Fast food chain preferences dictate dining habits
March 19, 2010 No Comments Ian Howard | Staff WriterStudents frequent specific fast food establishments for various reasons. Many students, like senior Austin Rabah, eat at restaurants that correspond to the tops of their lists of personal chain rankings. Rabah said that he is not invulnerable to partiality when it comes to what he eats.
“McDonald’s [is the best fast food chain], because it has the best Dollar Menu, and I really like the McDouble,” Rabah said.
Rabah said that his attachment to McDonald’s, however, has not been with him throughout the entirety of his life.
“[I realized it was my favorite] over the summer: it was cheap, and it tasted good,” Rabah said.
Mason has yet another McDonald’s fanatic in junior Matt Benton who said that the restaurant became his favorite years before.
“It started so long ago,” Benton said. “I can’t even remember.”
Sophomore Bilal Muhammad said his conversion experience was more immediate than Benton and Rabah’s.
“The first time I ate a Burger King burger, I knew that [it] was the best so far,” Muhammad said.
Muhammad said that aside from burgers, burritos and tacos also comprise his favorite fast foods, which affect his rankings of fast food chains.
“I like Taco Bell, because [it has] a lot of variety, and if you go there, you can eat a lot of different things,” Muhammad said.
“[Taco Bell] also has the best value, because its food is cheap, but it’s not bad.”
Rabah, on the other hand, said that Taco Bell is his least favorite fast food chain.
“I don’t really like anything spicy,” Rabah said.
Muhammad said, however, that zest or spice is an important attribute of great food. Condiments make up the difference between good food and great food, he said.
“[Burger King’s] food is good, but also it offers a lot of sauces,” Muhammad said. “It’s not ketchup if you go there — you can get Buffalo sauce or Zesty sauce.”
While Muhammad and Rabah said that they like different restaurants, they are united in their belief that familiarity determines preference.
“If you’re really used to eating burgers and you eat a taco, no matter how good the taco is you’re not going to like it as much as a burger,” Muhammad said.
According to senior Mike Hagle, some students (himself included) enjoy much more impulsive fast food eating habits.
“I have White Castle challenges,” Hagle said. “I challenge my buddies to eat more White Castle [burgers] than me.”
While Hagle said White Castle does not fit into his top three fast food eateries, he said that he enjoys his challenges. Hagle said, however, that Five Guys is his favorite fast food establishment. Benton, on the other hand, said that his favorite menu items are developed over a long period of time.
“Usually when I go to McDonald’s, I get an Angus burger, but it’s not every time and I don’t go every day,” Benton said.
Senior Brooke Mason said she does not have clear-cut favorites or polarizing views on how good fast food chains are. While Mason said her favorite fast food chain is Chik-fil-A, she said there are virtually no restaurants that she dislikes.
“It’s so hard [to pick my least-favorite] because I like them all,” Mason said. “I guess [it’s] Taco Bell, but I eat it. It is just the worst for you.”
Mason said that she takes into account the restaurants at which not many people eat, when ranking her least-favorite fast food chains. Unlike Mason and other fast food goers, freshman Evan Mueller said that he did not rank his favorite fast food chain after becoming comfortable with going to the restaurant.
“In the beginning, I found Chipotle [appealing] because they advertised everything,” Mueller said.
In this way, Mason said she is akin to Mueller: she said that she weighs advertisements and familiarity as equals in determining her ranking of fast food chains. Benton said he did not acquire his favoritism for McDonald’s, however, with the help of advertisements.
“I don’t really pay attention to advertisements,” Benton said.
While Benton is not influenced by advertisements, he said that he is a bigger fast food fanatic than most people.
“I probably eat [fast food] more than I should,” Benton said. “I guess you could say I’m addicted to it.”
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