IT’S RIDICULOUS! There are tons of people lining up for 2 hours to eat a whopper meal. Silly silly waste of time…OK, I admit it. I went to Shinjuku after work today and lined up at the first Burger King in Japan with all these other silly silly people. You see, this afternoon Brad emails me and says let’s go to BK. Well, how can I say no? I mean what better way to spend a Friday night than to line up for 2 hours to eat fast food? Right? Ends up he gets stuck in traffic while I wait in line by myself behind stinky otaku guy. The line moves quicker than I expect and I’m already inside but Brad hasn’t arrived yet. There’s goes my plan to eat inside Burger King. Darn! I order take out and a Whopper Cheese+Bacon for Brad. Get outside, AND THEN he shows up. Very convenient.
The line went all the way up the stairs! When we left, the line was twice the size and reached almost as far as the intersection. Crazy! Of course, I was there to report about it for the blog so I had no choice but to line up and get the story. I would have provided a photo of the Whopper Meal but you know they look like so…
Anyways, as you know Burger King lost the fast food wars to McDonalds years ago and pulled out of Japan. But now they are back with a newer strategy and high-class look. Or so they say, to me the place looks like the old BKs they had in Japan (I went to the one in Takadanobaba) and everywhere else in the world. If you’re thinking of lining up to get a whopper, DO NOT!! There is absolutely nothing special or better about these burgers.
I would kind of disagree with you Roy on your last comments. To me, BK’s whoppers/burgers in general really taste MUCH better than anything coming out of Mc D’s. And I know very few people who would argue with that. They also look much “tastier” than the flat/bad-looking ones Mc D’s sells here in Spain.
Won’t even mention Quik -not sure they exist in Japan- who sells the worst burgers I’ve ever eaten…
That said, people willing to line up more than 2 hours in a queue for fast food just amazes me.
I’d be curious to know if say, 1 week/month from now, there’d be the same crowd lining up. :-)
Hey, I tried a Quik burger while in France… it was… not McDonalds. ;)
I used to go to the BK near Mita station before they closed down. Not sure why they did so poorly in Japan before they pulled out. Although with MOS Burger around to fill my occasional onion-ring craving, who needs them?
Did Wendy’s get such a reception when it first opened?
Clement, I didn’t say BK was worse than McD. I agree that BK is better. I’m just saying that there is nothing special about THIS BK.
2 hours…for a BK….!!!
You must be joking!!!
Sneaky Brad! :)
I’ll have my BK when I go outside of Japan.
wow .. thats an uber long queue. How can it be fast food if you have to wait 2 hours for it?! LOLz
As for me, I’d prefer Carls Jr. burgers to BK and McDonalds.
Hmmm. BK or McD’s. Well, McD’s in a pinch, especially if it’s time for brekkie.
But for burgers, I’ll take In & Out anyday!
After seeing this post, I had a major craving for a whopper meal and ended up getting one. Here in the US, well at least the BK that I went to still has the option to supersize a meal with an additional $.49. Not sure if Japan has that option.
Taste wise, I think Wendy’s beat McDonalds or Burger King…but thats in my opinion. In & Out definitely takes the prize but I no longer live in California. :(
Amen, BK is nothing special. As a matter of fact, I try to avoid the place. I find myself seeing less and less of them around in my area so I can assume many other people share the same views…
No offense to any one, but why would a westerner -especially an American- stand in line at a Burger King. I can see a few Americans. It’s understandable for the Japanese to be curious, but for the rest of us… Anyway, this is interesting Roy.
Edward, if you lived in Japan for a long time you’d start missing some things from back home so much that you might line up for it too. For me the whole silliness of it was the reason why I lined up.
Excuse my being blunt. I have a bad habit of doing such. (^^;) That would be the reason why I would line up as well.
I was going to say what Roy said about things having greater appeal due to deprivation but he got there first.
However, how do you know the people in line are “Americans”, Edward? There are a great many people of different nationalities in Tokyo. In fact, you’re (at least as) likely to see Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians because they can get working holiday visas and Americans cannot but there are also Europeans around. They could be from anywhere and you don’t know for sure unless they speak.
Don’t eat that crap! It’s full of industrial chemicals which cause people to swell up like balloons. That’s why everyone in America is so fat!
I agree, the food is not good for you. I go to A&W way to often myself. McDonald’s is just garbage really. Burger King is better but not by much. I have heard of people buying the 4-patty whopper with extra fries and a huge milkshake. Folks, that’s about 10,000 calories right there, or 4-days worth of food for a normal sized man.
Stoneman
Not only that but there is zero nutritional value in the food. Watch the movie “Supersize Me”. In that movie a guy tried to live on nothing but McDonalds for 30 days. He got really sick and went to the doctor who told him “Whatever you are doing to yourself stop it because it’s killing you”. These “foods” are also full of not just calories but also dangerous chemicals which are poisonous. This is one reason cancers are skyrocketing.
Queuing 2 hrs for a burger! Oh well, I guess it’s like queuing 1 hr for donuts, but seriously, I think you can get your burgers a lot quicker once the excitment dies down.
Do hope BK doesn’t shrink the burgers in Japan, coz Mine are, so I’ve kinda like given up on fast food.
Shari, I apologize, I posted early in the morning and wasn’t careful about my editing or attitude. How right you are about there being people from many different countries in Japan. I have met people from all over the globe when in Osaka. I don’t think my fiancee ever really realized that many of those Caucasian faces she sees are from different places. Anyway, one of the Japanese in Roy’s photos is an college classmate and she is from Seattle Washington. I was so surprise to see her in Roy’s photo! ^o^ It’s such a small world.
Mmmm.. Microwaved reheated burgers… Makes me feel like some Hungry Jacks right now actually.
http://www.hungryjacks.com.au
BK is called Hungry Jacks here, however some actual Burger King badged stores have popped up too.
If you wanna do a “Shinjuku waiting day” you could combine Burger king with Krispy Kreme donuts :)
hi!
as i am an expert on this matter (i mean the food quality), there are some differences even between countries and their fast-food products. for example the food at mcdonald’s even within europe: in germany, everything tastes as usual (i’m from this county). if you reach hungary, every product just tastes better. the fries taste like potatoes, the tomatoes as tomatoes, and you may even imagine how that little cattle jumped happily on the grass as the butcher came and brought it to its end. i’m allergic to everything made of soy, nuts and stuff, so i’ll taste whats inside. when i’ve been to japan, i ate at mcdonald’s — bigmac in the morning, at lunch, at dinner and in between — for 10 days, and it tasted great. they have this special pepper and salt blend… burgerking on the other hand has its premium burgers whopper and big-king, the rest is shame for fastfood culture. wendy’s is also poor, kfc, too, and for carl’s jr. and the like i haven’t had the opportunity so far.
i hope i didn’t disturb anyone,
dávid
p.s.: two hours is too long, even two minutes would have been too long.
Dávid, I guess taste is different anywhere.
I prefer KFC’s fries (or “pommes frites”, as you know ;) over here in Germany which really taste different from McDo’s or BK’s, i.e. taste like potatoes. But I guess there’s also people who’ll prefer the latter. At least the fast food chains are under surveillance from publich help dept. over here, not sure about Hungary though ;)
Speaking of people who like to line up, same picture when MrDonuts came to Taiwan *sigh*
…and yet I never realized the lack of BK in Japan.
Jan, you’re right. Taste is different. And the way you dislike the soy fried fries at (german) McDonald’s is a good choice btw. Another good point is the german regulations on everything, which I really like, Japanese would love our TÜV.
Hungarians have a different mentality. If they don’t like the place because the food is crap, they would simply not come again, McD’s is no exception. This is why many elder people eat there to, besides the cheap prices.
How about BK in Japan, how expensive are burgers at BK compared to the cheap McD’s?
We have Burger Kings here in Okinawa, they just happen to be on base, so there are men with big guns and attack dogs protecting the locals from sampling the delights.
Chris