How We Satisfy Our Late-Night Snack Attacks

We may travel far to a favorite fast-food joint only to leave feeling full of regret, survey finds.

A man holding a fresh hamburger and second one waiting in row. Fresh ground burger with onion, lettuce, tomato served with french fries.

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A man holding a fresh hamburger and second one waiting in row. Fresh ground burger with onion, lettuce, tomato served with french fries.

Photo by: sorendls ©sorendls

sorendls, sorendls

When the late-night snack-attack hits, what do you crave, where and how far are you willing to travel to satisfy it, and, in the end, do you find yourself full of not only fast food, but also regret?

A recent survey of more than 1,000 at least occasional late-night eaters sought to provide a few answers. And? Fast-food restaurants like Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Wendy’s were the go-to destinations for midnight cravings, according to the survey, with 28.5 percent, 26.2 percent, and 7.8 percent of respondents, respectively, rating them as late-night favorites.

On the other hand, it is KFC (24 minutes), Denny’s (21.4 minutes) and IHOP (18.8 minutes), as well as White Castle (18.4 minutes) and Burger King (18 minutes), for which people are willing to travel the furthest, the survey, based on responses from 1,001 people conducted by Mattress Advisor, found.

One hopes that respondents weren’t the ones driving. The survey also found that 28 percent of people get fast food after midnight because they’d been drinking alcohol, which, while not totally surprising, is scary.

A milder cause for concern: next-day second thoughts. More than 38 percent of respondents said they slept worse when they ate fast food before hitting the sack, and a vast majority reported that, the next day, they deeply regretted indulging their late-night cravings.

Late night trips to chicken restaurants, pizzerias and taco joints prompted the highest percentages of regrets: 82.5, 73 and 65.9 percent, respectively.

Gulp.

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