McDonald's Future in Question

[HankB]

If I'm getting fast food locally, I'm much more likely to stop for a sub (Subway, Firehouse, or Thundercloud) instead of a burger joint.

Locally, here's how I'd rate them - but remember, the standard is "Fast Food Burgers" and not GOOD food.

P. Terry's
Wendy's (Go when they're crowded, else you get a reheated burger. And at off-hours, you may not find staff that speaks English.  )
Whataburger - in what was formerly a Dairy Queen. (Whataburger has gone downhill lately)
Sonic (Went way, WAY downhill a couple of years ago - used to get burgers here, and go for a shake at the DQ across the street.)

Last time I ate at McDonald's or Burger King was during an airport layover; McD's was OK, BK tasted old and stale.

Trivia: When a burger joint advertises they're using "Organic Beef" they probably just mean the cattle died of natural causes.

[Ron]

apropos

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/01/31/is-the-left-slowing-killing-off-mcdonalds/

[just Warren]

I don't know if the linkage is that strong but anything that gets people to hate the left more is okay in my book.

[just Warren]

Also my wife and younger daughter ate at Chipolte yesterday and neither felt well last night and they are both sick today. Coincidence?

[Andiron]

Also my wife and younger daughter ate at Chipolte yesterday and neither felt well last night and they are both sick today. Coincidence?

This is what comes of catering to vegans.  Ever since they surrendered and changed the pinto beans,  things have gone downhill.

Buy you can still get a dos equis with your  burrito. 

[Hawkmoon]

I've thought for years that what McDonald's should add to their menu is a good, grilled, foot-long hotdog. But I don't think Mickey D's is set up to do any grilling, and a steamed hot dog just doesn't measure up.

There's a small restaurant up-state that basically serves hot dogs and fried clams. For the dogs, you have your choice of 10-inch, foot-long, or two foot. All grilled. All served on (in?) a proper hot dog bun that's sliced on both sides and slit vertically, and grilled in butter along with the dog. (Okay -- the two-foot dogs get TWO buns). And the mustard is brown mustard, not that yellow stuff.

I think I'd eat at McDonald's at least two or three times as often as I do if they'd offer a good hot dog. It's more American than even the hamburger.

Another failing at McD's is the soda machines. They offer about five choices. Burger King (as well as a better, local chain) has new-fangled soda machines that offer about 50 or more choices. And they include caffeine-free Diet Coke, which is important to me because I can't have any caffeine. At McD's that leaves me with (non-diet) Sprite, or water. Not much of a choice.

[MillCreek]

I have always been puzzled by how few fast-food restaurants offer a hot dog.  I would think it would be a no-brainer, and I think this even more every time I go to Costco and walk by the line of people in the food court waiting for their hot dog.

[Brad Johnson]

Chris Porter on Taco Bell

Major language/NSFW warning.

http://youtu.be/NFJVIyLLmaU

If you like this bit the full show is available on Netflix streaming.

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

Another failing at McD's is the soda machines. They offer about five choices. Burger King (as well as a better, local chain) has new-fangled soda machines that offer about 50 or more choices.

I've seen those at a bunch of different places, but I don't think they'd work everywhere. Unless the place invests in half-a-dozen machines, it's just going to be a terrible bottleneck, while one person at a time takes five minutes to get what they want. Seems like it would slow down the drive-through, as well, unless they just don't offer all of those choices at the drive-through. Which I doubt the customers will like very much.

[Hawkmoon]

I've seen those at a bunch of different places, but I don't think they'd work everywhere. Unless the place invests in half-a-dozen machines, it's just going to be a terrible bottleneck, while one person at a time takes five minutes to get what they want. Seems like it would slow down the drive-through, as well, unless they just don't offer all of those choices at the drive-through. Which I doubt the customers will like very much.

I don't know if the Burger King drive-though machines offer all the flavors, but they are different from the machines in the "dining room."

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

McDonald's burgers are perfectly fine as long as you avoid the vegetables (which should be standard practice anyway). If I want a good burger, I'll go elsewhere.

Wendy's is just bad. I order my burger sans vegetables, and they give me a burger that's just had that stuff scraped off. Everytime.

[TechMan]

I've thought for years that what McDonald's should add to their menu is a good, grilled, foot-long hotdog. But I don't think Mickey D's is set up to do any grilling, and a steamed hot dog just doesn't measure up.

There's a small restaurant up-state that basically serves hot dogs and fried clams. For the dogs, you have your choice of 10-inch, foot-long, or two foot. All grilled. All served on (in?) a proper hot dog bun that's sliced on both sides and slit vertically, and grilled in butter along with the dog. (Okay -- the two-foot dogs get TWO buns). And the mustard is brown mustard, not that yellow stuff.

I think I'd eat at McDonald's at least two or three times as often as I do if they'd offer a good hot dog. It's more American than even the hamburger.

Another failing at McD's is the soda machines. They offer about five choices. Burger King (as well as a better, local chain) has new-fangled soda machines that offer about 50 or more choices. And they include caffeine-free Diet Coke, which is important to me because I can't have any caffeine. At McD's that leaves me with (non-diet) Sprite, or water. Not much of a choice.

I've always like McDonald's Coke over any other.  SWMBO and I were wondering why it always tasted better than any of the other fast food restaurants, so I did a little searching and found this:

McDonalds use a high end water filtration system, it consists of carbon filters and then water is put through a reverse osmosis system. The way the coke and soda water are chilled is different also, the soda water is constantly recirculated from the back remote refrigeration unit to the the drive-thru and front counter units in insulated tubing. This process will keep the water temperature at 33-38 degrees all the time even in a rush. The syrup lines also are bundled together with the soda lines so it chills the syrup a little. Keeping this water chilled will help absorb the co2 better creating better soda water. McDonalds spends alot of money on their systems that no one else does, the managers are trained to calibrate the valves and check temperature. They also have regular preventative maintenance done and account for ice melting in your drink. The ratio that McDonald's uses is 4.75:1 on sugar drinks and 5.25:1 on diet drinks. This is different than some of the other national chains they do not account for ice melting so they use 5.0:1 and 5.5:1 on their drinks. The co2 pressures used are the same for everyone but using a refrigeration unit with the carbonators submerged in ice water makes the co2 penetrate the water better creating a crisper drink. The remote refrigeration unit is basically a water bath with refrigeration lines submerged in water creating a huge block of ice, the soda and syrup are sent through this in stainless steel tubing which is coiled several times so a finished drink out of the fountain head will usually be 36 degrees. McDonalds is in a class of its own when it comes to fountain drink equipment they always have the newest top of the line equipment and programs to service it on a regular basis. Regular systems consist of ice in the dispenser to chill the water and syrup but usually use the same ratios, the only difference really is the treatment of the water. If it is a bad coke it always comes back to water quality and some people being cheap and thinning the syrup to make it go farther.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110218112319AAHqPhh

Seems plausible.  What I am trying to say is if they have invested this much in to the dispensing of Coke, I don't know how willing they are going to be to go to a Coke Freestyle machine.

[KD5NRH]

I've seen those at a bunch of different places, but I don't think they'd work everywhere. Unless the place invests in half-a-dozen machines, it's just going to be a terrible bottleneck, while one person at a time takes five minutes to get what they want.

Hell, they've already got that bottleneck at McD's with the people trying to decide between sweet and unsweet tea.  Then they've got to try every size of lid on the same damn size cup they get every day.

[MechAg94]

Hell, they've already got that bottleneck at McD's with the people trying to decide between sweet and unsweet tea.  Then they've got to try every size of lid on the same damn size cup they get every day.

Or the people with 6 cups who have to get ice, coke, lids, and straws for each one all while blocking access to the dispenser (they can't put lids and straws on at the table).  Then they act surprised when the finally turn around and realize people are waiting behind them.

[MechAg94]

I've always like McDonald's Coke over any other.  SWMBO and I were wondering why it always tasted better than any of the other fast food restaurants, so I did a little searching and found this:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110218112319AAHqPhh

Seems plausible.  What I am trying to say is if they have invested this much in to the dispensing of Coke, I don't know how willing they are going to be to go to a Coke Freestyle machine.

I don't drink coffee.  I stick to Dr. Pepper mostly.  I have bought a lot of fountain drinks over the years.  Once you get a taste for a brank, you realize that every convenience store fountain drink tastes a little different.  Some are better than others.  I always figured the syrup adjustment was different.  I never considered the water quality. 

[Ron]

On a rare  occasion I get a #3 breakfast, Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit with the potato thing and a small coffee creme and sugar. Always a treat.

I like their Big Mac and regular hamburgers. It is an even rarer event when I get them so I get truly bummed if they aren't fresh. The Micky D's franchise by my work is real busy and bats over .800 on fresh cooked vs sitting under the lamp.

The corporate store is apparently staffed by troglodytes. They are always a 50/50 proposition regarding freshness and correctness of order so I refuse to go there any longer.  

These last two years especially I've really cut down on eating out at restaurants and fast food. I used to frequent them a few times a week. 

Wendy's a few times a year. White Castle maybe once a year, Popeyes a couple times a year, Chipotle a couple times a year and JimmyJohns or Subway once a year about sums up my fast food consumption.

Probably works out to one or two times a month.

[Ben]

I don't drink coffee.  I stick to Dr. Pepper mostly.  I have bought a lot of fountain drinks over the years.  Once you get a taste for a brank, you realize that every convenience store fountain drink tastes a little different.  Some are better than others.  I always figured the syrup adjustment was different.  I never considered the water quality. 

I can attest that the soda from the Kettleman City, CA McDonald's is generally terrible, and that you can both smell and taste chlorine. Kettleman City has had significant water problems over the last few years, so whatever filtration McD's uses, it doesn't work very well there.

[wmenorr67]

Only way to make sure you know what you are getting at a fast food place is to work there and cook the food yourself.  I used to do that all to often when I worked at McD's.  I worked there when the McDLT was introduced, I would always fix my lunch just as breakfast was finishing up and fry up a couple of slices of bacon to throw on it. 

[KD5NRH]

Only way to make sure you know what you are getting at a fast food place is to work there and cook the food yourself.

Oh yeah, because it's so much more informative to know which box your rectangular piece of vaguely meat-like sponge came from.

[wmenorr67]

Oh yeah, because it's so much more informative to know which box your rectangular piece of vaguely meat-like sponge came from.

Well at least you can control if your meat-like substance was on the floor or not.

[Marnoot]

Lou: You know, I went to the McDonald's in Shelbyville on Friday night.
Wiggum: The McWhat?
Lou: Uh, the McDonald's restaurant. I've never heard of it either, but they have over 2,000 locations in this state alone.
Eddie: Must've sprung up overnight.
Lou: You know, the funniest thing though, it's the little differences.
Wiggum: Example.
Lou: Well, at McDonald's you can buy a Krusty Burger with cheese, right? But they don't call it a Krusty Burger with cheese.
Wiggum: Get out! Well, what do they call it?
Lou: A Quarter Pounder with cheese.
Wiggum: Quarter Pounder with cheese? Well, I can picture the cheese, but, uh, do they have Krusty partially gelatinated non-dairy gum-based beverages?
Lou: Mm-hm. They call 'em, "shakes."
Eddie: Huh, shakes. You don't know what you're gettin'

[TechMan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE9Qm8mShik

[bedlamite]

http://www.eater.com/2015/2/2/7964135/mcdonalds-australia-big-mac-special-sauce-ebay-18000

[Perd Hapley]

http://www.eater.com/2015/2/2/7964135/mcdonalds-australia-big-mac-special-sauce-ebay-18000

I thought it was common knowledge that the special sauce is Thousand Island dressing.

[Ron]

At home I've recreated the BigMac and it had the same BigMac type flavor yet it was better due to the quality meat and bun etc. And yes I used Thousand Island dressing.