Relocators: What do you like LEAST about Pittsburgh? (Shaler Township, Washington: transplants, universities)

[KingKrab]

We went to Burger King coming back from a job in Bloomsburg one day. This counter manager was a rotten little B!~(&. Almost assulted my coworker for asking for extra guacamole and forced the cashier to make him pay 50 extra cents as they almost got in a fight. Then she got ticked at me because she gave me a nasty burger when I asked for a chicken sandwich. I was expecting high dining services at this Burger King but had to check my sandwich for spit.

This is of course only a local issue.

[KingKrab]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Granted besides Pittsburgh the only other two places I've lived in (so far) have been Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Northern Virginia; however, I frequented multiple locations of these same fast-food operations in both of those metropolitan areas, and I RARELY, if ever, had even the slightest of grievances to air. Here in Pittsburgh I'm treated like a criminal if I dare come in to say something was missing from my drive-thru order. Do people here honestly just EXPECT lousy service and tolerate it?

As far as "Why do you keep going to these places?" is concerned may I ask you how I'd keep the fast-food warm in my car while traveling from Homestead, Ross Township, Shaler Township, or wherever else back to the East End? It just so happens that our options are severely limited in the East End, and that really sucks considering we're the densest-populated part of the metro area.

Dude seriously. Relax buddy. Is everything in life so dramatic? The few times I ate fast food at various spaces around the Pittsburgh metro it was just like ordering fast food anywhere in the country; teen with an attitude asking me if I wanted fries, or grown man who didn't apply himself in life giving me a bag of crappy food in a bag.

I have never seen such drama pointed at fast food establishments. People in Pittsburgh expected non dramatic situations, especially over a greesy quarter pound of sloppy chuck and fries. Give it a rest. For the love of God.

[escilade18]

Honestly, the worst service that I have had in fast food would be in cities considered progressive. NYC, D.C. and L.A.
experiences:
NYC: went to the McDonalds in Long Island City, asked for a refill on coke (not unreasonable since 99.99% offer this) everyone at the counter stared at me like I sprouted two heads and said nothing, then once I asked again they said "we never do that"
D.C.: well ok, this was at Arundel Mills mall went to the popeyes in the food court, got a meal that I always get (usually runs $7), the manager obviously didn't want to wait on me and even said they did not have the spicy chicken (right after the worker just yelled spicy up) then once he rang me up it came to $12
Los Angeles: It took 7 tries at the Jack In the Box drive through and 3 different people (even friends who were Los Angeles natives) for the worker to even understand our order.
Moral of the story, no matter where you go, there will always be nasty service, I guess I am lucky that I never get much attitude in the burgh

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Pay minimum wage, expect minimum service. Not rocket science.

Anyone making around $200 bucks take home after a week's worth of work isn't going to be a happy person.

[hnsq]

Like: Green space. There are a lot of parks/open areas to use. People are also extremely nice compared to other cities I am used to.

Dislike: The people can be very redneck-ish. I don't like how big of an Appalachia/hillbilly attitude there is in the city.

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by ctoocheck

Don't these establishments have tables inside where you can enjoy a fresh meal? And if you walk in and order instead of ordering through the drive-thru, you'll save yourself from having to park and walk inside afterwards. Plus you'll cut down emissions from your idling car. Everybody wins!

EDIT: also, if you wanted cheap eats, couldn't you just, like, make a sandwich? Eat an orange? Microwave a potato? (poke holes in it first!) Homemade chicken soup is easy, cheap, healthy, and delicious. Just sayin'.

You don't have to make a choice between fast food crap and fine dining. In addition to Salem's, there's Chicken Latino, Spak Brothers, Uncle Sam's, you can get wings and pierogies at Gooskis, try Tram's Kitchen or most other Asian restaurants. For someone who like to think of himself as an urbanite, you don't take advantage of the good, cheap food all around. If you have only $10 to spend (and you're not cooking for yourself, which is usually cheaper) you can do much better than Wendy's.

[KingKrab]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

You don't have to make a choice between fast food crap and fine dining. In addition to Salem's, there's Chicken Latino, Spak Brothers, Uncle Sam's, you can get wings and pierogies at Gooskis, try Tram's Kitchen or most other Asian restaurants. For someone who like to think of himself as an urbanite, you don't take advantage of the good, cheap food all around. If you have only $10 to spend (and you're not cooking for yourself, which is usually cheaper) you can do much better than Wendy's.

6 dollar delicious felafel at Taza 21 in the hill. Get a lamb meet and beans wrap for 8. God I loved that place.

But yeah, a true urbanite would be able to find these good places with cheap prices around the city. Looking for a wendy's is sooooo suburbinity.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Not to drive the point home any further, but there are literally dozens of places to get delicious cheap food without a sit down setting all over the city that aren't chains. Yelp and Urbanspoon are your friends.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by KingKrab

suburbinity.

Great word!

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

The service is especially horrific at fast-food places here in the East End. Neither the McDonald's at the Village of EastSide NOR the Wendy's on Baum Boulevard can EVER get my order right without forgetting something (an order of fries, straws for my drinks, or sometimes even an entire burger or chicken tender container). Every time I have to park my car and then trot inside to point out the mistake and POLITELY (literally) ask for it to be rectified I'm brushed off like I don't even matter. I'm really tiring of us only having ghetto fast-food options in the East End. Not all of us are wealthy enough to prance around Walnut Street on a daily basis. Some of us want cheap eats, and it's increasingly irritating that I have to deal with ghetto-trash who regard ME as a problem just for trying to get my FULL order that I PAID for. I never even get a "sorry about that" (even a half-arsed one would suffice).

I work with the public, and I always provide exemplary customer service. While between deliveries tonight I was in tears over some extreme stress that's been occurring in my life lately, but when a new order came in I perked myself up and always ensured I greeted every one of our customers with a smile, upbeat small-talk, and a well-wish for a wonderful holiday. I would always close by thanking them for their order. It really infuriates me when I drop nearly $20 at a fast-food place only to have the staff there treat me like trash. We need something DECENT in the East End for those of us who don't need multiple Ethiopian restaurants, creperies, artisan taco huts, Starbuck's, designer dog biscuit bakeries, etc. Why no Chick-Fil-A? (where I'm always gleefully told "My pleasure" in response to my "Thank you" when receiving my order). Why no Burger King? (which seems to actually give a darn about getting orders somewhat correct). Why no Long John Silver's? (the one in Shaler Township actually has a friendly staff). Why is everything in the East End either artsty-fartsy yuppie or downright ghetto-trashy?

I think the same owner owns both of the McDonald's in East Liberty. You are right the service sucks. Same goes for the McDonald's in the Waterfront. The Chick-Fil-A in the Waterfront has awesome service. The Wendy's on Baum is always slow. I am curious whether Chick-Fil-A pays more so they get better workers? Or do they do a better job screeeing applicants? My personal take is that McDonald's will hire anyone because no one wants to work there. People aren't offended to work at a Chick-Fil-A like they are at a McDonalds.

Try the Hardees in Millvale it is well run.