Almost everyone has opinions about fast food, whether they love it or avoid it. These questions work well for discussing habits, health debates, and cultural differences in what counts as quick eating.
Questions are organized by level from beginner to advanced. A printable PDF of all the questions is available at the bottom of the page.
Beginner (A1-A2)
- How often do you eat fast food? What do you usually eat? Where?
- Can you think of any healthy fast food options? What makes them healthier than other fast food?
- Who do you like to eat fast food with? What do you usually do together?
- Do you like burgers or chicken more? What’s good about each?
- Do you like french fries? How do you like them? (With ketchup, plain, with cheese, etc.)
- Do you ever cook fast food at home? (Burgers, pizza, tacos, etc.) What do you make?
- What is your favorite fast food drink? Do you always get the same one?
- What fast food do you eat late at night?
- Do you like fast food pizza? What toppings do you like on it?
- What is the best fast food dessert?
Elementary (A2)
- What is your least favorite fast food restaurant and why?
- What three fast food items do you think everyone should try?
- What’s the fastest you have ever gotten your food at a fast food restaurant? Where was it?
- Do you eat fast food more now or when you were younger?
- What fast food do you eat when you are in a hurry? Why?
- What is the best fast food meal you have ever had? What made it so good?
- What is the worst fast food meal you have ever had? Why?
- Have you ever gotten sick from fast food? What happened?
- Have you ever complained about your order at a fast food restaurant? What was wrong with it?
- What fast food did you eat as a child that you don’t eat anymore? Why did you stop?
- What is the most unusual fast food item you have seen or tried? Tell me about it.
- Do you use delivery apps to order fast food? Why?
- Do you look at the menu before you go, or do you decide when you get there? Why?
- How much money do you usually spend on fast food in a week? Is that a lot for you?
Intermediate (B1)
- Does fast food taste good or bad? Why?
- What is a food that people think is healthy but really isn’t? Why do people think it’s healthy, and what makes it unhealthy?
- Do you know anyone who has worked at a fast food restaurant? How did they like it?
- How would you define “fast food”?
- Do you like eating in the restaurant or taking food to go? Why?
- What do most people in your country think about American fast food? Why do they think that?
- Do you prefer fast food or street food? Why?
- Should fast food restaurants be required to show calories on their menus? Why or why not?
- What do you think makes a fast food restaurant successful? Give me some examples.
- Do you prefer big fast food chains or small local places? What’s good about each?
- Should parents limit how much fast food their children eat? Why or why not?
- What do you think is the biggest problem with fast food? How could it be fixed?
- If you could open your own fast food restaurant, what kind of food would you serve? Why?
- Do you think fast food delivery apps have made things better or worse? How so?
- Some people say fast food is one of the reasons people are unhealthy. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- If all fast food disappeared tomorrow, how would your life change?
- What is the most important thing when choosing a fast food restaurant: price, taste, speed, or location? Why?
Upper-Intermediate (B2)
- Why is fast food so popular?
- How has fast food changed in your country?
- How is your country’s fast food different from other countries’ fast food?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of fast food delivery services?
- How is fast food marketing to children different from marketing to adults? What techniques do they use for each?
- How have health concerns affected the fast food industry? Consider both the companies’ responses and consumer behavior.
- What role do fast food restaurants play in creating jobs versus contributing to health problems?
- How has technology changed the way fast food restaurants operate? What are the implications for workers and customers?
- Compare how fast food restaurants adapted during the pandemic to how traditional restaurants adapted. What were the key differences?
- What impact does fast food have on local restaurants and food culture? How does this vary between cities and small towns?
- Some countries have tried taxing fast food or banning it near schools. What do you think about these kinds of rules? Do they work?
- What impact does the fast food industry have on the environment? What do you think about those effects?
- How is the fast food experience different for someone working behind the counter compared to the customer ordering? What does each side deal with?
- Fast food makes eating quick and easy, but some people argue it has disconnected us from understanding where our food comes from. How has the convenience of fast food changed the way people think about food and cooking?
Advanced (C1)
- What responsibilities do fast food companies and governments have regarding public health? How do economic interests and public welfare create tensions in setting policy?
- Why do people continue to eat fast food despite widespread knowledge of its health risks? What does this reveal about the gap between knowledge and behavior?
- When food companies reformulate products to be ‘healthier,’ how do they navigate the tension between genuine health improvement and marketing performance? At what point does health marketing become deceptive?
- Why do fast food brands evoke such strong emotional reactions – both nostalgia and disgust? What does this reveal about how food becomes intertwined with identity and memory?
- How do fast food chains navigate between standardization (brand consistency) and localization (cultural adaptation)? What are the risks and benefits of each approach?
- Fast food is often criticized as unhealthy, yet it provides affordable calories to people who might otherwise go hungry. How should we think about this ethical complexity?
- Fast food was originally about speed and low cost. Now some chains charge premium prices for gourmet burgers and artisan ingredients. How does this shift change what ‘fast food’ means, and who benefits and who loses?
- Fast food drive-throughs were designed around car culture, but cities are now trying to reduce driving and promote walking. How might the decline of car-centered living reshape the fast food industry?
- During economic downturns, fast food sales often go up while sit-down restaurants struggle. What does the relationship between the economy and fast food reveal about how social class affects what people eat?
- Fast food companies spend billions marketing to children, and research shows that taste preferences formed in childhood often last a lifetime. How does this early influence shape entire generations’ eating habits, and should there be limits on marketing food to kids?