The Fast Food 'Hacks' Reddit Can't Handle Anymore - Tasting Table

"Anyone who has ever worked in the food service industry knows that front-facing customer service is a uniquely mine-dotted battlefield. This is particularly true of the fast food industry - especially when off-menu "hacks" enter the scene. In fact, one viral Reddit thread with more than 20,000 upvotes and 1,000 comments is filled with fast food employee testimonials from the trenches. According to the barrage of commenters, the chief sin of "hack" ordering is assuming that employees automatically have a lexical knowledge of every "hack" created by every random fan on the internet."

"To quote a comment from Redditor u/ComradeJagrad: "I work at Starbucks and my 'favorite' thing ever is how many people hear about some fancy frappuccino and they come to the store and try to order it and are shocked when we don't know the recipe. We always say the same thing: 'If you can tell us the ingredients, we'll happily make it for you.'""

"It's worth noting that some chains do have a secondary "secret" menu. Take In-N-Out Burger's "Not So Secret" menu, which features the iconic Animal Style burger that legendary chef Anthony Bourdain would always order. However, even this quasi-underground menu is limited to six defined offerings. Elsewhere in the quick-service world, an apparent former Sonic employee agrees: "We all hated the secret menu. We don't know what a 'purple lurple nurple' is. We got soda and we got flavored syrup, just tell us what you want.""

Front-facing food service often encounters problems when customers order off-menu "hacks" that employees may not recognize. Many employees do not know the recipes for fan-made secret items and prefer customers to list ingredients or specific modifications. A few chains maintain a limited secondary menu with defined items, but most quick-service workers only have standard offerings and flavored options. Clear communication, researching ingredients beforehand, and explicitly stating what to make prevents mutual frustration and ensures accurate, timely orders at fast-food and coffee outlets.

Read at Tasting Table