McDonald's 2011–2012

[heidih]

My sister who goes to McD's maybe twice a year grabbed some when they were doing a shopping marathon with no time to stop (plus the 16 year old wanted McD). Later we passed a billboard and she told me that she was shocked to find she enjoyed them. She felt the flavor and texture were decent. Sounded like more meat than what I think the meat to batter ratio is in popcorn style chicken like KFC.

[Chris Hennes]

I just had these for lunch:

So first, as a note: these are more akin to "chicken tenders" than to "McNuggets" insofar as they are whole chunks of chicken, rather than a puree/mousse/croquette/whatever it is McNuggets are. If you ever had chicken tenders and thought "man, I wish there was less chicken and more fried stuff on these things," well, that's what McBites are. They are barely even "popcorn chicken" as many of the fragments are smaller than popcorn to the point where it's hard to believe there is actually chicken in them. They taste like... fried. It's not a flavor I object to, so I thought they were OK, but I like KFC's popcorn chicken substantially better.

As a side note the Habanero dipping sauce they have is basically spicy ranch dressing, but it is actually spicy (for American fast food, anyway). It's not burning hot, but it's hot enough to notice.

[kayb]

re: all day fast food breakfasts. Sonic serves breakfast all day, if you happen to be in Sonic territory.

[thelawnet]

The reason McDonalds can offer oatmeal all day long is that the oatmeal machine is not used for any other purpose. OTOH, they will not cook McMuffins at the same time as burgers as they share the griddle.... So no, no breakfast products beyond this.

[Toliver]

I had the McBites this weekend and was disappointed with them. They had no flavor, IMHO. At least with KFC's Popcorn Chicken, they use their secret recipe for the breading so they have a good flavor.

The McBites were McBland.

[Toliver]

I thought this was interesting:

"McDonald's new menu star: Limited time offers"

In the years ahead, McDonald's is expected to ramp up its pipeline of limited-time offers — which are available for only a few months at a time — to keep customers flocking to its restaurants.

It took them a while to learn a lesson from the McRib and the Shamrock Shakes.

The down side would be if they offer a limited-time menu item and the customers just don't care about it.

[Jane Randahl]

I try not to eat McDonald's, or any fast food for that matter, but I do remember moving to the west coast and being pleased by Jack In The Box as far as fast food goes. There is also the classic frustration for those who eat McDonald's as being rigid about when breakfast is no longer being served.

Strictly speaking I have never had McDonald's oatmeal, but I can imagine it's pretty difficult to mess up hot water and oats. I'm pretty positive they are going to LOAD it with sugar just like everything else on their breakfast menu, but that shouldn't make it taste bad.

It's also my theory that McDonald's stops serving breakfast to increase productivity. That is after all what made them who they are today. It's a lot easier to keep the assembly line rolling when there are a smaller number of ingredients being used.

Not sure if other fast food joints will follow suit, Jack is actually pretty unique as far as those types of restaurants go in my opinion.

And yep, those limited time offers will getcha.

[rotuts]

In case you missed it, the NYTimes had a long article on McD's in its Sunday magazine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/how-mcdonalds-came-back-bigger-than-ever.html?_r=1&ref=dining

[Jane Randahl]

That is an amazing article. It will be interesting to see whether or not McDonald's can adjust to the trend of people being more conscious about what they eat. i don't believe for a second that the company really cares about food from the earth or the small time farmer. Not for one sec on.

However, if they can pass all of the public scrutiny and offer food that isn't quite as horrible for you as possible, they may be able to keep gaining influence in the fast food market.

Let's face it, most people who are worried about eating healthy, organic food do not eat fast food much at all, and it would be a bit naive to think that you were doing your body a justice by consistently eating at McDonald's.

I guess in the end it's all about the money If the company can give the image of their food resembling real healthy food in any way, they may win a few votes.

[CaliPoutine]

One thing I really like from McDonald's is the ice cream cone. Its cheap( less than 1.00) and only has 150 calories. Its a nice treat when I'm craving something cold and sweet.

[Chris Hennes]

McDonald's soft serve really is amazing good, considering how not-awful-for-you it is. I vastly prefer it to Dairy Queen's, for example.

[CaliPoutine]

I also like the fruit and yogurt snack size parfait. Its 1.00. The one thing I dont like about it, is that when I get mine, the berries are often frozen. I recently found out that you can substitute that for the hashbrowns in a breakfast combo if you so desire.

[ChefJordan24]

The reason McDonalds can offer oatmeal all day long is that the oatmeal machine is not used for any other purpose. OTOH, they will not cook McMuffins at the same time as burgers as they share the griddle.... So no, no breakfast products beyond this.

Oatmeal machine sounds scarry!

[Toliver]

I tried the Frozen Strawberry Lemonade this weekend. It was little more than an expensive Slurpee. It looks like the Cherry Chiller is something similar.

The Strawberry Lemonade was a little less "airy" than a Slurpee, but a Slurpee nonetheless.

edited to clarify

Edited May 21, 2012 by Toliver (log)

[Darienne]

We drink McDonald's coffee on the road when we can't find a Starbucks. I 40 and I 70 are both sort of wastelands.

Still McDonald's coffee is much improved over the last couple of years.

[pennbrew]

The down side would be if they offer a limited-time menu item and the customers just don't care about it.

That would be the bratwurst about 10 years ago. Around here they were practically giving them away (2 for $1 I think) to get rid of them by the end.

Edited June 12, 2012 by pennbrew (log)

[Jason Perlow]

We drink McDonald's coffee on the road when we can't find a Starbucks. I 40 and I 70 are both sort of wastelands.

Still McDonald's coffee is much improved over the last couple of years.

If I have a choice I would much rather drink McDonald's coffee and not Starbucks or even Dunkin donuts for that matter. Starbucks just tastes burnt and Dunkin' Donuts varies greatly by location. I'm really impressed what McDonald's has done with the coffee service over the last couple of years and I'm actually quite impressed with the quality level that they've been able to maintain at many of the franchises.

[rotuts]

I had a coupon. So I thought Id have (2) BigMacs: Over All, OK. Needs a char. needs a tomato slice. Cheese needs to be melted. As i brought the second one home, I realized the bun wasn't meant to be'crispy' so why not microwave the whole shebang for 30 secs? Cheese got melted, and the whole thing was seriously improved when its piping hot.

as coupons are rare, wont be going back soon! they do really seem to slow one down. they have staying power.

[Toliver]

A lot of us are familiar with the McDonald's ketchup cup.

It's definitely not the ideal choice of container for dipping your french fries into.

But what if I told you the cup is magical...that it can be transformed into a nice dipping container?

The cup is pleated. All you have to do is gently pull the pleats out until you get a saucer/bowl shape.

I saw a similar photo posted on the internet and decided to reproduce the magic on my own.

Voila!

The tiny cup is now a veritable bowl of ketchup!

Who says you can't teach an old dog a new trick?

[Beebs]

McD's recently launched their new "Our Food. Your Questions" campaign, where consumers can ask any question about their food/company and McD's would answer them honestly on their website. There are some pretty interesting questions & answers - including ones about pink slime, myths & rumours, ingredient sourcing, and why not all McD locations offer poutine and lobster rolls. As far as marketing goes, this is a brilliant campaign, I think. I haven't eaten a McD meal in 7-8 yrs (ever since I watched "Super Size Me"), but I would certainly be more ok with eating a Big Mac & fries now.

I think this campaign is for McDonald's Canada only right now, so those eating at McD's elsewhere might still be left wondering what's in the Big Mac sauce...

[rotuts]

Ive taken a few hits for the team w McD coupons. the breakfast egg/sausage/cheeze McMuff is plenty good if you microwave it for 30 secs at home.

Ive tried a few of the chicken items and the buns were very very doughy and the bacon was oxidized and thin and awful (ie rancid)

[pastameshugana]

I'm not much of a Macca's fan here at home (US) - but the five mini-meshuganas love it so I bow.

OTOH - I travel quite a bit, and it seems inevitable that I'll run into a McD's in the countries I visit. Part of it is the people there wanting to make the poor, traveling American feel at home (despite my protests), and part of it is simple convenience. That being said, I've eaten McDonald's on every continent except Antarctica.

I will say this: Their global quality control is amazing. The consistency of things like french fries, service is impressive (especially compared to other global chains).

Their regional offerings can be surprising (Maharajah Mac in India instead of the Big Mac), and often enjoyable.

Some countries/locations treat it as a sit-down 'we'll bring your order to you' type of restaurant, even bringing refills to your table.

Just a week ago in Russia I noticed they were serving popcorn shrimp (which I didn't try, but looked interesting). And their breakfast menu has a number of intriguing items. The one I tried that I enjoyed was the 'Chicken Fresh McMuffin'. Chicken patty, tomato/lettuce on a McMuffin. Not bad.

One thing about Russian Macca's, one of the common words transliterated into Russian on the menu in the Cyrillic alphabet comes out looking almost exactly like 'porn'. It's a bit disconcerting ordering the 'porn burger'...

[ChrisTaylor]

I too noticed that in SA fast food chains provide full table service. The only one that provides even half-arsed table service here is Nando's, which of course is a SA import.

[AlenChris]

I don't know why but I feel the quality of Mc Donalds has deteriorated.

[toolprincess]

That is genius! I usually get 3-4 ketchup cups but I think with this method I can use less. (because I hate trying to "scrape" ketchup out of the cup)

A lot of us are familiar with the McDonald's ketchup cup.

It's definitely not the ideal choice of container for dipping your french fries into.

But what if I told you the cup is magical...that it can be transformed into a nice dipping container?

The cup is pleated. All you have to do is gently pull the pleats out until you get a saucer/bowl shape.

I saw a similar photo posted on the internet and decided to reproduce the magic on my own.

Voila!

The tiny cup is now a veritable bowl of ketchup!

Who says you can't teach an old dog a new trick?