What the hell happened to McDonald’s ?

[Painrelief]

Last night on the way home we popped into a Maccies drive thru . I haven’t been for months due to the Monday app deals being rubbish anyway the food was disgusting . The worst I’ve ever had from a McDonald’s , The filet o fish had blatantly been recooked as the fish had fries attached to the chewy as a boot batter and the cheese burger was from dinner time I think judging by how stale it was . My mate said hers the night before from her local one had been warmed up aswell …

But seriously the prices ?!! How can they justify it ! £2.19 for a mayo chicken or a cheese burger now (used to be 99p!) and the arch meal starts from £10.99 !!!
even the slush I had from a different maccies earlier in the day was just liquid and £3.19 !

McDonalds used to be a cheap and quick treat . How have the prices gone up so much and so quickly !!!

Do you still go to McDonald’s ? Has the standards dropped or something because I’ve never experienced such awful food .

I think it’s pretty good value and it’s more expensive where we live.

We have the Mc cafes inside which serve everything in glasses, and sell slices of cakes and pastries. A hot chocolate is about €4.50 so similar to local cafe, but far nicer than other chains like Starbucks. It’s €5.99 for kids happy meal but that includes an innocent orange juice than would cost me €3+ alone in supermarket and a kids fruit purée is €1.80 alone. So €5.99 for that plus kids nuggets, fries, mini cucumber and a books is pennies.
I think it’s €10-14 for an adult meal deal. Which I don’t think you could get a full meal and drink for anywhere else

Plus we still have a full indoor and outdoor play area which is clean and safe. Toilets with baby change, and a parents feeding room. So in winter Its an ideal place to stop for coffee or grab happy meal as Ds basically plays for free for an hour.
They still have free newspapers, and decent WiFi, and our closest now has a massive 30 car electric charging area, and it’s a 2 min detour off motorway so it’s full of people stopping to charge. It’s at end of nearest town where all the big stores are like diy/ homeward/ garden/ car/ supermarkets and very few other cafes so they really have the monopoly.

I remember during covid when everything was shut and collection only, I was sitting outside feeding Ds who was a small baby ( hadn’t ordered), as it was the only place with a bench. It was start of winter and freezing. I was wasting time whilst car in for MOT nearby. Someone inside came out and told me I could go inside, no need to order and sit in warm to feed Ds, and use baby changing etc as long as I needed. Bought me a glass of water over. Whole restaurant was empty inside apart from staff.

The reason they don't have these anymore is mostly to do with issues around the way mcdonald's/ fast food is marketed to kids.

Also hygiene concerns around ball pits etc - it's difficult to keep a kids play area clean and sanitary in a restaurant. 3-day old fries and ketchup everywhere, pretty gross really (and worse - there were reports of vomit/ dirty nappies/ drug needles etc being found).

Hard disagree, the gravy chicken meal off the saver section at 2 x pieces of chicken 2 x wings chips and gravy for £5.99 is a decent price.

This is what our Mac Donald’s it’s like

This is local mac Donald’s

I do like a McDonald's breakfast and think they're good value. But I do not like the Egg on my McMuffin so delete it from my order. (Why doesn't the price come down? It goes up if you want an extra one.) Last time I got my sausage McMuffin the wrapping had clearly been opened and the egg taken off. What it I was allergic? I couldn't be bothered wading through the throng of Justeat drivers (& that's another bugbear - thank goodness for self ordering becuse it's impossible to get served at the counter if you've only got cash) to return it and get a fresh one.

A McDonalds is never a 'treat'

I can't believe I am defending Macdonalds!

But you are not just paying for food, you are paying staff time, building costs, food safety, the cost of running a business and all the back office functions.

Hospitality has been hit really hard by the NI employers hikes. Not just the % increase, but the lowering of the threshold.

The ingredients are probably a small % of the overall cost of the burger, and you don't want to think about that too much.

McDonald's has always been awful! I think that's why people only go when drunk or hungover!
I hate the whole ideology of getting kids hooked on it with "happy meals" and then they've got customers for life. I hate seeing 3 or 4 year olds in there drinking coke etc. Don't think my daughter went to one until she was 5 and even then she doesn't drink fizzy drinks as had sideways been raised on milk and water.

I had a Cheesy McCrispy the other day which was pretty nice. The food is what it is, but they are competing with KFC etc who often do a better job of some things. We find the the local branch often miss things off the order and food is cold if delivered so they are less reliable than other takeaways they compete with on the delivery side.

@Yerroblemom1923 - I think that’s unlikely. A standard happy meal includes orange juice, apple juice, milk or water here. The only way they would have coke is if parent ordered one separately here.

It needs to be like Belgian McDs in the UK. Beer, Wacko Guaco burgers and mayonnaise with your fries.

Or maybe not as I'd probably then eat there more often.

What a bizarre comparison

I haven't been to McDonald's since they stopped doing the triple cheeseburger. That was the only menu item I liked. It was good value. I am assuming they weren't making enough profit from it which is why they pulled it from the menu.

I think the more expensive the better.
It's cheap, over processed food and you've got to ask what type of food you're getting for those previously ridiculously low prices.

Everything has gone up because employers are now paying higher NI and a higher basic minimum wage, regardless of the cost of the food itself.

I was wondering why the quarter pounder was different!
I has a filet o fish the other week. It took ages but was piping hot and freshly cooked so I don't think its ordered much.
Also if you don't like the thought of kids having to pay for their uniform at McDs don't order delivery. Deliveroo, just eat etc are doing nothing to prevent illegal workers delivering for them on illegal bikes. They are basically part of the huge black economy, fuelled by people paying £££ to get their takeaways delivered.

It's actually a very sensible point.
You can buy an organic chicken for £12 and it will last for 3 days if you make meals from the carcass/ stock.

I still like their breakfasts, but after the third/fourth not very appetising meal / needing to go back to ask after a missing or incorrect item / fries being cold, I am much less likely to take the kids there as a “treat”. I sense dwindling enthusiasm from them too but perhaps I’m projecting.

I think it can be good value depending on what you order. Can’t remember what I got now but last time we went me and three (young admittedly) children ate for £15.

Had the worst meal ever recently in west London. The chips were so pale they were almost white. Some issues with quality control definitely

Those prices are more than you pay here, are you in London or at the services? It’s £1.49 for a mayo chicken or cheeseburger. It’s been 5 years since cheeseburgers were 99p

That’s illegal- employers are not allowed to make deductions - especially for things like uniform - that will take the pay below NMW

Yes, this.
I mean £2.19 is extraordinarily cheap if you think about it.
My local is always good.

You can buy a bag of potatoes for £1.50 and make your own fries.

That's really not the point.

if we going to keep putting up the minimum wage, things produced by minimum wage employees will go up, be it burgers, care whatever the cost has to be covered.

I LOVE McDonald’s and go multiple times a week. It very much depends on the branch. There’s a certain one I just won’t go to as the order is wrong EVERY time and always cold. But the other two are great 🤤

it is very much trying to change its vibe though. No idea why it’s now khaki green and scandi instead of yellow red and American?

DARE I SAY IT - I’m now leaning towards Tim Hortons, the food is really nice, and there’s so much selection. It’s actually better