Fast Food, Spindle City

By Leo Racicot

In 1965, when radio and newspaper ads announced that a new type of eating place was coming to town, area excitement was high. The restaurant was called McDonald’s and promised to offer fast, cheap service, new kinds of food flavors different from the diner and restaurant fare people were accustomed to. McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in Lowell on Rogers Street near the Tewksbury line in the summer of ’65. Always up for a new adventure, Aunt Marie headed her Rambler toward it first chance she got, with al of us in tow. I can still remember our mother pointing out, “There it is!” when she spied the matching pair of Golden Arches over to the right, The first sight of what would become a familiar part not only of America’s but also of the world’s landscapes. Once inside, we admired the look of the place; spanking clean, colorful, bright. Equally colorful and bright was the restaurant’s mascot, Ronald McDonald, the clown standing outside the front door handing out balloons. The place was packed. After sampling the new and unusual hamburgers, fries and a soda, we admitted it was a special place, a special taste we’d never tasted before. The service was, indeed, fast and amazingly affordable. We were to go back, as a family many times in the years ahead and I still stop in to a McDonald’s whenever I want a nosh. In summertime, I especially like treating myself to one of their Soft Serve vanilla ice cream cones for its airy texture and flavorful, almost paper-thin cones.

With the instant success of this new-fangled kind of dining came other fast food joints to Lowell. Howdy sprang up at the corner of Dutton and Thorndike Streets across the street from where the Dutton Dunkin’ Donuts now stands. My friend, Anthony Kalil and I, would ride our bikes up for a snack while “on the road”. I can still taste the distinctive flavor of a Howdy burger and shake. Its 10 cent hamburgers and 7 cent fries were out-of-this-world. When I was living in Las Vegas, the burgers the restaurant chain, Carl’s Jr. served reminded me of the taste of Howdy burgers. Unfortunately, Howdy’s didn’t stick around for long; it closed its doors in, I think, around 1970. It took a while to get used to the fact that it had disappeared.

Burger King became a alternative to McDonald’s; it was popular in a different way; its food had a char-broiled flavor as compared with McDonald’s salty, more savory flavors.

Wendy’s chain of restaurants boasted what founder, Dave Thomas, boasted were real hamburgers made with real beef, the implication being that other chains used meat substitutes in their food. He used an image of his daughter as his logo and in advertisements giving an impression of a healthier, sunnier more wholesome American vibe. Wendy’s, though inexpensive, was the slightly more expensive of the chains, the fancy fast food place. Adding to its popularity was an open salad bar from which customers could pick and choose from a dozen or more items and could return to replenish their plates as many times as they liked. Wendy’s topped this feature by replacing it with the Superbar.  The Superbar consisted of three, distinct stations: The Garden Spot, featuring lettuce, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, bacon bits, boiled eggs, cheeses, and multiple dressing options. The bacon bits were my favorite. The Mexican Fiesta: A do-it-yourself taco and nacho bar equipped with taco shells, seasoned ground beef, nacho chips, shredded cheddar, salsa, and jalapenos. And last but not least, Pasta Pasta, an Italian station that included spaghetti, fettuccine Alfredo, marinara sauce, and even pizza. Wendy’s also offered up what’s become a familiar staple, a baked potato. Whenever he eats at Wendy’s, Joe likes to order the baked potato along with a small bowl of its classic chili. a hearty combination. What we liked about Wendy’s is that, unlike other fast food eateries, it had plastic Tiffany lamps hanging from the ceiling. One Christmas, I bought Joe a mock one at Miles next door to Chock Full of Nuts on Summer Street in downtown Boston. I think somewhere, he still has it. At Wendy’s, you never had to clean up after yourself or throw your items away; the “help” did that for you, like in real restaurants. I still stop in at the Wendy’s on Arlington Street after leaving nearby Parker Library to grab a snack while waiting for my bus home.

A final observation. after monopolizing the food culture for decades, fast service, cheap prices have given way to much slower service, higher costs. The other day I waited half-an-hour for a breakfast wrap and a small coffee. The guy in front of me who’d been waiting even longer for his order turned around saying, “Remember when fast food was fast??  Since Covid, wait staff concentrate more on the Drive-Thru line, less on the In-Store customer. I try steering clear of those self- service kiosks. I’m just no good with them. One time, I tried ordering a small coffee at a McDonald’s kiosk and out came a full hotcakes breakfast for me with a large McFlurry. Oy! Woe to the customer who just wants to order a hash brown. Get ready to be turned upside-down by a talking machine that wants your name/rank and serial number. Oh, and whether you want to donate your change to charity!  The fast food experience isn’t what it used to be.

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Burger King

Howdy’s

Ronald McDonald

Wendy’s logo

Wendy’s Pseudo Tiffany Lamp

Wendy’s SuperBar