Take A Look Inside A 1980’s Wendy’s (We Miss Those Prices)

Everything we’re eating kind of looks and tastes like time travel these days. 

Videos by Sporked

Seriously, we’ve looked into it: the major chains and marketing teams are basically all stuffing us with nostalgia, and it’s working―arguably for both sides, since clearly there’s a mood of sentimentality at play. But there’s also a chance we’re getting just a bit tired of the whole “back in the day” vibe. 

So when we heard about this footage of an actual Wendy’s fast food restaurant shot in the late ‘80s, our first reaction was…okay? But then we watched it. And yes, rewatched it. But before we get ahead of ourselves, a bit more info about the footage of some big hair hustle and shoulder-padded bustle of actual customers in an actual Wendy’s in 1988.  

The Weird, Awesome 1980s Salad Bar Wendy’s Universe

Said footage comes from an X account called Time Capsule Tales, which is an apt name because the video is… certainly a time capsule. And it’s not just the period-appropriate, aggressively un-stylized lighting. There’s shoulder pads, of course, and fun hats (the Wendy’s uniform was way different). And, of course, how can you not notice the hair? I don’t care if it’s cranial or facial―1980s hair was just more… free. 

What’s really cool is seeing how time (almost 40 years) has and hasn’t changed the basic mechanics of a shift at a place like Wendy’s, which we generally adore, albeit with reservations. (And most of us have worked at some point somewhere similar.) There are other cool facts to note, though: yes, that is a salad bar you’re seeing. And yes, someone left the tongs in the bowl of iceberg―extra egregious since Wendy’s was actually famous for their salad bar back then. It even had a separate name (which you see in the footage), “Wendy’s Garden Spot,” which Wendy’s later “revamped” into something they called the SuperBar (which had loaded baked potato “fixins” and a three-buck all-you-can-eat buffet, and people loved it). But taking a look again, you can’t help but notice the people.

Turns Out Teamwork Always Made the Dream Work

Video footage, screens, pictures―all the above have a way of distancing or objectifying whatever’s on them as “other.” But you can’t watch this footage and not feel a kind of kinship for the staff (especially if you’ve worked on your feet eight hours in any kind of customer-facing gig). And the staff here is on point. Like, I’d be psyched to work this shift. 

Of course, the heart and soul of any Wendy’s, to this day, are those square burgers―and clearly, the guy in this footage has that flat top grill down, spacing and flipping just right, letting excess juices slip off before carefully sliding the burger over to a waiting bun where another spot-on worker seems to genuinely care as they add toppings, spreads, etc. Really, everyone in the footage demonstrates those kinds of orchestrated movements that every good fast food worker uses to get through a rush. Another fun fact: a lunchtime rush in a Wendy’s in 1988 looks manageable, despite the absence of ever-evolving online ordering and signs that say “Mobile Pick-Up Here.” Also good to note: everybody’s kind of…smiling? (Though maybe that’s also because it’s 1988 and Die Hard has, or is about to, come out. In which case, yippee-ki-yay, etc.)