Fast Food Employees Explain The Foods You Should Always Order ‘Fresh’

Let’s be honest: if you’re going to a fast food restaurant, you probably aren’t expecting the freshest or healthiest food around. However, it can still be disappointing to dig into your meal only to realize it’s cold—sometimes a sinking suspicion sets in that those chicken nuggets have, in fact, been sitting out for much longer than you would have liked. Of course, there are rules regarding the freshness of food in restaurants, but despite health codes, there will always be bosses and workers at certain locations who choose to cut corners and save money by serving less than fresh food. Luckily, there’s one way to increase your chances of eating hot-out-of-the-fryer food: try ordering it “fresh”!

Fast food employees have been sharing this hack with customers for years. Here are a few menu items in particular they say you may want to order fresh next time you pull up to the drive-through.

In one reddit thread that begged the juicy question: “Fast food workers, what should we never order from you?” a Carl’s Jr. employee chimed in to tell a cautionary tale about the restaurant’s chicken tenders. According to the commenter, who claimed to work at the fast food chain, the chicken tenders are supposed to be thrown out after 20 minutes to assure freshness. However, his boss advised him not to throw away a batch that had been sitting out for hours. Yikes!

For this reason, the Carl’s Jr. employee says you should always order a fresh batch of chicken tenders from the restaurant if you want to be sure you’re getting the highest quality food possible—or at least as high quality as fast food can be. While we can’t say for sure what goes on at every Carl’s Jr. location, it’s certainly better to be safe than sorry.

One McDonald’s worker recently took to TikTok to give fans of the restaurant a fresh chicken nugget hack. In the video, which has since been deleted, TikTok user @nicaraguanjesus said ordering the 20-piece chicken nuggets will ensure fresher food than a 4-piece or a 6-piece. “Don’t buy a 4, 6 or 10 piece at McDonald’s,” he wrote. “Always get a 20, it’ll be fresher.”

Although the employee didn’t go into details on why, exactly, this would result in fresher chicken, other users speculated in the comments that it’s likely because a new batch would have to be made to supply all of those nuggets. If you’re not willing to commit to eating all that chicken, though, don’t fret. Many users said ordering your nuggets “fresh” will have the same affect. Of course, there were also comments saying that if you really want fresh food, McDonald’s (or fast food in general) probably isn’t the best option. Touché.

There’s certainly no way to be 100% certain that the food being passed to you through the drive-through window hasn’t been sitting out for the past few hours. If you’re pulling up to a fast food restaurant, though, that’s likely a risk you’re willing to take. But it never hurts you ask for a “fresh” order, just for good measure!