Who misses the old McDonalds?

[Scott5114]

And, uh. Having to dress uncomfortably and potentially make math errors makes the staff make better burgers somehow...?

[kphoger]

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.

[Scott5114]

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...

[kphoger]

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.)

[GCrites]

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.

[roadman65]

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.

[Rothman]

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.

[Scott5114]

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.

[roadman65]

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.

[kphoger]

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!!!

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.)

[kphoger]

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.

[Rothman]

Even In and Out I would eat over McDs.

Why the "even"?  In-N-Out is generally considered better.

[GCrites]

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.

[ErmineNotyours]

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.

[roadman65]

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.

[Rothman]

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.

[kphoger]

I ... don't know the official quality of their food.

I'm sure their "official" position is that the quality is excellent!

[elsmere241]

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.)

[oscar]

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.

[CtrlAltDel]

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.



There's been something of a trend of dezanifying late 90s logos recently, it seems. Pepsi is another one that comes to mind.

[Rothman]

I never liked the blue swoosh.

[Rothman]

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?

[elsmere241]

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.

[Rothman]

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.

[jeffandnicole]

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?