Worst Fast Food Restaurants Where We Should All Avoid Eating

Love them or hate them, fast food restaurants are as American as apple pie. Whether you crave a late-night burrito from Taco Bell or an afternoon, lunch-break Big Mac from McDonald’s, America’s love for cheap, fast, and fatty foods is second-to-none. Yes, some of these restaurants offer health-focused meals, sides, and combos are the majority of these food and drink establishments are just terrible. I mean, what do you expect? Gourmet, life and soul-enriching food that will make you live longer? Definitely not! That’s not the purpose of these wonderfully unique fast-food establishments. From a quick road-trip bite to a ‘once-a-week’ dinner for the family, these restaurants catch you on the fulfillment of good flavors and cheap prices. But, there’s more to these worst fast food restaurants.

Somehow, some of these ‘scummy’ worst fast food places manage to make a mockery of their identities. Some of these worst fast food places have managed to disgust every customer that has been able to get a glimpse of their mistakes and general ‘nastiness.’ For your sake, as well as ours, we’ve listed our worst fast food restaurants to avoid…if you want to live.

<span>40. </span>Arby's

My college roommate ordered a chicken wrap at Arby's and they made it with bone in chicken wings. I laughed. He didn't.

<span>39. </span>Dairy Queen

I got some food from Dairy Queen in 2009 and found partially dried blood sticking the paper to the bottom of the box after I finished eating. I haven't gone back to one since, not even for a Blizzard.

<span>38. </span>Taco Bell

We came through Taco Bell and got some nachos,' Joseph Richardson said. But once Kailynn got to the bottom of her triple-layer entree, she says she found a full-length, acrylic French-tip fingernail buried in with the beans.

<span>37. </span>Bojangles

Fried chicken means RAW CHICKEN WITH BREADING. 'I'm sorry about that' and returning my money doesn't cut it. Repulsed.

<span>36. </span>Subway

Years ago, stopped at a Subway in Beaver Dam, OH. Gentleman making my sandwich sliced his finger pretty good while cutting the finished sandwich, bled all over the counter, and the sandwich, proceeded to wrap the cut finger in a paper towel and then wrapped the sandwich and bagged it.

<span>35. </span>Krystal

I am from the north and had never never been to Krystal. Heard people say 'it's like White Castle, only worse' and had to check that out. The burger was really gross – and my standards are low. The fries though were surprisingly awesome and the atmosphere was pretty nice, given the location. Worth checking out, if only as a curiosity.

<span>34. </span>Domino's

We were super disappointed in the last pizza we ordered from here as well as the manager's response (don't know his name as he refused to give it). Took over 40 minutes to go less than 2 miles AFTER it left the store and looked like this...

<span>33. </span>Long John Silver's

Wow, never again! Fried fish are crispy on the outside, wet and mushy on the inside. Gross! And I eat anything that's edible and I'm not picky with my food at all, but I had to spit it out. Definitely the worst food in my book.

<span>32. </span>KFC

I pulled a piece off, then found that and spat the rest out. You don't expect to have that type of crap in your food when you go to KFC. KFC said that it was probably a bit of offal – a lung or kidney – that should have been thrown away. A spokesman said- Most of the time offal is removed in the preparation process, but occasionally it may remain.

<span>31. </span>Del Taco

Have you ever had a bad experience at Taco Bell? This place will make you forget ALL about that in just one bite. Don't get me wrong the people were nice and the place was clean as this location just opened recently but the food reminded me of taco day in elementary school. Meat was dry and tasted burnt but was still cold.

<span>30. </span>White Castle

We walk in order our food and are having a great time being reunited after not being together for 6 weeks. I take a bite of the onion rings we are sharing and when I look down, there is a deep fried bandaid sticking out of the onion ring. My parents remained very calm and very collected while explaining the fiasco to the manager but he refused to do anything about our meal. So we left and my parents turned their backs on their love for grade D meat sliders and none of us have ever gone back to one.

<span>29. </span>Panda Express

A bug in my chow mein. Its not even a tiny fruit fly or something, its a black shelled bug in my chow mein. I know for a fact that this bug was in the chow mein when I bought it because it is dead and cooked. SO GROSS!!!!!!

<span>28. </span>Wendy's

I went back and asked about it and they were all really surprised and grossed out and they had the GM call me and he said 'I can either refund your meal entirely or give you a new sandwich cooked the right way'. There was no way in hell I was ever eating there again so I definitely took the refund.

<span>27. </span>Little Caesar's

Couldn't have been worse. Waited 40 minutes for disgusting, burnt pizza that they didn't even tell us was burnt! We didn't realize until we got home, tried to eat it but after 2 slices I was almost ready to puke. Threw 12 out of 16 slices (2 pizzas) in the trash. Should have thrown it all out. Don't even think of going here.

<span>26. </span>Checkers

Dirty! We went to get some food around 230 am on a Saturday. When we pulled up the cook was ousted with a van of his friends and ran inside when he had seen us pull up. Once we ordered we waited to pay for 2 minutes while the two guys stood there talking to each other. One of the men ( the one just smoked a cigarette) was touching the food with out gloves on and the other one had his back to us stuffing his hands in his pants to rearrange his underwear. Needless to say we pulled off.

<span>25. </span>Sonic

I found a cockroach in a Sonic burger. Well, half a cockroach. When I went inside and found the manager and showed him the chewed up pile of burger in the parking lot — with the half roach — he told me I put it there.

<span>24. </span>Auntie Anne's

What a horrible mistake. I haven't been able to sleep all night. I feel like I'm going to die. No one will come within 12 feet of me. The garlic pretzel from Auntie Anne's was so delicious at the moment but within 5 minutes the crowd cleared from City Center and I was the only one left standing. Something went terribly wrong.

<span>23. </span>Quiznos

I have heard Quiznos kitten commercial many time. The cats voices on the commercial is so annoying. It's the worst commercial I've ever heard. I just want to throw the remote through the TV every time I hear it. Whenever it's on I mute the TV and leave the room because it's so annoying. I wish I could go the Quiznos headquarters and punch whoever the guy is that decided to come up with this commercial. It's so ** annoying. Then Quiznos decides to come out with another commercial with the cats with their dollar menu which is just as annoying as the first one. Again I mute the TV and leave. I can't stand it.

<span>22. </span>Hardee's

Mmmmhhhh no first time there and I was not happy, got the burrito and I was disappointed, the smell Alone was unappealing. Not only this but the entire place was so sticky and gross. Stinky play area stinky chairs and tables. I mean come on wipe that xxxx . Nope first and last time going there

<span>21. </span>Jimmy John's

I found a huge bug in my sandwich, I didn't know and I ate part of it and I threw up. So thank you. I'm never eating there again.

<span>20. </span>Panera Bread

Panera Bread may be a staple for college sorority girls everywhere, but that doesn't mean it isn't gross and lacking in proper cleaning techniques. According to an ex-employee, all of the soups come shipped frozen in a bag and are thawed using a 'sink full of heating elements that boiled water,' that doesn't get cleaned thoroughly or very often. And of course, during a dinner rush, cleanliness tends to get thrown even further out the window.

<span>19. </span>Pizza Hut

The pizza at Pizza Hut may not be too horrendous for the most part – especially for fast food – but just make sure you stay away from the salads, as the lettuce often sits out for too long and goes bad quickly, says one ex-employee. 'Also the traditional wings because they almost always ended up raw unless we double-fried them for like 20 minutes.'

<span>18. </span>Sbarro

The last time I was at Sbarro in the food court of Superstition Springs Mall, I was really disappointed. As usual, I ordered a piece of pizza. It was very dry and the crust was so thin, dry and hard I could barely even cut it with a knife. It was like cardboard. This was not like the Sbarro I used to eat at. It seems their quality has dropped. In all fairness, I have not tried their other dishes and they might be very tasty.

<span>17. </span>Jersey Mike's Subs

Even the employees at Jersey Mike's Subs won't eat a couple things on the menu, including the chicken parmesan or the meatball sub- 'I worked at Jersey Mike's Subs. The only thing I wouldn't eat is the chicken parmesan. It's a frozen pre-breaded chicken patty that we just microwaved for a few minutes that just turns to mush in the sandwich' – Dr_Schalke. 'No employee would ever touch the chicken parm or the meatball sub. The meatballs were frozen Tyson beef that are boiled and thrown in spaghetti sauce'

<span>16. </span>Tim Horton's

The 'food' at this Canadian staple is unfortunately more unappetizing than many realize; one employee stated that the soups come into the store frozen and they occasionally have maggots in them. They also stated that 'the sandwiches are alright but it's iffy most of the time.' If you want to stay pretty safe, go with a bagel and butter or cream cheese.

<span>15. </span>Burger King

Worked late one night so I decided to pick up dinner on the way home. I was starving so as I drove off with the food I reached in the bag, grabbed some fries and shoved them in my mouth.Immediately I felt a sharp pain move around my mouth so bad I started gagging and had to pull over along side the road. Tried to vomit but couldn't. Spit out some blood and what looked like twigs. Looked at one closely and realized it was a roach leg.

<span>14. </span>Carl's Jr.

Horrible burgers were nasty, workers were unprofessional, not clean this place needs to be shut down!!!!! First it took 30 minutes to get 2 burgers once we got them we tried to eat them sauce was all over place tomatoes were rotten on burgers, bread was failing apart , ugh they really need to be closed down.

<span>13. </span>7-Eleven

7-Eleven, which offers both fast food and convenience-store amenities, is probably one of the grossest places you could purchase food (if you can even call it that) from. For starters, the nachos machine doesn't get cleaned properly (or ever, for that matter), so mold builds up inside of it. One Reddit user recalled what they considered to be the least appetizing thing there- I'm gonna say any of the taquitos or hotdogs from around midnight up through about 4 or 5am. Around midnight you can be assured that these are now high-mileage. That hotdog might have more mileage than your car.

<span>12. </span>Jack in the Box

Oscars Sunday I was really craving some JintheB tacos; I ate 4, they tasted fine to me. Woke up a few hours later with food poisoning. I warned my friends on Facebook to steer clear of this location for good – only for everyone to inform me that the location was boarded up. That damn location closed the very next morning, and it went out of my life with a bang.

<span>11. </span>McDonald's

I never liked McDonald's since they have gross tasting foods filled with grease and their chicken nuggets are made with this pink slime which is absolutely disgusting

<span>10. </span>Shake Shack

Usually Shake Shake has a solid reputation for fast food, but at lest one Bostonian reviewer took issues with the chain. After an acceptable amount of time I got my burger. I sat down to enjoy my burger. I was floored. The bun looked like it was stepped on. The cheese looked like it was scraped off, put back on and scrapped off again. The actual burger was in 3 pieces. How could anyone in serve this to a customer. I worked in the food service industry for 6 years. Not sure if this is a management problem or just an employee having a bad day. I have to think both.

<span>9. </span>Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A is another chain that generally has a good reputation. However at least one Tripadvisor reviewer, ThoughtsOfRS, did not enjoy their meal. 'I usually love Chick-Fil-A and never have had a bad experience there.Until tonight.Spicy chicken sandwich was overdone on the outside,yet undercooked on the inside.I returned it and the cashier was nice about it,but the sandwich that was returned was even worse.I chucked it and wrote off as a loss.I'm used to the terrific Hagerstown franchise,I guess,Doubtful I'll return.'

<span>8. </span>In-N-Out

Even the legendary In-N-Out burger chain fails at times, as exemplified by this TripAdvisor review from Conrad W. 'Traveling with my wife through California. My wife is hungry and I spot the in n out sign and get off the 5 to satisfy her hunger. We were pulling a trailer and so had to park in the Mc Donalds lot across the street as there was no room at in n out. Still felt it was worth it to cross a busy street to get my wife her favorite. I got 2 number 3 combos. The fries were cold, the bun was dry and overall all it was my worst ever in n out experience since I discovered it in Az.'

<span>7. </span>Johnny Rockets

50s-themed eatery Johnny Rockets walks the line between fast food and theme restaurant, but either way the chain has had its fair chance at bad reviews. TripAdvisor reviewer TICoachKevin had perhaps the harshest review, writing in part 'Terrible! Food came over 30 minutes late, which means… you guessed it, ICE COLD burgers, fries, onion rings. I had called a few times & was told it was just leaving (that was at 45 mins., which was when it was supposed to be here already. Then I called back in 15 mins. & was told they couldn't get in touch with the delivery guy, but when they did they would call me back. Nope, no call back. Finally he got here with ICE COLD food.'

<span>6. </span>Popeye's

We stop there 12 noon on 01/04/22, had two chicken sandwiches. Which were very good and decided to order 8 piece chicken (at a cost of $28.00 and change) to go and have for dinner. A BIG MISTAKE. Once home, open the box I found the chicken looked old and hard. Tried to eat a piece and found it to be old and dried out. This chicken was not fresh, it had to be a day or two old because it was uneatable, old, dried out and unfit for human consumption. Caution, check your take-out-order before leaving store. Like to have my $28.00 back. Suffice to say, SiteJabber reviewer Frank E. was not happy with their Popeye's experience.

<span>5. </span>Roy Rogers

According to TripAdvisor reviewer jimmiecmyrtlebeach, their visit to a Roy Rogers found the restaurant struggling to fulfill even basic menu requests. 'Stopped in for a roast beef sandwich Friday night around 8. Ordered a roast beef sandwich only to be told they were out of it. Changed order to grilled chicken sandwich and was told that they were out of grilled chicken. I asked what they had left. We got a couple of cheeseburgers with bacon. Apparently they were down to one piece of bacon that they ripped into small pieces and shared on the burgers. Cold fries. Yes. You guessed it. We will not be back.'

<span>4. </span>Chipotle

Chipotle definitely has a 'love it or hate it' reputation. Suffice to say, SiteJabber review it Neal V fall into the latter camp. 'Chipotle of Redding ca. Made a vegetarian burrito with chicken in it poisoning my fiancé that cannot digest meat. She was so ill she vomited and had diarrhea for roughly 12 hours. She is also a Ornitgologist as well as a vegetarian of 25 years. When I tried calling the store to let them know their mistake it took 20 minutes of continuous calling and being disconnected to finally get through to Catherine the manager. Catherine shed zero concern and even sounded as if she thought it was funny saying 'oh so you fiance ate chicken when she wanted tofu' in a crass and condescending tone. Raina the customer support did not return my many messages and emails requesting to talk as I wanted to voice my concerns as this kind of mistake can be fatal to some people with certain food allergies. When I finally got through to Raina she had the same dismissive condescending attitude as Catherine with zero remorse or concern over food poisoning. If I recall they had an issue with food poisoning before and it seems they just Do Not Care if they injure their customers.'

<span>3. </span>Portillo's

Portillo's is a beloved institution in the American midwest, but that doesn't mean all of its reviews are sparkling. TripAdvisor MattEats23 wrote, 'I hope this Portillo's isn't going down hill. I received my order, did not receive a cheese cup with my fires even though my recipe says I paid for cheese fries. Also the hotdog I received tasted like it had been sitting for a few hours. Lastly, the fries I got were cold and soggy. Usually this location is very good, but this order was a failure. Please ensure quality output with you late night shift staff.'

<span>2. </span>Wingstop

Suffice to say, TripAdvisor reviewer Toya B doesn't think highly of WingStop. 'THIS HAS TO BE THE WORST WINGSTOP OF WINGSTOPS'. Sorry I can't think of one good thing to same about this place the wings are rubbery and under-cooked. I asked for the wings to be extra crispy and extra seasoning as u can see from the pictures I got neither. Wait but what I did get was EXTRA GREASE! Plus not a drop of seasoning on the fries, HOW DO YOU FORGET THE SEASONING ON THE FRIES. DO NOT GO TO THIS WINGSTOP! ABSOLUTE HORRIBLE!'

<span>1. </span>Nathan's

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog's on Brooklyn's Coney Island is one of the most famous restaurants on Earth, but TripAdvisor reviewer LaLa624 was not impressed. 'I ordered a hotdog with sautéed onions, regular fries and a Coke. It took 15 minutes plus, the onions were sautéed in some indescribable (sic) sauce, the hotdog was small and tasteless and the fries were undercooked. All this for over $12 US. Don't bother – the legend is dead.'