Fast food culture is different in France, and that reflects in the fast food available in Rennes. In this article, I will examine the differences between fast food in France/Rennes and the United States.
Fast Food in France
There are fast food chains in France but in my experience, they do not have as strong of a presence in Rennes and the surrounding area. What you'll find as local "fast food" are street vendors and quick-serve shops amid the cobbled streets of Saint-Anne, Republique, and other parts of Rennes city center. The type of food served varies tremendously as well, from sandwiches to poutine to kebab. One exception to this trend might be Brioche Doree, which is actually headquartered in Rennes, and had a fairly prevalent presence in the city, its suburbs (e.g., Saint-Grégoire, Paris, and Montreal, Canada (which was a layover coming back to Hawaii from France).
For the type of fast food restaurants with a drive-thru, I found that American fast food chains McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC are prevalent and to an extent, hold greater prevalence than domestic chains.
McDonald's
If you have ever traveled to different parts of the world, you will know that McDonald's often localizes its menu by providing special offers for the regional market that cannot be found elsewhere. In addition to the usual offerings, such as the Big Mac, McDonald's France has a few unique items, such as the Le Tomme des Pyrénées and the CBO (Chicken, Bacon, Onion). For a while, they also ran a promotion called the McBagette (two hamburger patties sandwiched between a large baguette), no doubt a Frankensteinesque aberration to the traditional French sandwich but novel all the same.
McDonald's France offers table service, which was quite surprising to me and somewhat bucks the trend of impersonal "grab-and-go" service prevalent among chains in the US. Of course, McDonald's France still offers take-out and drive-thru, but it also behaves much more like a fast-casual restaurant.
Burger King
Burger King in France actually surprised me the most. I found that the products were a bit more expensive than in the US, but of substantially higher quality. You could recognize this level of quality through the taste of the products and the ingredients used. Burger King France has a "Master" line of products that specifically used specialized flavor combinations and profiles adapted to a French palette, such as moutarde à l'ancienne, croquette, fondue, etc. I would go as far as to say that Burger King in France is not just a solid fast food place, but also a solid burger place in general.
Burger King was running a promotion with the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and had a branded meal to go alongside it. The meal came with "King" Fries (fries with nacho cheese and fried onions), a Whopper, and a drink.
Much like McDonald's France, Burger King has table service. After placing your order at a kiosk, you input the number on your chevalet (a tablet with your order number), and wait at a table for your food to be brought to you.
KFC
KFC in France wasn't too different from KFC in the US. However, there were a couple of things that stood out to me. For one, the beverage cup had a QR code on that side that controlled refills. Secondly, they had a special sandwich with raclette (an Alpine dish featuring fondue, and a potato patty) incorporated into the meal.
KFC France was a sponsor of the French national football team during the World Cup, whose mascot is le coq gaulois (the Gallic Rooster, a symbol of France).
