets
Johnny Rockets, a restaurant with a 50s motif, is in the middle of the fast food and theme restaurant categories, yet it has received negative reviews on occasion. TICoachKevin, a TripAdvisor reviewer, may have left the worst one, saying things like “Awful! Food arrived more than half an hour later than scheduled, which translates to ice-cold hamburgers, fries, and onion rings. When I called again in 15 minutes, I was told they couldn’t reach the delivery guy but that they would call me back when they did. Nope, no call back. Eventually, he arrived with ICE COLD food. I had called a few times and was told it was just leaving (that was at 45 minutes, which was when it was supposed to be here already).
Johnny Rockets
Popeye’s
We got two chicken sandwiches when we stopped there around midday on January 4, 22. which were excellent, so we ordered eight pieces of chicken (for $28.00 and change) to go for supper. A HUGE MISTAKE: When I opened the package at home, I saw that the chicken was hard and aged. When I tried to eat a slice, it was old and crumbly. The chicken was old, dried out, and unfit for human eating, therefore it couldn’t have been more than a day or two old. Before you leave the store, make sure to check your takeout order. I would like my $28.00 returned.
In summary, SiteJabber critic Frank E. felt let down by their Popeye’s encounter.
Popeye’s
Roy Rogers
Reviewer jimmiecmyrtlebeach on TripAdvisor claims that during their visit to a Roy Rogers, the establishment struggled to comply with even the most basic menu demands.
“I went in Friday night around eight for a roast beef sandwich. When I ordered a roast beef sandwich, I was informed that it was not available. I was informed that they were out of grilled chicken when I changed my order to a sandwich instead. I inquired about what was left. We ordered a couple of bacon-topped cheeseburgers. They split a single, ripped-up piece of bacon with each other on the burgers, indicating that they were almost out. Fries without heat. Indeed. You guessed it. We’re not coming back.
Roy Rogers
Chipotle
Chipotle definitely has a “love it or hate it” reputation, and reviewer Neal V on SiteJabber falls firmly into the latter camp. Neal recounts a troubling experience at the Chipotle in Redding, CA, where his vegetarian fiancée was mistakenly given a burrito with chicken, leading to severe illness. She vomited and had diarrhea for 12 hours, a distressing situation exacerbated by her being an ornithologist and a vegetarian for 25 years. Neal’s attempts to contact the store were frustrating, with 20 minutes of continuous calling before reaching Catherine, the manager, who was dismissive and even condescending about the error. Customer support, represented by Raina, was equally unhelpful and unresponsive, showing no concern over the seriousness of the mistake. Neal emphasizes that Chipotle’s apparent lack of care for food safety could have dire consequences, especially for those with severe allergies.
Chipotle
Portillo’s
Although Portillo’s is a well-known establishment in the Midwest of the United States, not all of its reviews are glowing. “I hope this Portillo’s isn’t going down hill,” TripAdvisor user MattEats23 commented. Despite my recipe stating that I paid for cheese fries, when I received my order, I did not receive a cheese cup with my flames. The hotdog I got also had the taste of something that had been sitting for a few hours. Finally, the fries I received were mushy and cold. This place is excellent normally, but this order didn’t work out. Please make sure that the late-night staff does high-quality work.
Portillo’s
Wingstop
Toya B, a TripAdvisor reviewer, doesn’t think well of WingStop, to put it briefly. “This has got to be the worst Wingstop ever.” I apologize, but there isn’t a single positive thing I can say about this establishment. The wings are undercooked and rubbery. As you can see from the photos, I requested extra crispy wings and extra seasoning, but I received neither. However, I did receive EXTRA GREASE! DO NOT GO TO THIS WINGSTOP! There is also not a trace of seasoning on the fries—HOW DO YOU FORGET THE SEASONING ON THE FRIES? utterly awful”
Wingstop