The Fast Food 'Hacks' Reddit Can't Handle Anymore

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. In fact, that "secret menu" item you ordered might be a secret to the person behind the counter, too. 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."

To avoid this mutually-frustrating scene, just ask for your specific order. "I see all the time [on social media] people ranting about how they know the best tricks and tips for fresh food and secret menu items," writes the original poster. "If you want something fresh or custom, just ask man it isn't that deep. Most of the time it's some teenager (like me) taking the order or making the food so it's not like we care. Do you want extra ice cream on your cone? Just ask we'll do it. Do you want fresh fries? Sure."

Ultimately, the supreme drive-thru etiquette tip is simply "be considerate." If you're trying to order an off-menu item, come prepared. This means knowing exactly what goes into the item you're trying to order. We also encourage conscientious customers to remember the line from a now-iconic MADtv sketch: "Welcome to King Burger, where we can do it your way, but don't get crazy." 

As another comment from an apparent fast food worker in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit puts it this way: customers who say things like "'Look at this hack bro' and just slam a chicken sandwich in the middle of a double cheeseburger [are] just annoying." Comments echo, "I saw a 'hack' that was a pizza that you can order at Subway. [...] If I walked in there asking for a pizza I'm sure they would kick me out."