McDonalds: Edible or Not

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.