Originally Posted by
teddybear99
Having previously worked in fast food as well as regular restaurants, most if not all fast food and major chain sit down restaurants get their vegetables pre cut from their distributors or other vendors. Nothing new there, even Boston Chicken (now Market) used to have their side dishes cooked in a central commissary and delivered a few times a day when the chain first started as Dunkin Donuts does with their donuts now. It reduced space needed at the stores as well as gave consistency of being the same quality if you visited different stores.
The restaurants who have their own chefs versus line cooks will cut their own as needed as these restaurants are more high end and individualized.
At one time, Chipotle would cut vegetables in the store but the prep area is not really large enough to prevent cross contamination when the stores are busy. I will eat at Chipotle not because of the marketing claims regarding ingredients but because of the easy to control calorie count. This is true for any line assembly restaurant.
I have seen the prep area at Taco Bell with the cooked meat in a bag being dropped in boiling water. The bag looked liked wet dog food. I would expect a fast food or quick service or casual chain restaurant to prepare the sides on site.