Fast Food

Fast food is food which is prepared and served quickly at outlets called fast-food restaurants. It is a multi-billion dollar industry which continues to grow rapidly in many countries. more...

Overview

A fast-food restaurant is a restaurant characterized both by food which is supplied quickly after ordering, and by minimal service. Often this food is referred to as fast food. In response to increasing backlash against "fast food", the industry has been trying to move the public away from that term over the past five years, shifting to the term quick service restaurant (QSR for short). Consumers still refer to the restaurants as fast-food restaurants despite the industry's efforts to change them.

The food in these restaurants is often cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, or reheated to order. Many fast-food restaurants are part of restaurant chains or franchise operations, which ship standardized foodstuffs to each restaurant from central locations. There are also simpler fast-food outlets, such as stands or kiosks, which may or may not provide shelter or chairs for customers. See also automatiek.

Because the capital requirements to start a fast-food restaurant are relatively small, particularly in areas with non-existent or poorly enforced health codes, small individually owned fast-food restaurants are common throughout the world.

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