Tell McDonald’s what’s important to you when eating out with your family - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED!

[EmmaMumsnet]

Whilst eating out with the family can provide a much-needed treat and opportunity to reconnect, it can also entail much compromise in order to ensure that all members are satisfied with the outing. McDonald’s UK is keen to find out what is running through your mind when it comes to making that often tricky dining decision whilst keeping smiles on everyone’s faces.

Here what McDonald’s has to say: “We’re looking at new options for our Happy Meal and invited Mumsnet behind the scenes as we started the food development journey! Our restaurants have changed, options like kiosk ordering and table service make it easier for families to enjoy our food but we want to know what you look for when eating out as a family.”

Whether you are celebrating a special occasion, visiting your favourite family restaurant or simply popping into a local take away, we want to know on what basis you make such decisions. Is it the provision of colouring sheets for the kids, or haute cuisine for the more mature members of the family? Maybe you find it difficult to identify a restaurant with menus capable of pleasing all parties and resort to visiting several locations? Is making sure your children’s meals are well balanced or that the location is family friendly important to you?

Whatever your main considerations are when choosing somewhere to eat out with your family, please share them below and you will be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

table service, have spent too long going and ordering food at till/bar and missed spending time with family.

To avoid McDonald's like the plague!

A good children’s menu or smaller portions of adult meals for children- something a bit more interesting than the usual sausage and mash or pasta options, though not too interesting (fussy children!) Space for buggy. Clean tables and cutlery. Clean toilet facilities with child height sinks are always welcome.

With regards to McDonalds, we go there for fast, tasty food. The kids love the toys, though I agree with a PP who mentioned duplicates when you take more than one child. It can’t be hard to grab a couple of different ones to pop in each happy meal, surely. More options for fruit/veg bags would be good. It would be good if there was stickers/colouring available.

Love McDonalds, regular visitors there but usually drive through... our autistic girl would need good acoustics or a quiet table to be able to eat inside!

In general - it needs to have dairy and wheat free options, no tvs, clean, comfortable seating, polite helpful staff and noise levels. For somewhere to be a regular - specials menu keeps choices fresh. Don't like lots of artificial rubbish. Freshly prepared.

Allergy friendly and safe is a top priority. On long road trips, McDonald's is actually where we go as we know exactly what my child can eat, and it's the same in every branch.

Awesome vegetarian or vegan food is always a plus.

Cleanliness. Not really long queues. Gluten free options for one child ..currently we order without the bun. Healthier options.

Clean & easy, good food but at a decent price too are big deciders for my daughter & I. With regards to McDonald's I always see it as a 'treat' rather than the norm or an easy option after school. The fruit bags, etc are a good idea but my daughter has always wants the burger/fries option and if it is a treat than I see no problem. We can have the wholemeal wraps and salad sticks another night at home. I do like McDonald's to stick to what it knows best than go too far 'healthy' as most people you see in McDonald's aren't munching on salad! Maybe a wholemeal 50/50 bun would be a good idea, always no salt on the fries too, we like the fun boxes and gifts. Somewhere fun, clean, quick, etc is great with regards to eating out with fast food. For a proper day out I do tend to prefer a sit down table restaurant, mainly Italian, and go for pasta, etc. Prefer a more relaxing atmosphere on one of our days out. And I always use discount vouchers for that, which quite often makes the meal the same price as fast food anyway.

Healthy kids meals and friendly service.

Hi, I use McDonalds for a few reasons, sometimes a guilty pleasure kind of treat and sometimes just because I'm in a hurry. There are several things that make a visit to 'Macies' a pleasure when you have children and a few things I would like to see.

Easy entrance with electric doors and no queue through the doorway.

Plenty of room to maneuver and store buggies if you want to use the high chairs.

Secure storage, like lockers for shopping/change bags, would be awesome.

The Tablets are great and they would be even better if there was some sort of timer so kids could swop when they get busy.

I also think there should be wipes available to clean screens and gel for hands before and after use as I see many children eating and then touching the screens cringe.

It would also be better if every table had one or 2 touchscreens which you could order from and then the kids could play on.

Sauce pumps, straws, and serviettes at each table would cut down the need to leave them to go and get things.

A bin built into each table would also help to create a really personal dining experience giving you ownership over your space.

The charging stations for mobiles are a good idea again but the only time I tried to use one they were all broken.

Essentially the less you have to leave the table the better!

Toilets and changing facilities need to be clean and fresh smelling with vending machines for nappies and also a consideration for changing disabled children who will exceed the weight and size of most baby tables should be made.

You could consider a feeding room or privacy screens for mums with babies. I would use the facilities they have at Legoland in guest services as a good model for a feeding room.

We appreciate fast, friendly service, reasonably priced foods, specials for the day, at good prices.

Clean tables and facilities are a must, free Wi-Fi is also useful. Also, there should be an option for tipping for good service and food, rather than a service charge added on the bill.

Decent portions of veg for DCs and veggie options for me.
Sadly McDs scores badly on both of these.

Our first consideration has always been are glutenfree/dairyfree options available and can we be sure that there is no cross-contamination.

Cleanliness is our next consideration - especially the tables and cutlery.

Clean restaurant/toilets, healthy food and drink options for children, good sized and priced kids meals, a little waiting time entertainment like an activity/colouring sheet or a play area.

We love going to Five Guys - they make naked burgers with lettuce instead of bread to cover the meat and toppings - do McDonalds make naked burgers?

Maybe not contribute to the awful cages/factory farms and needless murder of billions of animals? It takes 10 bathtubs of water to make just one burger, the environmental implications are huge too. There is no "happy" in a happy meal.

a children's menu with entertainment

Good variety of choices for the children, including a vegetarian option. Decent servings of vegetables in/with each option where possible. Clear indications of what is and isn't nut free. Something to keep the children entertained (love the tablets and interactive tables in McDonald's now!). Quick service so children don't go crazy waiting. Good food options for the adults too - don't have to be haute cousine, just tasty. Reasonable prices for the children's menu - I don't want to pay through the nose for something they might only eat half of anyway!

Clean highchairs and space for two of them round a table for DTD, space for a large pram, clean baby changing facilities and a healthy menu for little ones-low salt/sugar and plenty of fruit and veg.

Clean table, healthy food options, minimal plastic tat that lasts a few minutes before heading for landfill

As many others have said a clean environment. Chips all over the floor and debris on the chairs and tables isn't welcoming. Warmer premises too, I always feel cold in fast food restaurants (particularly KFC) and really dislike eating with a jacket on so I tend to avoid them unless absolutely necessary. When younger, my kids did like McDonalds so we would go as a treat for them but now they are teens it tends to just be if we want a quick snack on the road somewhere. I think the reason for the change in my kids attitude is as they have got into their teens they perceive McDonalds as an unhealthy option (very calorific) so they prefer to head to Nandos or Pizza express (not sure the pizza is less calorific but it is the perception).
If we are going to eat out, as a family, we are and always have been more inclined to eat at local restaurants (not chains) to support our local economy. When the children were small we took our own things with us to keep them occupied and not disturb others when necessary. However, if things were unplanned, it was always nice if the restaurant had paper and pencils to occupy the kids. Baby changing facilities should be standard everywhere imho along with decent highchairs. I

For us, the range of food is most important - DS is a fussy beggar and DH is veggie and likes to eat healthily so we don't all want nuggets and beans. We don't need crayons etc. as we can bring along activities for DS but we do need to be able to order promptly, and not be kept waiting 40+ minutes for the food to arrive. It also helps if we get drinks before food.

We've spoken to duty managers at restaurants before as well, to say how helpful we've found individual waiting staff because they can also make a big difference - how they've handled problems, whether they've spoken to DS directly about his meal / order etc.

I have a child with ASD so the most important thing to me is a flexible menu where I can choose what option he will eat. I tend to look for places with a menu outside so I don't have to create upset by going inside then finding there is nothing he will eat. Cleanliness is obviously also important. Enough tables to seat customers is also important and I hate seating near the queues and those awful high stools.

For me it is a clean place to eat, variety on the menu and fast service.

My main choices when looking for somewhere to eat out are family friendly, somewhere with choices other than deep fried food which seems to be the norm when catering for kids. Somewhere we can talk as a family. Life is hectic so to sit together for a meal is a big thing for us.