Bizarre restaurant facts that are hard to believe

Fast food joints are so ingrained in American
culture that you probably don't think twice about any of them. But while you may be familiar with the food
at McDonald's or Taco Bell, how much do you really know about the restaurants themselves? Turns out, some of these chains have a weird
side you've probably never heard of. Until now. Here's a look at some bizarre restaurant facts
that are hard to believe.

Food in space Eating in zero gravity isn't as easy as it
seems, and it actually seems kind of hard to begin with. One problem: crumbs. On Earth, they're no big deal, but without
gravity, they can go any which way and potentially mess up all that vital hardware keeping astronauts
alive. Luckily, the space race has a secret ally:
Taco Bell.

Astronaut Jose Hernandez cracked the crumb
problem when he came up with the idea of using tortillas instead of bread. Tortillas usually have a pretty short shelf
life, though, so Taco Bell teamed up with NASA scientists to come up with a special
space tortilla that can survive in space for up to a year. As a result, Taco Bell supplies all the tortillas
to the International Space Station. Which is a little more practical than ordering
a pizza.

But the astronauts on the International Space
Station tried that once too. In 2001, Pizza Hut sent a pizza to the space
station in a promotional stunt that cost the chain a whopping $1 million. We're guessing NASA will probably just stick
to burritos going forward. Guantanamo's golden arches If you think space is inhospitable, try Guantanamo
Bay.

The infamous American military base in Cuba
is notorious for its prison, but there's also lesser-known surprise behind those walls:
a McDonald's. Opened in 1986 by an independent franchise
who saw a business opportunity selling burgers to the 6,000 servicemen stuck on the base,
the Guantanamo Bay McDonald's is reportedly still the only Mickey D's in Cuba despite
the loosening of economic sanctions. Waffle House has a record label The best part about eating at Waffle House,
besides the hash browns of course, is their crazy jukebox filled with songs about Waffle
House recorded at their own record label. Called Waffle Records, the label was created
in the mid 1980's to add a little zest to the jukebox lineup, resulting in tunes like
"They're Cooking Up My Order", "There are Raisins in My Toast", and the bluegrass banger
"Waffle House Steaks".

Even Stephen Colbert got into the act, recording
his own Waffle House song alongside country star Sturgill Simpson because why the hell
not. "No skeletons or zombies, cuz we don't serve
the dead. No shirt, no shoes, no knuckleheads." Taco Bell's American menu Just how authentic is Taco Bell's Mexican
food? Apparently the answer is "not very," because
when they opened a branch in Mexico, they hyped up just how American their food actually
is. With a menu that included French fries and
ice cream, the chain renamed their tacos "tacostadas" so customers wouldn't expect, you know, actual
tacos.

And to drive home the point, they adopted
the slogan "It's something different." A spokesman for parent company Yum Brands
said it all when he told The San Diego Tribune, "What we are bringing to Mexico is not Mexican
food." Christmas with the Colonel Christmas isn't exactly a big deal in Japan,
except for one very odd tradition: eating lavish dinners provided by KFC. It all started back in 1974, when some overseas
visitors couldn't find a turkey dinner for Christmas. So they settled for the next best thing by
eating at... Kentucky Fried Chicken.

That prompted a massive marketing campaign
with the slogan "Kentucky for Christmas!" With some fans ordering the dinners - which
include cake and champagne - months ahead of time. (The greatest thing you'll see all day) Waffle House heroics It sounds crazy, but the government actually
tracks the severity of natural disasters by how Waffle House responds. See, Waffle House has hundreds of locations
that are in high risk areas for hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. The chain has become known for providing services
to first responders, even maintaining a mobile command center that can be dispatched to the
hardest hit areas to make sure their restaurants can stay open in times of crisis.

"We have some updated information for us. Right now we have eight of the 32 are closed,
but we expecting four of those to be back open today." So when Craig Fugate transferred from the
Florida Emergency Management Division to FEMA. In 2009, he brought with him his "Waffle House
Index," which rates how bad conditions are on the ground based on whether or not the
local Waffle House is still open or not. It proved so successful that in 2012, Waffle
House began reporting directly to FEMA to help coordinate relief efforts.

Chuck E. Cheese's Atari connection Ready to have your mind blown? Well, how about this: Chuck E. Cheese's and
Atari were created by the same person, Nolan Bushnell. In fact, Atari's success was the whole reason
he created Chuck E.

Cheese's in the first place! Selling an arcade cabinet earned him maybe
$2,000, but that machine could bring in upwards of $20,000 over its lifetime. So Bushnell realized he could make more money
by opening his own arcade joint rather than just selling the games to other people. He wanted to keep people there as long as
possible, so he came up with the idea of serving pizza, and added the animatronics to lure
parents with kids into the joint. The final piece was the mascot, which was
actually supposed to be a coyote.

Thanks to a shipping error, though, they received
a rat costume instead, and improvised the Chuck E. Cheese mascot to fit what they had. "I call it Chuck E. Cheese's pizza-time theater.

I just wonder if anyone will come." At least they didn't get a teddy bear. (Almost as frightening as a Chuck E. Cheese
animatronic) Thanks for watching! Click the Mashed icon to subscribe to our
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