What You Should Never Order At Your Favorite Fast Food Chains

There's no denying that, at times, fast food can be pretty gross. But some of it is definitely more gross than the norm. And now, thanks to some fast food workers posting on Reddit, the not-so-nice insider secrets have been revealed. We sifted through several threads to see which menu items are the worst culprits. And it's not just a case of funny food fails or horror stories like employees using utensils to style their hair in the kitchen—some of these tips are really practical. Like, if you're in a big rush, chicken might not be your best bet.

Keep in mind that many of these restaurants are franchises. And not every franchise has the same rules or standards, although some would argue "don't order tuna" at a fast food restaurant is a hard-and-fast rule regardless of where you go.

"I worked at Steak n Shake for a while. Pretty much the only thing I'd never order is a BLT. You're paying like $6 for two pieces of toast and two strips of bacon. The problem is that the BLT is supposed to be made with 4 strips of bacon (8 pieces when broken in half) but nobody does this, usually due to managers trying to invisibly cut costs." — AdronScyther

"Chili is a no-no, they never ever cycle their grease, they never clean the shake station, and never ever have enough employees to run the place properly so nothing ever gets done." — Commission1888

"Any of the soups. Soups were frozen in a bag and shipped. They were thawed using a "re-thermalizer," a sink full of heating elements that boiled water. Yeah well, that sink wasn't cleaned out all the time, sometimes bags burst. Soup that survived was cut open with a pair of scissors, usually a pair from the managers office or from the prep line, they weren't too picky during dinner rush. Then it was poured into a pitcher. Then transferred to soup line. Problem: the pitcher was hardly ever cleaned, if poorly rinsed out could be considered cleaning." — Demonic_Toaster

"I work at Panera and refuse to drink the lemonade unless I know I was the one who cleaned it the night before. I've witnessed my coworkers running water through it and setting it right back without using any sanitizer. All of the lemon pulp is still caked on the side and they call it good." — MarkToasty

"Don’t EVER get the breadsticks at Little Caesar’s. Literally tons of day old butter are painted on to the bread. I’ve seen co workers pick up breadsticks off the ground and put them back in the bag just because they are in a rush." — Nico6001

"The soups are frozen (and have found maggots in them before), the sandwiches are alright but it's iffy most of the time. I suggest sticking to the bagels and butter/cream cheese. Those aren't made in store but it's better than pretty much anything else. (I'm not a fan of timmies coffee/drinks but that would be the next best thing)." — octopus_salad

"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 mins that just turns to mush in the sandwich. It was gross, stick to the cold cut subs or cheesesteaks." — 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." — ravioliguy12

"I would never, ever, ever, in a bazillion years, eat any fast food place's chili after working there. The "chili" is just the past few day's unsold, sat in the heater too long to sell as a hamburger, meat that gets chopped up and thrown in some chili seasoning and beans. The batch of chili was never thrown out, just always sat there getting replenished with new chili sauce and meat, so some of the chili in there was months old at least." — DuctTapeChainsaw

"I work at Panda Express and you should never order orange chicken. Yeah it might be the most popular item, but sometimes when it isn't busy, and the food get dried up, we put uncooked sauce on it to make it more moisturized. Even my manager says its ok, as long as I do not do it in front of the customers. Panda Express is disgusting..." — Sup3rh3r0_31

"Most of the food at Panda Express is kept in a more sanitary environment than you would expect but I wouldn’t get the mixed veggies, fairly often we would get shipments of carrots that were clearly bad, like gooey and moldy but I was told to cut around the gross parts and then the carrots still got used." — ShorforAlec

"At Dominos, don't order the Philly steak or American cheese, it's only used on the sandwiches and one specialty pizza so it usually goes bad and we have to throw it out often." — whyamiupattwoam

"If you're really short on time, don't count on chicken tenders or grilled chicken sandwiches or salads being made quickly at Burger King. I remember that the tenders took forever to cook and we didn't really make them that often, so most times they were made to order. Same for the grilled chicken." — shmandameyes

"The fish sandwich. It's a rectangular piece of fried fish and breading. Absolutely disgusting. They also keep some surplus so they don't have to make it new each time someone orders it, so you may be getting old fish." — thesituation531

"Don't order grilled foods if you're gluten-free. While technically gluten free — a lot of cross contamination can occur. Be specific to be safe. Oh, and don't order a standard salad at night, it was probably made that morning. Request something else on it and it'll be fresh." — SwagSorcerer

"Only thing i would be iffy on is the chicken salad sandwich. We cool some of the chicken once its hold time is up and de-bread it and use it in the chicken salad. but other than that not anything really bad or gross." — deleted user

If you're trying to get in and out quickly next time you're at Taco Bell, forget about ordering a quesadilla. "It has to be steamed and grilled. It's the only item that I can think of that needs both besides the AM Crunchwrap." — Shamm-Wow

And if you're vegetarian, vegan or have an allergy, it might be best to skip breakfast. "The meat products are kept on one side of the hot line, and the veggies on the other side of the cold line. No contact. Exception is bacon, in the mornings, is placed on the veggie side." — donkeypunch9000

"During the afternoon and evening, it's best to skip ordering from the breakfast menu at A&W. "It is kinda stressful for expediting the flow of normal orders because it takes so much longer. We can't do over hard eggs or sausage links and it'll be a 4-8 minute wait." — mkins

"Gravy at the Canadian A&W. One of the ingredients is literally a ladle of used fryer oil from the chicken fryer. It's really quite gross." — ExarchApophis

"Love Wendy's chili? Turns out the meat in it may be overcooked burgers from a few days prior. "If you have someone who can't seem to stop overcooking the beef you may end up with chili meat to last for three days. Chili meat is good for 7 days if I recall correctly. Occasionally, depending on how popular the chili sells on a given day, it is possible to have chili with meat cooked the same day." — zenkaifts

"My brother's girlfriend used to work at Wendy's and a saying there was (about fries): 'They aren't old until they're sold.'" — Wrinklestiltskin

"Salads from DQ are a rip off. They just recently down-sized them while changing the bowl to make it look like the same amount. Over $5 for 3 ounces of old lettuce, cabbage, carrots and even older grilled chicken." — obeyyourbrain

"If you go into DQ for anything other than a Blizzard or a burger, you are at fault." — 37214

"The burgers suck, too, unless you're into flaccid, 6-hour-old bacon held at room temp." — obeyyourbrain

"Don't get the chili. It comes in a bag, gets warmed up in a metal tub and then sits for 10 hours until we run out and replace it, it's also just not very good to begin with. If you're allergic to any kinds of foods be weary, onions are in the same dressing station as the rest of the condiments and cross contamination is not our problem. The same goes for peanuts with the shakes." — AntProtein

"Don't eat the ice cream from Sonic. I can't say this applies to every Sonic, but it was a big problem at the one I worked at. The ice cream comes in a bag and you pour it into a bucket in the bottom of the machine. Not too hard, right? Nah, people would spill it all the time and the lid to the bucket wasn't secure. Then they would leave it until it grew mold (sometimes even inside the bucket,) then we would have to take the entire machine apart and sanitize EVERYTHING." — MissApocalypse

"At our Subway, the 'oven roasted' chicken was actually boiled in a microwave." — Hotpotabo

"Tuna sandwiches. 80% mayonnaise." — karma_virus

"Subway, tuna is literal poison in a container. It is always several days older than expiration. I used to walk on shift and throw it out by look alone." — Reaverx218

"I used to work at McDonald's. There have been some 'McDonald's Life Hacks' going around the Internet for a few years now. Please don't do any of them because then one or both of the following will happen: 1) Your order will take forever. Yes, I get that you want fresh fries. Are you really willing to wait the four minutes for that? And if you are, do you promise not to complain about the wait? 2) You will be up-charged for certain ingredients. Like the "Poor Man's Big Mac" (A McDouble with Mac Sauce and shredded lettuce). We will up-charge you $0.30 for the Mac Sauce, and $0.20-$0.30 for the shredded lettuce." — ajd011394

"When I worked there in Canada, McDonald's grilled chicken could sit there for a long time. So can the filet o fish. Usually they're on top of it, but s--- happens. ... I've done a 4 hour shift and just forgot to throw out the old grilled chicken and make new ones because nobody ordered it, and it had already went past the timer when I got on so there was no beeping to remind me. It sounds stupid and it was. We're all human and humans are dumb, though." — CaseyTwist

"Don't order something from the 'secret menu.' We sure as s--- don't know what a Snickerdoodle frappuccino is, as it is not a menu item. Employees would be more than happy to make you a drink if you just explain the recipe rather than the name of it." — justine7179

"All Starbucks food is reheated frozen food. Ridiculous how little people realize that. Doesn't mean it doesn't taste good, it's just not fresh at all and incredibly overpriced." — likeabaker

"I used to work at Chipotle, and never ever ever order the tacos. You get less than half the regular portions. Instead, order a bowl with whatever you want in it, then ask for the taco shells, hard or soft, on the side." — KourageWolf

"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 miles than your car." — novelty_bone

If you're looking to get the most bang for your buck, don't order off the hot drinks menu—the cold beverages usually get more liquid in them. "The iced drinks do have more from what I can tell. Hot drinks have 4 sizes (small, medium, large, XL) and cold is just 3 (small medium and large). Large for iced I think is around the same size as an XL hot." — mCahill389

"Here's what I can tell you about the hot/cold sizes: Hot: small - 10oz, medium - 16oz, large - 20oz, xlarge - 24oz. Iced: small - 16oz, medium - 24oz, large - 32oz." — CoolcatMcGee666

You also might want to steer clear of the hot chocolate. "There are thickening agents in the mix, including Cellulose Gum and Xanthan Gum. I think it's in there to make it seem creamier/milkier. Without it, it would probably be a watery product similar to any cheap hot chocolate mix you'd buy for home and mix with hot water." — coffeenut617

"I worked at Dennys for years. Everything comes frozen (even the avocados, which are then microwaved,) the gravy is powder stirred into boiling water, nacho meat microwaved. Store to store can vary from cleanliness, but at mine I suggest avoiding the scrambled eggs, nachos, corn hash, sausage, French toast and waffles (especially the wheat or whatever custom mix they have.)" — flysoup84

"If you're trying to order a healthy option, don't order the Gourmet Veggie Club. It's the second most caloric sandwich behind something called the "Gargantuan." 8 slices of provolone cheese will do that." — lolutah

"Don't get the tea at night. The opening manager brews the tea at 5am and it sits all the way until we close at 10pm. It has a hold time of 8 hours, but we never brew more than one a day unless we run out (which is rare). By the time we dump it at night, it has a thick, syrupy consistency and spells absolutely horrible." — MadClaw1138

"When I worked at Jimmy Johns there was a lady who ordered the gourmet veggie club with extra cheese. Also when people would get totally tuna or tuna club with extra mayo... gag the tuna salad was already full of mayo, more mayo then anything else on the sandwich at that point. tbh working there made me hate mayo. I use hummus in it's place when I make a sandwich now." — lonelygem

"We serve roast beef so if you order fried chicken in the drive through, you're going to be directed to pull forward into the wait slot of the parking lot and you will sit there for like eight minutes," — bigmitts

"When we receive the roast beef, it's not actually solid. It's a bag of meat paste that solidifies after 3 hours in the oven. Still tastes good though.If you order the roast beef in the first few hours of the place opening, you are getting yesterday's left over roast beef. It's just been held in the holding oven over night." — Lodgik

"I work at a Buffalo Wild Wings. Don't get anything other than the wings. That's the only quality thing there. Everything else is frozen." — HunterOfTheSky

"I use to work at Del Taco. Just don't order anything from us. Jesus ... I can still hear their screams when I close my eyes." — FATBIRD333

"I worked in a movie theatre and found out only two of the inside metal trays of the popcorn machine were cleaned weekly. I took it upon myself to dismantle it and clean the rest of the machine. It was lined in the corners with mold probably dating back to when the machine was originally purchased. Not every machine out there is fully cleaned as places just clean the most used pieces." —Nautilus23

"At Texas Roadhouse, my managers have always told me not to suggest the Porterhouse T-Bone steak. It's the only steak we don't hand cut in the restaurant. It's shipped in frozen, and it's generally considered our not so good steak." — Tychillyst

"I used to work at Pizza Hut too and I really can't think of anything I wouldn't eat. The only things that were sometimes iffy were salads, just because they weren't ordered super often and lettuce doesn't stay good for long. As well as the traditional wings because they almost always ended up raw unless we double fried them for like 20 minutes. I don't know why." — RebeccaRegicide

"The most upsetting things were the yellow butter-like liquid we slathered on the breadsticks, the spray can of stuff for the crust, the fact that my store put three times as much cheese as needed on pizzas, and the smell that the store caused the whole dining area to have, which one can only describe as metallic pizza." — soft_nibba_hours

"I stopped working there after arguing with my manager about food safety and restaurant cleanliness. I know most locations aren't like the one I was at, but every restaurant has their bad ones. Some points to my argument: Patties shouldn't sit out for three hours after prep." — abcdefg1234t67

"Hhhh I worked at a Five Guys and it uh... was actually the dirtiest place I've worked and nothing really got cleaned properly. That's actually why I left." — aspiringenjolras

"KFC gravy. Unless it's changed since the '90s, it's the bottom of the deep fryer with seasoning in it." — Happy8Day

"At KFC, we were supposed to change the fryer oil every couple days. Our penny-pinching manager had us change it every couple weeks. We'd just skim off the 'floaters' and cover it at night." — JoeB_302

"KFC: Zinger is not really that popular hence during off peak hours could be dry/stale. To know, it is a reddish dark brown color. Fresh ones are colored bright orange." — eyeshadowgunk

"I used to work at Papa John's. You're gambling with mushrooms - slimy or not, we're using em I guess." — Disolucion

"It really depends on the store/manager. I worked for PJ's for 18 years. I always threw away mushrooms. I instructed my instores to do the same. Then we'd run down to the local grocery store and buy what we needed. If they were bad when they arrived from commissary I'd refuse to accept them. If you have doubts, call the store and ask them to be honest with you. If I won't eat them (I LOVE mushrooms) I won't serve them." — quedra

"I was getting ready for the lunch rush and hand off to someone else, so I started making the fried chicken. I pull out the bag that I took out of the fridge and when I open it...the smell was putrid. Very strong. I complained of course and the shift leader said 'Yeah, it is bad. Someone left it out last night so we tossed it in the fridge. It isn't a big deal though, the grease fryer will take care of the bad stuff.'

I go and complain to the manager, get the same response, except told that I will definitely be cooking that. Of course, you know, this is fast food and screw them. So I say 'OK,' walk back and throw that straight into the trash and take it out to the dumpster. I grab a new bag and cook it. Manager was pissed, because I guess the shift leader told him. I said 'That's fine, fire me for not cooking bad chicken. I really don't care.' Because, minimum wage isn't worth my soul." — CapsUnlocker

"Jack in the box tacos. It comes to the store as meat in a corn tortilla, and it's deep fried like that. That's why they're so greasy. That was almost twenty years ago, and I'm pretty sure my fingertips are still burned." — AngusVanhookHinson

"I worked at Taco Time a few years ago, the meat there was 1/4 meat, 3/4 additives." — run1235

"I worked at an Outback Steakhouse for a little bit. Sometimes we would microwave precooked steaks. A lot of stuff we would advertise made fresh that day, it was frozen and microwaved a majority of the time." — chepalleee

"Accidentally put bleu cheese on that steak? Customer sent it back? Manager isn't gonna let us throw that away, and they aren't ordered all that often so unless another order for one was on the screen, the sauce got scraped/rinsed off and back on the grill it went for a minute or two. How customers didn't question how quickly another one was fixed is beyond me." — cleighr

"When I was in high school I worked at Nandos. We had a whole box of takeaway peri peri sauce packets that had passed their expiration date. The manager was so stingy he didn't want to throw them out so he made us all rub off the date so customers wouldn't know." — airpressure

"Former gas station employee...don't get a slushie. Mold grows around all of the gadgets in there. We only cleaned it every few weeks." — Smalls244

"We often get mushy/moldy strawberries from our distributers. If it's just a little bloop of mold (strawberry still looks big and red otherwise) we'll dip it in chocolate and hide the mold. When they are starting to secrete red goo, that's actually when they're the sweetest. But most people think that since they aren't pretty that they taste bad. So we blot the liquid off and dip it in chocolate. Just short of a pure mold shapeless blob, it's used. Also, they're never washed. As in ever." — GreenPandaPower