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First time I was in the USA on business the host Engineer wanted to take me to McD straight from airport (mid 1980s).
I pointed out that we'd had them in Ireland for years and Wimpy in GB and NI from the 1950s. McD claim to have the same experience everywhere, though source Irish ingredients in Ireland. Indeed it was the same and I like Chinese take-outs better. I preferred Wendy's in Ohio then and recently they announced opening here.
But the USA franchise chains are parasites, exporting all the profit and often avoiding tax using dubious patents / copyright / royalty. Also inferior food to most local run places I've been (9 countries). Often parasitical in getting a local to provide capital but that person is then purely an investor or manager. Franchises are one of the dark aspects of USA Capitalism.
KFC was good when it originally arrived (though rubbish chips AKA french fries. I know what we call crisps are usually chips in USA. Pringles don't qualify here as too low in potato). It's ghastly now. The original Irish Franchisee was sued because they broke away. Pat Grace's Famous Fried Chicken.
Also Pizza is Italian, not American. The Irish locals and locals run by Italians settled in Ireland are often much superior to the USA Franchise chains.
Subway is now widespread in Ireland. The rolls were never called "subs" in UK or Ireland but rolls. Their product was examined and found to qualify as cake, not bread (too high a sugar content, so has VAT instead of tax free, as all real food is). I was very annoyed. I tried many of their outlets as I love a filled roll. Ghastly. Fortunately almost every small foodstore does filled rolls, either with breakfast items or a good choice using real local bread, including the locally finished bought in frozen French breads.
I can't understand why the USA fast food survives in Europe. Of course, like Kellogg's in UK & Ireland, they do a massive amount of advertising.
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