mapleg

Not sure about the USA, but here in Canada KFC decided that chicken which used to be 9 pieces is now magically 12 pieces.

Have not been back to them since.

Pete92833

I had a friend who had worked at Taco Bell in the 70s. He said they added a pound of oatmeal to every 10 lbs of ground beef.

All natural!!

diburning

Tim Horton's on the other hand hasn't been the same since my childhood. It was my first time (that I could remember) in Toronto, and it was the first meal of my trip. It was pouring rain and we didn't want to eat at the hotel, so I spotted what appeared to be a Dunkin Donuts next door. Turned out to be a Tim Horton's and the menu was great, and I fondly remember how delicious the croissants were at Tim's. They were fresh baked, smelled nice, and were delightfully buttery and flaky.

And then as an adult, I went back (this is after a couple changes in ownership) and the croissants just weren't good at all.

Here in the US, Dunkin Donuts has had a similar change. The donuts used to be OK (they weren't great but they were at least passsable) because the donuts would be delivered in the morning, and the restaurant would bake them on site. Now they're just delivered ready to eat and they just haven't been the same. The other thing about Dunkin is that they used to be good. Now it's the cheapest quality ingredients possible, and they're just riding on local New England brand recognition, and possibly cult following. Dunkin has gone full fast food and now does new rotating fad sandwiches that never stay on the menu more than a few months.

JAXPax

I was pleasantly surprised by this... I used to be in Richmond 2-3 nights a month for work with the airport so would stay nearby. Arby's (and a Mexican place across the street) were the only passable things to eat within brief walking distance of where I was usually stuck at the Courtyard. A few other Arby's locations used to have similar but I hadn't seen in years.... the one in BWI airport Terminal A/B until recently had a build your own salad.

Arby's roast been (and the CBS sandwich) have seem to have gone downhill. I'll get a beef and cheddar once in a blue moon. But since I had to spend a lot of time in St. Louis and discovered Lion's Choice now I cannot look at Arby's roast beef the same ever again!

Interesting the comments on the name and store brands tasting the same... because many cases they are. Example: Wal-Mart store brand (I think it's Great Value?) pot pies are made on the same line as Swanson. Some supermarket brand syrup is basically Aunt Jemima's (or what is formerly known as).

Ifti Khan

I am now into old age, and there is not one area of service and food that has not changed for the worse. Quality has diminished, quantity has reduced, cost has increased for the lesser amount. Caveat emptor in another context.

CDTraveler

No, in California at least it was well past the 70's. They were still serving in glass mugs when I got my driver's license, which wasn't in the the 70's .

CDTraveler

I loved Arby's until I got a summer job there as a teenager.

You do not want to know what is in the "roast beef"

Eastbay1K

It is possible that when Arby's introduced a larger RB sandwich, it decreased the basic size. Just a thought.

cblaisd

Which may account for some of these: Foods where a generic/house brand is better than the name brand

dliesse

In my area, at least, Arby's now has crinkle fries in addition to the curly fries. Haven't been to Dairy Queen recently enough to put them in the comparison, but in my opinion these crinkle fries are the best available at any fast food restaurant (you can, of course, get much better at a real establishment).

I can't think of anything that's as good as it used to be. A lot of that, of course, is due to my taste buds getting much older. Even some of the finer (relative term, not a description!) restaurants have gone downhill. When I was growing up, for instance, Stuart Anderson's Black Angus was a premier steak house. Now it's just Black Angus and not nearly as good -- but maybe my palate is more discerning than when I was 10. (Their biggest problem right now is inconsistency -- went there in July and had the worst prime rib of my life; went there last week and it was the best ever!)

I think a lot of the differences you'll find come simply in the preparation, or lack thereof. I do accounting for a handful of restaurants and it's really disillusioning how many of their dishes come frozen from Costco or Restaurant Depot! If they're just going to take a bag of frozen pot stickers and drop them in a steamer or a vat of oil, I can do that myself.

BettyKat

Oh man....you can't just leave us hanging.

Yes, I very much DO want to know what's in the roast beef!!

YVR Cockroach

Tim Horton's stopped "baking" donuts (I've been told they were par-baked then shipped) at sale location nearly 2 decades ago. Frozen and rewarmed since then. Big uproar then but regulars are addicted to the brand so keep it alive and healthy. I don't think I've been to one out of choice since around then.

Too bad. I had a hankering for them when I was out in the eastern U.S. some 3 decades ago. Hard to find (non-existent?) on the U.S. west coast (specifically "northern" NV, "northern" CA and Seattle north to the 49th parallel) so I haven't been to one in about the same time I last went to a Tim Horton's.

YVR Cockroach

Could be due to supplier and/or slipping standards. One of the local/regional supermarket chains where I am now, when it was operated buy the founder-owner, had a line of meat (owner's Signature Series) that was supposed to be either the best 1/7th or 1/6th of the best meats from a certain meat packer supplier. As the owner aged, he sold the chain to a national operator. Standards started to slip and eventually declined to the standard of that supplier. This supplier (large U.S. meatpacker) has its premium line of beef but only claims to be the best 2/3 (which encompasses a lot of marginal and mediocre). That's reflected in the beef quality one finds at that supermarket.

YVR Cockroach

My speculation: Like "chicken breast" or "turkey breast" often found at delis and supermarket deli counters, it's probably not a solid piece of beef from a single cow but an agglomeration of meat from various appropriate animals formed and pressed and held together by whatever.

My speculation seems to be somewhat refuted by this
https://www.mashed.com/145296/the-tr...ys-roast-beef/

JMorgana

Outback has gone way downhill just in the last year or two. Hubby and I used to go as a treat for his birthday and the last couple of times were awful. Longhorn, too.