A restaurant serves food and so does a fast food restaurant. However, the similarity ends there. What sets a fast food restaurant apart from a normal restaurant is the service time. The food is served almost immediately upon ordering and the services provided are minimal. These factors classify a fast food restaurant and contrary to misconceptions, fast food is not necessarily eaten by people in a hurry. The menu in a fast food restaurant is different as only those dishes are served that can be prepared quickly. In the US, fast food restaurants and take-outs are found everywhere and in great demand. This has resulted in increased fast food consumption over the past thirty years.

Fast food restaurants are of various types. There are the self-service restaurants, where diners pay first, collect food from a counter and then take a seat and eat. Other types include establishments where people pay cash and then collect ready to eat portions or serve themselves from hot or cold food containers.

Food in a fast food restaurant is usually cooked in advance and kept hot or reheated when a customer places an order. A lot of these eateries are part of large restaurant chains and franchise businesses. Small and simple fast food outlets, such as food stands, mobile vans and kiosks are also classified as fast food outlets though they may not provide any seating arrangement for customers. Fast food restaurants are common throughout the world as the initial cost of investment is comparatively low. Medical studies indicate that eating fast food dishes more than twice a week can cause rapid weight gain in otherwise healthy young adults. These groups of people experience a greater increase in insulin resistance in early middle age. These studies suggest weight gain is caused because a single meal from these restaurants may contain sufficient calories to fulfill a person’s caloric requirement for an entire day.

As a result of increased criticism of this trend and its effects, the fast food industry is continuously trying to stop using term “ fast food” to refer to itself, instead preferring a substitute term such as a “quick service restaurant”. However, the popularity of fast food is such that consumers prefer to address it by the same. Many fast food restaurants are cashing in on the negative reports about fast food to their advantage by promoting lower calorie meals and lean dishes. Irrespective of the health concerns, in a world where time is always at a premium, fast food restaurants are here to stay.