Have you ever wondered how your favorite chain restaurants prepare your favorite meals? There are plenty of “dupe” recipes available online for these popular orders. Ones that promise identical results at home. However, these can fall short of being a true facsimile.
This can be attributed to several factors. Perhaps the restaurant in question purchases its ingredients from different suppliers. Additionally, cooking methods and tools can result in a difference in flavor.
If you’re seriously dedicated to learning how these chains make their meals, this TikToker’s latest clip may interest you. Nicole Townsend (@nicoletownsend) detailed a series of meals sold by various restaurants and their purported preparation practices.
Some of these revelations, however, may inspire more people to simply cook their own food at home. Townsend shared these alleged “employee spill[ed] secrets” in a viral clip that’s garnered over 1.3 million views on the widely used social media application.
No grill at Applebee’s?
Firstly, she claims that “steaks from Applebee’s are microwaved.” The well-known full-service casual dining restaurant, Townsend says, cooks its cuts of steaks inside electric heat boxes. Afterwards, however, they are “thrown on the grill for a charred look,” she says.
The blog Summer Stirs, however, says that this isn’t the case. According to the outlet, the several of the chain’s offerings are made to order. Particularly, “steaks, chicken breasts, and burgers are cooked to order.”
Furthermore, the website didn’t include microwaves as part of this meal preparation process. According to the outlet, these aforementioned options, steaks included, as cooked on a grill. Additionally, other cooking surfaces such as “flat-top griddle[s]” are also utilized in steak preparation.
Moreover, Meal Planner Hub also discussed Applebee’s steak cooking methodology. The website says the restaurant offers ribeyes, T-Bones, Sirloins, and Porterhouses. These cuts of meat are marinated and cooked in a “high-heat broiler” for searing. Also, these broilers create the “charring” referenced in Townsend’s video, the outlet pens.
Other businesses
Next up in her video is a picture featuring the exterior of a Starbucks location. Townsend cautions folks against ordering esoteric drinks. That’s because, according to her, the coffee shop doesn’t have a hidden collection of beverages with special names.
Furthermore, she states that if you place an order with these monikers, employees may retaliate. “There is no secret menu at Starbucks. If you’re ordering drinks like the Clint Eastwood or the Bloody Tuxedo, they’re just gonna get annoyed with you and put decaf in your coffee,” she claims.
Third in her list of restaurant prep revelations pertains to a side dish offered by an oft-maligned chain. “If you like the rice from Chipotle the secret is that they put half lemon, half lime juice on their rice,” she says.
More mystery
Townsend also went on to say that an ex-Chick-fil-A worker dished out the inside scoop on the business’s kitchen methodology. And as it turns out, they had good things to say about the franchise. “A former Chick-fil-A employee says that all of the food is actually really fresh,” she adds.
“They bread the chicken themselves, they squeeze the lemons for the lemonade. And if there’s any extra cool wraps at night, they get to take them home,” she continues.
Although there is one starchy item on the menu that reportedly isn’t made fresh. “With the exception of the waffle fries that come in frozen,” Townsend remarks.
Afterwards, she pivoted to a different food-related topic: meal transport. Her video transitions to a photograph of an Uber Eats delivery worker. Townsend avers that drivers don’t see a cent of this fee, urging folks to leave gratuities for these employees. “The delivery fee is not a tip for the drivers. So tip your drivers,” she says.
Following this, she relayed a concession stand revelation that may make you think twice before eating at the movies. Townsend shared an astronomical markup on movie theater popcorn. If true, this results in massive profit margins for cinemas. “A seven dollar tub of popcorn at the movie theater costs nine cents for them to make,” she says.
This is incorrect, at least according to a 2010 CNN report. It states that a $6 medium bag of popcorn costs roughly 60 cents to make, a 900% markup. Adjusted for inflation, a medium bag of popcorn would cost roughly 88 cents to produce today.
Ice cold
Moving on in her TikTok, she stated that Chili’s Molten Lava Cake and Paradise Pie are not made fresh. Rather, they arrive at the restaurant “frozen.” This is backed up by Chili’s employees, including one who posted how the cake was prepped in a viral clip from 2021. Like Applebee’s, she asserts that Chili’s customers who want their food to be warmer are given the microwave treatment.
Additionally, Townsend said a Panera worker indicated its bread comes in “fresh” daily, pre-made. They added that the chain uses “good ingredients” in its bread, and that it donates all of its leftover food. According to them, the brand is a “really honest company.”
Panera’s bread is baked fresh, per a report from Chowhound, however, it’s now par-baked. That means the bread arrives on location partially baked, before being baked day of.
@nicoletownsend36 Allegedly of course…Does any of this surprise you?? #fastfood #employee #starbucks #chipotle #allegedly #foodtok #panera ♬ original sound – Nicole Townsend
‘No chain restaurant makes their own desserts.’
Commenters who replied to Townsend’s video had varying opinions on these claims.
Someone else said that her remark towards Chili’s cakes and pies can be applied more broadly. “No chain restaurants make their own desserts. All frozen,” they said.
However, another user on the app stated that Applebee’s never cooks its steaks in a microwave. “Former Applebee’s worker, they don’t microwave steaks, that’s a wild claim,” they noted.
This was an assertion shared by another TikToker. “I was a cook at Applebee’s for a bit and they definitely cook the steaks to order,” a further user said.
As for Panera’s magnanimity, there was at least one user on the application who attested this was indeed a fact. “Panera bread really does donate everything they don’t sell weekly,” they said. “I was part of a charity and we went every Thursday to collect and distribute to different shelters and people.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Chili’s, Panera, Uber, Applebee’s, Chick-fil-A, and Chipotle via email. We’ve also contacted Townsend via TikTok comment for further information.
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