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McDonalds ain't the only place that does the artificial, "100% beef-ish" dance. Look at the ingredients for one of Baskin Robbin's shakes... mucho chemistry there too.
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Originally Posted by Arcenal352
They got rid of their angus burgers. That swiss/mushroom one was amazing.
No way will I spend the same amount I spent on those on a quarter pounder or the like.
That's the punch in the gut... they replaced their angus burgers with quarter pounders dressed up like angus burgers. And they're still just as expensive!
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Originally Posted by KaaBoom
But Carls Jr. is just as expensive. What's happening to fast food prices these days? One of the main reasons I used to eat fast food was that it was so cheap. 20 years ago if I was really broke, if I had just $2 in my pocket, I knew I could go to BK and get two 99 cent whoppers, and it would fill me up. Today that same food would cost me over $10, unless I have a buy one get one free coupon. Even then it's not that cheap. I can go and buy some way better food then that for $10.
As for McDs, they are just so outdated. And everything they try to do to correct that is wrong. I think the train has left the station for them.
I remember my local Burger King had a "one dollar menu", but many things were $1.10, $1.50, etc. Took 'em a while to change the name
Last edited by ackmondual; 03-10-2015 at 11:37 PM..
I've drastically cut back on fast food in the past month due to health issues. The ingredients in their food just aren't healthy. I was floored at how much sodium is in their foods, and how much of it I was taking in. A burger and fries once in a while doesn't harm you, but doing it over and over will. People want healthier alternatives.
For $10 I can go to a local place that has all locally sourced meats and veggies for a burger, fries, and a coke. The burger is aged sirloin, brisket, and house cured bacon. The fries are hand cut and have Parmesan cheese and sea salt.
Why would I choose a cardboard burger over that?
Not just only that, but a lot of other fast food places where you can get a burger, fries, and soda for LESS than $10. It may not be farm to table at all those places(especially the tiny mom and pop 'shack' fast food places that've been there forever in some Chicago neighborhood, i.e. Quick Bite at Foster and Western), but I dig such places myself. Good food for the value, and IMO it's a lot more satisfying than having lunch at McD's. Plus McD's should stop stalling, and finally consider serving breakfast all day, which is also my FAVORITE time of day to eat at McDonald's. If Sonic, Jack in the Box, Dunkin Donuts, and more chains can serve breakfast items all day, so can McD's. Stop using that 'our grills are set at a different temperature for lunch/dinner items' excuse, and just have 1 tiny grill set up for the lower volume of people who like eating breakfast items past morning.
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Originally Posted by eevee
I've been hearing about this a lot, probably b/c it's based out of IL and Chicago Magazine even devoted a cover issue to it recently. I think there are multiple reasons why Mickey D's isn't doing well:
1) Frankly, it's overpriced as heck. It can cost upwards of $8+ for a full meal and the quality is subpar for what you're paying. They keep advertising for these "premium" burgers that don't look premium at all (what makes them premium anyways?). People are willing to pay that kind of money for a burger, but not if it sucks. Most people I know who still buy food at McDonald's only shop off of the Dollar Menu, which I'm sure isn't helping their bottom line. I once went to one to get a coffee drink and the guy in front of me order 4 McChickens and a fries and his total was just over $5. That's an insane amount of food for $5, regardless of the quality and makes me wonder why anyone would bother w/ their fancier, more expensive chicken sandwiches.
Amen to that! Other than if someone I'm with drags me there for lunch or dinner after their breakfast menu ends(it's never my choice when that happens), it's rare when I ever eat McD's during lunch/dinner hours for the most part. And yep, I'm definitely guilty of being one of those 'only ordering off the value menu' customers, during lunch/dinner hours. I personally really liked Chicken Selects, but sadly McD's got rid of those a few years ago.
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Originally Posted by eevee
2) The competition is fiercer than ever. Like I said, people will pay more for better food and there are a lot of mid-range burger places popping up. Five Guys is more expensive but the food is better. There are places here around Chicago where you can get a burger made from antibiotic-free cows, fires, and a drink for just over $10 and that stuff is light years away from crud being served at McD's. Other places are now adding fancier ingredients like caramelized onions, mushrooms, fancier cheeses, and aioli mayo to their burgers and yet I used to have to jump through hoops just to get some dang jalapenos on a stupid cheeseburger (and even still, it was far from fresh jalapenos).
Then there are the imports: just recently we got LA-based Umami Burger here in Chicago and a little while back we got NY-based Shake Shack. Add in 5 Guys and Chik-fil-A (and BTW, nearly everyone I know, including those in the LGBTQ community have forgiven them and eat there now) and there's little reason to eat at McD's.
If In & Out ever expands outside of the West Coast, McD's is doomed b/c In & Out is both inexpensive and better quality food than McD's. In fact, my new conspiracy theory is that McD's is paying In & Out big money to stay put .
I recall reading somewhere online(can't remember where), that In 'n Out only locates their restaurants in places that are within a few hundred miles(500?) of one of their warehouses. Hence their decision to build one in Texas, was why they expanded all over the greater Dallas area, and slowly are building in other parts of Texas like Austin. I wouldn't mind if InO ever did open some locations in the Chicago area, since I did like the one I went to a few times in the Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood of San Francisco last year. Wouldn't have minded eating at one in Las Vegas, but I ended up being busy enough and doing other things on that trip, that I never made it there for at least one meal. Speaking of Umami Burger, have you tried them yet? I admit I've still only made it to Bop 'n Grill(which I suspect the owner copied off Umami's menu to some extent), and haven't gotten to Umami yet. Finally as for Shake Shack, I don't get the hype about them. They're okay, and as much as I hate to say it, the shakes, custard, and concretes are the best thing about their menu. I'd much rather have In 'n Out open some locations, but I doubt they'll open in Chicago for years, if ever. Especially if the alleged rule about opening locations only within a few hundred miles of a warehouse, is true.
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Originally Posted by eevee
3) I don't think people have gotten over the pink slime controversy. I know I haven't. I don't care if it was safe for consumption or technically not being used anymore, that ish was gross to look at.
4) The wage wars are still brewing and they are front and center of it. Walmart played it right and is now getting brownie points now for stating that they will bump up the wages of its employees but McD's is still being stubborn. Whether or not you think they deserve $15/hour (more on that in point 5), the fact of the matter is that it is a very visible, public debate.
5) Conversely, IME, McD's has some of the WORST customer service experiences in all of fast food. This was what led me to stop going to McDs completely (was already refraining from buying food but liked to go get coffee drinks/hot chocolates and the occasional small fries from there). I'll be blunt: McD's have some of the most trashy people I've seen outside of a dollar store in the 'hood working there! Youtube is filled with videos of these employees acting badly, including a recent incident where a fired employee went nuts. One local McD's worker just recently got busted for stealing a customer's Macbook Pro after she accidentally left her bag at the counter. A lot of these employees are just rude, lazy and unprofessional (I agree that minimum wage needs to be raised but I laugh at the idea of these fools getting paid anything more than $10/hr).
Sorry about the essay, this topic came up recently in my FB feed and all of these points were discussed.
I guess I'm one of the few who eventually got over the pink slime controversy, but I didn't get over it right away I'll admit. How much I thought McD's burgers were meh when I've ordered one there, is a reminder as to why I usually don't bother with McD's burgers the rare times I eat there after 10:30am-11am. To me it doesn't matter how much workers are paid, but I do get annoyed when I have to deal with s****y customer service somewhere. So if higher wages mean McD's would end up having more motivated employees giving out better service, and not increasing their prices too much(though I fear how much food prices might have to increase by), I wouldn't mind that tradeoff. Finally I recall reading about that Macbook Pro getting stolen by a McD's employee, and I couldn't believe that story!
Finally one last thing that almost makes me not want to eat at some McD's locations: how fregging dirty a lot of their bathrooms are. I only run into them as a last resort, if I'm desperate to use a bathroom. And now all this talk about McD's, is almost making me want to get a Shamrock Shake sometime in the next few days.
ok this was ridiculous- so we were heading home early in the morning and wanted to stop for egg mcmuffins and coffee- I ordered 2 egg mcmuffins and one large coffee- the guy said that will be $8.78. That seemed a bit high to me so I said $8.78? how much is an egg mcmuffin? he said- I don't know $3.50 or something- so while I was standing there waiting for my order- I looked up at the rotating ads and one came up that said 2 egg mcmuffins-hash brown and small coffee for $5.50 -so why didn't the guy tell me that? did he think I really wanted to pay an extra $3.00 just for a large coffee?-hell- I could have got the special AND the large coffee for less than I paid!
Heh... back last decade, I've seen McD customers buy 6pc Mcnuggets for $2.29, when you can get a 4pc for $1. It's cheaper to buy 2 of those, AND you get more. They say they don't want the extra McNuggets. Well, throw the extras away and it'll STILL be cheaper!
Lot of sanitary scandals...:
A former Baltimore employee filmed a bag of bread with a mouse walking inside...
A customer drank a cup of cofe... Only to find out there was a dead mouse in it...
Many more
I actually think McDonalds is better now than they used to be. Back in the 90s their food was greasy, the options were more limited, and the portions were actually too large. McDonald's actually has very clean if sterile food today. Burger King, Jack in the Box and Carl's Jr were clearly yummier and better quality food 20 years ago.
Nowadays Burger King tastes worse than McDonald's and Jack in the Box and Carl's aren't really much better. So I don't think McDonald's is losing to its most direct competitors.
I think increased interest in health food among Millennials is one major reason McDonald's is losing money, but the main reason is the rise of the "Fast casual" restaurants that weren't a major food force until about 10 years ago. Mickey D's doesn't just have BK and Wendy's to fear, they have to hold their own against Chipotle, Five Guys, Panera, and all the other yuppie fast food places that exist now.
I'd actually take McDonald's and Taco Bell over Chipotle and Panda Express, which I find to be overrated crap.
We haven't ate at McDonald's in years and rarely ate there years ago. I do think that people are wanting to eat healthier because now, more than ever, people are seeing the results of eating the junk food. We live in a smaller town, 25,000 people, and the grocery stores here all have an area where you can run in and grab a FRESH salad, sandwich, etc. for a fraction of the cost of going to the fast food place. They keep chips and sodas in the area also. Three of the places have a counter with hot foods waiting for you to make a selection, real foods that you know what it is by the taste. The grocery stores also have older and experienced people doing the cooking and handling the foods which gives an extra measure of safety.
Because if they can make something trendy the masses will always go to it and blow it out of proportion how good it is. Chipotle is pretty good, Panera is alright but people would have you thinking it's mind blowing once in a lifetime food experience.
My ultimate pet peeve is sushi, I honestly believe people go out of their way to pretend to like it cause its trendy. Ive tried it from so many places and it is flat out disgusting. Just cause it looks cool doesn't mean its good. It stinks tastes horrible not filling and overpriced. But you know people will do whatever they think is hip.
No, some people just like it. Myself, I prefer sashimi. And a platter of it -- 12 pieces with a soup, salad, and California roll -- can be bought for $10 across from my work place. I think it tastes fantastic if prepared right, and is more than filling without leaving you bloated from overly-greasy foods.
And it's not just the sushi thing either. I prefer to get my sashimi, but most Japanese restaurants that offer lunch also (as previously mentioned by another poster) offer Bentos at prices comparable to McD's meals. There is simply NO COMPARISON between a good Bento Box and a mediocre burger, fries and soda. Not on a "filling" standpoint, not on a health standpoint -- just none.
I don't think it looks cool. Actually looks gross. So do oysters, but I love those too.
Overpriced? If you want to go cheap, Publix sells a 12-piece California roll for $5.00. And it's actually surprisingly decent. I guarantee you it's just as filling as anything you can get from McD's at that price.
By the way, I don't consider Chipotle to be healthy AT ALL... Nor do I consider it to be good.
I agree that they are overpriced, and you don't get the quality to go with it.
I remember back in the 90s when you could get a "value meal" for $3. Now it's more like $7-8! Compare a McD's hamburger to a Five Guys hamburger, and then wonder why their business isn't doing well. There are much better choices out there.
I take my kids to McD's often, but it's usually just to get items off the dollar menu.
What was so innovative in the 1950s is now ancient history. So many better and fresher choices out there. I feel like the only reason McD's even stays in business is because of people who grew up eating it and find it a "comforting" choice. They don't really have anything special to offer in today's fast food market.
I agree that they are overpriced, and you don't get the quality to go with it.
I remember back in the 90s when you could get a "value meal" for $3. Now it's more like $7-8! Compare a McD's hamburger to a Five Guys hamburger, and then wonder why their business isn't doing well. There are much better choices out there.
I take my kids to McD's often, but it's usually just to get items off the dollar menu.
What was so innovative in the 1950s is now ancient history. So many better and fresher choices out there. I feel like the only reason McD's even stays in business is because of people who grew up eating it and find it a "comforting" choice. They don't really have anything special to offer in today's fast food market.
I get my kids McNuggets when we're on the fly. They're a fun food for a 5 and 3 year old riding in the backseat of daddy's car... The only other thing I might get once in a while is an egg mcmuffin when they have their rare 2 for $3 deals. But that's it. Can't see myself getting anything more.
While on topic,
This kind of nonsense says a lot.
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