Three Chains I stopped Eating at in 2020

Taco Bell-

Taco Bell was never a go-to restaurant. I would usually get it in the company of friends. In high school, they used to have the Bacon Club Chalupa that I used to love. It was chicken, bacon, some sort of ranch sauce with that fried shell that I loved. After that went away, I would get the cheesy gordita crunch or the quesadilla. The main reason I am completely leaving Taco Bell alone is that there just isn’t enough food anymore. Something is always lacking. Not warm enough, not enough sauce, underfilled quesadillas. Their food is cheap but not that cheap. This year especially has been disappointing. The last thing I enjoyed was those street tacos, especially the chipotle one. I am personally not affected by the recent menu changes but I know plant-based fans are upset. There needs to be more focus on how the items are presented and stop with all these random slushies. Focus more on the food. And stop being so skimpy with condiments. I’m still upset about their Verde sauce being gone.

 

Applebee’s-

Inconsistency will tear this chain down even further than it already is. The food itself isn’t bad at all. I enjoy a variety of mixed drinks and non-alcoholic options.  It’s just too unpredictable these days. Way too many options to choose from. I enjoy the buffalo wings (bone-in and boneless) the quesadilla burger and the one with a lot of bacon. The problem is that it is so rare that it comes out correctly. Wings are randomly sauced. Some are drenched, some barely have any. The cheese won’t be melted all the way often. They have a good happy hour but even at a discount I want the wings to be coated, all of them. The nachos never have enough cheese. I’m already sitting down, take the extra five minutes and make sure it's consistent. If they decided to sell some of their food in the freezer aisle, I’d probably buy it though.

 

KFC-

I’m very upset about this but I just can’t do it anymore. It feels like someone stole 9 of the 11 spices and just left us with salt and pepper. The original chicken tastes it’s been sitting in saltwater for a week. Too salty and soggy. I heard the extra crispy is a bit better but Popeyes exist and I’d much rather go there. The sides are absolutely horrible and we can fight about it. The only thing I can power through is the mashed potatoes. I never liked the wedges but the fries are worse. The mac n cheese is a waste of time, rather have easy mac. Until this year, the only thing I would buy and loudly support were the hot wings. Or, depending on your region, wing zingers. Spicy fried wings that don’t have sauce. That is one of my absolute favorites. They used to be amazing. The two times I had them this year they were small and didn’t have a lot of flavors. I could get some sauce I guess but it's not the same. They really need to improve on the chicken and sides. There are too many places to buy fried chicken these days to buy from KFC.