Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.
Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, or fast food restaurants (also known as quick service restaurants). Franchise operations which are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs shipped to each restaurant from central locations.
Read more about Fast Food: History, On The Go, Cuisine, Business, Employment, Globalization, Criticism
Famous quotes containing the words fast and/or food:
“O take fast hold; let that light be thy guide
In this small course which birth draws out to death,”
—Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
“Thought product and food product are to me
Nothing compared to the producing of them.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)