McDonalds: Edible or Not

Sarahs breakfast = mars bar Sarahs lunch = Chicken nuggets fries and HUGE DIET COKE Sarahs tea = whatever they give heart attack victims down the local hospital. Sigh.

Was it here that I read about a McDonald's DINER, where patrons sit @ the table and order their food via drive-thru-like contraptions? Or am I just feeling the effects of Quarter Pounder Withdrawal?

PS - Stay AWAY from the Big Mac. The McDLT caused my mom to rowlf once upon a time. The fries are brilliant.

Whatever one thinks of McDonalds, some of the European McDonalds knock-offs I'd eaten at were absolutely disgusting. Like this one chain in Italy called Burgy -- absolute utter shit. And do they still have Wimpy's in the UK? (errrrkg!)

last time i went to mcd's was after my first six months of vegetarianism. i wanted to see if i was missing meat. so i bought a cheeseburger, took one bite out of it and gagged. needless to say, i never went back to meat or mcd's.

I *wuv* Burger King fries. You'll be disappointed to learn that I didn't have Burger King food last night, after finding I only have £20 left in the bank. I ate wholemeal pasta instead.

EVER FEEL LIKE YOU'VE BEEN CHEATED?

(i am sorry lady di but "Am I missing meat? Let me scoff a Big Mac and see" = totally the thinking of a mentalist)
Vegetarians who go into mcd's but only eat the fries do not garner my sympathy either.

Key Simpsons fast-food-related quote (actually i have dropped this before but obsessive repetition = helpless hilarity) : "Awww. Without the grease all you can taste is the hog anus!"

(sorry, haven't read ILE since yesterday)

Ackshirely, McDs fries in the UK aren't fried in beef tallow, it was a US practise as far as I know.

-- Sarah (), September 20, 2001

STRAWBERRY JAM SANDWICHES ON WHITE BREAD!

Mind you when I was young and foolish I did eat a big mac in two bites!

Nastier than Dom Deluise wearing a thong.

I mostly avoid McDonald's now (not that I avoid junk food, far from it, very far indeed, I just seem to go for non-chain varieties of greasy rubbish), but I went there far too much a couple of years ago, it was right near where I lived and I was lazy and I kept convincing myself that I wanted to get another Happy Meal toy, plus every time I tried to arrange with certain friends to meet anywhere and get food we ended up going to BK or McDonald's. Sigh. Eek. So now I have a load of mini beanie babies with McD logos on and I just think, "Why?" every time I see them.

There are still Wimpys over here? Where? All the Wimpys I knew (erm, both of them) became Burger Kings in the late 80s.

i only use the app cos that's the only place you can get a combo for like 6.95, but at least 3 or 4 times I went to a location and got a "hi the app isn't working right now at this location, please enjoy paying full price inside, also fuck u bye"

dollar fries on the app vs crushing anomie from being entrained in that whole system

i woke up one day w/ Grimace at the foot of my bed and never again

i didn't have it in me to stand at the register and yell plaintively: "helloooooooo....is there anyone heeeeeeeere....HELLoooooooo????"

there is no register. there is only Zuul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIxYe3G3Iz4

one of my last rituals of continuity in life is stopping in La Grange for fries and a Coke and I am feeling the pressure rise around this small bubble of normalcy, the entire world everted and society is now Lazlo Hollyfeld vanishing silently with a bag of McDonald's into the steam tunnels of cyberspace

I haven't had McDonald's in over 30 years. I know I've told this story before, but I went to one in Greenwich Village (on 8th Avenue, I think) with a friend in about 1990 or maybe 1991. I was already not feeling that well but was hungry, so I ordered a Big Mac and fries. But about halfway through I felt absolutely awful so I ran outside and threw up in the gutter. Unfortunately for everyone else in that McDonald's, it had a giant picture window so everyone got to watch me barf as they ate their own food. And that was the last time I ever ate at McDonald's.

I haven't eaten fast food at all since moving to Montana; there aren't any places close by. Back in NJ I used to be able to walk to Wendy's, so we'd eat there every couple of weeks. The closest Wendy's is like a half hour's drive each way - the food would be unacceptably cold by the time I got home.

this is america, we eat in our cars

also i feel your pain scott

I feel like a lot of 'dining rooms' (I use that term loosely) closed early in the pandemic and then just didn't reopen, like they don't want homeless people sitting in there all day and this gave them the excuse to go full drive through. There's a Taco Bell on Telegraph & Grand in Oakland that did this - and no, you can't walk through the drive-thru, I asked. These mexican pizzas are only for people with cars, it's a new society

yeah lots of fast food places where I live did that postpandemic. Suburban dining rooms mostly remain open for people who want to get out of their cars and go inside, but in locations that got actual foot traffic the dining rooms closed and never reopened

yeah they use the dining room to store stacks of happy meal boxes, like storerooms now

i can see all these places adding a walk-up window and locking their doors forever. i didn't know that so many of them did actually keep their doors closed after the pandemic though. that is fast food news to me.

The last few times I ate at McDonalds were all at the airport before boarding Ethiopian Airlines, which serves food even more horrid at 1am.
I worked there in my early 20s. It paid part of my studies, a trip to Iceland, and it landed me my first serious relationship, so I won't complain too loudly about the food.
It just wouldn't occur to me to pay for a burger outside when it's the easiest thing to do at home: fresh, properly toasted, without the truckload of mayo.
I was mildly shocked to find out that in the US, McDonalds, BK or KFC were just a few chains among countless others, that assembling counts as cooking, and the shit is served at any hour of the day, including in university cafeterias. You guys are doomed, but you knew that.

yeah we have shit-tons of chains: Carls Jr, Arbies, White Castle, Jack-in-the-Box, Taco Bell, weird regional ones like Arctic Circle... the ones you listed are just the big three, though I'd say Taco Bell is as big as KFC these days nationwide

the priority is very definitely on the delivery orders at the local McDonalds

This is every place, fast food and casual alike, near my office and I hate it so much. As a person who enjoys a walk at lunch and a chance to eat anywhere other than my desk, it sucks to literally be the only customer in the join and have to stand around for 10-15 minutes while they crank out the delivery orders. I mean, I get it, but maybe staff for both kinds of customers?

Hmm. I can handle drive-thrü or takeout but I cannot sit in a McDonald's due to the oil smell.

I gather that some decades ago they changed from real fat to some namby-pamby oil. I haven't been able to abide the smell of their fries/nuggets since.

I don't love McDonald's (which in my family is referred to as "Scottish Cuisine") but sometimes it is like a known type of medicine I can swallow to stop being hungry.

If anything on their menu was actually the food that it said it was and not an agglomeration of additives, I would at least get fries once in a while or something, but everything has soy protein and wheat protein in it to bulk it out, so I can't. Probably for the best.

xp They used to use beef tallow for the fries which made them notably better during that era, but switched for perfectly reasonable reasons like, not everyone eats meat/beef products and probably the nutritional profile was dire.

I've for sure seen an increase in drive-through and pick-up volume since 2021; the employees at my Starbucks (sorry -- the closest local coffee shop is five miles away) have admitted to me that management has stressed everything but indoor service. Quite a few regulars hang out, though.

I never really do DoorDash or the like as the packaging waste is just through the roof (same with those 'meal kits')... at least when you go inside, you can just get a tray and a burger

They used to use beef tallow for the fries

heheheheh that's what we wanted you to think (I worked there in high school for a minute)

"Hmm. I can handle drive-thrü or takeout but I cannot sit in a McDonald's due to the oil smell."

don't get me wrong. i go in and order food to go. i can't remember the last time i ate inside one. though they are empty now so they are kinda peaceful? the one big problem with going in to order takeout food is you get to see how gross and dirty the floor is at the one near me. same with the Wendys here. the Wendys might even be worse. which usually isn't the case as far as general cleanliness goes with the two chains.

actually, a year or two ago we went out of town for something...can't remember what....and we went to a McDonalds that was from an alternate universe. It was spacious and clean and they had table service! i thought it was some sort of prank. and they were really friendly! it was strange.

On Tiktok somebody said the Quarter Pounder is the only one where they cook the patty from scratch for you, and the patties for all the other burgers are just being held at temp

fwiw

I haven’t eaten a McDonald’s burger for many many years. Still love a McMuffin though

In Bulgaria you can get draft beer at McDonald's. Spain as well.

"On Tiktok somebody said the Quarter Pounder is the only one where they cook the patty from scratch for you, and the patties for all the other burgers are just being held at temp"

i told my kid this and i went and got one and two days later there was massive food poisoning from the onions in the quarter pounder. i dodged a Mcbullet.

its true though. if you order quarter pounders in your car you will always have to wait in the little parking spot for it because they have to cook them.

i kinda miss when they had everything all lined up and made and you could just see what was ready to go and order that. a la the slice of pizza in a pizza place.

you will always have to wait in the little parking spot

I worked drive-thru and I used to relish sending customers to that jail... 'we do it your way' is Burger King, idiot! At McDonalds we do it OUR way.. if you don't like the Big Mac secret sauce, scrape the shit off lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI6nfACLPKQ

I'm assuming everyone who is discussing the finer points of McDonalds meal prep, service, and ambience are on the "edible" side of the thread's question.

are you suggesting eating the customers

I hadn't thought of it, but now that you bring it up... nah. It probably would affect how they taste.

now you know what was in the old fries shortening heheheheh

The McD's here in Amsterdam are all pretty clean and don't smell like old grease. I like their €1 coffee -- It's strong and it beats paying almost €3.50 for it in some of the coffee spots around me.

a large fries and a Coke, eaten hurriedly in the car, is the best of American culinary experiences

"On Tiktok somebody said the Quarter Pounder is the only one where they cook the patty from scratch for you, and the patties for all the other burgers are just being held at temp"

At White Castle they cook the burgers when you order them. Question for the group: How many White Castle cheeseburgers can you eat before your stomach starts to hurt? My limit is six. But until that stabbing pain sets in...bliss.

if i was feeling ambitious and want to start working early i would go to the one in town and get sausage/egg/cheese mcmuffins and hash browns and a large black coffee. eat it at my desk at the store and read the paper. kinda loved that but i am trying to not spend extra money/eat bad food. i will always love the texture of that mcmuffin! and of the hash browns.
the last time i did that i noticed that they had steak/egg/cheese mcmuffins. i had no idea. too scared to buy one though.

also was always a little tempted to get their Big McBreakfast or whatever its called. i have never known anyone who has ever ordered one. it comes with lots of stuff.

and all these places are $$ now! another reason why i don't really go to them anymore. if i'm going to spend friggin' $20 on lunch i'd rather it was real food.

(oh also if i go to the one in town at like 7am i am the only one there and i get my food in five seconds.)

Big Breakfast was relatively new when I worked there in the 80s... I'd estimate that 19% of the Pacific Garbage Patch is Big Breakfast and/or McDLT boxes, swirling through the brine

that long McDLT box was the...uh...longbox of its day. so weird. i have pictures of my best friend in high school eating a McDLT for the first time.

speaking of which, they have McRibs now while supplies last. but i haven't had one since the 80s. wouldn't want to tarnish that beautiful memory.

Sigh. I loved the McDLT.

this was the historic day. when Maggie had her first McDLT. 1985. can't find the actual inside McDonalds photos though.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/465796179_10162332944802137_7180798832317057077_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=cf85f3&_nc_ohc=mjbjD9AKEEQQ7kNvgHAojJc&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&_nc_gid=AH-tv0Ew23zkgWGr-Ii55vP&oh=00_AYCEJ28iySTpV0kB_VMMN6UBW-dU65TkfukJGPO4v58QPg&oe=6782092C

she looks well satisfied

she owns and is head chef at a wonderful restaurant here in town.

https://www.hopeandolive.com/

It’s not a perfect analogy (for a bunch of reasons) but food app = streaming in a sense, be it music or film or TV

The common denominator is that it’s very low effort to do these things, so tons of people do it, so people who want to buy fast food the old fashioned way or grip a new album in the store wind up hosed

(I don’t like either state of affairs, but having watched them both blossom over the last however many years, I don’t think they’re gonna get any better than they are)

Maybe replace “blossom” with “curdle”

that's actually a pretty good analogy

it's disabling the barriers to immediate satisfaction, while also narrowing the selection to whatever's on your app/streaming service etc. ("Andy, we know you liked this nordic cop show, but wait: this new one's in the Faroe Islands...)