https://maps.app.goo.gl/U9aBnzK6DpKBLbjQ9
I grew up with all McDs looking like this building. From a distance you could easily tell what establishment it was.
Now you get this.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/js5FVabwYz8ssfev9
Same restaurant, but different year.
It seems not only McDs are going for the box look but Taco Bell, Long John Silvers, and even Burger King are going this way.
I miss dark meat McNuggets. Why people got obsessed with white meat being the only thing in them in the early 2000s is beyond me. The egg shaped nuggets were the white meat whereas the boots were dark.
You're not the only one who miss the old McDonald's look. I miss them too and the "before and after" photos served to inspired a good meme about it.
https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1911176-mcdonalds
The old McDLT was my favorite burger of theirs. The closest thing they have to it now is the Deluxe Quarter Pounder with pretty much all the same fixings, but the mayo isn't as good as it used to be.
I miss the days when their fries were cooked in beef tallow. They're just not the same now.
What I don't miss was if you wanted customized toppings, it took longer to make than handing you a pre-made burger.
I also remember McDonalds which look like this (although my memories are a bit newer than that picture):
(https://www.thevintagenews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2021/09/mcdonalds-featured-image.jpg)
The first McDonald's I remember setting foot in was one of those mansards, and it also had a massive playplace, I'm talking one you could get lost in. I was extremely upset when they tore it down and built the store that currently stands there. I saw the tiny playplace at the McD's I currently live closest to and shook my head at the realization that today's kids won't get to experience those massive ones.
Oh, and when the honey packets had the bees on them (and the honey itself tasted better) AND the pancake butter pats had the golden arches on them...
I've mentioned it here before, but there's what I called the "Welcome to Delaware" McD's in the median of US-40 in Newark. The old location had a rather large outdoor play area, along with outdoor seating under a canopy. The signature light bars on the mansard roof were actually yellow instead of white, possibly to match the tops of the (original?) large arches still present. Today, the place looks kind of... sterile?
Here's the before (https://maps.app.goo.gl/VPvx6r2cDExwHJ1n9), and after (https://maps.app.goo.gl/VPvx6r2cDExwHJ1n9).
Quote from: dlsterner on March 02, 2024, 07:10:07 PM
I miss the days when their fries were cooked in beef tallow. They're just not the same now.
What I don't miss was if you wanted customized toppings, it took longer to make than handing you a pre-made burger.
I also remember McDonalds which look like this (although my memories are a bit newer than that picture):
(https://www.thevintagenews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2021/09/mcdonalds-featured-image.jpg)
Would have been a good vintage photo, except for the photo-bombing boxy 80s sedan in the background.
When did mansard roof McDonalds go from brown to red?
I miss when my local McDonalds had the red roofs, playgrounds (thanks covid), and most importantly, Nintendo 64s.
I dislike McDonald's, so I don't care one way or the other.
What I miss are real menus above the counter, where everything is just listed with a price.
Quote from: roadman65 on March 02, 2024, 01:24:04 PM
https://maps.app.goo.gl/U9aBnzK6DpKBLbjQ9
I grew up with all McDs looking like this building. From a distance you could easily tell what establishment it was.
Now you get this.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/js5FVabwYz8ssfev9
Same restaurant, but different year.
It seems not only McDs are going for the box look but Taco Bell, Long John Silvers, and even Burger King are going this way.
It's so that if the place closes it can be turned into a credit union or ethnic food place without people being able to tell what it was before. The old assumption was that a fast food place would never close or get torn down after closing but that didn't happen.
Quote from: Road Hog on March 03, 2024, 12:10:16 AM
Quote from: dlsterner on March 02, 2024, 07:10:07 PM
I miss the days when their fries were cooked in beef tallow. They're just not the same now.
What I don't miss was if you wanted customized toppings, it took longer to make than handing you a pre-made burger.
I also remember McDonalds which look like this (although my memories are a bit newer than that picture):
(https://www.thevintagenews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2021/09/mcdonalds-featured-image.jpg)
Would have been a good vintage photo, except for the photo-bombing boxy 80s sedan in the background.
Almost looks like it's the one on Agler Road (US-62) in Gahanna Ohio before the lot was reconfigured to add a drive-thru 20-25 years ago. Otherwise it still looks basically the same today:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0189898,-82.8901367,3a,75y,100.86h,80.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLuFD-1cxiEsc2zCM3nVwbA!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?entry=ttu (https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0189898,-82.8901367,3a,75y,100.86h,80.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLuFD-1cxiEsc2zCM3nVwbA!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?entry=ttu)
I had the beef tallow fries and nuggets several times in Europe where the lawsuit that ended them in the U.S. doesn't apply. Magnifique! I was 8 years old again.
(https://i.imgur.com/EoPCR4v.jpg)
Well they also don't want you going inside now. They wish they were a ghost kitchen.
Quote from: wanderer2575 on March 05, 2024, 09:19:16 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/EoPCR4v.jpg)
Have to admit, the old look was more festive looking than the current.
They were indeed more fun back then.
https://images.app.goo.gl/VuaAuzNQqVkuae1g8
The McDonald's here in Las Vegas that I went to yesterday had a Glory Cash Recycler hooked up to the ordering kiosk so you can pay cash without having to flag someone down to take it like you do in Oklahoma. That was pretty cool, and I got a $5 back in change in a series that I don't have yet, so even better.
While I was ordering some older couple came in and loudly complained to nobody in particular that they won't eat anywhere with kiosks because they don't like that they take people's jobs away, then they left. I was busy paying or else I would have piped up that when I worked at BK we hated having to stop what we were doing to take customer orders, since we had enough work to do without standing there while someone took an hour and a half to decide whether they wanted lettuce on their burger or not.
I miss when McDonald's had self-serve drink machines. :rolleyes:
Mind you, not every single one has removed theirs yet, but I think 3 of the 4 closest to my house already have.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on March 03, 2024, 04:57:23 PM
I miss playgrounds (thanks covid)
COVID accelerated some things like eliminating the few remaining play places that had been in the works for a while but I think a lot of McDonald's descent into suckage began with Super Size Me. That documentary was a major PR headache for McDonald's and in particular got a lot of people asking "what the fuck am I feeding my kids?" and "why are they mareking their crap to my kids?" Practically, they were also time consuming and difficult to clean.
That movie had the strange side effect of thinking they could eat anything they want and as much of it as they wanted as long as it was made it at home. "At least it's not McDonald's!"
Quote from: GCrites80s on March 07, 2024, 08:42:34 PM
That movie had the strange side effect of thinking they could eat anything they want and as much of it as they wanted as long as it was made it at home. "At least it's not McDonald's!"
*citation needed*
Quote from: ozarkman417 on March 03, 2024, 04:57:23 PM
I miss when my local McDonalds had the red roofs, playgrounds (thanks covid), and most importantly, Nintendo 64s.
I'm at what you might consider the other end of the spectrum, where by the time McDonalds started putting in playgrounds, I was past the age to enjoy them.
Quote from: Rothman on March 07, 2024, 10:04:43 PM
Quote from: GCrites80s on March 07, 2024, 08:42:34 PM
That movie had the strange side effect of thinking they could eat anything they want and as much of it as they wanted as long as it was made it at home. "At least it's not McDonald's!"
*citation needed*
The sit-down restaurant equivalent of this line of thinking is what necessitated the need for the "Eat This, Not That!" series of books in the late 2000s.
Quote from: GCrites80s on March 07, 2024, 10:45:19 PM
Quote from: Rothman on March 07, 2024, 10:04:43 PM
Quote from: GCrites80s on March 07, 2024, 08:42:34 PM
That movie had the strange side effect of thinking they could eat anything they want and as much of it as they wanted as long as it was made it at home. "At least it's not McDonald's!"
*citation needed*
The sit-down restaurant equivalent of this line of thinking is what necessitated the need for the "Eat This, Not That!" series of books in the late 2000s.
That series was hardly necessitated.
I miss the days of Micky D's when:
• All employees wore a full uniform (Now people with ripped jeans are flippin' burgers)
• All the seats/booths were filled Friday Nights with school kids as this was their "malt shop" of the 70's and 80's)
• There were no less than half a dozen trash cans in the parking lot. (now you're lucky to find one past the drive-thru window)
• (And this goes way back:) employees having to write down the order and physically calculate the total on a pad of paper befire ringing it up in the manual cash register!!!
And, uh. Having to dress uncomfortably and potentially make math errors makes the staff make better burgers somehow...?
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 08, 2024, 01:12:00 PM
And, uh. Having to dress uncomfortably and potentially make math errors makes the staff make better burgers somehow...?
You're assuming that going to a restaurant is only about the food on the plate. It seems he appreciates other parts of the experience too. YMMV.
Quote from: kphoger on March 08, 2024, 01:29:00 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 08, 2024, 01:12:00 PM
And, uh. Having to dress uncomfortably and potentially make math errors makes the staff make better burgers somehow...?
You're assuming that going to a restaurant is only about the food on the plate. It seems he appreciates other parts of the experience too. YMMV.
If you're concerned about the experience, why are you at
McDonald's??
That's like saying you go to Walmart for the ambiance...
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 08, 2024, 03:24:38 PM
If you're concerned about the experience, why are you at McDonald's??
That's like saying you go to Walmart for the ambiance...
Now we're going in circles. He misses those things about McDonald's. Because it used to be like that. Meaning it isn't like that anymore. And he doesn't like that fact. The implication is that the experience of going to McDonald's is no longer what it used to be.
(I like how I've now somehow ended up speaking for someone I don't even know.)
I feel like it's not nearly as wide of a variety of people as you used to see inside a McDonald's. Nowadays I mostly just see construction guys and senior citizens eating inside.
Quote from: GCrites80s on March 08, 2024, 06:26:01 PM
I feel like it's not nearly as wide of a variety of people as you used to see inside a McDonald's. Nowadays I mostly just see construction guys and senior citizens eating inside.
That's correct. You don't see the mixed crowd anymore nor is the store crowded anymore. You see seniors or blue collar construction or landscapers inside, but not like in the old days where you had to wait for service in long queues and a nearly full dining room. Now you walk up and have pretty much any seat you want.
Quote from: kphoger on March 08, 2024, 03:28:02 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 08, 2024, 03:24:38 PM
If you're concerned about the experience, why are you at McDonald's??
That's like saying you go to Walmart for the ambiance...
Now we're going in circles. He misses those things about McDonald's. Because it used to be like that. Meaning it isn't like that anymore. And he doesn't like that fact. The implication is that the experience of going to McDonald's is no longer what it used to be.
(I like how I've now somehow ended up speaking for someone I don't even know.)
How noble.
Quote from: kphoger on March 08, 2024, 03:28:02 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 08, 2024, 03:24:38 PM
If you're concerned about the experience, why are you at McDonald's??
That's like saying you go to Walmart for the ambiance...
Now we're going in circles. He misses those things about McDonald's. Because it used to be like that. Meaning it isn't like that anymore. And he doesn't like that fact. The implication is that the experience of going to McDonald's is no longer what it used to be.
(I like how I've now somehow ended up speaking for someone I don't even know.)
If McDonald's ever had an experience to be concerned about losing, it would have had to have been before 1994. As far back as I can personally remember, it was just a place you went to sit on a hard plastic chair and eat hastily-prepared food of questionable quality. If the staff had a stringent dress code, they'd feel out of place.
I'm not bragging about the quality of their food, just a place to go especially when in a hurry. Braums would I brag about the food quality if I were.
Even In and Out I would eat over McDs.
Quote from: thenetwork on March 08, 2024, 09:35:32 AM
I miss the days of Micky D's when:
• All employees wore a full uniform (Now people with ripped jeans are flippin' burgers)
• All the seats/booths were filled Friday Nights with school kids as this was their "malt shop" of the 70's and 80's)
• There were no less than half a dozen trash cans in the parking lot. (now you're lucky to find one past the drive-thru window)
• (And this goes way back:) employees having to write down the order and physically calculate the total on a pad of paper befire ringing it up in the manual cash register!!!
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 08, 2024, 06:55:10 PM
If McDonald's ever had an experience to be concerned about losing, it would have had to have been before 1994. As far back as I can personally remember, it was just a place you went to sit on a hard plastic chair and eat hastily-prepared food of questionable quality. If the staff had a stringent dress code, they'd feel out of place.
Yep, that sounds about right. (Not that I was around back thein either.)
Quote from: roadman65 on March 08, 2024, 06:58:19 PM
Even In and Out I would eat over McDs.
I choose almost anywhere before McD's. I only go there if it's someone else's choice. I can't remember the last time I was at a McD's for something other than a meeting or a birthday party.
Quote from: roadman65 on March 08, 2024, 06:58:19 PM
Even In and Out I would eat over McDs.
Why the "even"? In-N-Out is generally considered better.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 08, 2024, 06:55:10 PM
Quote from: kphoger on March 08, 2024, 03:28:02 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 08, 2024, 03:24:38 PM
If you're concerned about the experience, why are you at McDonald's??
That's like saying you go to Walmart for the ambiance...
Now we're going in circles. He misses those things about McDonald's. Because it used to be like that. Meaning it isn't like that anymore. And he doesn't like that fact. The implication is that the experience of going to McDonald's is no longer what it used to be.
(I like how I've now somehow ended up speaking for someone I don't even know.)
If McDonald's ever had an experience to be concerned about losing, it would have had to have been before 1994. As far back as I can personally remember, it was just a place you went to sit on a hard plastic chair and eat hastily-prepared food of questionable quality. If the staff had a stringent dress code, they'd feel out of place.
The ones that installed N64s in the late '90s showed they still cared a little about the in-store at that time.
I worked at McDonald's in the late 80s when they bowed to pressure and replaced the vanilla soft-serve with frozen yogurt and the chocolate soft-serve with orange sorbet. The customers were not happy, and they let me know in no uncertain terms.
Much later I took my niece to McDonald's when they were giving away apple slices in the Happy Meal. She didn't want them, so I ate them. Talk about targeting the wrong audience.
I made a point of going to the Downtown San Francisco McDonald's location that has a Coke Freestyle machine, but on the kiosk there is no way to order any of the specialty flavors. I wound up ordering a Diet Coke, then pouring it out to get a root beer. I know, soda syrup is cheap, but it still seemed like a waste.
Strangely, they are "modernizing" the Burger Kings with new building design, and then slapping the old 1970s logo on them. Go figure.
A few weeks ago I ate at a CaliBurger location with a completely automated fry station. Interesting to look at, but it will really trigger the customers who think kiosks are taking away jobs. Or not, because they're actually angry about not being able to operate a kiosk.
Quote from: Rothman on March 08, 2024, 08:23:48 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 08, 2024, 06:58:19 PM
Even In and Out I would eat over McDs.
Why the "even"? In-N-Out is generally considered better.
I love them, but don't know the official quality of their food. To me it tastes way better with great value for the money.
Quote from: roadman65 on March 12, 2024, 09:18:35 PM
Quote from: Rothman on March 08, 2024, 08:23:48 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 08, 2024, 06:58:19 PM
Even In and Out I would eat over McDs.
Why the "even"? In-N-Out is generally considered better.
I love them, but don't know the official quality of their food. To me it tastes way better with great value for the money.
The former sentence contradicts the second.
Quote from: roadman65 on March 12, 2024, 09:18:35 PM
I ... don't know the official quality of their food.
I'm sure their "official" position is that the quality is excellent!
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Quote from: thenetwork on March 08, 2024, 09:35:32 AM
I miss the days of Micky D's when:
[snip]
• (And this goes way back:) employees having to write down the order and physically calculate the total on a pad of paper befire ringing it up in the manual cash register!!!
I worked at a McD's front counter in summer 1974, and don't remember having to go through that. Maybe you have in mind pre-1970s?
Now, I almost never go to McD's except for breakfast, in the drive-through, for their steak-egg-and-cheese bagel sandwiches. That seems to be a regional specialty, which is common in my region but not out west. When out of my region, I prefer breakfast at a Tim Horton's in Canada or some northern states (better bagels, but I don't like their steak offerings so I go with sausage instead), or some other kind of breakfast sandwich at a Carl's Jr./Hardees.
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on March 12, 2024, 08:59:59 PM
Strangely, they are "modernizing" the Burger Kings with new building design, and then slapping the old 1970s logo on them. Go figure.
For the record, it's not quite the old 70s logo, but definitely a throwback to it.
(https://1000logos.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Burger-King-Logo-history.jpg)
There's been something of a trend of dezanifying late 90s logos recently, it seems. Pepsi is another one that comes to mind.
I never liked the blue swoosh.
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Where are you going to go instead?
Quote from: Rothman on March 15, 2024, 11:35:01 AM
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Where are you going to go instead?
Probably nowhere, except maybe Wawa (and not for their burgers). Not long ago I picked up some Burger King for a friend, and it was $21 for a bigger order.
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 11:46:04 AM
Quote from: Rothman on March 15, 2024, 11:35:01 AM
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Where are you going to go instead?
Probably nowhere, except maybe Wawa (and not for their burgers). Not long ago I picked up some Burger King for a friend, and it was $21 for a bigger order.
Hm. I suppose one would get bigger bang for their buck at Wawa.
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Can you reduce your order? Are you using their app to get discounts?
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 15, 2024, 01:19:58 PM
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Can you reduce your order? Are you using their app to get discounts?
Let him leave Mickey D's peacefully.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 15, 2024, 01:19:58 PM
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Can you reduce your order? Are you using their app to get discounts?
I have the app but I have never used it. (I'm not sure I could figure out how.) If I'm going to go there for lunch I'm going to get large fries and a drink, it's that simple.
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 02:25:47 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 15, 2024, 01:19:58 PM
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Can you reduce your order? Are you using their app to get discounts?
I have the app but I have never used it. (I'm not sure I could figure out how.) If I'm going to go there for lunch I'm going to get large fries and a drink, it's that simple.
Their current pricing appears to believe that most people are using the apps or coupons. The app is easy to use - download app, sign in, find offers that would apply (often, at minimum, there's a $ off or % off option), click it, and provide the code or show it when you pay.
Like most anything else, first time or two, take a bit of figuring out what you're doing. After that, it's pretty straightforward.
I've cut back on eating out a great deal. Grocery prices are up but still way cheaper than a Big Mac per nourishment value, however you want to measure it.
There,s a McDo who don't have the boring look in Rawdon, Quebec.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/NouRWxXu2DDxTJsn6
THIS...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/healthtrending/mcdonald-s-hit-by-global-outage-forcing-some-restaurants-to-shut-down/ar-BB1jYdex
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cAfqqU6VDvSkHXyp6
Two story one in Florida.
Opened up as a special store called McDonalds Bistro along with two other Orlando stores as a trial thing to see how it measures up to the public.
Quote from: Rothman on March 15, 2024, 11:35:01 AM
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Where are you going to go instead?
The interesting thing for me is, in Las Vegas, there are a lot of local restaurants that are one tier up from fast food but are still cheap, and with the rise of fast food prices, now the price points are starting to overlap. We haven't have had Taco Bell the whole time we've been here, because Roberto's is only a couple of bucks more and much higher-quality food.
I'm not sure if this phenomenon is Las Vegas-specific or if it's true of all large cities. (Norman didn't really have this kind of mid-tier restaurant, it was either fast food or full service.)
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 15, 2024, 03:07:09 PM
Their current pricing appears to believe that most people are using the apps or coupons. The app is easy to use - download app, sign in, find offers that would apply (often, at minimum, there's a $ off or % off option), click it, and provide the code or show it when you pay.
Like most anything else, first time or two, take a bit of figuring out what you're doing. After that, it's pretty straightforward.
The problem is then I have to download and run software just to do business with a single vendor. Who do they think they are, a bank?
Quote from: roadman65 on March 16, 2024, 02:13:27 PM
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cAfqqU6VDvSkHXyp6
Two story one in Florida.
Opened up as a special store called McDonalds Bistro along with two other Orlando stores as a trial thing to see how it measures up to the public.
Boy they really boringed that one up good, didn't they? Super Size Me made them so self-conscious. It's like it triggered an existential crisis for them.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 16, 2024, 05:49:06 PM
Quote from: Rothman on March 15, 2024, 11:35:01 AM
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 15, 2024, 10:26:12 AM
But it's way more expensive now. I went through the drive-thru yesterday with my usual order and it was almost $15. I'm not going through there again for a long time. (I have not had a pay raise since July 2022, and that was 1 percent.)
Where are you going to go instead?
The interesting thing for me is, in Las Vegas, there are a lot of local restaurants that are one tier up from fast food but are still cheap, and with the rise of fast food prices, now the price points are starting to overlap. We haven't have had Taco Bell the whole time we've been here, because Roberto's is only a couple of bucks more and much higher-quality food.
I'm not sure if this phenomenon is Las Vegas-specific or if it's true of all large cities. (Norman didn't really have this kind of mid-tier restaurant, it was either fast food or full service.)
Huh. If people are spending over $10 for a meal at McDonald's, there are indeed better places in my neck of the woods for the same price.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 16, 2024, 05:51:45 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 15, 2024, 03:07:09 PM
Their current pricing appears to believe that most people are using the apps or coupons. The app is easy to use - download app, sign in, find offers that would apply (often, at minimum, there's a $ off or % off option), click it, and provide the code or show it when you pay.
Like most anything else, first time or two, take a bit of figuring out what you're doing. After that, it's pretty straightforward.
The problem is then I have to download and run software just to do business with a single vendor. Who do they think they are, a bank?
I don't recall the app is necessary to do business with them. Unlike a bank, you don't need an account, provide your Social Security number, or even verify your name.
Also now you have a small one station counter with the kitchen to the side and behind the wall. No more three cashiers and watching the staff preparing your food.
I've found that most restaurants don't require an app to get discounts, IHOP being the main exception. For UNO, Bertucci's, 99 Restaurants, Texas Roadhouse, and Outback Steakhouse, I don't have any of their apps, but I still get coupons through email, and the ones that have rewards points work through me telling them my phone number.
As for banking, I use Santander, and no app is required.
Quote from: oscar on March 15, 2024, 11:20:07 AM
Quote from: thenetwork on March 08, 2024, 09:35:32 AM
I miss the days of Micky D's when:
[snip]
• (And this goes way back:) employees having to write down the order and physically calculate the total on a pad of paper befire ringing it up in the manual cash register!!!
I worked at a McD's front counter in summer 1974, and don't remember having to go through that. Maybe you have in mind pre-1970s?
I was born in 1967 and wouldn't remember anything pre-70s. In the late 70s on the way back from a camping trip, the line for eating inside was slow so I had plenty of time to watch the drive-thru workers writing down each order with a grease pencil on a wipeable plastic grid. What a thing to do all day. By the time I worked there a few years later it was all-electronic. I also remember the microphone system at Burger King where the order taker repeated everything you ordered into a microphone that you could hear being amplified from the kitchen.
I swear I ate somewhere that was still using the microphone in the last year.
Quote from: GCrites80s on March 19, 2024, 10:47:57 AM
I swear I ate somewhere that was still using the microphone in the last year.
Older school BKs, Wendy's and I think even Arby's may still use them.
The modern Mickey's are so depressing... I want the old 90s aesthetic back
The McDo in Thetford Mines on PQ-112 got in front the current bland look but the old school one is hidden behind.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LutVbaC8V8wU88SG9
I don't hardly go to McDonald's much anymore. But I do miss the swivel chairs they used to have.
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on March 19, 2024, 12:09:20 AMI also remember the microphone system at Burger King where the order taker repeated everything you ordered into a microphone that you could hear being amplified from the kitchen.
Some BKs were still using the microphones well into the early 2000s depending on the franchisee/ location.
I miss the old McDonald's shakes.
Quote from: SEWIGuy on April 04, 2024, 11:55:15 AMI miss the old McDonald's shakes.
From when, exactly?
Quote from: Rothman on April 04, 2024, 02:06:52 PMQuote from: SEWIGuy on April 04, 2024, 11:55:15 AMI miss the old McDonald's shakes.
From when, exactly?
I miss the shakes from the machine from the 80s. They didn't really taste like ice cream, but had a unique flavor all their own.
Quote from: tchafe1978 on March 30, 2024, 12:19:43 AMI don't hardly go to McDonald's much anymore. But I do miss the swivel chairs they used to have.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Me? I
do hardly go to McDonald's much anymore.
Quote from: kphoger on April 05, 2024, 04:05:34 PMQuote from: tchafe1978 on March 30, 2024, 12:19:43 AMI don't hardly go to McDonald's much anymore. But I do miss the swivel chairs they used to have.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Me? I do hardly go to McDonald's much anymore.
What are your thoughts on the swivel chairs?
Quote from: wanderer2575 on March 05, 2024, 09:19:16 PM(https://i.imgur.com/EoPCR4v.jpg)
Wow I first seen the current McDonald's look in the Philippines in 2018-2019 time-frame when I was in the Manila area to visit family there. Had no idea that look would go to the United States later that year. The old McDonald's look went away as soon as COVID-19 hit the United States.
The new-build McD's look like banks, which I'm sure they hope to sell to as branch locations as soon as the building value exceeds the burger profit.
Quote from: Road Hog on May 05, 2024, 12:55:57 AMThe new-build McD's look like banks, which I'm sure they hope to sell to as branch locations as soon as the building value exceeds the burger profit.
In Norman, OK there is a credit union that's in a remodeled Church's Chicken location.
Quote from: Road Hog on May 05, 2024, 12:55:57 AMThe new-build McD's look like banks, which I'm sure they hope to sell to as branch locations as soon as the building value exceeds the burger profit.
Around here it seems like they are closing bank branches, not opening new ones.
The big banks close branches while the little banks open more. At least around here.
- I don't care about the changing architecture of McDonald's. In fact it seems that part of the business plan is to tear down the old and build a new one on the same pad. Which seems like a great way to keep everything uniform and up to date.
- I do miss McDonald's simple menu. McDonald's is trying to be everything for everyone. Their venture into the Starbuck's "coffee for people that don't like coffee" model clogs the place up during breakfast hours.
- McDonald's lost a lot of its charm when it stopped openly marketing towards children. Sadly, a common theme of big business in recent years. When criticized for stuff like this (marketing practices, nutrition, environment, how some supplier treats people in the 3rd world, etc.) rather than understanding who their customer base is and that these self-appointed self-important people are not a part of it, and thus responding with f*** right off, OK? they respond with, at least half-measures and such. There was nothing wrong with a place where kids could be kids and believe in the fairy tale world of childhood.
- Big banks seem to be closing around here, and smaller banks seem to be expanding. Really, how many times do you need to actually go into a bank? I just use the ATMs. As long as they have plenty of those, who cares?
-
Small businesses still need to go to a physical branch so the lack of branches in a particular area might indicate a lack of small business activity rather than changes in consumer needs. Larger businesses user armored cars for that so if your immediate area (like mine) is one that makes you go to the supermarket or Wal-Mart to buy anything the branches still close.