Posted on 10/12/2013 2:07:12 PM PDT by SamAdams76
McDonald’s Corp. has started serving chicken wings, but some locals say the new item may not fly in Gainesville.
Coinciding with the beginning of football season, Mighty Wings have temporarily joined the menu until mid-November.
Hoss Rice, a manager at Gator’s Dockside, said he’s not concerned about the competition because atmosphere plays an important role in attracting customers. “The people that are going to go to McDonald’s for chicken wings are just driving on their way home and are like, ‘Man, I really want some wings, and I don’t have time to go somewhere good,’” he said. Alexis Thomas, a 21-year-old nursing sophomore at Santa Fe College, said she doesn’t think McDonald’s poses a significant threat to existing wing joints because, as of right now, the restaurant only offers one flavor.
“I think if they switch it up and add original or buffalo, it will make an effect,” she said.
However, Thomas said she thinks the atmosphere doesn’t have as much influence if the food is good.
“The way your food is made determines whether or not you want to eat there, ” she said. “Depending on how hungry you are, you are going to want to sit there and eat regardless. All you are worried about is getting that food in your mouth while it’s hot.”
David Alexander, a 22-year-old UF telecommunication junior, expressed a different sentiment about fast-food wings.
“I think what makes the best wings is the quality of the chicken and how well they’re seasoned,” he said.
Alexander said atmosphere does play a large role in the settings in which people traditionally enjoy wings.
“You eat wings while you’re watching a football game, and you can’t really do that at McDonald’s,” he said.
McDonald’s is just trying to find a way to capitalize on a popular food that everyone enjoys, he said.
“I don’t think they are truly mastering the craft of chicken wings,” Alexander said.
There has been an enormous amount of excitement across our great nation over the past month concerning these chicken wings. With respect to McDonalds, this is said to be the most revolutionary product since the Egg McMuffin debuted back in 1972.
Now this is a crazy idea...take the drumsticks and "wings" from chickens, deep fry them in batter, and offer them for sale as an entree item, along with the requisite side order of fries with milkshake.
Offered up in cardboard boxes in sizes of 3, 5 and 10, this is truly a daring move by McDonalds. Unlike other products that are heavily processed, like chicken nuggets that is essentially chicken by-products chopped into a pinkish slurry before being reformed into "nugget" shapes, McDonalds pretty much keeps their "Mighty Wings" in its natural state. They just tear off the drumsticks and wings from the actual chickens and serve them up as is.
Due to the buzz over these "Might Wings", I stopped into a McDonalds franchise and ordered a cardboard box containing five wings - three drumsticks and two wings - and proceeded to eat them, sans sauce.
There was definitely a lot of batter on these wings that was very filling. It seems that they are heavy on the batter. But once I got down to the actual meat, it was moist and tender, just how you expect an actual piece of cooked chicken to taste. But I definitely had way more batter than actual chicken meat.
It had been a while since I walked into a McDonalds (except to use the bathroom on a long road trip) but I found the restaurant to be mostly clean. The restaurant was located in a rather sketchy area of Rye, NY so the clientele was on the low-rent side, mostly people in sweatclothes and ball caps, staring glumly off into space as they munched on their food. There were a few misbehaving kids who were squirming and making whiny noises that were totally ignored by their parents. But I couldn't ignore them as much as I wanted to.
While the chicken wings were not terrible, I do not think I would go to McDonalds to order them again. If I want chicken wings, I will typically go to a Buffalo Wild Wings franchise, where I can sit at the bar and drink craft beer while watching whatever sports event is happening at the time.
Speaking of Buffalo Wild Wings, they must have over 100 large screens in their restaurants scattered about the area. Their restaurants are brightly lit with loud music and a very convivial atmosphere. Not exactly a yuppie crowd but not a low-rent crowed either. Kind of a working class crowd but more on the cubicle paper-pushing side and not of the bus driver/construction worker/warehouse worker variety.
Those look like grease balls....ugh
McDonald’s should stick with In N Out’s approach.
Burgers...Fries....Shakes.....That’s It!
Me & my wife tried these new wings. YUCK! A dried out greasy mess. First and last time.
Best wings in Florida....Anthonys!!!
There’s nothing but skin, grease, breading, and seasoning on a wing anyway.
I wonder what happens to the rest of the chicken after they tear off the wings. Chicken salad? Chicken wrap? We may never know.
I read some McDees wing reviews.
“Customers might look at the prices and question the value. The wings come in packs of three for $3.69, five for $5.59, and 10 for $9.69. That sounds expensive for fast food, but customers are getting their money’s worth.”
They gotta nuts to think of keeping that price point.
http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-mighty-wings-review-2013-9
If McDonalds wants to sell its crappy wings, draft beer and a big screen might help.
For what they were, I liked the ones I had and would get them again. Were they “Buffalo” Wings? No, they were spicy chicken wings like you would get at Popeye’s.
I got mine at a McDs in beautiful Metter, GA. There isn’t anything else around.
As for “flavors”, if I want flavored wings, I get “buffalo” wings. Why would you want any other flavor? Leave that for the “Buffalo” wing restaurants.
Those are wings, they are half-wings.
We all say McDonald’s food tastes like crap but I bet you there isn’t one American alive today who hasn’t been to one of their restaurants at least once in their lives. They’re an American institution, and who cares if their wings are horrible.
They suck, especially for $1 each.
I stop at McDonald’s twice a year, on the way to Maine and back again. I like to order a Big Mac meal with fries. Used to be a small order of fries, but since Muchelle put her oar in, I now order a medium order of fries. Thanks, Muchelle.
I actually like the taste of a Big Mac. And twice a year shouldn’t be enough to kill me.
“McDonald’s is just trying to find a way to capitalize on a popular food that everyone enjoys, he said.”
Well Duh! Welcome to business 101, how far did they have to look to find such brilliance. And the manager from the Dockside, which I am sure has a bar, that said he’s not worried because McDonald’s can’t compete with their atmosphere? Double duh! No kidding a place that serves booze, wings and probably has multiple big screens to watch the game on not worried. I’m shocked, shocked I say.
Wings were HUGE about 5 years ago.... talk about late on the curve
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