Meet The Team / David Koeppel

Will east-coast consumers need to start hording tomatoes? The situation isn't that dire yet, but the deep freeze that devastated Florida's tomato crop in January is leading to shortages at fast-food chains, supermarkets and restaurants.

The first sign of trouble is coming from Burger King, which has been experiencing "tomato outages." The chain has been running short on tomatoes for about week, leaving some disappointed customers without red ripe tomatoes on their Whoppers.

"There have been some spot outages of tomatoes in the Burger King system as a result of the severe weather conditions that recently affected tomato crops in the Southeastern U.S," Denise Wilson, Burger King's senior analyst of communications, tells ABC News. "We are working with our suppliers and distributors to closely monitor the situation and minimize these outages. Our guests are being notified of temporary outages by signage in the individual restaurants."

Nichole McCready a manager at an Outback Steakhouse in Mansfield, Ohio, can handle the many grumblers who complain about bad service and substandard food quality. But what gets her really angry are those patrons who scheme to get free food in ways that may not be illegal, but are certainly manipulative and underhanded.

We feel her pain. Who wouldn't want to kick out the obnoxious customers who try to use expired coupons and then scream and yell when told those coupons are no longer valid?

"I'm happy to do whatever it takes to make the customers happy, but sometimes it just gets so frustrating when we feel like we're getting taking advantage of," the McCready tells Slashfood. "Our company is so worried about losing customers in this economy that no one will put them in their place and tell them no."

Ever wonder what happens when people find fault with a fast-food joint? Kyla Jones considers herself a reasonable person. As someone who has worked in customer service, she knows what it's like to be on the receiving end of an unwarranted phone tirade. Still, after receiving shoddy treatment from a KFC manager in Columbus, Ohio, she didn't hesitate to call the company's hot line to lodge a complaint.

In 2008, Jones and a companion began eating dinner around 8:30 p.m. at a KFC restaurant that closed at 9. Within ten minutes, they were approached brusquely by a manager and asked to leave without being allowed to finish their meals.

"We're closing in ten minutes, you have to go," Jones recalls him saying. "Do you want a box to put it in?" "He was just really abrupt and acting like us being there was a huge inconvenience," the 48-year-old continues. "Nothing like, 'I hope you're enjoying the food, but our employees need to go.' I sat there like a stunned deer in the headlights."

Sundance may be the most important independent film festival in the world.

But between the screenings, negotiating deals and celebrity watching, there's not always a lot of time for leisurely meals. There may be plenty of expensive restaurants in Park City and catered parties where guests eat and drink in style, but for busy executives and harried volunteers, food is almost an afterthought.

There are also several fast-food options for attendees on the go that allows them to digest both their food and the festival's latest documentaries. Domino's delivers in Park City and Pizza Hut is close by for those who favor ubiquitous chains.

Can ordering fast food get even faster? In a busy and increasingly impatient world, standing in line or waiting at the drive-thru may eventually be replaced by text-messaging food orders.

Starting today, 31 Subway franchises in Southern California are rolling out a three-to-four-month pilot program where with just a few finger taps, customers will be able to order menu items like the turkey breast and black forest ham sub.

Here's how it works: Participating Subway restaurants in Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield and Santa Barbara will get text message orders and in less time than it takes Jared to do 20 ab crunches, an automatic confirmation message will be sent back to customers, letting them know how long it will take for their meal request to be ready. If all goes right, a customer can then pick up their order without waiting in line.