On October 31, 2009, the last McDonald’s in Iceland closed for good. In the spirit of scientific curiosity, a Reykjavik marketing consultant named Hjörtur Smárason got in line and purchased a cheeseburger and fries. He’d heard that McDonald’s food never decomposed and he wanted to test that theory. He stuck it on a…

Have you ever dug into a stack of bright green pancakes covered in whipped topping and wondered, “Am I exhibiting the actions of a good person or a bad person?” No? Well, with this year’s IHOP x Elf on the Shelf holiday crossover menu, you can experience that feeling of being closely monitored. It really is the most…

My father got me into food thanks to his alchemic ability to turn a simple assortment of unappealing produce and expired dried spices into the perfect breakfast tacos that I remain incapable of recreating. Then came The Food Network, which was added to my family’s cable package in my early teens, and quickly led to a…

Another week, another Popeyes-dominated news cycle—and this time, the company has turned its all-seeing eye to the NFL. During yesterday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs sported a pair of Popeyes-branded cleats heralding the return of its chicken sandwich: “It’s…

How many scholars does it take to make a stew? The answer depends on how old the recipe is. If it’s 4,000 years old, say, like the one of a tablet at Yale University’s Babylonian Collection, it takes a whole team, the BBC reports: food scientists, culinary historians, and a cuneiform expert. This lamb stew is one of…

We’re kicking the week off with a little food safety PSA: In August and September, 10 people across six states were infected with Salmonella Dublin, eight of whom were hospitalized and one of whom died. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the infections were linked to ground beef,…

Jayson Gonzalez is a college senior just trying to make a buck. He’s worked at Starbucks. He’s made candles. He’s sold iPhone cases. Like any good Gen Z kid, he’s tried developing an app. But earlier this year, he hit on a scheme that actually made him some real money: importing Krispy Kremes from Iowa to the Twin…

The world’s largest fast food company has a new CEO. The McDonald’s board fired previous CEO Steve Easterbrook after it came to light that he was engaged in a consensual relationship with a company employee, violating McDonald’s company policy. The board then named former McDonald’s USA president Chris Kempczinski to…

It’s been more than a year since Papa John’s founder and former chairman John Schnatter uttered a racial slur on a conference call, then resigned over it, then tried to claw his way back from it. Papa John’s itself has seemed unable to fully recover, even with Schnatter in the rearview. It put itself up for sale,…

Season 10 of The Great British Baking Show has reached its bittersweet ending. What a tame, sensible ride. In the 24 hours since I have watched the finale, I have become overtaken by so many extreme emotions; the most surprising was discovering that I truly, honestly do not care who won this year. I don’t actually…

Welcome to Ask Kate About Beer, in which The Takeout’s resident beer expert answers everything you’ve ever wanted to know about beer but were too drunk to ask. Have a question? Shoot it to beer@thetakeout.com.

Given the music-analysis technology and streaming services at our fingertips, theoretically, a person should be able to determine the ideal beats per minute or tempo for any restaurant meal. Is seems it should be possible to quantify the exact snappiness of a lazy Sunday brunch versus an upbeat Tuesday happy hour…

I’ve been thinking a lot about sinking ships this week. Thinking about what it must have felt like being on one, desperately fighting against all rational odds to survive, finding a god, praying for rescue. All of that reminded me of a fun fact about a cook who survived for three days in a sunken ship. Maybe it’s…

A burger joint in Bangkok, Thailand called Chris Steaks and Burgers has been thrust into the international spotlight thanks to YouTube users, who are challenging each other to eat this thing: