This would be a fast-food restaurant aimed at those who are tired of/disgusted/unutterably horrified by the quality, service, etc. at a typical fast-food place.
While there would be some burger-and-fry meals, the focus would be on steak, identifiable poultry parts, and exotically-prepared fish for the meats, halved potatoes would serve as the base for most sides, and a variety of teas and coffees for the drinks. While the fare would have to be kept in warmers for the sake of both speed and price, old food would be thrown out much faster (to be distributed to the poor or something, but whether McFM's wants to make its sympathy for the Prolitariate class readily apparent to its target audience has yet to be determined.) In short, impressive quality.
The food-preparers and the service people would not interchange jobs during the day, so the 'waiters' could wear formal attire and generally be spiffy in appearance and courteous, genteel, etc. in mannerisms.
As for price, I'd hope people so vocal about the lack of quality and service at other fast-food chains would be willing to pay more for better stuff. While it would be markedly more expensive, the right practices could keep the price reasonable.-- nick_n_uit, Jul 14 2002 A guide to the many fine restaurants in your area http://www.zagat.com/And I am sure a surprisingly large number of them will be able to serve you in whatever short time you schedule yourself for eating. [DrCurry, Jul 14 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] Steak and Shake http://www.steakandshake.comNot Filet Mignon, but still damn tasty! [Mr Burns, Jul 15 2002] Ha! You were right http://online.wsj.c...0.html?mod=Page+One...and I was wrong. For those of you who don't subscribe, MacDonald's is moving up-market in France, with armchairs and espresso. No mention of filet mignon in the article, but it can't be far off. [DrCurry, Aug 30 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] koo koo roo-- thumbwax, Jul 14 2002 I can just see the advertising: "Only 5% of the cow faeces content of McDonald's burgers"-- hippo, Jul 14 2002 All the foods you identify take time to prepare and serve well, making your idea an oxymoron. Why, in this helter-skelter life, can you not take a reasonable amount of time out to savor your food? (It will help your digestion and your overall well-being, too).-- DrCurry, Jul 14 2002 [bobofthefuture]:You don't really mean Wendy's? Square, unidentifiable-indigestible-parts-laced meat on some of the worst buns I have ever seen?-- Saruman, Jul 14 2002 DrCurry: I'm with you on this one. Can you imagine asking for a Chateauneuf-du-Pape or a Chablis and being asked if you wanted Regular or Diet ? That way chaos lies....-- 8th of 7, Jul 15 2002 Fast food steak's baked. You get superior vans/trailers selling steak sandwiches along with venison burgers and more conventional fast food at your more sophisticated outdoor event (horse racing, etc.)
But I agree this is a fairly dodgy idea. For one thing, fast food's designed to be eaten without cutlery, whether it's burgers, kebabs, falafel, chicken wings, whatever. And it's also designed to be cheap to produce and retail.
I'm not entirely sure if this is meant to be eat-in or takeaway, but if it was eat-in, it would be very baked, as a cheap restaurant. And even for takeaway, although takeaway western-style restaurants are uncommon, many chinese takeaways in the UK do a selection of western dishes.-- pottedstu, Jul 15 2002 Bliss- They're starting to pop up all over Michigan.. Still have the art-deco(ish) interior, and still have the best burger anywhere!-- Mr Burns, Jul 15 2002 Not to rub it in, but.. it sounded so good, I decided to go there for lunch. Where are you at that they don't have a steak-n-shake?-- Mr Burns, Jul 15 2002 Aaah.. RAX. I've only seen these on the Ohio Turnpike. I ate there one time, and proceeded to stop at each rest area afterward for the remainder of the trip.. Last time I took the 'pike, I seem to recall that they had all been replaced by Burger King's.. (Also MIA: Roy Rogers buffet style sog-burgers..)-- Mr Burns, Jul 16 2002 Did anyone else notice that Wendy's introduced several new salads almost immediately following Dave's death? (caused by numerous heart problems, I was told)-- Mr Burns, Jul 16 2002 Jack-in-the-Box actually tried this in the late 80's. There were three Jack meals, including the Jack steak. It was served in a little box and included fries and salad. The other options were shrimp and chicken strips. It failed miserably.-- snyderola, Dec 29 2002 I have seen steak well-done, plenty of times from fast food/franchise joints... but never done well.
This said, I don't quite understand how the above idea works. The reason fast food tastes the way it does is because you sacrifice convenience and quality for speed.
This idea violates a golden precept of economics: The notion that a product or service can be described as two of the following -- Fast/Convenient, Quality, Inexpensive -- but never all three. One is always sacrificed for the sake of the other two.-- cswiii, Dec 30 2002 random, halfbakery