quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
I don't frequent McD's that much...maybe 3 or 4 times a year. I will say, however, that when I DO go to the one nearest me, it is the friendliest, most courteous service I've gotten in ANY other McD's I have visited. Maybe the store manager took a page out of Chick-fil-A's book??

That has got to be it. Lol. I do not equate McD with good CS.

quote:

Originally posted by armored:

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
I pretty much agree with all the comments.

I've seen bare bones ones all around NC, SC, and in TN.

The food is what it is. I stop there several times a week, for a ketchup-only original burger, and maybe fries, just for something cheap and fast, that I've never gotten sick on, since as a kid visiting the one in Niles IL on Milwaukee Ave in 1961.

Further evidence that they'd rather you keep out is that some don't even have parking next to the bldg, and if they do the close parking is either handicapped spaces or reserved for mobile order pickup.

The fries still contain beef flavoring.



The mocha frappes and "milk"shakes aren't bad for the price except for the calories. You can order on the app before you go in, get a discount, and it's ready when you go in.

And, as Joe Pesci explained in Lethal Weapon 2, if I'm getting food for me I don't do drive thru.

The McDonalds on Milwaukee ave is the same one I went to as a kid. I grew up in Park Ridge.
Before the McDonald's on Milwaukee we went to the original in DesPlaines before it was turned into a monument of sorts.Back then the McDonalds in DesPlaines was the ONLY McDonalds.

Small world. We moved to Niles from the south side and I remember going to the Milwaukee Ave location. Riggio's pizza was also right there but closed in 2017. Probably also went to the Des Plaines location but I don't remember.

quote:

1 in 8 Americans have worked at a McDonald's restaurant

The "Bare Bones McDonalds" seems like a dangerous trend. There's not going to be any entry level jobs when they're desperately needed.

Funny there's the other Thread- "How Do I Do That?" The New Hires of 2023 Are Unprepared for Work. Part of that problem might be Not having the soft skills needed to succeed. If they did they might have gotten more out of college etc.

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/e...rowing%20from%20here.

I think when the corporate owners decided there was a potential for lawsuits re: marketing to children, they decided to pull back and jump on the more Apple Store streamlined design. However, the current chain designs have all the appeal of a doctor's waiting room.

I haven't been inside of a McDonald's in decades. IF I go there, I go through the drive thru. Problem is, both of the McDonald's near me seem to be in a competition to see who can be the slowest so you will be sitting there for a while at either. As far as the burgers, well, they'll make a turd, but other than that, they have little redeeming value to me, I'd rather Wendy's or Five Guys.

I stopped by my local McDonald’s for a late lunch today after it had been closed for for about two months for a major renovation where they installed the double drive-through lanes and did a bunch of work inside.

I can confirm they removed the self-serve soda machines, you can’t even as much as get your own packet of ketchup or a napkin any longer.

Clearly, they don’t want you in here, the dining area is so cold and sterile with little to no decoration, the entire place is geared toward drive, thru, delivery and pick up. The counter at the front is half the size it used to be with a large pick up area now dominating one whole side of the front.

They also added two more self order kiosks for a total of four screens.

I think Ray Kroc is turning over in his grave.

Did you notice the bathrooms locked, and require a code to get in.

We used to go to McDonalds while on long car trips. Now we go to the big truck stops that are popping up all over, and we are much happier.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
Did you notice the bathrooms locked, and require a code to get in.

We used to go to McDonalds while on long car trips. Now we go to the big truck stops that are popping up all over, and we are much happier.

Didn’t go near the bathrooms, but was just shocked at how unfriendly it felt inside and how geared toward drive-through and pick up it is now.

I put salt and pepper on everything and don’t like that I can’t grab salt and pepper packets now from the self-serve area, I had to ask for them, and then the woman came back with this giant handful of just salt packets, and no pepper.

I can’t believe that they are building a new one in our town. McD’s is shutting down locations all over, and the ones I’ve been in on road trips are as already described in this thread, with really lousy attitudes. They have made “fast food” an oxymoron.

I remember back in the 70s when they built the first one in our town. Everybody wanted those two all beef patties, special sauce, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun. The place was packed at all hours. Somewhere along the line, they added the playgrounds and turned the indoor dining "experience" into a daycare center and I suspect that that has a lot to do with people not wanting to go inside. Most of the ones I've been in over the past ten years or so are filled with welfare crotch fruit running around annoying the hell out of everyone. No thanks. I'd rather eat in my truck.

The quality is hit or miss IMO. I'll usually order two things, nuggets and a burger for example. That way, if they screw up one of them, you've still got a chance at some edible food.

most here have 2-4 kiosk and 1-2 registers, which are usually vacant,

drink machines are still out, and napkins etc,

food is consistent,
the original chicken sandwich is still mystery chicken bits and the new one is stringy and tough,

the Fillet of Fish is what I normally order, and it is usually pretty good,


the sweet tea should come with a free insulin injection,,,

I think most fast food places are going with this type of platform. Anytime a new restaurant or even a Starbucks is built it’s all drive through with only workers allowed inside. The buildings are about 1/3 the size of what they used to be.

I think Covid taught them that they make just as much or more without the need for people being inside the restaurant. Most people drive SUV’s and have plenty of room to stuff their giant gullets in their giant vehicles.


Hourly wages also made getting rid of unnecessary employees a much bigger focus. The buildings are way cheaper to put up as well while needing less land.

I guess we will see less social media videos of bad behavior as well.

quote:

I think Covid taught them that they make just as much or more without the need for people being inside the restaurant.

Not only this, but you're going to begin to see this even more as online retail puts pressure on local brick and mortar operations. It will have a cascading effect on the entire economy.

There are many dozens of you tubes documenting the assaults on fast food employees .

Frankly I am surprised that they are not implementing the old
Automat glass cubicle doors ,from the 50's

When I worked at McDonalds, there was:

No drive thru.
No breakfast. They opened at 11 am (maybe 11:30?).
No Big Mac. They may have had fish filet sandwiches but I'm kind of vague about that. We must have had them but not many folks ordered them.

You could get a hamburger, fries, drink or a shake. That's almost it. If you wanted anything else, FO and GTFO. Stand in line and take it out.

Cost:

Hamburgers .15/cents
Fries .12/cents
Coke .10/cents

When I worked there, they introduced Big Macs and the "large" drink, so you could get a 16 ounce coke instead of a little 12 ounce thing. Today, the small coke is 16 ounces, or what we knew as a "large". 16 ounce may be a small now, but it was massive when introduced. Big Macs cost .45/cents.

They gave me the key and told me how to get the place ready for lunch. Which I did, having the freedom to bang it out by myself.

I fired up the fry cooker and went to check that the night shift cleaned the grill properly. Turned the grill on. Added milkshake mix to the "milkshake" machine if needed (that was before it was learned that they didn't have any milk in the milkshakes and thus had to change the name to "shakes".

I drug up a 50lb box of solid grease and a 100lb sack of potatos from the basement. (I weighed @ 90lbs at this point in my life). The spuds got drug up, I couldn't barely pick it up.

I dumped some potatoes into a machine that spun them around and peeled them due to abrasion, then ran the now warm fry oil through a sort of vacumn machine that sucked it out, cleaned it and sent it back in. Then one at a time slammed the bare spuds that had been "peeled" through a machine that resembled a bullet press one after another to make fry shapes. The fry shapes got rinsed in water and blanched, that is, pre-cooked at a lesser heat in stainless baskets and racked up so that the lunch shift had enough to cook up for the lunch rush.

By now the grill was hot,and I'd layed out the stuff the lunch shift needed next to it (they dumped onions on the grilled burgers, and the salt needed to be full of course). I had less than 1 hour to get this all done, which I never failed to do, so I would kick back, mentally make sure I'd done all the things I needed to do, and then cooked myself a triple burger. This was not on the menu, nor were double burgers as they came later, but that's what I'd do as lunch was coming up and I was hungry. I'd slather the thing with extra pickles, ketchup and onions and had to hank it down quick as the lunch shift would soon be there" and eating the company's food that way wasn't approved.

I did good work, and no one could match the speed I could cook and sack fries, so maybe it was OK, but I never asked, and did what I wanted too. I usually had the burger gulped down fast enough that I could do a quick mop of the floor, but that was the night shifts job. Night shift worked late until midnight, and they often skimped on things so they could bail for home, so if it needed to be done, I'd do it. Not a problem.

I gotten there at 10:05 after my second class and went back to school at @1pm for my 3rd class so I worked the lunch rush.

I was raised poor, and was in heaven having both food and a paycheck. So I worked my ass off to be their best employee. I loved the food then and I still love that food now. Since then, I've eaten in some of the worlds finest restaurants in many countries, eating world class meals: but I can't smell McDonalds to this day without liking that smell and having good memories.

I was 14 years old. They overpaid me massively at $1.25 an hour and I loved it.

jimb888 -- great post. Thank you for sharing that.

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:

When I worked at McDonalds, there was:

No drive thru.
No breakfast. They opened at 11 am (maybe 11:30?).
No Big Mac. They may have had fish filet sandwiches but I'm kind of vague about that. We must have had them but not many folks ordered them.

You could get a hamburger, fries, drink or a shake. That's almost it. If you wanted anything else, FO and GTFO. Stand in line and take it out.

Have you ever seen the movie The Founder? You might like it:

Read up on the new chain that McDeez is doing for gen Z.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/m...-illinois-starbucks/

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Read up on the new chain that McDeez is doing for gen Z.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/m...-illinois-starbucks/

Who in their right mind would wait for three hours to get something from McDonald's?

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From the linked article:

The opening drew throngs of customers, leading to long lines of cars waiting to place their orders at the drive-through. One customer told CBS Chicago he waited three hours to get a frappe.

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Originally posted by V-Tail:
Who in their right mind would wait for three hours to get something from McDonald's?

I'm guessing the same people who put up a campsite on the sidewalk to get the latest Apple product.