Actually its the dollar and more menu now.... (prices anywhere from $1 to $2 now.)
McDonald’s was never high quality, but its quality has gone to the crapper even more in the last decade or two.
There is nothing worse to my mind than putting together an sandwhich with a patty that was cooked 10 minutes ago... If you get a fresh off the grill burger from McD’s its amazing how much better (not calling it great, but so much better) than the manner they make them today. It takes 44 seconds to cook a burger, and something like 1:45 to cook a quarter pounder... I really don’t know what they were thinking when they left the fully prepared and assembled burgers, to the model they now use.
There is no excuse to get a cheeseburger, where the cheese isn’t even melted.
McD is a volume business that caters to down-and-outer (welfare), quick-grab, and budget customers. “Dollar” menu items appear during recessions and disappear during recoveries. High-end menu items are window dressing to up-sell customers who have extra change. But with so many great options, they can’t keep customers who are moving up the food chain from moving out.