The issue isn't even the food quality. Everyone knows it's bad for you. It's literally just cost. I don't know why NONE of the franchise get this. Once upon a time, 5 dollars would get you a full meal at McDonalds. 5 dollars could feed 3 or more people at Taco Bell. You can't even get 2 tacos anymore for 5 dollars. You can't even get 1 egg mcmuffin for 5 dollars. Return to affordable slop and people will return too
I remember when I was a kid, my friends and I would pool our pocket change and the three of us could eat our fill at Taco Bell for like $4-5. Not anymore.
It's literally cheaper to cook for yourself now. Hell, a tub of Greek yogurt and some apples is like $4 and gives you protein and fiber for like 3 meals. Literally no effort food. People are just lazy.
When I was still a Jehovah Witness, we used to hit up taco bell after door knocking for the same reason. 3-5 of us could eat for less than 10 dollars.
Yeah, at this point its just stupid. People used to tell me "Its cheaper to eat out" (No, It was not, they were just lazy but this was also at least 15 years ago).
I did a full breakdown for what my Wife cooks to prove it to some friends and they basically ignored me because they didn't like being told that if you cook food yourself its cheaper as long as you are not a moron. You do have a "initial investment". If you only have $5 you can't buy $30 of ingredients to make a dozen meals. I get it if that is the case but don't tell me that a crockpot full of (good home made) chili is more expensive than that crappy subway sandwich you bought for ~$7. (again, that was a long time ago, I bet that same sub would be $13+ now).