[ams6110]

What do you call them?

[LandR]

"Shit", mostly.

I actually can't think of a collective term that I would use for these places. If someone asked what a McDonalds was, I'd honestly probably reply "It's a fast food place that sells shitty burgers"

[SippinLean]

Yeah, they aren't restaurants, just places where people pay to sit and eat meals that are cooked and served on the premises.

[DanBC]

The differences are the presence of a take-away option (which is as popular as the eat-there option), and that there's no waiter service. Nor cutlery.

[Symbiote]

Burger King and McDonald's are "fast food places".

TGI Fridays is a "chain restaurant" if we want to distinguish it from a "restaurant".

[DanBC]

take-away; fast food places; in a formal setting maybe fast-food restaurant but never restaurant alone.