At market close, I will evaluate based on 3 metrics (taste, price, convenience) and rank them from 1-10. Whichever restaurant ranks highest will resolve YES, if there’s a tie then they resolve equally. I will not bet and feel free to ask clarifying questions or add new choices.
Update 2026-02-19 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): Convenience will be evaluated based on:
Ease of access
Wait time
Flexibility for dining in or taking out
Update 2026-02-19 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): Price will be evaluated as the minimum price needed for the creator to get a decent meal, maximizing taste while minimizing cost. Optional add-ons that improve taste but aren't necessary for a decent meal (like guac at Chipotle) will not be considered in the price calculation.
Update 2026-02-19 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): The creator will visit every place listed before market close to refresh their memory of each place. Traders can suggest what the creator should order at each chain to influence the evaluation.
Update 2026-02-19 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): The creator will use Ammon Lam format to select the 10 chains with highest chance of winning based on market probabilities, then score only those 10 options on the three metrics (taste, price, convenience).
Update 2026-02-20 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): For Costco food court evaluation:
Membership cost will not be included in the price metric
Membership requirement will be counted as an inconvenience in the convenience metric
Update 2026-02-20 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): Availability of vegan options will be considered as part of the convenience metric, specifically under accessibility, because it provides more options when dining with vegan friends or family.
Update 2026-02-20 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): For chains with regional availability differences, ease of access will be scored based on the ratio of stores to coverage area within the chain's service region. For example, a chain with fewer total locations but denser coverage in its service region would score higher on ease of access than a chain with more total locations spread across a larger area.
Update 2026-02-20 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): Variety/customizability will be considered as part of the taste metric. More variety increases the long-term average taste because it allows customers to choose any combination according to their mood and preferences at the time.
Update 2026-02-20 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): Pizza portals are considered convenient but only partially compensate for lack of dine-in option. The incremental value from pizza portals is less than the incremental value of added flexibility from having dine-in available.
1,000chick-fil-a is unfairly maligned. while i do not agree with the politics of the founders when it comes to queer stuff,,, i have always had a good time at chick-fil-a
be sure to order a drink, and do get a sandwich do not just order a bunch of chicken nuggets.
the manifold team’s non-vegan faction’s fave is popeyes, but that’s just cus it’s walking distance from the office. imo when it comes to chicken sandwiches the best is the og chick-fil-a
btw i strongly recommend u watch modern MBA’s youtube video on the chicken sandwich becoming a staple at every chain
Went to KFC and Taco Bell today
KFC:
Taste
A disappointing experience across the board. The chicken sandwich was dry with a stale-tasting crust, same for the wings. Did not finish the food.
Price
Chicken Sandwich: $5.49
6-Piece Wings: $8.99
Convenience
The wait time was medium to long, which added to the frustration. Waiting that long for food that ultimately tasted stale makes the convenience factor very low.
Taco Bell:
Taste
The Chalupa was amazing, perfectly crunchy on the outside, fluffy and creamy on the inside, packed with flavor from the chicken and salsa. Glad I gave Taco Bell another try thanks to yall recommendation. However, the burrito still fell short, perhaps my standard is high after having so many Chipotle burritos.
Price
The Meal Box comes in at $9.99
Convenience
Between the availability of a kiosk and the fast service, it was a highly efficient experience.
@Mochi yeah chalupa & crunch wrap supreme are the only parts of the taco bell menu worth having but they're very good. their burritos are in fact worse than chipotle's, which are already barely passable
@Mochi heads up that I've been to taco bell 3 times and on the third it gave me food poisoning, which no other international fast food chain I've tried has, it may taste good but you're playing russian roulette
@Mochi ah man, you should have done value menu at taco bell, could've gotten an almost-as-good meal for < 1/2 the price
@bens Guess I have to go back for the value menu now! Just so we're clear, if I get food poisoning, Taco Bell gets an automatic 0 for convenience.
@Mochi I have been to taco bell a few dozen times in my life and never gotten food poisoning, fwiw
In my experience (mostly central Europe), Burger King is pretty similar to McDonalds regarding price and convenience, but the taste can be considerably better (most notably the fries) for everything except chicken nuggets.
Is this different in the US / bay area? I'd expect BK and McD to be priced more similarly.
Edit: I suppose this might be due to the Keynesian Beauty Contest nature of the market, and due to BK and McD being very similar, so traders only care about either one of them?
@Primer (as someone who prefers BK because of their impossible whopper and I'm vegan) Burger King has ass service most of the time compared to mcdonalds and wendy's which absolutely put them to shame. their locations are often much less well kept, and for many (not me) they have much less delicious food in US anyway.
@Primer It'sinteresting to me that you label the fries as being particularly better at BK vs McDonald's. I'm in Midwestern US and I feel like the vast majority would disagree here. I know many near where I grew up who would go to McDonald's just for the fries and not even get anything else.
@No_uh Interesting. Either my sample size is too small then, or there are larger differences between countries than I expected. Thanks, sold my shares.
@Zeolite Ok, then there are definitely larger differences. In Germany, I'd take cold BK fries over freshly made McD ones every time. Without historical context, I'd assume McD is trying to cater to the zeitgeist of healthier food (by using less salt and less heat, for a very bland and soft product), but I don't remember notable changes in McD fries quality within the last quarter of a century.
Thinking about this, I now remembered being positively surprised on the 2 occasions I had McD fries in the US. Seems like those weren't outliers.
What part of the country are you in? It seems like that will influence the convenience factor quite a lot. For example, where I live there are 5 Costco's within an hour's drive compared to 3 In-And-Outs.
Also, are there any answers currently in this market that you have never tried and don't think you will get to try before resolution?
@MarcusM I live in Bay Area. I have tried every place listed besides Culver’s, salad and go, raising canes. I will try my best to try Culver’s and raising canes but there’s no salad and go around me
@Mochi i, too, am in the bay area, and as someone who has tried culver’s, it is absolutely incredible. the embodiment of wisconsin (minus the beer) in restaurant form. (i mean, maybe second to The Melt in that regard…)
@Mochi which Taco Bell location would you be going to? if it's the one on Eddy Street in SF then I have some bets to place
@musteval likely somewhere in South Bay, there’s quite a few chains around so will just pick one randomly.
Just came back from panda express
Taste:
The combination of Fried Rice, Orange Chicken, and Kung Pao Chicken always hits the mark for me. The meal felt fulfilling and offered a well-balanced variety of flavors, from the iconic sweetness of the orange chicken to the savory kick of the Kung Pao.
Price:
$11.10 for the three-item plate
Convenience:
The "assembly line" of premade food made it fast to plate, and the packaging design is flexible for either dining in or taking the meal to go.
Bonus: Fortune Cookie Wisdom 🥠
"Your silent kindness will be repaid loudly by others." Because I received this wisdom, I will gift 50 mana to the first 3 replies to this comment making a suggestion where I should visit next and what item I should get.
(Edit: add pic)
@Mochi Go to mcD's for breakfast on one day and lunch on the other. The differences will be day and night
@Mochi Hmmm try Dairy Queen. Get a flameburger with cheese curd as the side, and a small Reeses blizzard