The McDonald's Thread: All things McDonald's

[Fman99]

I usually just order on the app like a normal person

This is it, right here.

I have not eaten McDonalds in many years. Because that shit is gross. If I'm on the road and need something quick (usually after a gig to eat on the way home) I am getting a six inch Subway sandwich full of veggies.

However, after my long runs on some Saturdays or Sundays, I treat myself to a Dunkin Egg + Cheese english muffin. Of all the breakfast fast food spots I tried it's the least greasy of all. And I always use the app and always select "Walk In" and about 90% of the time, when I arrive, my food is waiting. Ten seconds in and out of the store, tops. Like a proper adult

[kcmets]

Had a Quarter Pounder with Cheese this afternoon... without the cheese.
Had some old cold fries... without ketchup.
Had a Dr. Pepper.... nurse watered it down so kind of undrinkable.

Almost $11.00, I think it's my swan song appearance. I'd rather starve...

[Benjamin Grimm]

I occasionally go to McRonald's drive-through for an Egg McMuffin and hashbrowns, but it's probably been twenty years or more since I've had any of their lunch or dinner offerings.

And lately, when I get greasy breakfast cravings, I'm more likely to go to Burger King than McDonald's, mainly for reasons of proximity.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Had a Quarter Pounder with Cheese this afternoon... without the cheese.
Had some old cold fries... without ketchup.
Had a Dr. Pepper.... nurse watered it down so kind of undrinkable.

Almost $11.00, I think it's my swan song appearance. I'd rather starve...

I haven't been back since I last posted here about my awful experiences. I discovered Applebee's this year. I mean, I knew about Applebee's for all of my life but I've never been to one until this year. And that's where I might go now when I'm in the mood for a burger. They run $9.99 specials from time to time - a cheeseburger that's way better and more upscale than McD's burgers with all you can eat fries and all you can drink soda. It's better than McD's and cheaper, too. You can't beat that. And you don't have be made to feel like you're walking on eggshells just to ask for some more ketchup packets. There's a squeeze-bottle of Heinz Ketchup at every table.

[MFS62]

And to add to what Batmags said, the Applebee's near me cooked my burger exactly the way I wanted it.
Can't beat it.
Later

[Frayed Knot]

McDonald’s suffered its steepest drop in a crucial sales metric since 2020 – with the burger giant citing “heightened anxiety” among customers as President Trump’s tariffs threaten to reheat inflation. President Trump’s favorite fast-food joint said its US same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least a year — plunged 3.6%, which the chain attributed to bad weather and an increasingly cautious consumer.
It’s the worst such drop since the COVID-19 pandemic, when same-store sales plunged 8.7%.


https://nypost.com/2025/05/01/business/ ... ince-2020/

[kcmets]

Applebee's is fine but I don't consider it fast food. We eat there maybe
4-5 times a year. They can afford $10 special plates of food because the
average couple plops down $20-25 on beverage which is where restaurants
make most of their profits. The profit on a pint of beer is probably like 800%
and on soda/iced tea probably 1500%. Coffee probably somewhere in the middle.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

There's an Applebee's right around the corner from me but we never go because I feel as if I have to spend my limited dining-out $$ on local joints. That said, agree that it's a good place for a burger and a cold 20-oz draft beer.

[Edgy MD]

It has been a while, but I really never know whether I am in an Applebee’s or a Chili’s or a TGI Friday’s. I guess there was a time when Bennigan’s would be on that list, but I don’t know the last time I haunted one of those, and there are damn few left. I think I stopped into one near Philly to use their wifi about six years ago.

I know when I am in a Bob Evans, because they are more brightly lit, less colorfully decorated, everybody is 80, and peak dining is about 4:15. I think they have beer, wine, and cocktails on the menu, but they don’t tend to have the all-defining horseshoe bar that the others have.

It is the rehydrated mashed potatoes of chain restaurants. It is very much Eternity’s waiting room.

I assume there are price points and portion sizes and signature sides and desserts that distinguish these places, but I have not identified them.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Applebee's is fine but I don't consider it fast food.

It's not. I mean, there's waiter/waitress service there, for starters. I guess it's called "casual dining". I think. There's no way you'd get in and out of an Applebee's in 15 or 20 minutes, having eaten your meal, like you would at McDonald's. Heck, it probably takes about 20 minutes from when you first sit down just to get your meal.

.

I know when I am in a Bob Evans, because they are more brightly lit, less colorfully decorated, everybody is 80, and peak dining is about 4:15. I think they have beer, wine, and cocktails on the menu, but they don’t tend to have the all-defining horseshoe bar that the others have.

I never even heard of "Bob Evans". I had to google it just now. I don't think there's a Bob Evans in the entire state of NY.

[Frayed Knot]

I can't remember if I've ever been in an Applebee's. Probably have but, if so, it was once or twice tops and a good while ago.
Even had to look up if there were any near me -- yes, but about 10 miles away -- so, 'Eatin' good, but not in my immediate neighborhood'



I know Bob Evans from products they put in supermarkets: pre-made mashed potatoes or other side dishes (refrigerated so usually in your meat or dairy sections).
Didn't know they had sit down restaurants to their name but, acc to Wikipedia, the restaurants came first and the packaged products later although the two were later
split and both sold off separately so not really connected anymore.
Closest to me looks like it's some 80 miles away so not likely to file a report on them either.

[kcmets]

I've never heard of Bob Evans except maybe he was a semi-
regular on the show Hee Haw. Played a quick pickin' banjo?

[Frayed Knot]

Buck Owens

[Edgy MD]

I was gonna write that, if you haven't been to Bob Evans, then you've never had a mother-in-law, but yeah, they are clustered in Florida, the mid-west, and here in the mid-Alantic.



You ain't missing a thing. It is like dining in a bank. I do not know how they get away with it.

[Buck4Prez]

Applebees, Friday's, Ruby Tuesdays, et al used to be better 20-30 years ago when they were closer to restaurants. Now they've been focus grouped or profit-maximized or whatever to death. Applebees in particular, though this could be anecdotal, but the last few times I was in one my food wasn't cooked enough, which is tough when it's like 95% microwaves.

Back in the 90s Friday's had a whole cocktail BOOK on the table, with legit cocktails in it. Now it's all streamlined and it's just their classics and the rotating specials they can push at you.

They were also ahead of the game with beer, often having imports, and Sam Adams, etc. But once craft beer really took off, they didn't keep up, continuing to mostly serve what passed for interesting in 1998.

But this is probably just an age thing. regional-ish chains go national, get crappy. That's how it goes. other regional chains pop up, and the other ones only seem different because nostalgia. I doubt Gen Z sees any real difference between Applebees and Red Lobster vs like BJ's Brewhouse and Bubba Gump.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Most of the casual chain sit down places are struggling to make it in part because of Mcdonald's and the delivery lifestyle, and part because they didn't evolve since the 80s.

Applebee's and Chili's are the ones in best financial shape today. Chili's just won prestigious awards for their branding and advertising

[batmagadanleadoff]

Did McDonald’s price itself out of a market it dominated for decades?

Earnings reports suggest that some consumers have turned away from fast-food restaurants as their menu offerings have become more expensive.

Excerpt:

When Nick Martinez and his family wanted a quick, inexpensive and reliable meal, McDonald’s used to be their go-to choice.

Now it costs so much, he said, that he lets his 5-year-old son pick from a range of spots near their home in Colton, California, that might have seemed too pricey in the past.

“McDonald’s isn’t the best value anymore,” said Martinez, 50, who has three children. “People are saying, ‘Well, if I’m going to pay $5 for a fry, I’ll just go to this place over here.’”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... staurants/

_______

That's exactly what I did, switching over to Applebee's. It was a no-brainer. First of all, I go to a McDonald's just a few times a year -- twice, maybe three or four times at the most. And Applebee's burger offerings are not only better --- fast-casual, a step up from fast food --- but cheaper as well. You can't top that.

Here' the money quote:

Generally speaking, the price gap between fast-food, fast-casual and sit-down restaurants has blurred, said Sara Senatore, an analyst at Bank of America. That makes it harder to justify spending more than $10 at McDonald’s when a few extra dollars can buy meals at Wingstop, Shake Shack or other fast-casual restaurants that are perceived as higher quality, she said.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I did a long drive last week, hit McDonald's on the way up and a Burger King on the way back.

McDs food was just so bland and unremarkable. I got a qpwc + fries meal. Don't remember the price

BK was much better. Better fries, sandwich was some kinda deluxe chicken. Not bad. Plus they had the Coke freestyle machine where mcds only had the old school fountain. $14 us dollars. Insane