Experiences with fast food Europe
 

OK..I read so many posts that make poke fun at those who would eat at places like McDs in Europe...While I never plan to make that a priority, by chance I happened to use the "facilities" and purchase a quick drink or snack.
In Salzburg we stopped by a market and I wanted a drink.Across the street was a MacD.that had the most delicious fresh mango shake. Then in Venice I looked in and was surprised that on the menu was pizza and tart (both delicious)and finally in Amboise, we
stopped to check out the Burger King and purchase some frites.What was so funny is how long it took. I was curious as to why we were waiting so long for our food(we were there in the late afternoon and there were very few others) and they thought it was so funny that we would think the food was already prepared..Don't you love it?
Now I make a point to check them out..In Rome it was same old, same old
Anyway I just wondered if the rest of you have ever had an interesting experinces as well...

To add to your "Amboise experience":
When traveling to and in Provence, we sometimes stopped at McD for a "quick" lunch. But: I have never ever experienced a comparable degree of slowness than in those "fast" food restaurants between Marseille and Carpentras.
Spending 30 minutes in line (with just 3 or 4 other people ahead of us) for some burgers, was always quite an experience.

I don't really eat fast food - but in Belgium we have a chain of healthy "fast food" shops called EXKI and they are spreading across Europe. If you are in Belgium, try one out.

It has things like really tasty prepacked salads and sandwiches, but also hot soups, quiches etc. and great coffee.

It is REALLY fast and very yummy.

I have heard that some fast food places in europe serve wine. Is that true?

Most sell beer certainly - like McDs etc. Non chain places like the kebab shop, Pizza place, wurstel stand, friterie would have wine.Don't know about wine in McDs/Burgerking etc. - but probably.

I always thought it was cute that in Italy the hamburgers at McDonalds are served on ciabatta bread instead of a sesame seed bun! Hillarious.

where in Italy axactly?
I was in Thailand and they had what looked like a sesame seed veggie burger ...very stange but I never got one

I eat at Pret a Manger in the UK, which is now owned by McD. Yummy sandwiches! I also sometimes look for a McD in Asia because they usually have clean toilets. I've only eaten at one outside the US twice, once in northwest Malaysia (I was hungry and lazy) and once in Simferapol in Crimea (it was close to the station). Neither meal was memorable, although neither was particularly like US fast food as I remember it (haven't eaten at one in the US in decades).

from what I recall - the McD's in Paris had wine.

For us, the only "fast food" place we have in our middle-of-nowhere location is McD's and when we travel we try to avoid it EXCEPT for the breakfast stuff. My boys miss the hashbrowns!!!

As for the other stuff...I will have to admit that we all get rather excited when we see a BK or a Subway or a KFC!

I remember that I never had a more delicious french fry than at the McD's in Salzburg (must be the special Austrian grease!) Had a tasty McD breakfast pastry in a drive thru in Italy and I was so surprised to see the Paris McD absolutely packed! Do those people think it's a cafe? Kinda weird.

When my daughter was younger, she liked to get happy meals at McD's because the toys were so different from the US toys.

Last time we were in Rome McD's had caprese salad.

McDonalds have never owned Pret: they merely had a substantial minority shareholding.

They've now sold - or at any rate announced they're going to sell - that stake.

I too like the pre-a-manger..
.When we arrived late in London,we had missed lunch. I spotted the sandwiches and thought they looked good.So I told my DH that were going to get them and a bag of "crisps".Well he pitched a royal fit... and commented he'd never eat such a thing from a 7- eleven at home....but later and hungrier , he relented and we had those sandwiches every day for the rest of London...I loved the shrimp...the chips were great and we tried different ones every day...even the Moroccan lamb flavor..

In Austria at the Würstelstand/hotdog stand you can get horsemeat sausages and Leberkäse.

I forgot a Belgian classic - the Mitraillette....

Half a baguette, topped with meat (like sausage or burger), topped with a small mountain of frites, then finished off with half a gallon of a flavoured mayonnaise dressing. Yumm

I must admit I probably eat fast food maybe once every month, but after a month and a half and a long night of drinking in madrid, McDonalds was just lovely.

Oh, I'm on a roll - I've thought of another strange one....the Irish breakfast roll. There's even a song about it it's such an institution.

A Baguette encasing 2 fried sausages, 2 fried rashers, black pudding, lots of butter and tomato ketchup (or Brown sauce), usually eaten in the car on the way to work - but served 24 hours a day.

Thanks Lawchick. If wine was available, I was thinking of adding McD's to my list of public bathroom stops.

I ate at a McD in England and it was bad! However, I stopped at one in Asia, and it was not that bad. Not as greasy as the States

Wondering about the Amboise experience, since Burger King pulled out of France in 1997.

As for McDonald's, obviously the hamburgers have to better in a number of countries of Europe than in the United States, because local laws about the maximum fat content in ground beef must be respected.

For the same reason, the import of British sausages to France is forbidden.

"For the same reason, the import of British sausages to France is forbidden."

My French husband is crazy about British sausages - we usually have to bring back a few packages of them whenever we visit the UK!! Though now we live in Brussels we can get them more easily, as they clearly aren't banned here...

Lawchick ..that last sandwich would kill me..what's the Exki like? How did you know about the horsemeat?

Im sorry K...It was Bois and it was only about three years back......I wonder if it could have been another chain..It was by a huge shopping center just off the expressway...

Well, the only two major hamburger chains currently operating in France are McDonald's and Quick -- those are the ones that you find at shopping malls and along the autoroute.

EXKI is fab. I used to get my lunch there regularly.

www.exki.be

Re the horsemeat - thankfully they have signs up at the hotdog stand explaining that they have horsemeat products...and I speak German. But don't worry, you won't be served it unless you actually ask for it.

xyz123 got me hooked on Subway sandwiches... It's funny, the stuff they sell in Munich tases so!!! much different from what I got in the US. It's the meat I believe, there, it's a mixture of meat plus fat, while the Munich Subway has lean meat and much smaller pieces of meat. In addition the vegetables are not cut as fine as over here (metric? :D ).
However I love it!!, just won't enter a restaurant in the US any more.

It's great they've got free refills! MCD started offering free refills just recently.

<i>MCD started offering free refills just recently.</i>

Not in the US...

Personally, I haven't been overly enthralled with the fast food in Europe, with a few notable exceptions. My favorite European fast food creation is the McKroket - it combines the genius of the Dutch Kroket (basically, deep-fried gravy) with the tastiness of a McDonald's bun. Simply fantastic. And good for you too.

Otherwise, some things don't measure up. In Denmark, the McDonald's cut a slice of cheese off of the Quarter Pounder. That is not an enhancement. They also don't serve breakfast.:(

I do like the availability of frite sauce, in addition to ketchup, though you can usually get mayo at a US fast food restaurant, so it isn't that big of a deal.

Personally, I think Quick kind of stinks. A poor man's McDonald's. It doesn't really bring anything to the table, yet doesn't give you the satisfying familiarity.

Heading to Madrid this weekend and may check out Fast Good. Curious to see what Ferran Adria thinks fast food should be.

I love going to Pret-A-Manger because I thing their sandwiches are great. You can't beat the price. For reasons I can't explain, when ever I am in London I have to stop at Mcdonalds for a large fry. I have issues.

When I am dying for a huge diet coke with lots of ice I head straight for the McD's in Europe.

Another bonus at McD's is if they have free maps (not all do) they have every mc'd on it so it is an easy way to navigate the city!

I very, very rarely eat fast food in the US, but when I go to Europe (or anywhere else in the world) I do stop in McD's for an apple pie: the old kind, deep fried, which are no longer served here, probably due to litigation issues. They're lovely and terribly bad for you.

And in China, I celebrated the 4th of July at a very crowded McDonalds. Irony is my favorite condiment.

In my mother's house is a framed placemat from the first McDonald's in China.

I seem to recall that my Grandparents said they got a rice ball there. Not something you see on our menu.

They went because the line was huge and they just wanted to see what the fuss was. (This was early in the 90's and a capitalist institiution like McDonalds was really unusual!)

When we've traveled, I've always made it a point to NOT eat at any American fast food joints. However...

We spent several weeks one summer in London where my husband was working. For reasons that I don't remember, he flew home several days before the kids and I did.
Even though we were living in a house in a neighborhood, had great neighbors, and had been there several times before this trip, the kids and I were particularly lonely on the rainy night that Jay flew home.
I relented that night, and took the kids to McDonalds for dinner. We sure enjoyed that little taste of home. (And the kids thought it was funny that hot dogs were on the menu.)

I've always said I would never eat at a fast food place when traveling in Europe (I haven't been to a McDonalds or Burger King in more than 20 years here in the states). That said, if they ever opened an In-n-Out in Europe, and I was walking by, my ban would be lifted.

((H))

I don't like fast food, but in Jamaica many years ago I almost kissed the floor of a Burger King (I think it was Burger King)....after 3 weeks of curried goat and jerk chicken - I couldn't take any more.