Posted on 10/21/2014 6:55:17 PM PDT by Olog-hai
After posting yet another disappointing quarter, McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson said Tuesday the company hasn’t been keeping up with the times and that changes are in store for its U.S. restaurants.
Thompson said that starting in January, McDonald’s will “simplify” its menu to make room for restaurants to offer options that are best-suited for their regions. To offer greater customization, he also said the company planned to expand its “Create Your Taste” offering that lets people pick the buns and toppings they want on burgers by tapping a touchscreen. The program is currently being offered in Southern California, and McDonald’s has said it will roll it out nationally in Australia. […]
The changes come as McDonald’s continues to struggle with myriad problems. One of its biggest challenges in the U.S. is long-held perceptions around the freshness and quality of its ingredients. The chain has been fighting to boost sales as people gravitate toward foods they feel are more wholesome. As a result, people have been gravitating to places like Chipotle, which markets its ingredients as being of superior quality. …
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I dunno—In and Out Burger packs them in. The menu? Burgers, fries, sodas and shakes.
I agree.
Back to the burgers for a minute - if you order a Quarter Pounder or Double Quarter Pounder "Plain" (only cheese) or "fresh cooked", you actually get a very good burger for fast food.
“I once drove 400 moles...”
For a good mole’?
If they gave me the option of regular vs. these fries, I would be willing to pay more for these.
Correct. But they aren’t McDonalds. There are other hamburger joints that are thriving. Such as 5 Guys and Red Robin. There is simply no comparison with McDonalds here. Those other franchises use much better ingredients to make their burgers and fries.
Yeah, most of the stuff is pretty bad. Now they are repackaging their Quarter Pounders with stuff like jalapenos. Wooohoo! - Not.
They don’t understand that part of their biggest problem is that their steamers cook the freshness out of their food.
The old McD’s would let stuff stay under a warmer for a very brief period then toss it out. Maybe today they could donate such food but if they would go back to being fresh their return business could be huge!
I agree with everything else you said except this.
At first when they used to put their burritos together they put the stuff in separate clumps. So when you bit in all you got was avocado or just sour cream. Then they got smart and did this thing where they mixed the ingredients before putting them in. But then that held up the line too much so they're back to separated globs.
And burritos should not be steamed. They should be lightly browned for that mostly tender, slightly crunchy texture of perfection.
My theory is that Chipotle is doing well because Asians like their burritos the way they like their dim sum, i.e. wet and soggy.
Me too! But the answer is so obvious I'm sure they've thought about it and decided against it for some PC reason.
That's why I think the "Classic Menu" could work. The new crappy tasting stuff would mollify the food Nazis while the Classic menu would provide stuff that actually tasted good.
Their problems began when they took away the toys in the happy meals in San Francisco.
I actually have not tried their burritos. I like the bowls.
No, but as an installer/maintainer of those types of touch screens..
I do alright ;)
The kid it is going to replace? well.... Sucks to be him.
That was a continuation of it, yes.
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That’s like saying you like Wendy’s and have never tried one of their burgers or you like Chic Fil A but never tried their chicken. You just like their waffle fries.
Nowadays, a Big Mac at McDonalds is priced about the same as a Double Double at In and Out.
Talk about a difficult choice. LOL
I can’t get MacCrap without onions so I don’t go there. My wife bought their stock and I sold it because I despise them so much.
Yup.. I was starving, had not ate all day, finely had time so I went through the drive thru..
a #16, large was 8 bucks...
I almost had a heart attack at the window let alone the one in the sack!
From now on it’s DQ’s 5 buck lunch (that also fills the hole well) or BK where I can still eat for under 6 bucks and not be hungry later.
I enjoyed the premium 1/3 lb. Angus burgers they had... then they did away with them.
If they really want to boost sales, they can start frying their potatoes in Animal fat again... and have the standard $1 McDouble taste like beef. there should be a flattop range where burgers are cooked... not a plastic steam table tray where they pull out flavorless cardboard biscuits with tongs to assemble into a sandwich.
““lets people pick the buns and toppings they want on burgers by tapping a touchscreen.””
Just what I want to do during flu and ebola season!
Bring back the McDLT and it’s styrofoam box. The Ozone layer has not been spoken of in 20 years.
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