1970s Fast Food That Tasted So Much Better!
If you were a kid in the 1970s, you remember the feeling. The thin wax paper. The grease on your fingers. That first bite.
McDonald’s fries cooked in beef tallow. A Big Mac that actually felt like a big deal. A&W root beer in a heavy frosted mug. Pizza Hut under those red roofs with the family on a Friday night.
This is American fast food in the 1970s — the way it actually was.
Simple menus. Paper-wrapped burgers. No calorie boards. No apps. No endless options. You walked up, you ordered, you ate. And somehow it all tasted better.
We’re going back to the decade when Burger Chef was still around, KFC buckets meant no cooking that night, drive-ins still felt like summer, and a burger could cost 35 cents.
Before fast food lost its soul.
If you were there — you already know the smell, the sound of the wrappers, and the taste of those original fries. This one’s for you.
0:00 – Intro
0:38 – Fast Food Explosion in the 70s
1:24 – McDonald’s in the 1970s
2:23- Smoking Sections
3:12 – The Rise of Drive-Thru
3:52 – Teenage Jobs at Fast Food
4:34 – Pizza Hut as a Night Out
5:36 – KFC Family Buckets
6:32 – A&W Drive-Ins
7:31 – Prices That Sound Unreal Today
8:12 – No Health Conversation
8:54 – The Burger Wars Begin
9:32 – Closing Reflection
#FastFood #1970s #Nostalgia
39 Comments
Bigger portions for less price
I remember minimum wage 1994 was $4.25. I remember you could rent an apartment for $300 a month back in 1994. McDonald’s was the place to go and when I was a kid I don’t remember being able to smoke in the restaurant but I do remember the Big Mac two for five dollars
I wish fast food restaurants the employee still wore those uniforms
Was that John Goodman from Roseanne at 7:20?
I loved all the fast food back then. Today I don't touch any of it it's all crap and way too expensive.
The smoking was the worst part of that era. I lo
Iived through it, and it was terrible. I remember thinking how useless the non-smoking sections in restaraunts were. Depending on where your table was, you could still be sitting next to a table full of smokers in the next section. 🤢
MCDONALD'S WAS MY FIRST JOB AT 15 YEARS OLD! I AM T2 NOW! I LEARNED ONE THING! I STILL USE IT TO THIS DAY!
IF YOU GOT TIME TO LEAN, YOU GOT TIME TO CLEAN! I HEARD IT EVERY SHIFT! NOW I SAY IT TO MY EMPLOYEES! ❤❤❤
I honestly believe cost influences taste…I ate enough Big Mac meals in college, in the 1980's to know the meal used to cost $3.15. Now its around $9.00+. I don't eat there anymore, and for what you get for your money, I can't afford to pay for a smaller, less quality, colder meal.
The food was definitely better tasting back in the 70s and 80s. I Hate what all these companies have done today. Cheaper ingredients and i really miss the old style Pizza Hut with the checkered tablecloth and the stained glass lamps above the booths. It had a good vibe to it. I wish they'd allow a franchise to open a restaurant and using all the ingredients and style they had in the 70s. The McDonalds fries were much better back then and it was a reasonable cost. Even KFC doesn't taste as good as it used to.
Loved Pizza Hut great pizza and you could get a pitcher of beer
I remember at Pizza Hut when the Pan Pizza showed up, the server would dish up the first slices for the table.
Play the Jukebox, try to get a High Score on one of the video games.
Corporations didn’t know about food fillers and cutting corners as well as they do today.
All I know is KFC and Church's were at their peak flavor wise in those days.
it was REAL food back then ,not the carcinogens they put in the food now.
In England McDonalds fries have 4 ingredients , in America there is 9
When hamburgers were as big as your head. Now with shrinkflation the burger is small as your thumb..😂😂😂😂cost 5 times as much…
I remember when McDonalds food was good !!!
My first job when I turned 16 was pumping gas. Absolutely the best job a kid could have had!
Perfect world in 1984
Dip those Fry's into the Milk Shake ..Girls didn't Shave !
If I'm not mistaken, that's Eve Plumb (Jan Brady from "The Brady Bunch" ) at the 3:53 mark in The Burger Chef ad.
Back when the food was real and not full of chemicals and ultra processed with industrial cost cutting and cheap fillers.
Did anyone see or notice Larry dallas from the show Threes company at the 5:12 minute?
Nowadays it's GARBAGE I wouldn't feed to my pigs now that's bad .
So you think being able to smoke in a fast food restaurant full of kids was a good thing?
More than anything, I miss seeing full restaurants with families enjoying each other’s company and engaging in conversations without cell phones.
I lived for riding my bike down to Carroll's, got 2 club burgers…about $2 total, 1973
The McDonald's I went to as a kid in the late 80s had a round stone water feature with real fish in it. That was in Champion Ohio.. I now wonder if it's still in there..
I really enjoyed your video dude! This brings me back and made me smile 🙂
And what do you know………. The Egg McMuffin's back then were larger than today, and cheaper!
I certainly remember those bean-and-cheese cups at Taco Bell! Does anybody know why they were discontinued?
In the late '70s and early '80s your McDonald's burgers didn't come wrapped in paper. They came in styrofoam clamshell containers.
Show any Gen Xer a red plastic tumbler cup and ask them what restaurant it's from and we will tell you it's Pizza Hut every time.
Its all Soylent green now
I'm only a pup 82 model… But remember smoking section and non smoking section….. At least then the food was real….. Remember homemade bread..,.. homegrown beef and choke cherry jelly and syrup… And mashed potatoes.. from scratch with a few lumps and real gravy from grease and flower, milk and salt and pepper…. The good ol days to me
5:12 Larry from "Three's company" 7:22 John Goodman
And now, beef tallow is recommended for tightening your skin (collagen). But your fries did taste better – vegetable oil just isn't the same
Back then fast food wasn't the crappy garbage they serve today. No high fructose corn syrup no artificial colors no artificial flavors. Just plain old natural good food. That all started to change slowly in the 1980s.
And they were ALL CASH. No Fast food restaurant took Credit Cards, there was no such thing as a debt or ATM card. The card scanner terminal had not been invented yet.
back when burgers were made with REAL meat