rolling new food laboratory inventions for american chain restaurants thread

This series is a few months old, but it has good hyperlinks:

https://www.eater.com/2017/10/3/16395490/tgi-fridays-death-of-middle-class

https://www.cnet.com/g00/news/pizza-huts-new-shoes-order-pizza-and-pause-your-tv/?i10c.encReferrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8%3D&i10c.ua=1&i10c.dv=13

Pizza Hut created a marketing stunt of specialized sneakers last year that could order a pizza (Pizza Hut only, of course) with a press of a large button on top.

This year, these shoes have returned: Pie Tops II, as they're called. As a wearable tech reviewer, I was naturally curious.

I got a chance to wear them, and I took a peek at how they work. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that they're a little less high-tech than I imagined. Basically, they're shoes with smart buttons tucked inside velcro-sealed pockets on each tongue.

Pizza Hut created a marketing stunt of specialized sneakers last year that could order a pizza (Pizza Hut only, of course) with a press of a large button on top.

That is the stupidest thing I have –

Pie Tops II, as they're called.

Ok, I'm in.

reading that Fridays thing and it makes sense that people want to be home more and can order takeout and generally have better options for local delivery and younger people don't want Fridays they want Five Guys or Chipotle or whatever BUT ALSO the thing that really makes the difference to me and which is spelling doom for these places is that SO MANY chains are complete shitholes now with a bare minimum of service/good food and even people who don't give a fuck about anything can't help but notice how gross these places are AND that they aren't even that cheap! i went into a Mcdonalds in town here recently around dinner time and it was completely empty and the floor and tables were covered in food and trash. i can go to the local supermarket and get decent fast food to go. i don't need to go look at a garbage dump while i'm paying for poison that doesn't even taste good.

yeah otm -- I think you wrote a similar thing on the Olive Garden thread.

cuz it's a slow day at work I read the Yelp reviews for the Olive Garden a mile up the road from me; eight out of ten complained about indifferent if not hostile service, wine glasses left on tables, and the smell of bleach by the entrance.

When you're here, you're our neglected family.

"yeah otm -- I think you wrote a similar thing on the Olive Garden thread."

haha, every time i make the mistake of going in one of these places it brings it all back. i was probably ranting about the funereal pall at the local Friendly's on that thread.

they have REALLY decent pizza at the Big Y supermarket down the road. for real. you can get a slice for like two bucks. supermarket fried chicken is still pretty nasty in most cases. but there is lots to choose from at our three local markets and the one kinda more expensive co-op market. all still cheaper than the death at Friendly's or one of the other chains.

i randomly looked up Yelp reviews for TGI Fridays in Ohio. they all complained of having to wait 20 minutes or more to be seated in half-empty restaurants. that says it all. who has time for that? and the end result is greasy potato skins?

in order to save money they probably have just enough staff working to keep the doors open.

I worked at an Olive Garden in high school. I went to the one near my work a couple of years ago in Times Sq. It was below mediocre. I think everyone has just gotten used to better food and these old chains never kept up. Also, yeah they have always only scheduled the number of people according to time of day/day of the week. I remember people walking in for a meal at 4pm and our one server already had 3 new tables so we couldn't sit anyone in the empty restaurant until the server caught up. Fridays is gross. I never saw the appeal. Although again, I only went very late in life.

TGI Fridays closed a store in a suburb of Des Moines. If you can't keep a boring-ass chain restaurant alive there, you can't do it anywhere imo

all these places started out better. but if you open up a zillion locations there is no way to supply that much crap food without making it cheaper and crappier. i'm actually old enough to remember when subway and kfc made edible food.

all these places started out better

did they?

Fridays was decent in its late '80s heyday as The American Bistro but this is when middle class people still went to these places so my memory might be skewed.

yes. even mcdonalds. they didn't start out as garbage heaps. kfc was dope in the 70s. you wanted that bucket of chicken for real.

x-post

Friendly's used to be friendly! their burgers were decent. they are totally gross places now. like bus stops that sell hot fudge sundaes.

I worked at Subway for a year when I was 15/16. I can only imagine it's better now.

its been shitty for years and years. i'm just old.

when i was a kid i thought of wendy's as the "fancy" mcdonalds. ooh, baked potatoes and chili. they made good stuff. now its a toss-up as to which is more disgusting in my town. wendy's or mcdonalds. both so gross. everything smells like chemicals. benzine or something.

Friendly's used to be friendly! their burgers were decent. they are totally gross places now. like bus stops that sell hot fudge sundaes.

― scott seward, Thursday, March 15, 2018 12:52 PM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

A google image search for Cone Head Sundae turned this up:

https://cdn.someecards.com/posts/bernie-sanders-cone-head-e1HLlP.jpg

I'm not going to look any further into whatever point someone was trying to make with that.

xpost this was in the early/mid 90s. It was just deli meat and soooo much mayo.

But food can be a potent form of shared culture, even from a giant multinational chain — mozzarella sticks, cheese biscuits, and buffalo wings form a common culinary ground — so having these touch points with one another is not so immaterial: We lose something if we lose TGI Fridays, and it’s more than just the Loaded Potato Skins.

I've been thinking about what "white culture" is, & maybe this is part of the answer? if so lol

KFC definitely has suffered the most serious drop in quality, and I don't think it's just childhood nostalgia talking. It was actually a viable source of yummy fried chicken and sides at one point, if not serious competition for Mrs. Winner's. Now it's just glop and salt in a truly dismal and sad environment; Popeye's has completely supplanted it in the fast-food chicken hierarchy.

just gotta pray that popeye's doesn't get any bigger. that's when the slide happens. they are already pretty big. but tiny in comparison to a mcdonalds or subway or dunkin donuts. i also remember when dunkin donuts made tasty donuts...

popeye's is finally opening here in france this year so maybe they are getting too big now. kfc has been here a long time I think

speaking of ohio and blasts from the past:

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/03/arthur_treachers_fish_chips_is.html

h/t former ilxor yeti mike...

Popeye's is doing heavy TV advertising down here, I've noticed. Is their national profile expanding?

no but my stomach is cos I'm there all the fuckin time

they just had ghost pepper chicken. I couldn't gird up the strength to try them - even ghost pepper potato chips made me almost choke on the heat

when I lived in the usa & had to fly through dallas I was happy to get popeye's at the airport there since I lived in dumb little midwestern towns that didn't have it.

at my hotel in japan last week the breakfast buffet had fried chicken & so now I've had my yearly allowance of the stuff, rip

Popeyes has no apostrophe. That's why I go to Church's.

i wish there was one near me. closest is like an hour away. springfield. chicopee. that area.

i'm actually 52 minutes from the one in springfield. i checked....

GO FOR IT SCOTT

my fave place to go in springfield is actually white hut. but i never go to springfield.

http://www.trazeetravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/White-Hut-West-Springfield-Massachusetts-%C2%A9-Rusty-Clark-Flickr-e1448858007790-1000x399.jpg

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57bb161ee3df2828c8a36cf4/t/5847172ebe6594c4abb16d62/1481054000473/14976748_10154166447836378_2111742694673511029_o.jpg

popeyes, to be clear, is not, like, great or anything. it's funny in nyc because virtually every item on the menu merits the required saltshaker logo next to items that by themselves exceed your daily recommended sodium intake. but it's better than kfc. biscuits are dece (though no Bojangles or Biscuit World)

they opened a white hut in amherst but it closed because people in amherst suck.

The White Hut in Amherst closed?? I went there while it existed, love terrible-good cheap burgers

tom's hot dogs is my favorite place near me. if you are ever in whately, massachusetts you should go! sadly, i would go there every day for lunch if it were closer. i really am a simpleton. been there 60+ years.

https://www.potatopro.com/news/2018/nacho-fries-best-selling-product-launch-taco-bell-history

i gotta say i'm not 100% sure if i'm on board with nacho fries - they were ok but way too soggy when i had them - but i am WICKED into my new favorite site, potato pro dot com

Mission:

PotatoPro intends to make all the information you may need if you are active in the potato industry accessible on your phone, tablet or desktop.

We have made it our mission to offer ever MORE information about the global potato sector and make the information you need EASIER and FASTER to find!

FAM, a company entirely dedicated to cutting solutions for the food industry, has developed the innovative, patented FAM Centris™ product line to counter some of the key issues frequently encountered during the production of potato and vegetable chips.

Top of the line is the SureSet 16 cutting head, the result of extensive R&D and adjustments based on feedback by customers. Tested and in production since 2015, the SureSet 16 cutting head exists of 9 patented and patent pending technologies.

The FAM Centris™ product line for the centrifugal slicing of potato and vegetable chips has proven to result in better ROI and lower cost of ownership.

One of the customers using the FAM Centris product line is Jorn Remmem, Director of Plant Operations and Engineering at Old Dutch Foods.

Jorn Remmem:

“For decades there have been no innovations in cutting technology for potato chips.”

“The solutions offered by FAM were as a breath of fresh air. We are still impressed with the difference in both quality and performance.”

“There’s lower scrap rate, less starch loss and nearly no tapered slices. Our process is more stable: less variability and better yield. We are able to produce more product at a higher quality”

this is important

omg POTATO PRO

important question about the nacho fries: do they have flour on them? this is why i hate bk's fries. my gluten intolerance (sorry i know) has a side effect of me having the aftertaste of eating dirt shortly after i consume wheat products and i HATE when that taste intrudes on my post-fry glow

i hate when i go to a diner or somewhere cheap and their fries are coated with whatever they coat cheap fries with now. why did someone think that was a great idea? unless people just love crunchy coated fries and i'm in the minority. maybe an onion ring lover came up with them.

speaking as someone that gleefully eats lots of crap food without discrimination.....people gleefully eat lots of crap food without hesitation or discrimination

i love how matter-of-fact potato pro is how challenging it is to, and i quote, "identify and separate crop from clod, stones and foreign objects including wood, plastic, glass, bone, rubber, metal and more."

potato amateurs might get squeamish about that - "oh geez, ANOTHER bone?" - but not potato PROS

this is a new frontier for us really - we've never really gotten into new inventions for the food laboratory itself. the possibilities loom.

maura i don't think they're 100% ok, although there's apparently less wheat in their batter than whatever "tapioca dextrin" is: " “French Fries: Potatoes, canola oil, modified corn starch, rice flour, salt, tapioca dextrin, wheat flour, sodium phosphate, baking soda, guar gum, xanthan gum, dextrose. Cooked in canola oil (dimethylpolysiloxane (antifoaming agent), TBHQ).”