A fast-food restaurant is a restaurant characterized both by food which is supplied quickly after ordering, and by minimal service. Often this food is referred to as fast food. In response to increasing backlash against "fast food", the industry has been trying to move the public away from that term over the past five years, shifting to the term quick service restaurant (QSR for short). Consumers still refer to the restaurants as fast-food restaurants despite the industry's efforts to change them.

The food in these restaurants is often cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, or reheated to order. Many fast-food restaurants are part of restaurant chains or franchise operations, which ship standardized foodstuffs to each restaurant from central locations. There are also simpler fast-food outlets, such as stands or kiosks, which may or may not provide shelter or chairs for customers. See also automatiek.

Because the capital requirements to start a fast-food restaurant are relatively small, particularly in areas with non-existent or poorly enforced health codes, small individually owned fast-food restaurants are common throughout the world.

History
Although fast-food restaurants are often seen as a mark of modern technological culture, they are probably as old as cities themselves, with their style varying from culture to culture. Ancient Roman cities had bread-and-olive stands, East Asian cultures feature noodle shops. Flat bread and falafel are characteristic of the Middle East.

The modern history of fast food in America is connected with the history of the hamburger, as the earliest fast-food outlets sold hamburgers as their primary product. The American company White Castle is generally credited with opening the first fast-food outlet in 1921, selling hamburgers for five cents apiece.White Castle later added five holes to each beef patty to increase its surface area and speed cooking times. White Castle was successful from its inception and spawned numerous competitors. In recent decades, Mexican-style food like tacos and burritos, as well as pizza, have also become staples of fast food culture.

McDonald's, the largest fast-food chain in the world and the brand most associated with the term "fast food," did not appear until 1954 when a milkshake machine salesman named Ray Kroc purchased the rights to franchise a highly successful San Bernardino, California hamburger stand just off the famous Route 66 run by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald. [2] The McDonalds' stand was the milkshake machine company's biggest customer and Kroc travelled to California to discover the secret to their high-volume burger-and-shake operation. Kroc thought he could expand their concept, eventually buying the McDonalds' operation outright in 1961 with the goal of making cheap, ready-to-go hamburgers, french fries and milkshakes a nationwide business.

Wendy's, opened in 1972 by Dave Thomas, a prot'g? of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Col. Harlan Sanders, is credited with pioneering the use of the "drive-thru" window to allow consumers to purchase fast food without having to park or exit their cars.

The "FAST" in Fast Food
Fast-food outlets are take-away or take-out providers, often with a "drive-thru" service which allows customers to order and pick up food from their cars; but most also have a seating area in which customers can eat the food on the premises.

Nearly from its inception, fast food has been designed to be eaten "on the go" and often does not require traditional cutlery. Common menu items at fast food outlets include fish and chips, sandwiches, pitas, hamburgers, fried chicken, french fries, chicken nuggets, tacos, pizza, and ice cream, although many fast-food restaurants offer "slower" foods like chili, mashed potatoes, and salads. However, even though Western-style Chinese cuisine is most often served as take-away, it is seldom considered to be fast food.

"Fast food" is also available in other places. For example many petrol/gas stations have convenience stores which sell pre-packed sandwiches, donuts or hot food. Supermarkets often include their own cafe with a prepared food service counter. Some, like Asda and Walmart may even include a well-known fast food chain within their own store, such as McDonalds. Fast food is even available in some hospitals, prompting some humorous observations on the irony of such a marketing partnership: "At least you're close when the coronary kicks in." (from the anti-fast food film Super Size Me).

Food Preparation
The convenience of traditional street food around the world, from Vietamese noodle vendors to Middle Eastern falafel stands to New York hot dog carts, lies in serving one or two basic ingredients that can be cooked in batches and served quickly on the spot. Modern commercial fast food, by contrast, is often highly processed and prepared in an industrial fashion, i.e., on a large scale with standard ingredients and standardised cooking and production methods. It is usually rapidly served in cartons or bags or in a plastic wrapping, in a fashion which minimises cost. In most fast food operations, menu items are generally made from processed ingredients prepared at a central supply facility and then shipped to individual outlets where they are reheated, cooked (usually by microwave or deep-frying) or assembled in a short amount of time. This process ensures quality and consistency of product, but is also key to being able to deliver the order quickly to the customer and eliminate labor and equipment costs in the individual stores.