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.

Anyway, the Latte coffee in McD's is alright.

xpost funnily enough.

and five-year xpost: what kind of vegetarian tests whether or not she can still enjoy meat by trying a mcdonalds cheeseburger? hardcore meat eaters wouldn't even consider it proper "meat." test your meat love/tolerance on a properly prepared filet next time, foolio.

McDonald's also serves kangeroo meat in thier burgers to save on costs.

In the UK McDonald's donates a portion of their profits to the Irish terrorist group the IRA, so that their restaurants will not be used in bombing campaigns.

McDonald's uses minute traces of chemical substances in their food to make it addictive.

McDonalds milkshakes are made with lard.

McDonalds milkshakes are made with seaweed.

A child complained of being hurt while playing in the "ball pit" at a local McDonald's and pointed out a small red mark on his behind. His mother noticed something like a splinter just under the skin so made an appointment to have it looked at. Within a few hours the child went into a coma and died - the splinter had been the needle from a syringe full of heroin that had been discarded in the pit.

During the BSE scare McDonald's bought up cow carcasses that were "possibly infected" to use in their burgers.

The rest seem dubious. I mean, what sort of dumb ass junkie prepares a needle full of smack then leaves it in a ball pit?

Not to defend the horriblness of MacDonalds and their bland, artificial muck. I
do occassionally succumb admittedly. There's a McDonalds right next to my work and if I'm on a late shift and haven't brought my own food and nowhere else is open what else can I do? It does leave a weird feeling though. Something about that processed plastic cheese that makes my head feel all plastic and shiny. Must be the MSG.

IT TOOK THEM FIFTY YEARS TO FIGURE THAT ONE OUT?

this is "good" news

this has probably been said a billion times before, but Shakey OTM Collier

Shakey, what was on the menu in India?

http://www.mcdonaldsindia.com/ourfood/veg/index.html

Chicken McTikka Naan = super classic
Mint Lamb Korma = yuck dud

Nothing else there is even remotely edible.

and then the new $1.39 snack wrap (chicken select, lettuce, some mayo'y/ranch'y sauce, maybe some shredded cheese - wrapped in flour tortilla) is also nice! cheap afternoon snack'y thing. yum.

xpost

* (please note that (a) I think McDonald's is an abomination of a coporation that is working overtime to fuck humanity up (the stories in 'Fast Food Nation' about the lengths their advertising goes to in China to sell the shit to children, who are becoming more and more obese each year, are APPALLING); and (b) I am over 300 pounds and in very poor health).

haha - yeah and see in India the real food is actually cheaper! It is simply not possible for McD's to undercut street vendors prices there, everything is so dirt cheap to begin with.

encrusted with a Mexican Cajun coating,

WTF??

also the "Mexican Salsa sauce" must be interesting.

http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3774/3249/1600/19064/DSCN0384.jpg

had a $1 double cheeseburger last night and it was effing scrumptious.

Nothing's better than a whopper with cheese.

-- scott, Tuesday, September 18, 2001 8:00 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark Link

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8113/hamburglarzq5.png

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zozTZGCShag/TiUzifynlzI/AAAAAAAAF24/8oK5IKt_7r8/s1600/Mcdonalds_Is_Evil.jpg

One thing though: McDonald's Chicken Selects are really fucking good. I mean if they were sold out of McGillicuddy's Olde Tyme Chicken Tender Truck by a surly hipster people would pay $8 for a 3-piece and NYMag would feature them in a slideshow.

last McDonald's I ever ate at was the one just down the road from Dachau in 1996

Haven't eaten McDonald's since a friend let me gank some fries on a road trip in 2005.

i haven't eaten at mcdonald's since i left school, and i'm very happy about that

BUT having said that, hurting is OTM -- their chicken sandwiches were really good, they noticeably upped the quality a few years ago

DaChow

Chicken Selects aren't sandwiches. They're like McNuggets, only...bigger. And more...select. I think. They're good, though. And there's all these rad new sauces for McNuggets. I miss the steak sandwich, though, even though it barely qualified as steak.

man, maybe someone else can corroborate this, but I remember when Chicken McNuggets were introduced in '82, and the relentless PR campaign -- to such an extent that all I ate for years during the infrequent moments when my parents got us McDonalds were McNuggets.

that was when i started eating food from there. as a kid i didn't like their burgers

last McDonald's I ever ate at was the one just down the road from Dachau in 1996

― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Saturday, July 23, 2011 10:56 PM Bookmark

Opening line of your first novel right there

btw I think Chicken Selects are different from McNuggets, because Selects are made from whole pieces of chicken breast as opposed to that nasty mcnugget paste. Although maybe they don't use the mcnugget paste anymore, IDK.

http://static.flickr.com/93/236230409_1cb2864456.jpg

man, maybe someone else can corroborate this, but I remember when Chicken McNuggets were introduced in '82, and the relentless PR campaign -- to such an extent that all I ate for years during the infrequent moments when my parents got us McDonalds were McNuggets.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, July 23, 2011 11:10 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

Yes, I distinctly remember the Great McNugget Roll-Out of '82. Loving any form of fried chicken, I could only see their introduction as a positive development. My parents, however, were horrified. Such vaguely-named and -sourced food was a relatively new phenomenon, so I was on my own when it came to McNugget procurement.

Arbeit Macht Fries

(xpost)

we go to mcdonalds all the time lately but just for the $1 sundaes and wifi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSu4eGDUYZU

oh, mcdonald's...

I basically never went as a kid and when I did only had mcnuggets. I think I've ordered a total of 1 non-mcnugget McEntrees in my life. their burgers even seemed disgusting to me at age 8.

I find McDonald's coffee better (and cheaper) than Starbucks or D&D as long as you get it in the morning -- some locations are wonky about brewing fresh.

I like their Chicken Selects... I have that once every few months.

Spicy Buffalo sauce = YUMMMMMMMMm

^Seriously, that shit rules.

man i could really go for some mcd's fries right now. it's been years.

their coffee IS really better than it has any right to be.

you fucking liberals

if i get some mcdonald's fries tomorrow i promise to vote for the most fascistic candidate next year.

$1 unlimited soda and wi-fi and Sade

burger king fries >>>>>>>>>>>>> mcdonald's fries though

and their chicken tenders are waaaay better than chicken nuggets.

gah... now I want McDonalds. Damn you guys!

waitwaitwait -- McDonald's plays "Paradise" and "The Sweetest Taboo"???

burger king fries >>>>>>>>>>>>> mcdonald's fries though

whaaa? i'm too elitist and veg to eat at fast food restaurants these days, but that is so rong. burger king fries are these skinny soggy floppy things

burger king fries aren't soggy or skinny! I think you have them confused with McD's fries... BK fries are crisp, salty, delicious.

yeah i thought it was generally agreed that mcdonald's fries are the one thing that even vegetarian marxists have a sneaking desire for from time to time.

why would I eat a Quarter Pounder listening to "The Sweetest Taboo" when I could drink a Pellegrino in Starbucks while reading and listening to "Soldier of Love"? Or is this like choosing between The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night?

yeah, maybe they've changed in the years since i've last had them, or different franchises vary significantly in their quality control...but i remember as a kid being excited for the better burger king sandwiches and c. tenders, but bummed that their fries were so disappointing compared to mcdonald's

Hardee's new chicken tenders are really good, but I've only had them once because they're so damn expensive #derail

you go to starbucks for their sparkling water??

Checkers also has amazing fries:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2569/3670218203_8d25bd8e73_o.jpg

And Popeyes of course.

all national-level fast food fries are bad

sort of can't believe that hardee's still exists. it always seemed like a totally moribund lower tier fast food place to me

yeah i've only eaten from popeye's maybe twice, at a highway rest stop, but they put that magic dust on them

the mistake is thinking of them as french fries rather than crispy grease and salt.

Burger king fries are just pure batter, no potato

McD is all "Smooth Operator"--strictly top 5 playlist--and sometimes the a/c keeps the place at cellar temp.

which, you know, sometimes, not always, but sometimes, you just want the most effect way of getting crispy grease and salt into your system

you go to starbucks for their sparkling water??

If it means using their free WiFi and not embarrassing their employees, yes.

I will probably do it tomorrow.

The one here does booming business for breakfast then next to nothing for the rest of the day.

but re the thread question, edible only when hot

french fry scale: wendy's > BK & McD's tie > everybody else except Sonic > Sonic

"booming business for breakfast" referring to Hardees btw

i always feel kind of unamerican when the fast food threads come up

I'd rank Checkers and Popeyes above McDonalds, most definitely... but I LOOOOOVE seasoned fries.

The best fried potatoes are the ones I make out of a leftover baked potato. Always bake a couple extra spuds for fries the next day.

Who cares about free wifi? Don't you all have homes?

sounds like you've a profoundly distorted idea of the ilx demographic

I do but I also like to watch people while drinking sparkling water.

xpost

No outlets at home, just lamplight

This is quite interesting: http://balkanist.net/im-lovin-it-mcdonalds-serbia/

There were also some early cultural barriers to the restaurant’s success. In 1988, the concept of “American-style fast food” hadn’t permeated Yugoslav society. After a meal, even at McDonald’s, people liked to sit, smoke and complain about corrupt government officials for several hours – a time-honored tradition that continues to this day. Americans, on the other hand, call that kind of activity “loitering” — a criminal offense. So in order to prevent too much post-Happy Meal lingering, McDonald’s hired several specially-trained workers whose only job was to make people eat and leave.

Some of the earliest manifestations of the mounting tensions between Croatia and Serbia before the breakup of Yugoslavia were in the songs Serbs sang about their McDonald’s at football matches. One late-1980s chant went “we have a McDonald’s, McDonald’s, McDonald’s, we have a McDonald’s, and where is yours?”

The tradition of whiling one's time away at a restaurant or cafe is one that is sadly missing in America

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/nyregion/fighting-a-mcdonalds-for-the-right-to-sit-and-sit-and-sit.html?_r=0

did anti-loitering laws even exist before McD's? I didn't realise the US even had these?

<3 these guys

The tradition of whiling one's time away at a restaurant or cafe is one that is sadly missing in America

Go to Starbucks then.

Doesn't count if you're whiling your time away on a Macbook

One of my favorite yelper scumbag complaints is whenever a coffeehouse doesn't have readily accessible outlets so people can plug in their laptops.

i'd never yelp about that or formally complain in any way, but it can be frustrating when you bring you go to a cafe to get work done, buy coffee and a muffin, and sit down and realize you can't plug in your laptop.

I read a book called teh Macdonaldisation of Society when I was at University at the turn of teh millenium.
That goes into the process of subconsciously making the customer leave as fast as possible. I remember when mcDonalds was first appearing in London in the mid 70s the benches were angled so you didn't become too comfortable and therefore left faster. I noticed that the Macdonalds in the centre of Galway seems to have far more comfortable chairs these days.

The book also went into the standardisation process whereby if you went int a Macdonalds anywhere the menu was going to be the same so you'd know what to expect and what it would taste like. Looks like that has changed a bit as the franchise has expanded into other cultures but it probably remains the same within each of those.
Also the layout of the shop would be pretty much standardised. So you'd have some level of subconscious familiarity in any branch you went into.

I haven't eaten in Mcdonalds in years, probably had breakfast in there last time i did. I did eat in Burger King a couple of times a couple of months ago.

i ate a value meal -- quarter pounder, fries, and coke -- while drunk one recent night. it was amazing.

Also the layout of the shop would be pretty much standardised. So you'd have some level of subconscious familiarity in any branch you went into.

There's a comic book store in my American neighborhood that used to be a McDonalds.

http://i.imgur.com/eABaMGm.png

There was something about it that seemed just a little off to me, and finally, after a year living around here, I realized it was because the drive-thru window was on the "wrong side" of the building.

I asked around and the people who lived in the long-ago tell me that the parking and eating area was on the left side of that photo and the kitchen was on the right. In the 70s, they added the drive-thru and the only place they could put it was on that side. Apparently, the line of cars would go around the front of the building.

Just weird that there was this one time in history when McDonalds restaurants really were just these hamburger stands and weren't standardized at all.

is McDonald's serving healthier food and using healthier oils or whatever than when we were kids?

sure sure

That goes into the process of subconsciously making the customer leave as fast as possible.

That's a thing at chain restaurants like Applebee's, Chili's, T.G.I. McScratchy's Goodtime Foodrinkery, etc: they have the a/c cranked and the music loud so you'll eat it and get out.

healthier, sure yes

They stick a bag of apples into each Happy Meal, so I guess that's "healthier".

i'd never yelp about that or formally complain in any way, but it can be frustrating when you bring you go to a cafe to get work done, buy coffee and a muffin, and sit down and realize you can't plug in your laptop.

― lars von (Treeship), Thursday, August 28, 2014 6:46 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's on the customer not the establishment, gotta research that shit first.

tarfumes do you have a link on that? I'd like to read more on chain uncomfortable-ization, like not just on fast food places

Unfortunately, no...I think I read about it in Fast Food Nation, but I don't have a copy handy.

train seats are like this, but i think that's to stop people sleeping on the train. it doesn't work though.

http://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/mcdonalds.jpg

was just gonna take issue with pp about the side of the building the drive-thru window goes and then remembered we drive on the other side of the road, looks like senility's kicking in

I actually went back and typed American neighborhood because of that! I am very sensitive!

A life in four parts:

http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories/wwi-video_650_062814041202.jpg
http://littlelucylavendar.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/ivan-peter-pawle-17.jpg?w=650
http://en.president.az/photos/inline-gallery/25206-73e7475e6163f4e5b2ecd72f71310e3f.jpg
http://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/mcdonalds.jpg

anyway McDonald's are wankers and old dudes loitering is a good thing obv

did anti-loitering laws even exist before McD's?

they certainly did in the USA, where they date back to the late 19th century

They stick a bag of apples into each Happy Meal, so I guess that's "healthier".

How delicious.

i would shit very quickly if i ate this garbage today

Just makes your mouth water, don't it?

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/files/2011/09/appleslices.jpg

I'd like to think those old people were kicked out of McDonald's for standing in front of the menu going "ummmmm....." for five minutes.

Anyway, McDonald's shakes are good. I get them once or twice a year.

Someone told me once that Grimace was supposed to be a (cupless) shake. So I went to the wikipedia for confirmation, and instead found this backstory:

Grimace – A large, purple monster-like character who was first introduced in November 1971 as the "Evil Grimace". In Grimace's first three appearances, he was depicted with two pairs of arms with which to steal milkshakes. "Evil" was soon dropped from Grimace's name, and Grimace was reintroduced in 1972 as one of the good guys. In 1974, Grimace was redesigned, going from two pairs of arms to the single pair he had later. Grimace's role continued to grow, and by the mid-1970s, he was a major character in McDonaldland. Commercials and merchandise generally portrayed Grimace as a well-meaning simpleton whose clumsy antics provided a comic foil to Ronald McDonald. His appearance changed to reflect this characteristic in 1985, from a giant purple slob with a pink mouth and small pupils to a gentle giant with movable eyebrows and eyelids, and a kid-friendlier smile with a black mouth and a pink tongue. The character was retained after the streamlining of the characters in the 1980s, and soon details of Grimace's background and family life began to emerge. The character's Uncle O'Grimacey first appeared in 1978 (see below) and would visit only one month per year, around St. Patrick's Day, bringing Shamrock Shakes. Additional family were revealed in a McDonaldland VHS tape The Legend of Grimace Island: Grimace had an unnamed mom, an unnamed dad, a grandma named "Winky", a great-great grandma named Jenny Grimace, and might have had a brother named "King John Bailey", who was the king of all Grimaces. In "Grimace's Odyssey", Grimace was portrayed as a ham radio enthusiast who used a homemade transmitter made from a colander. Grimace was played by Patti Saunders (1971–1984) and voiced by Frank Welker in the commercials, Larry Moran in some commercials, and by Kevin Michael Richardson in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald.

Grimace's Odyssey by Robert Fagles

GRIMACE by john gardner

and might have had a brother named "King John Bailey", who was the king of all Grimaces.

how is this uncertain?

it was written, but it may not be grimace canon?

did someone whisper it on his deathbed?

Seriously the Epic of Grimace y'all let's do this

wiki.epicofgrimace.org

Grimace Apocrypha imo

re: King John Bailey

Four-armed Grimace -- images I wasn't expecting to see today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/zatara2000/grimaceevil.jpg

Grimace of Thrones

No way this is canon.

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

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/4261495296/hE5FB5584/

Same McDonalds, different topic. I've noticed fast food chains coming to grips with the fact that people are drinking less soda now, and offering combos that don't include drinks. Saw a McD's commercial last night for the first time for a new thing -- 2 Big Macs, 20-pc nuggets and 4 small fries for $11.

Whereas, in the 1990s, you'd add a bucket of Coke and that would be the Super Size meal for one person.

What's amazing is that McDonald's has made lots of effort to add healthy options or otherwise improve its food, and it's still pretty shitty and bad for you.

in the tradition of foods labeled "all natural"

I ate hot and spicy mcchicken sandwiches yesterday. they were glorious.

The art in that Grimace video looks like the Wild Thornberries cartoon.

2 Big Macs, 20-pc nuggets and 4 small fries for $11.

for one person

I like their Premium Chicken McWraps.

i fuck with:

-egg mcmuffin
-soft serve/mcflurry
-and once in a while i will get mcnuggets even though i know better

the bacon habanero ranch burger is pretty good

can't remember the last time i mcd'd, but one big mac + one qpw/ch was my usual

The tradition of whiling one's time away at a restaurant or cafe is one that is sadly missing in America

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/nyregion/fighting-a-mcdonalds-for-the-right-to-sit-and-sit-and-sit.html?_r=0

― 龜, Thursday, 28 August 2014 12:14 (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

911
They called 911
How the hell do you not get arrested for calling 911 about some dudes sitting in McDs

Saw a McD's commercial last night for the first time for a new thing -- 2 Big Macs, 20-pc nuggets and 4 small fries for $11.

I sat down and thought about who they're marketing this to... must be a four-person nuclear family? Mom and dad each get 1 x Big Mac, 1 x Small Fries, and 4 x nuggets. The two kids each get 6 x nuggets and 1 x small fries.

Does this seem right? Presumably the number of fry portions is a key to how many people it's supposed to feed?

It's good marketing. They can claim it's for four people, but hope (and realistically expect) that people will buy it for 3 or even 2. Covers the loss of soft drink sales, which I believe is the most profitable thing on the menu.

i had four mcnuggets minutes ago, so

I only eat McDonalds roughly once every four to six months, so when I do I make sure to stuff my face. I often get 1 Big Mac, 6 Nuggets, and the medium fries or whatever comes with the combo. This is MORE THAN ENOUGH. I couldn't imagine eating a Big Mac, ten nuggets, and any amount of fries.

I usually get a salad and cookies - they don't have much for me. The architecture is nice - I totally respect that. It works well as an afternoon cafe. Sold on Burger King because they have veggie burgers & you can get vanilla ginger ale! I brake for egg mc anything but Dunkin donuts is king of my heart for egg breakfast whatever.

My favorite thing about McD's are the old Skool and rock and roll McD's, where you can sit down with!! a laptop, a coffee, and OLDIeS

There is a southwest veggie signature wrap now... Has McDonalds succeeded in producing their first edible vegetarian item?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AZtfmz02c-k/S0bFwQaMYOI/AAAAAAAAALU/JCtSm6qZ-00/s400/ghamiltoniii850.jpg

Not sure, didn't see it at my local, but I'm half blind and can barely read the menu.

I read that in Egypt the McD has felafel! Kind of dumb that I'd be envious when you can get a monster pita / hummus dinner here for five bucks.

I read an interview with an elderly homeless guy who never eats mcdonalds food because he says it doesn't decompose. like, he'll see the same half eaten big mac in otherwise pristine shape week after week in some alley.

It's true, when I was 16 or 17 I put some McNuggets in the back of the car for weeks or months and there was no perceptible change to their outward appearance.

I just came back from McDonalds just now, this thread got to me. First I went to one that was close to the place I was at having pints. It's a tiny L-shaped McDonalds because it's in a very dense neighbourhood. You have to walk past the bathrooms on your way in, and this McDonalds is at the intersection of two bus route so lots of people are using those bathrooms.. So I was put off. There were people sleeping, other people just sitting there with laden shopping bags and that lost, vaguely medicated look on their faces. I left without ordering.

I walked up the street, halfheartedly thinking of getting something at a locally-owned place. I didn't. Kept walking to the next McDonalds. I got 2 x Bacon Ranch Jr Chicken, 1 x McDouble w/ bacon, and 1 x Small Fries for 8.45 CAD. Honestly why would someone play over 5.00 CAD just for a Big Mac when a a McDouble is 1.99? Seems like some sort of false consciousness that keeps people ordering from the expensive menu. Doesn't make sense for such a price difference.

As I was leaving I tripped on a huge rock and scuffed the palms of my hands. My watch flew off and my knee is probably bleeding. The McDonalds bag tore open and all the food nearly fell out. As I was getting up, an old man walked serenely past me.

It took me about 90 seconds to eat all the food. It was very salty and I actually think I liked the chicken more than the burger.

http://oldesthamburger.blogspot.com/

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/quiz/918000/918505_1345752440962_400_300.jpg

reminded me of this from genderfuck thread:

i also did not know the legendary interplay designer/programmer 'burger' was trans

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134614/the_burger_speaks_an_interview_.php?print=1

I've been holding off on this question for awhile, but I have to know. How'd you get to be called "Burger"?

RH: Remember when I told you I was flat broke? When we founded Interplay, we didn't pay ourselves much. We were starving. When I was at Boone Corporation, I was being paid twelve thousand a year. Slave wages. I was a kid; I didn't know any better. My entire life was get up, go to work, work until I'm too tired, sleep, repeat. Didn't have time for cooking, and I didn't have any money.

There was a place called Hamburger Stand. They sold 29 cent hamburgers. Since I spent most of my time at the office, I didn't want to walk over, buy a burger, and walk back.

So I'd buy a bag of twenty of them. Blow six bucks, get twenty burgers, go to my office, and put them in a drawer. I was too cheap to buy a refrigerator -- well, really too broke. Every so often I'd open the drawer and eat a burger.

I had an office mate who was a health food nut, constantly complaining about how I should eat right, exercise like he did. One day I was working all through the night. I didn't leave. It's the morning, and he comes in, sits across from me. I'm still working.

Around 3 p.m., I'm done. Burger time! I pull open the drawer, reach in, put the bag down, grab a burger, and start munching. Wasn't thinking anything about it. That's when my co-worker looks at me, looks back, looks at me -- and it dawns on him that the bag has been there for who knows how long. Those burgers are pretty firm.

He just loses it. He jumps up, his chair goes flying, he goes, "That burger is insane! That burger is insane!" He runs out. I'm sitting there like, "What's with him? Whatever." Then later Brian Fargo comes in and asks what I did to him. I didn't do anything. What's going on? My co-worker had gone to the restroom and tossed his cookies. That's how disgusted he was.

So then, the rumor started. "Did you eat any burgers lately?" So they started calling me Burger. I played along. "Okay, I'll get a burger. I'll eat a burger." Later on, unbeknownst to anybody, I had an issue with the name I was given at birth. So I would rather be called Burger than by that birth name. "Just call me burger." For the next twenty years, that was my name. Everybody called me Burger. Now my name is Becky. I finally shed the name Burger.

― thomp, Thursday, 14 June 2012 13:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

I wonder why some things on the McDonalds menu have "Mc" or "Mac" in the name, but some things don't.

Not.

I wonder why...

I'd guess with any question involving marketing by McD's, the answer involves focus groups.

Anyway it's better than most of the food around me in China so yes here, edible.

The icy saccharine glop which appears on the McDonalds menu as a "shake" is the worst kind of indigestible gut-bomb. But McDonalds is not alone. A similar horror is replicated at most fast food burger places.

The "Mc____" seems to be an old idea they are phasing out. mcmuffins, mcnuggets, mcchicken, mcdouble and mcrib are all products they've had for a while. The only newer one is "mccafe" for their coffee line, and that's not a specific item on the menu.

The Filet o' Fish has been around for 55 years or so, much older than the McRib ...

I read years ago that McDonald's shakes were called that because they did not have enough dairy in them to qualify as "milkshakes." But I think that has been remedied. I think they've made some other changes in recent years to keep up with fast casual, et al., like going cage free eggs and cooking them all to order.

Anyway it's better than most of the food around me in China

1. You have no idea where I am in China and what the culinary selections here may be. I have lived other places in China where the food was much better, here not so much.
2. Yes. Sorry, I mean no.

mcmuffins, mcnuggets, mcchicken, mcdouble and mcrib are all products they've had for a while.

The Filet o' Fish has been around for 55 years or so,

Filet o' Fish has four syllables. Adding a 'Mc' syllable would just be unwieldy. So maybe 'Mc' actually only applies to older items with names of two or less syllables.

One of the very few things that makes me believe in an out of touch urban elite is when I see people acting like McDonald’s and its ilk are utterly inedible garbage that’s unfit for canine consumption. No, it’s not great, but it’s almost always acceptably fine.

One of the very few things that makes me believe in an out of touch urban elite is when I see people acting like McDonald’s and its ilk are utterly inedible garbage that’s unfit for canine consumption. No, it’s not great, but it’s almost always acceptably fine.

It's not out of touch or elite to believe that McDonald's industrial food is nearly always inferior to local/non-chain options from both a taste and health standpoint.

back before i went vegan there was a period where i was seriously addicted to fast food, and McDonald's definitely has a je ne sais quoi that feels like it's going to give your guts chemical burns, beyond just the grease and salt

I can't think of the last time I bought a traditional sandwich or similar at McDonald's. The only two things I get there are the Shamrock Shake once a year, and if I'm stuck in an airport early I'll get a sausage and egg muffin (which could be worse). I don't have a problem with fast food, per se, but there are better local alternatives to McDonald's, like Culver's, or Five Guys. I have gotten really snobby about fries, though, and given there are several places around here where I can get fries cut and made to order, I can't stand the flash frozen fries McDonald's serves (knowing full well that a lot of people specifically love their fries, for some reason).

And while it's clearly baby steps, fast food chains (like box stores like Walmart) do have the ability to immediately change trends with a change in practices. For example, again, McDonald's going with all cage-free eggs forced their suppliers to go cage-free to fulfill demand. Burger King offering the Impossible Burger lead to more restaurants adding a meat alternative burger. Popeye's ultra successful chicken sandwich roll-out pressured Chik Fil A to stop donating to that homophobic charity a couple of weeks ago. And so on.

I seriously don’t think i’ve been in a McDonalds once in past 30 years other than to use the toilet

Fun fact: their toilets are very clean. When on road trips and the kids need to use the bathroom (certainly when they were younger) my wife knows she can always count on McDonald's for a clean toilet because they have a pretty strict potty policy. The McDonald's UK site lists it as such:

"How do you keep your toilets clean?

We have a dedicated team of trained customer care staff who check and clean the toilets every 30 minutes throughout the day and every 15 minutes during busy periods. The management team also complete checks every 30 minutes. The toilets are cleaned daily and additionally when necessary during opening hours."

i do feel like there's something fundamentally elitist in a lot of anti-mcdonalds sentiment. first off blaming people for eating mcdonalds, which is extremely cheap, extremely convenient food that - and this is also important - kids fucking love. something's got to give, and what gives is healthy nutrition. knowing what we know about the long-term effects of poor nutrition, mcdonalds' basic business model may well be morally questionable - but that's different from "how can you eat that crap". i've been taught that it tastes bad and i accept that, but kids, they know better.

i don't blame people for eating mcdonalds but i do blame companies like mcdonalds for predatory business models

crut and rush both otm

I like McDonalds. I eat there in Paris not infrequently because it’s fast and they have lots of seating. It’s not that cheap though, probably because the laws / the people demand slightly better quality than I remember from the USA.

I never feel more warmly about McDonald's than I do in Europe, where it's an oasis of free bathrooms and cheap coffee.

for the past 15 years or so, i've only ordered one item: the filet of fish combo meal. it's not great, but it's a reliable quick meal for quick pitstops on highway journeys.

should be renamed Filet McFish though

a Filet is the one McD item i get a regular craving for. don't eat there very often tho cos they're not geographically convenient for me and i don't like eating in there on my own

Popeye's ultra successful chicken sandwich roll-out pressured Chik Fil A to stop donating to that homophobic charity a couple of weeks ago.

Chik-fil-A walked that back pretty quickly.

what did they say?

once you make your brand political there's no easy way to extricate yourself, and it's not surprising they'd be scared at the prospect of a mass boycott by trumpworld

at this point they have of course forfeited the prospect of ever having people who prioritize queer rights eating there; at least now we have popeye's to cudgel the "but it's so delicious" people with

ultimately i have to face the prospect that i may just have to stop talking to some people altogether because that fucking chicken sandwich is more important to them than i am. well, i'm prepared to do it, at least.

Yeah, it really couldn't be any easier to avoid one of many fast food chicken sandwiches. Avoiding Chick-fil-A's a no-brainer.

not eating meat should be a no-brainer too :o)

btw doesn’t Popeyes still run those “Annie the chicken queen” commercials? doesn’t seem much more woke to eat there vs. chik fil a

Lol @ kids having better taste than adults. They also love play doh and boogers.

@Josh: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pa75xg/chick-fil-a-cuts-donations-salvation-army-lgbtq

"No organization will be excluded from future consideration–faith-based or non-faith-based," Chick-fil-A President and COO Tim Tassopoulos said in a statement to VICE.

So while they are (possibly) stopping donations to hate groups next year, they're also not ruling out donating to them in the future.

"cage-free" is a total sham, fwiw. they are still industrialized products that do not roam around and are fed a diet of antibiotics
xpost to JiC

Cage free is a step below free range which is several steps below pasture-raised

Baby steps, imo.

xpost Meat free should be a no brainer, but not smoking and drinking is an even bigger no brainer than all of those things, and good luck finding much support on that front on this board, lol.

https://img-huffingtonpost-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w820/s/img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/58056210170000c316acc8b1.jpeg

2 things: 1. flash frozen food is a wonderful achievement. 2. Five Guys fries are shit.

As Dave Chang has said, you are buying into performance when you think fresh fries taste better. That's why every place that does it makes a visual show of it. To compensate for the worse flavor and texture.

Another thing about McDonald’s is they have indoor playgrounds and where I live it’s cold for half the year. I don’t feel great about it but those cold January days where I’m on my own with the two of em it’s really quite nice to have around

I like McDonalds. I eat there in Paris

If I were planning on eating regularly at a McDonalds, I think I would prefer to do so in France over any other nation. The French hold food in high esteem and demand higher standards than most other countries. Even the McDonalds corporation would have to conform to the French idea of edible food or perish.

they use a copper ring lined with tin for the egg mcmuffin

and 3x the butter in everything

I had some bespoke duck fat fries last night, and no way were they inferior to flash frozen fast food fries.

3x the butter

I seriously doubt that McDonalds in the USA uses any real butter for anything.

not smoking and drinking is an even bigger no brainer than all of those things, and good luck finding much support on that front on this board, lol.

not sure there’s a huge pro-tobacco lobby on this board in 2019

I correct myself. McDonalds began to use butter late in 2015, after a mere 75 years of operation.

"2 things: 1. flash frozen food is a wonderful achievement. 2. Five Guys fries are shit.

― $1,000,000 or 1 bag of honeycrisp apples (Sufjan Grafton)"

my problem with five guys, beyond the fact that everything on their menu has approximately five billion calories, is the complete lack of consistency for their food. again, we rep for artisanal bespoke everything and excoriate assembly-line processed food but mcdonalds is very good at delivering consistent quality. whereas five guys, you tell them what you want on your hamburger and half the time they fuck it up. i don't blame the employees for that, it's just obvious to me that mcdonalds' food delivery processes are superior to five guys'. this also matters with for instance chipotle where they advertise "natural" food and then have foodborne illness scares every year or so. i like their burritos but i'm disinclined to risk it. (though at the same time i have stopped eating at places that are too chickenshit to take a risk on alfalfa sprouts, simply because i don't like the implicit double standard there)

"Lol @ kids having better taste than adults. They also love play doh and boogers.

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger)"

i will also rep for play-doh and boogers. again they're taboo so we don't eat them but let's not pretend either of those things taste bad.

"not eating meat should be a no-brainer too :o)

― 💠 (crüt)"

so here's where we acknowledge that everybody has different standards and for some people not buying from amazon and/or not eating meat is so obvious it's not even something they'd consider. i don't even think it's wrong for people to value a chicken sandwich more than they value me, probably there are people who I value less than a good chicken sandwich in practice, and those people would be well advised to not consider me a friend.

duck fat is the only good part of bespoke duck fat fries. Worth reading the history of the lawsuit that changed mcdonalds fries from beef fat if you haven't already. Place has some good stories.

I think the quarter pounders got way better once they switched to fresh beef a couple years ago. They’re yummy now imo.

Like I said, baby steps.

I really miss the beef-fat cooked fries.

i do wish Chick Fil A could just get out of the politically-tinged charitable giving game altogether because nowadays it's basically the only fast food I eat, not because the other stuff tastes bad so much as it often makes me feel like shit afterwards. I can manage CFA without feeling like a beached whale when it's finished.

I've only had it once, when I was stuck in the Philly airport for 5 hours years ago and figured what the hell. It was an ok chicken sandwich - they're all kind of the same - but certainly not good enough to want again, not least because the Popeye's sandwich (which I finally had) was at least as OK, but to my memory a lot better.

It helps that I live in a place with plenty of great hot dog/hamburger/etc stands/spots (yes, with excellent fresh-cut fries), so I have no real reason to go to fast food places. You want some local color, here's the guy down the street's response to Popeye's (and CFA):

Public Service Announcement! pic.twitter.com/uzEnBZbAKh

— Big Guys Sausages (@BigGuysSausages) November 13, 2019

I wonder what you think flash freezing does to the fries that is so bad? (outside of allowing for vastly improved made to order fries)

Nothing, I don't think, except that's what most fast food places do and I don't like most fast food fries very much.

could the root of it all be temperance? you don't want to enjoy your fries too much?

not because the other stuff tastes bad so much as it often makes me feel like shit afterwards.

Elitist. A true man of the people would eat McDonalds and tell your gut to shut up.

mcdonalds never really gives me the shits but it does make me feel like shit during the post-prandial dip

filet o fish is my jam

https://media1.tenor.com/images/f89d84ee257503022e78b604bf2e5acb/tenor.gif?itemid=7656662

Funny how I can be elitist for thinking McD's is crap but the ppl eating it on the reg in their car that I can't afford or their huge home I can't afford aren't.

In 'n' Out has it both ways (so to speak), as elitist (we're better than every other burger) *and* populist (everyone goes to In 'n' Out).

In 'n' Out is only "pretty good"

Their fries which are fresh, suck.

Funny how one can be elitist for thinking McD's is crap, but if you brown bag your lunch and it's mainly nutritious items like vegetables and fruit, some people think that is elitist, too, even though McD's is spendier.

For awhile, animal-style saved their fries for me but then they kept fucking that up too (cheese was never melted). Haven't been there in a few years, there's too many other better burger options.

Funny how I can be elitist for thinking McD's is crap but the ppl eating it on the reg in their car that I can't afford or their huge home I can't afford aren't.

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Monday, December 2, 2019 2:05 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

It's not my fault you spent your paycheck on avocado toast, bro.

avocado toasts jokes are sooooooooo 2017

who the fuck cares what other people eat

but lol at trying to clown on someone for spending $$ on healthy tasty food at the expense of shit you truly don't need like a humongous home and SUV

It's almost like elitism is not entirely correlated with how much things cost.

it's almost like ppl overuse the term when snobbery would work better

Eating at McDonald's has become immensely more pleasant since they introduced the screens for you to enter and pay for your order and the bringing of your meal to your table. Those changes have made it far more likely that I will eat there than it was before.

not because the other stuff tastes bad so much as it often makes me feel like shit afterwards.

Elitist. A true man of the people would eat McDonalds and tell your gut to shut up.

― Mazzy Tsar (PBKR)

perhaps having the predilection for linking cause and effect _is_ elitist!

folks,

since they introduced the screens for you to enter and pay for your order

I know a lot of left-leaning people who are incensed by the job-killing march of automation.

I also know a lot of antisocial and/or misanthropic introverts who hate talking to people and love automated kiosks/self-checkout options.

When it gets REALLY interesting is when they turn out to be the selfsame people.

TBH I sometimes include myself in this tricky overlap: I want people to have jobs, but I sometimes enjoy not talking to them

i don't want people to have jobs at mcdonalds

filet-o-fish for life

i don't want people to have jobs at mcdonalds

So do you not want McDonald's to exist, or do you want it to exist but not have human workers? Honest question.

it's kinda dumb zero sum game thinking, the idea that the kiosks automatically equate to lost jobs. so far, all of the reports have shown otherwise, that companies have had to increase their staff as the automation has led to more orders coming in.

the idea that you're saving someone's job by going to the cashier is horseshit - greedy multinational corporations like McDonald's will cut labor whenever they can, kiosk or no kiosk. what isn't horseshit is that McDonald's is still underpaying their employees and deliberately underscheduling them, preferring to have a larger staff that works 15-20 hours a week rather than full-timers.

IIRC it's mainly mobile/delivery orders driving things up? To the extent that it's creating supply/labor problems

yeah, mostly because there's no control in place to manage the influx of orders. pre-online ordering, you could only get orders as fast as your staff could input them. now you can get slammed with a ton of online orders simultaneously, without warning. and Uber Eats/Postmates/etc orders as well.

the Popeyes near me, when the new sandwich was re-released, were basically obliterated - ran out of beverages many days because in addition to the insane walk-up and drive-thru traffic, there were tons of people placing Uber Eats orders and there were maybe five employees in the whole building.

I had occasion to talk with a regional manager for Macca’s the other week. He said the screens had driven a significant uptake in per transaction sales, people are less embarrassed with upsizing and adding on through the screen. That said 70% of sales are through the drive through window with delivery driving growth. UberEATS basically created a new category for them.

So do you not want McDonald's to exist, or do you want it to exist but not have human workers?

the latter. humans should mostly paint

sry to strike poses; obv utopia isn't coming soon. but it's coming sooner than the effects of automation under capitalism are gonna be alleviated by telling someone you want a big mac

The jobs that cant be automated - preparing the food and maintaining hygiene standards - still need to be done, only with the screens there are less staff to do them. When you don't use the screen, you're pulling a staff member away from a job that they need to complete. In effect it is adding extra work to their day, making it harder for them to leave on time. These companies aren't going to add staff, they're just going to command the existing limited pool of staff to work harder/faster. I don't like to see jobs and hours cut but for the workers on the frontline, my interruption of their tasks to do a job that can easily be done by a screen doesn't help them. I imagine its really frustrating having some boomer come up and harass you about menu options when you just want to finish refilling the McFlurry machine or whatever.

Good discussion

Thanking u all for the license to continue combining vaguely liberal pieties with antipathy for saying things to ppl

Believe me, I feel you. It's the same argument I have with myself over not doing more charitable work. I want to help people without having to actually be around people.

i'm not that averse to talking to people, but i also get tired of the 700th smug brag from libs that "I saved jobs today, I didn't use the self checkout like other assholes"

And, lo, the devil watched vigilantly over the thread as it wobbled at the precipice, waiting for just the right moment to nudge it into the morass of intractable clusterfuckdom.

Is that from The Crow?

Crow 2 iirc

let them eat it

iirc charities like help but they prefer money

i was today years old when i learned i was a charity

iirc charities like help but they prefer money

― they see me lollin' (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, December 3, 2019 11:51 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

for sure, and I do donate pretty widely, it just feels lazier to me.

i like help but i prefer rubber soul

The commercial otm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuTvQ8bhPVw

I can't tell you how revolutionary the Chicken McNuggets were in the early Reagan era for many of us who loathed burgers.q

OTM. Did they come before the Happy Meal or was it right around then?

After!

in the year 2525
Big Mac combo no longer comes with fries
Patties are smaller, condiments aren't free
They're delivered through your TV

In the year 3535
Your Filet of Fish has googly eyes
There's no bun, no random piece of cheese
And the fish might have contracted disease

hahahahaha

McNugget Trivia Corner:

According to McDonald's, the nuggets come in four shapes: the bell, the bow-tie, the ball and the boot. The reason for the four different shapes is to ensure consistent cooking times for food safety.[7][8] Four shapes were chosen because McDonalds states "The 4 shapes we make Chicken McNuggets in was the perfect equilibrium of dipability and fun. 3 would’ve been too few. 5 would’ve been, like, wacky."[9]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQzTR_FTBw0

I remember when McNuggets first came out. I pounced on those suckers like a cat on a mouse.

My wife and I were just discussing the old McDonald's styrofoam packaging, and how they were vaguely color-coded. (Especially the blue Filet O'Fish.)

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/12/10/1386691210212/Styrofoam.png?width=1010&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2043d173c31400872615968f75591569

yeah that was a classic design (which is clearly monstrously irresponsible, cough)

It really was. It was so satisfying popping that little styrofoam tab and lifting the lid to reveal your Big Mac!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTSdUOC8Kac

I remember 15 years ago they did this 20 nuggets for $2 special, which back then was like "can't afford not to". I know people who would get 2 and wolf 'em all down like it was nothing. fwiw I still think the nuggets are good. if you get them from say BK or Wendy's they're always super dried out and extra salty but the McNuggets are different, possibly because they don't really taste too much like chicken to me. but they're good. in fact I think McD's does chicken pretty well. don't like their burgers at all though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfH3yf-vf3A

fess up, who else did the menu song contest where they gave you a floppy record and you played it to see if you won? basically menu song had to be sung right in its entirety and if they fucked up the song on the record, you lost

the issue with the nuggets is that if you're going to eat them it really has to be immediately, they're inedible within like 10 minutes

xpost (hands up) Yo. Pretty sure I still have that floppy stuck between a couple old LPs somewhere.

xp yeah, nuggets that have been sitting for any length of time are basically

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/B6wAAOSwQLVcNmDd/s-l400.jpg

I don't know whether McDonald's did the flexidisc thing in the UK but I'd heard of this thing from a podcast last year: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/lost-notes/a-million-dollars-worth-of-plastic

McNugget Trivia Corner:

According to McDonald's, the nuggets come in four shapes: the bell, the bow-tie, the ball and the boot. The reason for the four different shapes is to ensure consistent cooking times for food safety.[7][8] Four shapes were chosen because McDonalds states "The 4 shapes we make Chicken McNuggets in was the perfect equilibrium of dipability and fun. 3 would’ve been too few. 5 would’ve been, like, wacky."[9]

― Typo Netagive (Old Lunch), Wednesday, December 4, 2019 2:38 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

And they have been polled!

Best McNugget Shape

Would that the system allow me to use that entire Wikipedia passage as my dn. Alas.

The Bell, The Bow-Tie, The Ball and The Candle

The Bell, The Bow-tie, and the Arm of the Lord

VP of McNugget Development: 'Okay, guys, let's get this sorted: how many different McNugget shapes are we going for here?'
Exec 1: 'Um...how about three?'
(general furor arises)
VP of McNugget Development: 'What the fuck...get out. You're fired, you piece of shit. That's far too few McNugget variations. You fuck. Anyone else?'
Exec 2: (sheepishly) 'Would...would five be sufficient?'
(sheer pandemonium rocks the boardroom)
VP of McNugget Development: 'ARE YOU HIGH? Who could even process that number of McNugget configurations?! Dear god!'
(exec 3's head literally explodes from attempting to process the number 5)
Exec 4: 'Sir, I know I'm taking a huge risk here, but...I'm going to have to say four.'
(order is restored)
VP of McNugget Development: (awed) 'Yes. Yes, of course. Four is...it's beautiful. Son, please come and take my seat, I'm retiring effective immediately.'

The Bell, The Bow-Tie, The Ball and The Candle
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 17:07 (five minutes ago) link

Coincidentally, the "The Tree And The Bird And The Fish And The Bell" Glasgow comp has songs "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?" and "Regret".

having real trouble deciding which display name to go with from that nugget trivia corner

Big "fuck it, we're doing five blades" energy.

In regards to the snippet I've chosen for my dn, I have to say they hit the nail right on the head. Dipping a McNugget is simplicity itself, and as for fun, well, I can't say I've ever enjoyed myself quite as much as when I sink a piping-hot McNugget into that tublet of viscous Sweet n' Sour Sauce. I weep when the moment has passed.

without humblebragging, i'm trying to remember when i last ate at a mcdonalds. it would have to have been over 25 years at this point. is it better than it was in the 80's?

am i hallucinating or did mcnuggets switch to almost being completely white meat awhile back?

forks, I fell off the wagon a few years back (and even then mostly only when traversing great expanses of Midwestern interstate) after a decade+ of abstention and can report that it tastes almost precisely as I remembered.

The only actively bad thing I ever had was a McSalad but then what the fuck was I even thinking ordering something with fresh + real ingredients at a McDonalds.

i lived on taco bell, wendys and little caesars for years in college; moving to a major city sorta makes eating at a mcdonalds seem like a particularly bad idea when you can get anonymous chinese food or fried chicken for the same price and it might actually be good

It's a godsend when you've just spent the last hour driving past hundreds of windmills and little else that's suggestive of human habitation.

for sure, i get that it has a place and that place is providing value priced fat/salt/sugar under duress

without humblebragging, i'm trying to remember when i last ate at a mcdonalds. it would have to have been over 25 years at this point. is it better than it was in the 80's?

I'm at 21 years this month: decided to deliberately go a year without entering one, and at the end of the year thought "well, maybe I'll go another, let's see." (I did eat a few fries from someone else's, and the pickle slices from a kid's cheeseburger, on two occasions in the early 2000s.)

Seattle institution Dick's* make burgers and fries that do taste like your memory of what McDonalds was like in the '80s, except actually good (and still at 1980s prices)

* their official slogan is not "Eat A Bag Of Dicks," but this doesn't stop people urging it on visitors

that menu song record promotion is really clever

I remember once taking a walk by the lighthouse as a kid and discovering a discarded Ronald McDonald and Pals tape which I took home and played. it was distorted and weird but kinda fascinating

anyone ever see those "Mac Tonight" commercials? before my time but they're pretty bizarre

Yes and "f u" for the "before my time" comment ;)

I haven't eaten at a mcdonalds prolly in 25 years either. The only people who would go to there during lunch in nyc usually lived in NJ or were fresh out of college. Fast food burgers and kidneys are the only foods that give me heartburn.

i had (and played and lost!) the mcdonald flexidisc and this guy is on my desk right now

http://i.imgur.com/ANouhVK.jpg

Xxpost I actually didn't realize it was a parody of Mac the Knife, so one day my dad played the Darin version and I said OMG MCDONALD'S

this gets progressively stranger, if you can imagine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrIg18Uby4E

Mac Tonight was appropriated by the alt-right a few years back. Not sure if that still applies.

Goddammit

ADL:

In the 2000s, internet users began to create GIFs and videos of Mac Tonight, which they called “Moon Man,” typically coupled with violent or racist rap songs using computer-generated voices. By 2015, the Moon Man meme spread to other forums such as 4chan and 8chan, where it became associated with alt right language and imagery, including explicit white supremacist imagery. For a time, hundreds of offensive “Moon Man” songs existed online. Since then it has joined Pepe the Frog and assorted other images in the pantheon of favored alt right graphics.

However, because of the Moon Man’s mundane and non-racist origins, as well as the fact that Mac Tonight imagery is still also used by people who are not white supremacists, care must be taken to judge a Moon Man image only in context before determining its association with white supremacy. A version of the meme that contains no racist or white supremacist elements should not be automatically construed to have such a meaning.

Speaking of appropriation (thanks again, alt right, for ruining everything): I'm willing to bet that there are at least a few itt who aren't aware that the popular McDonaldland characters began their existence as insanely blatant rip-offs of various Sid & Marty Krofft characters and were, after the Kroffts sued, substantially altered from their original forms.

the alt-right appropriation does sound vaguely familiar now that I think about it. I just associate Moonman with Saint Pepsi

lol, i had no idea about maga tonight, what a world what a world
i guess i gotta take that thing off my desk now

don't give them the satisfaction. I doubt it's still a meme.

Couldn't the Nazis have adopted Hamburglar instead?

He's white, hides his face with a mask, wears a fedora, and commits petty crimes but avoids jail due to his powerful connections.

https://miro.medium.com/max/1046/1*Acj2nvt3pD3rFdLjBGoyKw.png

Grimace! How could you?

Weirdest Mac Tonight trivia? All these characters played by the same guy:

https://i.imgur.com/5rXknDW.png

lol that mac tonight's performance helped win a best picture oscar; didn't know!

age has not been kind to him

Lungeria

Got handed this gigantic McDonald’s cone and as I walked away I heard the guy’s manager go up to him and be like “that cone was too big” pic.twitter.com/pYKAFU467H

— s (@emptynsters) September 15, 2023

"All that sugar and fat can't be good for someone. Oh wait I work in McDonald's and don't care."

To answer the question in the OP:

• fries - engineered to perfection
• apple pie - good but over-rated
• McNuggets - great until Jamie Oliver caused McDonald's to start making them with only white meat. Now they taste like cotton wool. At least in the UK they're now sold with TWO sauces for a nine piece box, primarily I think to make up for the nugget's lack of flavour.

I've never eaten a Big Mac.

its honestly not worth doing it now, i had my one-every-six-months one this afternoon as i was on the road pressed for time and while not awful it was not like eating anything at all

fries were fine tbf

a big mac can be good if the planets align and you get that 1 in 1000 that tastes like it should.

i eat fast food occasionally and it actually does feel a little dangerous now. the ingredients have gotten so cheap and the restaurants themselves so sloppy and bleak. more and more they resemble bus station bathrooms and the people inside look more and more like they are waiting to see their oncologist. (i don't do drive-thru for some weird reason and thus i actually get to see inside of fast food places. let me tell you: it ain't pretty.)

xp should have gone to Supermacs

The prices these days are about double what i expect

I did eat Quarter Pounders in high school.

Does Starbucks count as fast food? It does, no? I did eat one of their egg sandwiches on a road trip a few years ago.

Big Macs are pretty pointless now that everybody else is offering double-meat burgers (and beyond) that don't have an unnecessary third bun.

I've realised the reason I find big macs inedible and quarter pounders edible is the famous mcdonalds burger sauce, which is on the former but not the latter.

i had a quarter pounder for the first time ever last year and it was so salty i thought i was going to die.

i had my kid get me a big icy coffee drink at dunkin donuts last year and even though he didn't ask for sugar it was the single sweetest thing i have ever attempted to drink. i threw it away.

this country is so junk sick. its nuts that its legal.

Sodium-sick too. That Starbucks egg sandwich tasted like a salt lick. I was chugging water for hours.

Gotta say I had forgotten about McD apple pie. Wonder if it still holds up

We really don't have fruit pies in this country like I feel the US does. It's painful.

They have the m&m mcflurry in Portugal but not in the UK. Clearly more evidence of the EU's vindictive attempts to punish our great nation.

not wrong about supermacs but not sure where wouldve been on the way

i would call Starbucks fast casual

but i have never eaten food at a Starbucks. iirc it's like they have a cooler full of salads and sandwiches? was the egg sandwich cold or microwaved?

Warmed, yeah. They stick'em in the oven.

The salads and cheese plates looked cool.

i miss the scalding hot mcdonalds apple pies that weren't open like the ones now are. they didn't have those openings/slits on top. they were better to me. oh wait they were fried. that's why they were better. but they changed them because mcdonalds CARES ABOUT YOUR HEALTH.

Beware the infernal inside of a recently cooked apple pie

wow, they changed the pies in 1992. how times flies. whole generations since then haven't known what they were missing. they were way better, later generations!

and you never got to have the fries when they were fried in beef tallow. they were way better too, later generations!

After a few hours of drinking on an empty stomach, a quarter pounder with cheese and extra pickles really hits the spot

they should have an age limit to eat at mcdonalds. you can't be over 30. young bodies can take a lot of crap.

In the UK at least, I think a lot of McDonalds' business now comes from their breakfast menu and that's contributed to the decline of the classic greasy spoon cafe - possibly the only places offering even less healthy eating than a McDs.

Salt on a McDonald's burger is added by the cook. Always possible to get a one off bad one. But, yeah, it isn't a healthy sandwich. The beef tallow lawsuit is an extreme example of complaining about mcdonald's while refusing to eat anything but mcdonald's.

I do like the Sausage McMuffin, but the hash browns might as well be a popsicle made from pure cholesterol.

The prices these days are about double what i expect

― calstars, Sunday, September 17, 2023 9:32 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

McDonalds actually hasn't been too bad compared to other fast food places. last time I went to Taco Bell it was like $13 for 3 things. I think I spent nearly $15 for a footlong at Subway recently. but at McDonalds you can still get 2 McChickens for 3 bucks which is a good deal. also the only thing I actually like there

Del Taco is a good value.

Taco Bell, is so expensive these days, but I remember the .59/.79/.99 era thirty years ago when they catered to college kids

"I do like the Sausage McMuffin"

sausage-egg-cheese mcmuffin the only thing that i still like the taste of at mcdonalds and its the only thing that doesn't make me regret every life choice and feel like death. maybe they make those at a different place.

I agree but I don't care for the egg part, and sausage-only is not a standard menu item

the mcmuffin was invented at a nearby mcdonald's. They display the original metal egg ring in a glass case like a holy relic.

but not the original mcmuffin?

That's still sitting in someone's stomach.

xps Try getting the app. Whenever I watch over my cousins, maybe half of the time I end up getting them Wendy's, so to make things easier, I got their app, and it's crazy how much free stuff and discounts are always available. I'm sure the other fast food apps are like that.

sausage-egg-cheese mcmuffin

These must be different in the US because the ones I've had in England are awful. Meat that is simultanously burnt and underdone. Egg that is rubber. Melted plastic for cheese. Drywall for a muffin.

Funnily enough, that is middle America's stereotype of English cuisine in general.

I can eat McDonald's food, but not in a McDonald's.

The change they made in their frying oil - 10 or 15 or 20 years ago? I don't fuckin know - irrevocably changed the smell of the restaurant and I can't abide being in there for more than a few minutes.

They can still serve an edible sandwich, tho

one thing about McDonalds is it's one of the only places around with an indoor playground which is important given how cold it is here most of the year. so if you have kids it's kind of a godsend, as guilty as I feel about taking them there.

i am in a McDonald's right now, you are all to blame (no Howard Jones)

i respect only the quarter pounder with cheese and the crispy chicken sandwich (now called the 'McCrispy' apparently)

the fries were terrible today , like they came out of someone's ass

We will not speak of the McRib.

I ordered one once purely due to the hype and could not believe how disgusting it was, I tapped out after two small bites

You guys are brave.

McRibs are terrible. I can't even eat the tv dinner version of a mcrib. it's like eating out a cow

It's bizarre. A piece of compressed meat that actually has the shape of rib bones in it. There are no bones.

Also, a truly remarkable bit of condescending 80s advertisement aimed at African Americans.

I loved the mcrib last time I ate it, more than 30 years ago. I've eaten actual ribs since then so probably not going back, if they start selling it in the UK.

the wrap of the day is £2 which makes it the best value food in London, unless you eat cold sandwiches from tesco, and I don't count those as food.

calling them sandwiches eesh idk

yeah tbh they should be called "meatglobs"

something, anything

I've never eaten a McRib but as a kid I used to really like these Dalepak brand Ribsteaks, which are neither rib nor steak but seem to match the general description of the meat in a McRib. But, you know, I was ten.

I still have to appreciate that decades later, despite other fast food chains having nuggets that actual resemble chicken nuggets and have some semblance of texture, McDonald's still serves their waxy-looking hard-shelled monstrosity.

and that I'm sometimes even in the mood for them.

Teenage Andy worked at McDonald's during the McDLT era - the 'hot side hot, cool side cool' burger which employed an enormous styrofoam box in order to achieve this separation

I'm convinced the Great Pacific garbage patch is mostly 35 year old McDLT boxes, with a few Big Breakfast platters in there as well

i remember the first time i bought some mcnuggets and wrecklessly ate one without dipping it into a sauce (i'm a bbq person) and it tasted like...nothing. absolutely nothing. i couldn't believe it. it only exists to be put in sauce. its a scientific marvel.

I do wonder why more fast food places haven't done the plant-based meat substitutes like the Impossible Whopper yet. I don't know if that stuff will ever be able to replicate a good steak or homemade burger but the shit you get at places like McDonalds you absolutely could mock up. I mean it's barely recognizeable as meat in the first place.

I tried a mcplant and it was awful mush, like a 1990s beanburger or something

you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball) at 7:19 18 Sept 23

I've never eaten a McRib but as a kid I used to really like these Dalepak brand Ribsteaks, which are neither rib nor steak but seem to match the general description of the meat in a McRib. But, you know, I was ten

Impossible Whopper actually not bad

yeah I really don't think I could point it out in a taste test, McDonalds just did it wrong

I have had the impossible whopper. It was absurdly filling, while also somehow being surprisingly unsatisfactory as a comestible.

It does a good job of approximating meat texture, but failed to impart much flavor- while, as I said, making me feel way too full way too fast.

Personally we use the Morningstar crumblies for tacos and stir-fries and chili all the time, with no ill effect. But the Impossible stuff has not yet sparked joy for us.

The McDLT was the closest thing McDonald's ever had to an actual restaurant-style hamburger.

i tried an impossible whopper this summer. it was really greasy and the grossest thing i ate all year. If it wasn't so dang expensive i would have tossed it in the trash.

i also grilled my own impossible burger at my brother's house this summer and it was very nice. In fact i wolfed it down and made a second one straight away.

i also ordered a whopper without the burger (and probably without the mayo) 4 or 5 years ago and remember it being enjoyable.

Not sure where the problem is. Cooking the impossible burger on a charcoal grill probably helps a great deal.

Big Mac
McDLT
A quarter pounder
With some cheese

Filet of 'fish

uhh

I forget the rest of the words to the McDonald's Menu song

when I used to work at BK our "veggie Whopper" was literally just a Whopper without the meat. it was actually not bad!

Yeah, IME veggie whopper >>>> impossible whopper but i don't completely trust my own judgement because of the 4 year gap

Want to add that I had a big fountain Coca Cola with ice at the movies in January, first time i've had one in years. And it was the best thing i've ever tasted in my life.

Two all beef patties
Special sauce . . .

its all a moot point to me because we have a bunch of Culvers here and honestly why would you ever go anywhere else. funny thing is the one by my house is right across the street from a Hardees which no one ever goes to, while Culvers has a line nearly spilling into the street sometimes. its a real Krusty Krab/Chum Bucket situation

we have Culvers in FL too and I always wonder if our curds are compromised here

my new thing is mcdonalds pov. this one channel where (a guy who owns a mcdonalds franchise, i think?) shows us how the sausage is literally made. fascinating stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKWLu6UHryQ

the mcrib one is good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eQOHUuukrs

My mom will occasionally buy my nieces a Starbucks treat after school, but they've never stepped foot in a McDonald's or BK or indeed any classic fast food joint we grew up with. My godson the same. Their friends the same. Most don't even drink soda at parties. I wonder if a generation raised by bougie white or white-adjacent (aka Hispanic) will have grown up without these toxins.

xp You have to admire his craft.

oh geez those videos, if I’m in a McDonald’s I try hard to avert my eyes from the kitchen area, sort of like holding one’s breath while going through a tunnel. Scott Seward otm re oncology waiting room vibes

McRib has a sentimental spot in my heart because my wife and I went there for a quick lunch one day where she told me she was pregnant, and that's what I had (fall '87, 1st McRib rollout iirc). I always smile when it's reintroduced for a while, but not enough to have another one.

This ventures into "i don't even own a TV" territory, but the only thing I've ever eaten at a McDonalds was the fries and the last time I even set foot in a McDonalds was 1988.

the filet o fish is good. It isn't meat goo like their nuggets and mcrib.

McGoo

'twas my first job, and by far the worst in every way

I don't know how it is now, but McD's back then was "We Do it Our Way".... i.e. if you ask to 'hold the pickles' or 'no onions', you'll be punished with a wait
Better just to remove the pickles yourself

My last McD visit was in Barcelona a few years back - my GF needed to use the bathroom, so I ordered a draft beer which seemed very novel

never eat this shit

xxp Mine was Burger King. It was awful. The worst was having to set up the broiler in the morning. We soaked it in a lye tank overnight to get the grease off. What a filthy, dangerous job.

The upside of doing the morning shift was getting off at 2:00 pm.

Yeah, I did breakfast shift a lot, mostly in the drive-thru... I got horrible acne from frying those little hashbrowns, I can't stand the smell of a McD anymore

McDonald's in the Philippines fucking rules btw.

I didn't even have a burger there once. They have fucking fried chicken, with a special gravy that you could dispense at the condiment station.

And white rice as a side

mine was BK too. luckily I have "people skills" so I got to do register and drive thru a lot. making the food wasn't too bad either. kinda fun sometimes in fact. on the other hand all the maintenance jobs fucking sucked. and yes there is a very specific smell to it, I feel it whenever I go into one or encounter a teenager who works at a fast food place and hasn't changed shirts yet. which is funny because when I was working there I couldn't really detect it after a month. my Mom definitely could though she complained about it constantly

should also mention I worked harder at that job than any other job I ever had. for $5.25 an hour lmao

I had a coworker who crammed his uniform shirt into a mayonnaise jar after work, to make sure it was extra wrinkled and gross when he clocked in the next day

Mostly never eat McDs but the one thing I will stan for are their breakfast burritos when on long trips. Just something about hot salty egg and sausage wraps with crappy hot sauce when heading out on a long drive or waiting to catch a plane. They even have a semblance of vegetables in them! I recall someone saying breakfast was the only thing worth eating at McDs because your body has all day to burn off all the calories.

My fast food experience was Taco Bell which strangely was looked at as favorable experience when I applied to the very whiteppl "Mexican" restaurant in town after a summer working at the border (NB in rural upper Michigan.)

Mostly never eat McDs but the one thing I will stan for are their breakfast burritos when on long trips. Just something about hot salty egg and sausage wraps with crappy hot sauce when heading out on a long drive or waiting to catch a plane.

I'll remember this.

when I worked at McD, a buddy worked across the strip mall at Taco Bell, and we used to exchange our lunch break meals since we were so sick of the respective swill

Yeah we used to do food trades all the time at BK. Was fun to get Papa Johns and throw the banana pepper in the deep fryer because it would explode

As I recall, McDonalds food is on the low end of edible, but most of it qualified as something to eat. otoh, I do whatever is necessary to eat higher up the edibility scale and have succeeded in not eating at a McDonalds for decades, so my information may be outdated.

I also worked the closing shift at BK. There would usually be a ton of food left over. I'd have a second dinner of, like three Whopper Juniors and a couple large fries. Ah, youth.

I worked at an Arby's and have no idea how I didn't gain 70 pounds. it was a terrible location - you could only get to it easily from one side of the road, and if you were going the other way, it required a U-Turn at a really frustrating intersection, and there were much better options on either side.

so full staff was supposed to be 6, but we did such shit business, we ran it with 3. but we were told we needed to drop 2 chicken patties down every hour, and when that hour passed, it had to get tossed. it was stupid and wasteful - we had many hours where we didn't sell any.

so I'd go to the back and eat them rather than toss them...sometimes multiple times in a shift.

same here, I probably put down 15-20 chicken nuggets every shift, plus I'd always grab a Hershey pie on the way out. even the managers were like "who cares we get paid like shit". thank god for having a teeanged metabolism. well that and being on your feet for 8+ hours a shift.

lol this McDonald's just ran out of straws. people are revolting.

(yes I'm eating here again. sadly, it's the closest restaurant to dad's nursing home, so I come here twice as much as usual)

DQ had a policy of throwing away mistake orders, and it was followed under the threat of firing. However, they saved a mistake strawberry milkshake for me on my birthday.

maaaaan fuck that. 'let's waste food rather than putting it to good use'.

What was the mistake?

lol that was BK's policy too and only one person there gave a shit. it was really hard to get fired there unless you just never showed up. though I almost did for saying "welcome to McDonalds how bout a Big Mac?" as my intro line in the drive thru for an entire night

only thing I can think of is being afraid people will make mistakes on purpose, but even that is negligible. I do remember one night working at a mexican restaurant where one of the senior servers put in the order wrong three times for the same table, resulting in three sets of 'mistake' meals, and managers looked pretty pissed when they saw 8 servers pigging out mid-shift on three mistake meals lol

I know it used to be a thing for employees to call in fake pizza orders

I support all methods of stealing food

What was the mistake?

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, September 19, 2023 12:01 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

wrong size or flavor. You could also get in trouble for overserving. The owner's son would weigh your cones and throw them away if he felt you were being generous.

I'd routinely give people extra chicken nuggets. my 8-pieces were usually more like 10-12.

The owner's son would weigh your cones and throw them away if he felt you were being generous.

That guy can go to hell.

i'd steal his car keys and take owner's kid's car for a joyride and offer to bring it back 'if I'm feeling generous'

The owner's son would weigh your cones and throw them away if he felt you were being generous.

"Siri, what is a 'failson'?"

I had a Filet O' Fish meal today. I can report that McDonald's is, indeed, still edible.