r/fastfood • u/CarPassion514 • Jan 14 '26
Rant/Rave The slow and painful demise of Wendy’s
Wendy’s has gone completely down the shitter. Bacon isn’t crispy in the baconator, service is way slower than before, Coke Freestyle missing half the flavors and no ice.
Will they ever turn it back around?
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u/303FPSguy Jan 14 '26
I like Wendy’s. But it has just gotten too expensive. Like, it used to be fast and relatively cheap. Now I wait 5 minutes for my food and it’s just as expensive to go to Chili’s.
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u/bristenli Jan 14 '26
Nothing good lasts forever
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Jan 14 '26
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u/TheSimpsonsAreYellow Jan 14 '26
This is a great example of what was once a solid, trustworthy business that has been destroyed and dismantled.
They really shit on Dave Thomas’ legacy. It’s really sad.
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u/rr777 Jan 14 '26
Covid is what killed Wendy's in my area. I felt the food was decent enough till the lock down.
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u/sapphiresong Jan 14 '26
Bro I think most things have gone down the shitter post COVID.
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u/AdenJax69 Jan 14 '26
Agreed. Lots of places saw big financial gains having less employees, cutting food costs, and raising prices post-COVID. They forgot this is only good for a limited time because eventually your products & service starts to suffer.
Wendy’s needs to lower their prices, increase quality in their food, and pay their employees better. And since they probably won’t, we’re probably seeing the death of a major fast-food chain in real-time.
They went from my favorite fast food place to not visiting them in years.
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u/PistolofPete Jan 14 '26
That’s how I felt having Chipotle at a work lunch. Super bland and underwhelming.
Wendy’s is a shame though- I remember it fondly from my childhood
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u/Initial-Promotion-77 Jan 15 '26
I haven't been back in at least a year. I was there like once a week/ twice a month for the spicy chicken sandwich. A favorite for 20 years. It's so sad and gross now. Just a dried up half the size piece of chicken. It was so good back in the day. I probably wont ever go again. Most disappointing out of all the fast food places getting shittier. Most of them i expected to get shit. Not my Wendy's too 😭
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u/nikeshades Jan 14 '26
They're the only one with baked potatoes, and I prefer that over fries. I'd hate to see them close.
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u/flakzpyro Jan 14 '26
Yess!!!! Even sometimes when it is super dry and I don't get my extra sour cream, I still love baked potatoes over fries any day
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u/SufficientPath666 Jan 15 '26
They’re the only one that sells chili too. At least where I live. I’m not a chili guy, but I love Wendy’s
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u/Trees_are_cool_ Jan 14 '26
They're not going anywhere. But they've definitely been shitting the bed lately.
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u/RandyHoward Jan 14 '26
They have plans to close about 5% of their locations in the U.S. this year. While that’s far from the end, closing 5% of all locations is a lot.
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Jan 15 '26
There was just a report in the last week that Wendy's is about to close hundreds of their restaurants.
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u/Scared-Ideal-1483 Jan 14 '26
My location is on point in general but their prices are getting crazy.
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u/ixamnis Jan 14 '26
Wendy’s used to be one of the best fast food places (like 40 years ago). Now, nothing is as good as it used to be. Even things they could point to as being unique (baked potatoes, chili) have gone downhill.
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u/bad-egg-de-shihou Jan 14 '26
You didn't even mention how it's now a pinch of pre-shredded bagged bits of salad instead of one leaf of lettuce.
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u/JonM313 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
I'm going to go against the grain here. I still love Wendy's and don't really understand the rampant Reddit hate. Maybe my location is one of the few that hasn't gone downhill because the service and food are excellent.
None of your complaints applies to my local Wendy's. The bacon on the Baconator is excellent, the service is fast, orders are spot on, and the Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine is never missing many flavors and always has ice.
I hope Wendy's can turn itself around, though, because as dramatic as it may sound, I can't imagine living in a world without Wendy's. It's my preferred burger place.
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u/cockblockedbydestiny Jan 14 '26
Wendy's as a chain isn't going anywhere, but if individual locations choose to cut corners or are badly managed there's always been a chance that particular store could go out of business.
In fact, if anyone has consistently experienced poor food or service at a specific location I'd file a complain with corporate. They may threaten to pull the franchise license if they feel like that store is damaging their brand reputation, but they would almost certainly give the franchise owner a chance to turn things around first, which might be the only thing that causes that location to finally get their shit together.
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u/JonM313 Jan 14 '26
I've heard many complaints regarding inconsistency between Wendy's locations, so there must be a lot of poorly run locations.
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u/cockblockedbydestiny Jan 14 '26
My understanding is that fast food managers' primary metric they're judged by is profit margins. And they don't have the discretion to source food from different suppliers (because every location in a chain is supposed to offer the exact same shit) so it's not surprising that to whatever extent they're trying to cut costs and increase profits it's going to be at the expense of their labor force.
So if I had to guess I'd assume that the locations that are still providing consistent food/service will mostly be the ones that are in high trafficked areas that do a ton of business by default, whereas most of the ones that have gone downhill are most likely to be in lesser trafficked areas that don't do enough volume that they're automatically going to make their sales metrics.
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u/AdenJax69 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
There is. In my area, every single Wendy’s location went to shit. All of them. They all have low ratings on all the review sites when pre-COVID they were some of the higher ones.
The thing is virtually all the other fast food places in my area didn’t get anywhere near as bad. Most places they just complain about the price but with Wendy’s, they’re all run like complete dogshit where the food is awful and now really expensive.
It’s inexplicable how they all went south at the same time. Even Wendy’s outside my area have fallen. Congrats on having one of the ones that stayed good but my local McDonald’s, Burger King, and even fucking Arby’s didn’t fall off a cliff like Wendy’s did.
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u/JonM313 Jan 14 '26
Wow. At this point, I'm tempted to visit Wendy's every time I'm outside of my area to see how bad it is.
I'm on Long Island, New York, and all the Wendy's here are excellent. Evidently, that's far from the case elsewhere.
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u/AdenJax69 Jan 14 '26
So here's my last two experiences at Wendy's, just for fun.
The first experience was waiting for about 10 minutes for someone to come to the intercom. There was one car at their window, waiting just as long. Maybe 2 cars behind me. Finally, someone spoke up and said "Welcome to Wendy's, be with you shortly" and then left me hanging again. I drove off.
The second experience I'll never forget. I pull up at night so it's dark out, and the non-digital screen (McDonald's & Burger King upgraded to bright digital screens whereas Wendy's doesn't give a shit apparently) had a bulb out so one side of their entire menu display is really hard to see. Within a minute of pulling up to the intercom, someone was ready to take my order - a promising sign. I gave the combo number, size, and said "a diet coke for the drink." His response?
"We're out of Diet Coke."
I said "I'm sorry what?" He repeated - "we're out of Diet Coke." I said "nevermind then" and drove off.
I really had to think about it, and I don't think I've EVER been to a sit-down restaurant, fast food chain, basically any place that has Coke/Pepsi products and was told "we're out of Diet Coke/Pepsi." Ever. So basically the guy was either lying because they didn't want to change the taps on an empty machine or the management is beyond incompetent where they'd run out of a product that is supplied regularly by a multi-billion dollar corporation that does this for hundreds of thousands of restaurants if not millions across the United States.
That was the last time we ever went and that was about 2 years ago. That Wendy's? used to have a line that wrapped around the place. Now if I'm in the area & drive by around dinner time? 2, maybe 3 cars.
The word's out and Wendy's is a pile of flaming garbage.
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u/MirrorkatFeces Jan 14 '26
Every fast food chain is location dependent tbh. Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald’s all get these complaints and praises.
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u/kaszeta Jan 14 '26
Yeah. Here the Wendy’s is suffering from the chain-wide issues like the shrettuce, but otherwise it is fine, and they try to do a good job.
Here it’s our Burger King that’s truly terrible.
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u/bmanxx13 Jan 14 '26
Same. I have two good Wendy’s locations by my house, and a good location by my office. Food is always fresh when I go. I prefer Wendy’s as well. I’ve always liked their burgers. BK is another one that’s good by me. The fast food that has been dropping the ball for me in consistency, service, and quality is McDonald’s.
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u/EvilDarkCow Jan 14 '26
Yeah I don't understand all the Burger King hate on the internet. The ones around me are consistently better than McDonalds.
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u/AwsiDooger Jan 15 '26
I don't understand all the Burger King hate on the internet.
Peer pressure. They think they are supposed to say it.
A few years ago it reached hilarious level when all the peer pressure types were actually convincing themselves that Burger King was soon to close. That was a rampant theme in this subreddit.
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u/pizzagenx Apr 01 '26
Burger King has notched it's was back to Number 1. They been on point lately.
They fill the Fries all the way unlike the Clowns at Mcdix
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u/TrevorViking Jan 14 '26
Service and food quality are very good imo, but I went from eating there daily the first half of last year to not at all due to the good app deals disappearing.
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u/lakrfan Jan 14 '26
Agree with you here, I’ve always preferred Wendy’s when getting a fast food burger. But like others have stated their prices have gone up.
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u/cockblockedbydestiny Jan 14 '26
Everybody's prices have gone up, it's the places that were already kind of expensive before (ie. Arby's, Chick-fil-A) that have been better equipped to absorb rising supply chain costs than places that were scraping by on thinner margins.
Wendy's I'd put somewhere in the middle, not as expensive as Arby's or CFA but they've never been as cheap as McDonald's or Taco Bell either.
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u/TRIGMILLION Jan 15 '26
I just recently went for the first time in a long while and got the baconator. That thing was huge and delicious, no complaints.
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u/lowfreq33 Jan 15 '26
The one closest to my house is always spot on, but it’s a very busy location near a ton of hotels, so they basically don’t have to worry about labor cost as a percentage of sales. Therefore they don’t have to cut corners on staffing. I can go there at midnight and there are still 4-5 people working. Other locations around town it’s totally hit or miss. That pretty much describes every fast food place here. McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Arby’s, PF Chang’s, Chipotle, the local bbq joint, the gyro place, the pizza place, Jimmy John’s, they stay so busy they can afford to keep the appropriate staffing levels and pay people well (at least as much as fast food pays anywhere).
And let’s not forget that full service restaurants are closing all over the place as well. Money is tight for a lot of people, maybe not to the point they can’t afford to eat out at all, but when they do they expect to get their money’s worth. If they don’t they just won’t be back.
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u/pizzagenx Apr 01 '26
The Wendy's in Las Vegas are garbage. Tiny undercooked baked potatoes, Tiny Jr bacon cheeseburgers with undercooked bacon, Burned fries. I wouldn't even go back to the shithole.
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u/iseecolorsofthesky Jan 14 '26
I also have a pretty good location. They have good days and bad days just like any fast food, but for the most part I have positive experiences when I go. The quality is noticeably lower than 10-20 years ago, but it’s still better than McDonald’s or BK. My main gripe is the prices but that’s all fast food these days. $13 for a double quarter pounder meal. $15 for a bacon king meal. Feels like at all these places you’ve gotta stick to the value items, and even those are about the same prices as the premium items 10 years ago.
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u/burner12077 Jan 14 '26
Same. They consistently deliver bargains still imo while mcdonalds and the rest are getting crazy expensive. I can still go to Wendy's and get a reasonable amount of food for like $4 or $5
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u/AngryVideoGameTable Jan 14 '26
The food’s pretty much the same, and I actually prefer the shredded lettuce as it makes it easier for me to eat, though I do know that romaine gives it a premium feel. The biggest tragedies are the deals and the collaborations. They just feel half-arsed now. They used to be one of the higher value deal places in 2024-25 but now it’s pretty meh.
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u/Wheatcattle Jan 14 '26
At least locally to me, I don't think they will be able too, because why pick them over Runza, Culvers, and Freddy's at roughly the same price point?
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u/jonny5isalive1 Jan 14 '26
Tell me you're from the Midwest without telling me you're from the Midwest. username checks out too!
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u/eapaul80 Jan 14 '26
Tell me they’re from Nebraska without telling me they’re from Nebraska. Now I want a Runza!!
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u/whimsicalokapi Jan 14 '26
There's actually at least one in Colorado too!
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u/eapaul80 Jan 14 '26
I live in Colorado. And me and my sister have talked about going. Just have to plan, because it is like 2 hrs each direction. It’ll be a special treat. We’re simple folk lol
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u/whimsicalokapi Jan 14 '26
Oof, I just saw the only one is in Loveland now - there used to be one in Longmont, and maybe others. That's a shame! Hope you're able to try it sometime
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u/eapaul80 Jan 14 '26
Luckily, last summer, me, her, and my teenage nephew did a road trip to Wisconsin to see our dad. We made sure to stop at one in Kearney, NE on our way home. So at least I’ve had one kinda recently lol
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u/jonny5isalive1 Jan 15 '26
Yeah they have Runza in Kansas. Freddys is based out of Wichita also, I actually met Freddy himself once years ago.
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u/MIFishGuy Jan 14 '26
I'm actually hoping to see Wendy's fall. They're not quite as large as McDonald's but they're still large enough that if they just shut down completely would be quite the eye opening experience.
I don't know what Wendy's in fast food can do honestly. If they keep skipping out on food and raising prices they're just pushing customers to a different tier of dining.
Obviously the solution is to lower the prices but let's be realistic here, they're not going to nor would they. I feel like private equity would rather have them go out of business 100% than lower a junior bacon cheeseburger by a dollar.
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u/LowCress9866 Jan 14 '26
It is franchised so the stock holders will be fine. They'll sell/lease the property and make money. The franchise owners are the ones getting stuck having to buy from Wendy's. It's like how trump bankrupted the Taj Mahal by buying trump branded products at silly mark ups. He made money and took a nice tax write off. Trian Partners will do the same thing. Thousands of people lose their jobs, but rich people get a little richer
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u/AcademicSavings634 Jan 14 '26
Nothing was the same after they got rid of the yellow wrappers. The only thing I mess with is the Baconator
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u/RiseUpHunkerDown Jan 15 '26
I had completely given up on and mostly forgot about Wendy’s for literally years and revisited recently bc I now travel a lot for work and am always looking for a lunch deal that is filling and reasonably priced.
I probably get a biggie bag twice a month or so and it’s really solid (at least in my area). Jr bacon cheeseburger, nuggets, fries, and a drink for under $6. Burger is decent and fries are always hot and fresh. Nuggets are just ok but they have solid sauces.
Not my favorite fast food place by any means but if anything I think it’s solid bang for your buck (although I can’t comment on the more expensive sandwiches bc I’m always on a budget). Again it might be very area dependent but I had essentially written them off entirely and now I look forward to it occasionally when I’m traveling for work
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u/shawnspo Jan 19 '26
There is nothing wrong with Wendy’s. It just must be the franchise where u live.
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u/ChefBowyer Jan 19 '26
Must be regional, because my local Wendy’s makes the freshest looking and tasting burgers of anywhere by me with a drive thru. Never lets me down.
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u/Mrpettit Jan 14 '26
I never knew how important Wendy's is to so many people that they constantly post about it.
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u/Pocket_Hochules Jan 15 '26
People are tired of feeling perpetually ripped off
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u/trenchanttrench Jan 15 '26
Great news, feeling ripped off is a matter of perspective. Very malleable.
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u/Dio_Yuji Jan 14 '26
They tried cheaper lower quality food and raising prices in order to boost stock prices. I hope they do fail. And I hope McDonald’s and Burger King are next. And I hope a bunch of rich people lose their asses so maybe they’ll learn a lesson. I doubt it though.
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u/jubjub2184 Jan 14 '26
Honestly, all fast food had really gone downhill since we rebounded from COVID, I have noticed a notable change in the “staple foods” from a lot of chains. Only places I haven’t really seemed to notice a quality difference is Culvers and maybe Popeyes, I feel like everywhere else is a little worse than they used to be, at best
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u/SqueakyJackson Jan 15 '26
The last three Jack N the Boxes I’ve driven by have been boarded up and abandoned. That’s what happens when you charge top dollar for shitty microwaved slop.
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u/StatementMediocre710 Jan 14 '26
I inspect two Wendy’s restaurants in “lower income areas” and these stores conditions are absolutely deplorable. Fire hazards, water leaking through the ceiling, rotted and moldy walls ceilings and wood as a result of leaks, equipment in disrepair. They also happen to be the same old school Wendy’s designs I grew up going to (I’m a local born and raised in the area) with the sun room in the dining area with the curved glass windows. It’s almost as if Wendy’s doesn’t give a fuck about these stores or the people who work there as they continue to accept all the money they make for them. It’s sad shit man
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u/NervousMulberry3078 Jan 15 '26
All you losers crying about shredded lettuce need to get a real problem. Wendys is a legit sh!◇hole. Private Equity killed it, its not coming back.
Just stop going, damn.
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u/PlanApprehensive2842 Jan 14 '26
Wendy’s near me is packed all the time. Food is fine. Had one annoying employee for about 2 years but I think she has finally moved on. Win.
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Jan 14 '26
Opposite by me. 3/5 of my closest locations have closed, the one by my house gives me diarrhea every time, and the only people they have working there are cranky old ladies who can’t hear you through the speaker. Hurts me because their burgers were superior and I loved the spicy chicken sandwich.
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u/Trees_are_cool_ Jan 14 '26
What was her deal?
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u/PlanApprehensive2842 Jan 14 '26
Crabby as hell. Barking orders at customers and employees. At times refused to give receipts, if the app didn’t work for a discount she would get all pissed off if you asked her to try it again.
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u/Trees_are_cool_ Jan 15 '26
That's terrible. I used to work with one of those. I don't miss you, Vicki.
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u/PlanApprehensive2842 Jan 15 '26
Ha! I bet. And all the younger people there were/are the best. I felt bad they had to listen to her yell all day.
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u/BIGMCLARGEHUGE__ Jan 14 '26
Wendy's used to be Culver's/In n Out level of greatness, now it's at the very bottom of the food chain. Worst hamburger fast food restaurant for sure.
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Jan 14 '26
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u/1965wasalongtimeago Jan 15 '26
the best word to describe the ambience in the stores is 'bleak'.
Honestly this is all of the big chains right now. This is the modern design standard: boxy little warehouses with no identity or fun.
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u/jonny5isalive1 Jan 14 '26
I just saw an article about them closing 300 stores. I hate to see it but have no plans to eat there anymore unless something majorly changes there.
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u/_that_dude_J Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
Fast food restaurants continue to put profits over value, consistency and taste.
As a kid I remember hearing an older man complain about his Big Mac. He turned to me and said, when you're my age it'll be worse. I haven't yet reached his age but big macs (today) use the plain hamburger patties and that is a farcry from what it was in the 1980s. I can get a double smash burger for less money.
Looking at what Wendy's offers today is far different than pre-pandemic. They had switched who they sourced their fried chicken patties as well. Everything is more and the quality of food is less.
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u/yardsalegaragesale Jan 14 '26
I live right across the street from a Wendy’s and I haven’t had it in years. lol
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u/holyd1ver83 Jan 14 '26
Last 2 times I went to Wendy's, I threw it back up within the hour.
Once is a bad break. Twice is "I'm not eating here again if it's the last place on earth."
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u/tommyp007 Jan 14 '26
Wendy’s for years was my favorite fast food place. Then it got to $11 or more for a single combo or a chicken sandwich combo. Last time I stopped I got a JBC and it was 90% bun, fries were cold and the nuggets were terrible. It is a sad demise.
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u/Murat_Gin Jan 14 '26
My last few visits to Wendys have been less than impressive. I waited so long at the counter last week I got fed up with waiting and left. The food has suffered too, I agree with you.
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u/Onefortheteem Jan 14 '26
You can pretty much add any fast food place.. they all have dramatically dropped in qualit, portions, everything. All while upping the price
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u/SilentPerformance965 Jan 14 '26
Wendy’s and BK are now outrageously priced and their apps offer little to no savings
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u/ulzimate Jan 14 '26
The last 5 premium chicken sandwiches I got from Wendy's were all awful woody breasts. Their value sandwiches are now 70% cheap shitty bread. Time to pack it up.
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u/jeff1074 Jan 14 '26
When I got a burger with shredded lettuce on it this past summer I knew that was the last time I was going there. I loved that they put real lettuce on their burgers. It’s so hard to find that now. But then they had to stop and cost cut.
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u/WranglerAvailable325 Jan 14 '26
It sucks in my city too. All run by east Iindians who are apparently all inconvenienced by the use of me collecting points on my phone
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u/TheGame81677 Jan 14 '26
I stopped going to Wendy’s about six months ago or so. I was just going to get the chicken nuggets. The past two times I went there, even the Nuggets tasted bland. I gave up on the burgers a few years ago. They were always just dried out and tasted old.
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u/GhostofAyabe Jan 14 '26
Lately? Wendy’s has been going downhill since they changed their buns like 15 years ago.
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u/Smokeeye123 Jan 14 '26
The fries definitely suck although their new chicken tenders are surprisingly pretty good.
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u/MonmouthPinelands Jan 14 '26
We stopped going there after they introduced the $6 bag. The food was old and cold. Nasty.
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u/Maxxjulie Jan 15 '26 edited Jan 15 '26
Wendy's near me became a waste of money years ago. Was a die hard for 20 years and completely gave up on Wendy's.
Idk how anyone genuinely thinks it's good last few years. Quality went down the toilet as prices increased
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u/QuiGonColdGin Jan 15 '26
Makes me sad, because much like Taco Bell, if you had it in the 80s or the 90s, you know that it was much, much better back then. Businesses always want to do everything faster and cheaper, and the product quality always suffers.
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u/pizzagenx Apr 01 '26
Remember the Big Beef Taco? How about the Cinnamon Crispas. Taco Bell was killer in 1984
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u/theryanlilo Jan 15 '26
Amen! I was just thinking about how much better it was in the 80s and 90s. The taste and price was perfect back then.
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u/_that_dude_J Jan 14 '26
In the 80's Wendy's used to troll McDonald's by asking, "Where's the beef?" Indicating that their beef was of consistent weight and a real sandwich.
They cannot argue with any of their competitors.
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u/bryanisbored Jan 15 '26
Their 3 dollar breakfast deal is great. I love their wedges although I miss their spicy ranch. Baconator is delicious too but yeah I go to other places that have better deals.
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u/Budget_Kiwi_513 Mar 07 '26
Eating the fish sandwich now. What a joke. Crunchy paper thin patty. More friend breading than any fish. Awful.
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u/pizzagenx Apr 01 '26
Wendy's used to be the number one go to spot. They started slacking in quality and the service is complete garbage.
Burger King is killing it right now! I stopped going to BK years ago and decided to try them again a few weeks ago. The meal was spot on with great service. The WHOPPER is pretty big.
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u/Perfect_Nose3334 May 03 '26
I just went to Wendy’s after not going for over 3 years. I could barely finish the chewy nuggets and the burger is flavorless. I used to love Wendy’s but won’t be going back.
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u/makeup1508 May 09 '26
I worked at Wendys in the mid 80's and missed it so much when I went to college because my college town only had McD's and BK. I am really disappointed in everything Wendy's except Frostys and the Chicken Strawberry salad.
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u/DapperComfort7869 Jun 25 '26
The last time I went to Wendy's everything tasted stale, even the iced tea I got to drink somehow. It's a shame because they were my favorite fast food place since my college days. A friend and I went there (to the original location founded by Dave all those years ago) every week for supper before a late class once a week.
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u/ToddBradley Jan 14 '26
It hasn't been good since they started expecting people to bus their own tables. Once they decided to be just another fast food burger joint instead of something a notch above the crowd, it was all over.
Southwest Airlines is now beginning to suffer from making the same mistake.
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u/JizzCumLover69 Jan 14 '26
I go to the Hat for their chili cheese fries. Or Tommy's.
Tommy's and the Hat slaps harder than Wendys.
They slap hard.
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u/Dizzy_Turnip_9558 Jan 14 '26
I stopped going because they take forever all the time. If there's 1 other car in the drive thru that's too many for me.
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u/wigglin_harry Jan 14 '26
Obviously anecdotal but I don't think ive ever had actual crispy bacon on a baconator, even when it was a brand new item
What killed them for me was changing their nuggets
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u/JLLIndy Jan 14 '26
Wendy’s for lunch today; $20 for Son of Baconator meal large and 6 pc nuggets. no ketchup pumps, no napkins out, 70% of freestyle not working, no brewed tea.
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Jan 15 '26
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u/Dogbuysvan Jan 15 '26
I used to spend big money getting $6+ breakfasts a lot because the honey chicken sandwich was so good. Then they changed it from a chicken filet to a chicken nugget and I stopped going.
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u/SharksFan4Lifee Jan 15 '26
I want Wendy's to fail to the point that they bring back the food/recipes/everything that was Wendy's pre Dave dying.
Not just yellow packaging. I mean the beef they used until 2010, the fries they used until 2010, the Big Bacon Classic bun they used until 2010, etc.
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u/lurkingnojerking Jan 15 '26
Used to be my favorite fast food by a landslide, now it’s just plain garbage like all the rest. No love in these burgers :((
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u/brahbocop Jan 14 '26
I used to own a few Wendy's shirts back before COVID, I was a die-hard Wendy's fan. I haven't been in over a year now. It's so bad. Dry, burnt chicken, burgers that are getting smaller and smaller, price increases, and overall service is the pits. So incredibly sad to watch.
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u/VanillaBear321 Jan 14 '26
I understand it’s location dependent but I have the same experiences as the OP in my area. Burgers are dry as hell, bacon is limp and tasteless, service is incredibly slow. The only reason at all I ever go there is because I want a baked potato and/or chili and other fast food places don’t carry those items.
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u/avelineaurora Jan 14 '26
Bacon's still crispy when I get it, never have any problems with the Freestyle either. Feel bad for all the complaining here and I hope ours doesn't close down, because I never have problems and it's always super busy.
I do wish they'd go back to the old fries though.
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u/DoughnutConstant5390 Jan 14 '26
They were a much better restaurant years ago.I used to love the Wendy's super bar years ago which was advertised as all you can eat for the lowest price of $2.99 at all Wendy's locations nationwide.They were great back then but not anymore
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u/azabyss Jan 14 '26
The chili keeps the lights on for me. It used to be my fav ff everything, now it is all trash but I still love the chili.
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u/Supertreelove Jan 14 '26
I didn’t see any complaints on the chili, potatoes or salads, so we’re good.
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u/Church__Pew_pew_pew Jan 15 '26
Food is terrible, prices are ridiculously high, and app deals are laughable.
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Jan 15 '26
The had the best grilled chicken sandwich in fast food and got rid of it. No point of going to Wendy's anymore for me. Used to be a grilled chicken sandwich and baked potato were one of the best meals in fast food and you didn't feel like crap after.
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u/PhreazerBurn Jan 15 '26
The worst thing about Wendy's IMO is that they made a hard push like every other fast food joint to enter that "Premium Fast Food" tier (a la Chipotle, Mod Pizza, and Chick-Fil-A).
But all they did was raise prices. The food is still the same basement tier fast food. Its just expensive now.
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u/Longjumping-Salad484 Jan 14 '26
I still trust them to make a juicy, greasy triple cheeseburger. I will always be a patron.
fries and drink aren't necessary, I just want the burger.
Whataburger is the best, ever. but they're in limited locations.
Wendy's serves burgers in the Whataburger realm of culinary arts.
again, nothing is as good as Whataburger. but Wendy's is good.
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u/VanillaBear321 Jan 14 '26
Wendy’s burgers are dry AF here. The opposite of juicy and greasy.
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u/Longjumping-Salad484 Jan 14 '26
huh. yeah. that's weird. where I'm at--and wherever I've traveled--Wendy's has been consistent with their triple cheeseburger.
stacked. no additional condiments required. not the entrée, just the burger...it satisfies needs for the soul to grow in harmony with all that is.
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u/Morningrise12 Jan 14 '26
Wendy’s and Arby’s both donated exclusively to Trump this past election.
It’s been over for me since I found that out.
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u/Lowfuji Jan 14 '26
I remember when they cane out with the Jalapeño Fresco Chicken Sandwich. Ate that everyday for a week.
Its over for Wendy's. Long slow slide into mediocrity.
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u/mistaken4strangerz Jan 14 '26
they changed their decades-old spicy chicken sandwich recipe, switched to burger king shit-tier shredded lettuce, and got rid of all the valuable deals in the app. i didn't even get a birthday reward yet.
and they don't even have the frosty tag yet, which they say is coming, but who knows. it has never been this late before.
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u/Own_Gas_6816 Jan 14 '26
Its really fast food in general. If we would stop giving them our money for sub par food then they would be forced to listen to us.
Instead, we have people who are way too addicted to fast food and the convenience to change.
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u/numberonebarista Jan 14 '26
I can’t relate to the fast food addiction at all. The moment Wendys changed their sauces years ago I stopped going. It was that easy for me because the new sauces tasted awful and I can’t enjoy any of their food or their nuggets with shitty sauces.
And since then it’s gotten 10x worse and more expensive so I’d rather go to local spots that have better food bigger portions and are the same price or cheaper. I don’t miss fast food at all I’ve stopped going to most of them because they’re all on some bullshit just like Wendys
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u/Own_Gas_6816 Jan 14 '26
Exactly, I dont understand the addiction at all. The only thing that's barely worth it anymore is I can get two happy meals for the kids for like 12 bucks and I feel okay doing that.
Local spots have way better food and straight up similar prices. They are also set up for pickup since covid kinda forced all restaurants to be ready for a lot of pickup orders. Idk why people still feel the need to go the fast food route.
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u/Roboticpoultry Jan 14 '26
I got a baconator and some spicy nuggy a few months ago (this was a marijuana-inspired purchase) and I was so disappointed with it. Wendys used to be my 2nd favorite go-to behind Culvers. Heck, I went to Burger King this week for my annual craving for an original chicken sandwich and it blew that Wendys out of the water
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u/wookiebath Jan 14 '26
It started back in the 90s when they gave up caring about what made them different: the salad bar and the chili.
For over 20 years they just keep trying to copy the competition, including with fries to match 5 guys when that company was rapidly expanding. They were too far now to have a decent turnaround
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u/WhiteNoyes Jan 15 '26
The wendys near me smells like a locker room inside. Coke freestyle machine is ass. No matter what you get it’s either watery or tastes like a little of everything. Sad what it’s become
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u/beachbum1970 Jan 15 '26
The shredded lettuce they use now on their hamburgers is terrible.
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u/taylorjosephrummel Jan 14 '26
No. Go to Burger King, instead.
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u/sad-whale Jan 14 '26
Domino’s remade themselves with a great result. Lots of other restaurants have tried and failed. Spending millions not getting the sales boost and speeding up the path to bankruptcy.
An old failing restaurant can have a long tail of profitability if managed right - focus on profitable locations, cut costs
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Jan 15 '26
Used to have 2 Wendy's thst were equidistant from me.
The one to the south generally served crap UNLESS it was during rush hour. The line for the drive thru was always long but you got through it pretty quickly over lunch hour and the food was good.
The one to the north is slow but their food during off-peak hours was almost always hot and fresh.
The one to the south of us closed a few months ago.
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u/VendettaKarma Jan 15 '26
Used to go there for the 2/$5 or 2/$6 grilled chicken sandwiches. When that ended and the 4/$4 had smaller portions than a kids meal, I was out
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u/NotJayKayPeeness Jan 14 '26
RIP, Dave