Fast Food Orders That Drive Workers Crazy
Even if you usually cook at home, chances are you swing through a fast-food drive-through now and again. If you're anything like us, you may even have your own personal ranking of the best and worst fast food fries and breakfasts that you keep in mind for those on-the-go meals.
But as familiar as you may be with the menu, no one has the same level of intimate knowledge as the people who work behind the counter. It turns out that menu items that seem totally benign to us laypeople can be the albatross around someone else's neck. A seven-step quesadilla, a breakfast item that's so hot it can burn, and even something as simple as fries have the power to make or break some fast food worker's day.
Lest we accidentally enrage fast food workers across the country with our orders, we've rounded up some of the most annoying menu items out there. The next time you're at the drive through, keep this list in mind. Your local cooks will thank you.
Starbucks baristas loathe Frappuccinos
If you've ever wondered if your Starbucks barista secretly hates making your drink, we've got bad news: if you're ordering a Frappuccino, the answer is probably yes.
There's a whole host of reasons why Starbucks baristas hate making Frappuccinos.
For one, they're time consuming. They require baristas to switch between the hot bar and cold bar, which can mess up their rhythm. Even if you're not ordering one of the seasonal flavors, each Frappuccino requires its own blender full of ingredients, and it often takes multiple steps to make one when you include the toppings, which that can hold up the line. They're also messy, and that means extra time has to be spent cleaning out blenders and getting ready for the next drink order.
Another unexpected con to all those frozen coffee drinks? Workplace injury. Several baristas have complained about muscle fatigue from scooping ice all day, and one even got a shoulder injury from the repetitive stress of doling out pumps of flavored syrup.
Then, there's Frappuccino Happy Hour, a frequent promotion at Starbucks that offers discounted or buy-one-get-one-free Frappuccinos. It can be a total madhouse, and lots of baristas dread making that many of the frozen drinks in a row.
McDonald's employees hate when you order unsalted fries
There's a popular "hack" you may have seen across the web that encourages people to ask for "no salt" fries at their favorite fast food joint. The reasoning? They'll have to make a new batch of fries just for you, which will come out piping hot and perfectly crispy. Add your own salt, and voila — you've got the perfect snack.
Well, McDonald's workers hate it when you do that.
It takes two minutes and 30 seconds to make a fresh batch of fries, but a lot of people who order unsalted fries get mad about having to wait that long, which can be understandably annoying.
Employees also don't like it when people order no-salt fries, only to ask for salt packets with their meal. Not only does it take longer, but it can also feel insulting.
Barring any actual medical concerns (like being on a low-salt diet), most cooks at the chain say that it's better to just ask for fresh fries instead of no-salt fries. As long as you're willing to wait, they won't really mind doing it, and they won't feel like you're trying to trick them into doing something.
Subway workers hate meatball flatbreads
Sandwich artists at Subway put up with a lot (there are literally 38 million combinations hungry customers can potentially order), but perhaps nothing is so frustrating as when diners order a sandwich that is almost certainly doomed to be structurally unsound. We're talkin' meatball subs on flatbread.
It's simple, really. As one sandwich artist explained, "They are balls on flat bread...Do you see the complications of that?"
It's even worse when the customer in question wants untoasted flat bread, a floppy disaster waiting to happen. Add in all of the vegetables and some condiments, and you've got one heavy, wet sandwich.
Once the sandwich is made, it's supposed to be folded and wrapped. But meatballs on flatbread is such a precarious sandwich that it's hard to do this with success. That's why one employee recommends this hack: if you're at a Subway that sells pizza, just ask for your meatball flatbread flat in a pizza box. You'll get the same flavors you love without the hassle.
Burger King workers get miffed when you accidentally order McDonald's items
It's never fun playing second fiddle, and though it's an accomplishment to be the second highest grossing fast food burger joint in America, Burger King is still raking in tens of billions (yes, billions) less than McDonald's each and every year.
So, understandably, it gets on Burger King employees' nerves a little when people start asking for Mc this and Mc that.
Some customers think it's funny to rub McDonald's success in Burger King's face, and ask for McDonald's menu items instead of Burger King items in what could loosely be called a "joke."
Still others just get confused and default to what's likely the first burger chain on their mind: McDonald's.
Then again, it's hard not to feel a little sympathy for the customers here. McDonald's has almost double the number of restaurants in the US as Burger King (14,000 vs 7,000+). People are eating at McDonald's more often, and when they go through the drive-thru in a fog of hunger the wrong names slip out.
Grilled cheese at Chick-fil-A is a pain
It's hard out there for vegetarians who want a quick meal on the go, considering that even McDonald's doesn't offer any vegetarian sandwiches.
That's why they'll often resort to ordering "grilled cheese," which is usually a menu hack that calls for putting cheese and condiments on a sandwich bun and heating it up. It's a favorite choice among picky kids, too.
Well, apparently the workers at Chick-fil-A are less than impressed with the meal.
Because it's not an official menu item, the grilled cheese at Chick-fil-A is made on a griddle press that's usually used to make chicken salad sandwiches. The grilled cheese ends up squashed flat, slightly burned, and leaks melted cheese all over the press, which has to be cleaned before making more chicken salad sandwiches.
What can you order at the chain that doesn't contain meat but won't enrage the cooks? The waffle fries and hash browns are always a good idea, and there are even several vegan sides you can order if you're still hungry.
Pizza Hut workers aren't fond of specialty crust pizzas
One of Pizza Hut's signature items is stuffed-crust pizza, but it's not a food without controversy.
First introduced to America in a commercial co-starring Donald and Ivana Trump five years post-divorce (awkward), the stuffed crust pizza has been marketed as the pizza you eat "the wrong way."
But it seems like employees of the chain think that ordering it at all is just plain wrong.
Pizza Hut workers vented that making the stuffed crust is a total pain. It starts with a different prep than all of the other pizzas, and when it's busy, this means employees making the pizza have to dart back and forth between the walk-in and the cook station while frantically assembling the crusts.
If they work at a Pizza Hut that has a lunch time buffet, it's even more of a pain to prep all of the stuffed crust pizza.
Add to that the more complicated stuffed crusts like the Cheesy Bites pizza and your friendly Pizza Hut cooks might start to become downright surly.
Quesaritos make Chipotle employees' lives hell
What's the one thing you shouldn't order if you want the employees at your local Chipotle to like you? That would be the quesarito.
A hefty concoction, it's made by wrapping an entire quesadilla around your burrito. But like all good things, there is such thing as "too much Chipotle," especially if you're the one trying to roll it all up into something that won't immediately explode on your customers.
Because a quesarito is made from two different menu items, it takes twice as long to make. It's harder to roll up, and one worker mentioned that once one person orders a quesarito, other curious onlookers end up asking for it too, which further holds up the line. Most Chipotles have only one tortilla press, so while the quesarito is being made any orders that followed it are delayed.
Even employees who've tried the quesarito think it's not worth it — it's just too much food for one person.
Ordering McDonald's oatmeal is a recipe for misery
When McDonald's added oatmeal to its menu in 2011, touting it as a "bowl full of wholesome," it was met with some skepticism. It even got a (scathing) write-up in The New York Times.
In spite of that, it seems like it was a success, and it's been on the menu ever since.
But if you're a McDonald's employee, chances are you've spent every one of those years loathing it.
Apparently, there's a lot that's annoying about making McDonald's oatmeal. You have to risk getting burned by the scalding hot water used to make it, and then there's the question of adding too much or too little water. Some people like thick oatmeal while others like it thinner, and it gets sent back frequently so that the texture can be corrected.
It also takes longer to make than most other items on the menu, and when you work in a volume business, anything that sucks up time is the enemy.
Taco Bell cheesy roll-ups and quesadillas infuriate workers
With 52 items on the menu and an ever-rotating cast of new and innovative fast-food concoctions, working at Taco Bell is no joke. There's just so much to keep track of!
But sometimes, it's the simplest foods that give employees the most trouble, and such is the case at Taco Bell.
One employee went on a rant about the chain's $1 Cheesy Roll-Ups, which they point out is literally "just melted cheese on a tortilla" rolled up. People come through and order several at a time, which other employees agreed is annoying, since they can easily just be made at home — apparently, they don't think that menu item is worth their effort.
Another seemingly unassuming item that makes employees seethe is the quesadilla. It takes no fewer than seven steps to make one, including heating, steaming, and grilling, and it even has its own special windowed wrap it needs to be placed in before serving. When people order more than one quesadilla, or when more than one order comes in, they use up both the steamer and the grill, holding up all other orders and putting the employees in a bind.
Getting a family bucket will drive your KFC crazy
You may not know it, but every Bucket Meal at KFC is made with specific pieces of chicken. The eight-piece bucket meal is a mix of wings, breasts, thighs, and legs, but not everyone is willing to just accept what mix gets put together.
That makes things hard for the workers. They're trying to keep the buckets filled with an even assortment of pieces, but when people order smaller meals, they usually go with breasts or drumsticks, which leaves a bunch of thighs and wings left over.
This means they often have to either ask the customer to wait while they fry up more chicken, or give them a bucket of wings and thighs and hope they don't complain.
If you want to be a great KFC customer, don't ask for only breasts and drumsticks in your bucket. Even better, ask for all thighs — they're usually the least popular item, so ordering all thighs can help even things out.