text: In general, "authentic" food is made fresh from fresh ingredients. Fast food is pre-made, (mass produced) frozen and shipped to stores where it is microwaved. That leads to another big difference, which is fast food has preservatives (sometimes lots of them), which freshly prepared food does not. Next, authentic food is prepared using the spices and even cooking techniques that are uniqe to the culture and tastes. fast food is not, and often relies on salt and fats for achieving better taste. Unrelated to the actual taste of the food, dining in a restaurant versus out of a bag is a much better dining experience. These are all big differences in my opinion that make authntic food the better choice.