TECHNOTES: Fast Food Apps Make Things Handy

I love apps and how they can make our lives so “handy.”  Within your hand’s reach you can pull up useful information to help you with shopping, choosing a restaurant, buy things online, keep your shopping list, browse recipes for dinner, check your tire pressure, the list is ENDLESS!

As a person who loves a good deal, I have been exploring the use of fast food apps lately.  Our family usually goes out for fast food every Sunday after church and we tend to frequent the same ones since I cannot have any kind of gluten in my diet.

So it makes sense to belong to any rewards program at these fast food places to receive promotions and free food.  Although I have not used all of these apps, I have downloaded all of them to review for this article.

I have highlighted in bold the features in some of these apps that I think are done well.  For me, knowing what is in the food is essential and having the power to look up nutritional info. while standing at the counter is WAY BETTER than asking the teen at the cash register.

Features of Benefits of Fast Food Apps

Wendy’s

• See menu
• Order for pickup
• See allergens, ingredients, nutrition
• Limited-time offers (including free with purchase)
• Find locations with driving directions

I like the limited-time coupons they offer in the app, they are good for the week.  We are big frosty fans, so I will be keeping my eye out for a good excuse to get a chocolate frosty!

Chick-Fil-A

• See menu (under Order)
• Order for pickup
• Easy to order sauces, dressings, etc.
• See allergens, ingredients, nutrition
• Rewards program
• Purchase history
• Find locations with driving directions
• Add funds to app for easy ordering

Although the lines are almost always long at Chick-Fil-A, they tend to go fast.  BUT, they go A LOT faster if you place your order in your car while in the parking lot!  You’ll need to add funds to the app but it makes ordering so much easier.

I occasionally receive a free item from the use of the app which is always nice.  Chick-Fil-A just recently revamped their rewards program, so I’m not sure yet how frequently I will receive rewards now.

SMASHBURGER

• See menu (under Order)
• Order for pickup
• NONE – nutrition, allergens, ingredients
• Special Offers
• Rewards Program
• History of purchases
• Find locations with driving directions
• Get Uber ride to the closest restaurant

I love all of the offers I get from SMASHBURGER.  They do a great job and keeping themselves top of my mind.  I have done really well earning free food through their rewards program as well.  The biggest disappointment here is that they do not include nutritional, allergens, or ingredient information on their app.

Fortunately, I do know that they do well with handling allergy orders and offer a gluten-free bun as well as ensure that their fries are not fried with anything else that may contain gluten.

Jersey Mike’s

• See menu (under Order or Nutrition)
• Order for pickup
• See allergens, ingredients, nutrition (one of the best for allergens)
• Rewards program
• History of purchases
• Find locations with driving directions
• Can pay with a saved credit card
• Location comment cards

Jersey Mike’s does the best job of showing what allergens, ingredients, and nutrition are included in each of their ingredients.  Earlier this year they introduced a gluten-free roll, so now I can have my favorite hoagies again!

FIREHOUSE Subs

• See menu (under Order)
• Order for pickup
• See allergens, ingredients, nutrition (one of the best for allergens)
• Rewards program
• Special Offers (with sign-up)
• Find locations with driving directions
• Easy to Contact Customer Service 

Although FIREHOUSE Subs is good at showing their allergens information, they, unfortunately, do not offer much for gluten-free except for their chili, which is very good.  I just signed up for their rewards program, as this is one of my family’s favorite sub places.

El Pollo Loco

• See menu (under Order)
• Order for pickup
• Rewards program
• Special Offers (with sign-up)
• History of purchases
• Find locations with driving directions
• Add your gift cards for future spend

El Pollo Loco always has a lot of great printable coupons available, but unfortunately, they are not available in the app.  But they give you a nice taco salad to sign up with their app (for a limited time) and I’m hoping there will have more offers down the road.

Chipolte

• See menu (under Order)
• Order for pickup/delivery
• See allergens
• Rewards program
• History of purchases
• Find locations with driving directions
• Can pay with a saved credit card
• Add your gift cards for future spend

The Chipotle app focuses on ordering for pick-up or delivery.  Although it does have a rewards program, I didn’t see any way to get credit for food purchased in the restaurant.  Rewards are only for ordering online.

McDonald’s

• See menu (under Order or Nutrition)
• Order for pickup
• See allergens, ingredients, nutrition
• Special Offers – lots of them
• Promotions tied with the restaurant
• Find locations with driving directions
• Can pay with a saved credit card

If you like a deal, the McDonald’s app has them!  They offer a number of limited-time offers.  I suspect they will offer new ones each week, based on the comments I read on Google Play.  

This is obviously not an inclusive list, there are many more fast food apps out there.  No need to download them all, just the ones you frequent the most. 

The ease of ordering ahead to avoid lines, seeing nutritional and allergen info. easily, and taking advantage of rewards programs makes it handy for you and the apps don’t take much room on your phone.