LIFE IN THE FAST-FOOD LANE : A Family of 3 Rates 6 Fast-Food Outlets After Dining at Each
How do some of Orange County’s top fast-food restaurants stack up with their competition? To find out, The Times asked a typical Orange County family to rate six restaurants in eight categories, including price, quality of food and speed of service.
The Robles family, Jose, 36, Linda, 34, and their son Michael, 2, dined over a recent two-week period at The Times’ expense--then filled out a “report card” for each restaurant.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Dec. 3, 1987 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday December 3, 1987 Orange County Edition Orange County Life Part 9 Page 6 Column 1 No Desk 2 inches; 49 words Type of Material: Correction
In a chart labeled Fast-Food Report Card in last Friday’s Orange County Life, some scores for Naugles and Wienerschnitzel were inadvertently placed in the wrong boxes. However, the errors did not affect the overall grades for the two restaurants.
Naugles should have received 5 B’s, 2 C’s and 1 D. Wienerschnitzel should have received 1 B, 4 C’s and 3 D’s.
The Robleses have lived in Orange County nine of the past 10 years, own their Yorba Linda home, have two automobiles and an annual income close to the county’s median family income of $42,500.
Jose manages a conventional (not fast-food) restaurant in Marina del Rey. Linda worked as a restaurant waitress, hostess and manager for 10 years until quitting in 1984 to raise a family. The Robleses eat at fast-food restaurants two or three times a week, which Linda says is too often.
The restaurants graded by the Robleses include outlets for five fast-food chains headquartered in Orange County--Carl’s Jr., Del Taco, Naugles, Taco Bell and Wienerschnitzel--as well as McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food restaurant chain.
The Robleses’ findings were based on one visit by the family to a single outlet of their choice for each of the six chains.
A glance at their report indicates the best fast-food experience might be to read from a Naugles’ menu but choose from Carl’s varied selection, then place your order at a Taco Bell drive-through speaker to be served by a courteous Del Taco employee who delivers your food as fast as they do at McDonald’s, all for the price of Wienerschnitzel.
THE ROBLESES’ FAST-FOOD REPORT CARD
Overall Restaurant A’s B’s C’s D’s F’s GPA Grade McDonald’s 2 2 4 2.75 B Naugles 5 2 1 2.50 B- Carl’s Jr. 1 2 4 1 2.37 C+ Del Taco 1 2 4 1 2.37 C+ Taco Bell 1 3 2 1 1 2.25 C Wienerschnitzel 1 4 3 1.75 C
Restaurant Comments McDonald’s “Very fast and efficient ... very clean.” Naugles “Slow, but could be due to the fajitas order.” Carl’s Jr. “Person taking order irritable but still polite.” Del Taco “Very clean ... (menu) hard to read.” Taco Bell “Dirty, wrinkled uniforms . . . good (speaker) volume.” Wienerschnitzel “Hot dogs charred .. speaker hard to understand.”
THE ROBLESES’ FAST-FOOD FAVORITES
GRADE RESTAURANT Fastest Service A McDonald’s Best Prices B Wienerschnitzel Most Courteous B Del Taco, McDonald’s, Naugles Cleanest A Del Taco, McDonald’s Highest Quality Food A Carl’s Greatest Food Variety B Carl’s, Del Taco, Naugles Easiest-to-Use Menu B Carl’s, Naugles, Taco Bell Best Drive-Through Speaker A Taco Bell
