Fake Burger King (Pittsburgh, PA) [JSYGFj20b1W]
In 2014, this Burger King received enough complaints about the quality of their food, that the chain revoked the location’s franchising agreement. However, the owner decided to just ignore that small detail, and continued to operate the restaurant as usual. Everything seemingly remained the same: the Burger King signage, advertisements, menu, uniforms. But slowly, customers started to notice that things seemed…off. Signature items like “The Whopper” didn’t taste the same. The burgers came wrapped in tinfoil, the fries in Dixie cups, everything was served in plain brown paper bags. The Coke machine was even dispensing Pepsi products. Now, keep in mind, this Burger King previously had terrible reviews and food quality issues, and with the bar that low, they were able to continue with this charade for awhile. But, things got worse. The LCD screens were replaced by a menu taped to the counter. Condiments were served in cups of various sizes. The usual chicken nugget meal was replaced by “Elementary school”-style chicken nuggets and Costco steak fries. Eventually, a post in the Pittsburgh subreddit caught the attention of local news channel WPXI, who covered the story, which soon went viral. The Burger King corporation stepped in and reclaimed their restaurant, and today, its back to being an otherwise normal, Burger King. But for residents of Pittsburgh’s South Side, the restaurant’s brief stint as a rogue Burger King will always be a part of local legend.