anymore. They are international fast foods--not at all exotic. People eat that crap every day over there. They are considered "economical" places to eat, in the big scheme of things and they are ubiquitous--you can always find one not too far away from where ever you might be. There are Burger Kings everywhere, too even at Heathrow (you can get a veggie burger at them, too, a gardenburger or a soymeat burger--a nod to the Indian population).
You can buy frozen pizza in the Tesco's (supermart) just like you can in USA. They aren't all sitting down to bangers and mash and spotted dick every day, anymore. I think many people have a "retro" view of UK based on old paradigms they've learned from old films and TV shows, but they aren't really operative anymore.
The largest McDonald's in the WORLD just opened...in London, just in time for the Games:
It was not the only place, but it was certainly the biggest – the largest McDonald's restaurant, in fact, in the world, which threw open its doors at 7am, with capacity for 1,500 people inside, and very soon had queues so long the security guards were holding people back at the door.
You know about the food, of course – it's the same, for the same price, as the restaurant serves in its 1,200 UK outlets and many tens of thousands more across the world: sausage and egg McMuffin, 430 calories, £1.99: something called "Chicken Legend" with cool mayo, 550 calories, £3.39. "Women need around 2,000 calories, men around 2,500 and children around 1,600 per day," the menu offers. Three or four Chicken Legends with room to spare, then.
But if the menu was familiar, the outlet itself, a two-tier box sunk slightly below ground, but squatting on prime real estate on the main park walkway next to the stadium, was more of a surprise. "As McDonald's go I would say it's actually pretty nice," said Abraham, sitting in a semi-shaded terrace on the upper floor with the stadium and Orbit tower behind him, framed by a lovely stretch of wildflower bank. "You don't get many with a view like that."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/28/london-2012-mcdonalds-branch-queus?newsfeed=true
I've eaten (or gotten a beverage) at McDonald's in Japan (they used to sell a great corn soup at the Japanese Mak-u-dona-do) , Italy, UK, Spain, a bunch of other places. They aren't "foreign" any more, and haven't been for eons, though they will occasionally put a "local" item or two on the menu. They are part of the landscape around the world. Heck, I lived not far from a KFC (one of the early internationalists) in IRAN back in the seventies.
I have paid thirty bucks for a small pizza and a couple of soft drinks in London, about fifteen years ago. At a Pizza Hut. Surrounded by Londoners--not tourists-- ordering up their thirty dollar pizzas.
Stuff IS expensive there--worse in London, but pricey even in the hinterlands. When people do the math in their heads, after finding out what someone makes per week or month, they think "Ooooh, nice wage!" Then, when they find out what a rent for a small flat is, how much petrol costs, how much food costs (and how much smaller the cans, boxes, and packages are), how much electricity and heat will set one back, all of a sudden that "nice wage" is barely enough.
That's some serious "culture shock," right there. The grass is always greener....it's why so many Brits like Florida in the winter. Even with the outrageous prices to get there, and get into the theme parks, they think they've scored a real bargain--rental cars (and gasoline) are cheap, hotels/restaurants are comparatively VERY affordable, plenty of sunshine, it's a winning combo.
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