McDonalds food | TheaterFire

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I think the last time I ate at a McDonald's was in the 90s. I loved it as a kid, though. All the marketing, the toys, the prizes, the little boxes of food. It's like a cult I left! We ate it all the time when I was growing up.

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216_412_70@reddit

Back in '87 I was working at a McDonald's and, while cleaning up at closing time, I managed to step into a bucket full of scalding hot fryer grease. Third degree burns all over my foot up to my mid-calf.

The smell of french fryers in fast food places still gives me flashbacks.

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10MileHike@reddit

that is....horrifying. sorry that happened to you.

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WritingRidingRunner@reddit

Oh my God, that's horrifying. It's a miracle you recovered.

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216_412_70@reddit

Yeah, it wasn't fun. Missed most of the first part of my senior year of HS, and had to have teachers stop by to keep me caught up on everything. The good part was that the owner tried to avoid paying workers comp, so we ended up suing his ass, and I got $1500 a week for the next 8 months when I couldn't work. Went out and got myself a great cassette stereo for my car, and used the rest for college.

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WritingRidingRunner@reddit

He deserved it-I'm so glad you're okay now. *virtual distanced Gen X hug*

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blueyedmystic@reddit

I think the quality used to be better, seems like the food is much worse than it used to be.

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throw123454321purple@reddit

The shakes taste very different now. It think the move to HFCS from sugar in the 80s was the beginning of the end.

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10MileHike@reddit

hfcs is one reason i cant drink gatorade ...snd i hate the bitter taste of stevia so...please go back to cane sugar not HFCS

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tallCircle1362@reddit

McDonald’s shakes used to come out of the machine ready to consume. They had choc, van and strawberry always and specials sometimes, Shamrock shakes for example. At some point, the machines changed and now, they are not ready to consume. Worker starts with vanilla base and adds flavoring. It’s horrible. Flavor does not get distributed evenly. Used to be when you got a Shamrock shake, it was consistently green the whole way through. Now, you see swirls and it’s just not as good.

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otravez5150@reddit

I just think we grew up and our taste matured.

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Kodiak01@reddit

For the first 8 years of my life, my father managed a Burger King (back when you could make a living at it.) For the 9 years after that, he had a Carvel franchise.

I was a fat kid.

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bm1949@reddit

1985-99 I was a mcfranchise kid. I didn't get fat somehow and, yeah, it's a hustle I very much didn't want to inherit.

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Kodiak01@reddit

My family could have starred on Family By The Ton. Until about 12 years ago, I was a disgusting obese fatass.

Now? I'm a much healthier (and better looking) powerlifter that loves to eat right and exercise. I'm the only one that broke the cycle.

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10MileHike@reddit

well you learned about nutrtion and how to eat properly.

i know many who just do not know these things, so dont use derrogatory terms to descibe your old self.

instead, shine the light, help others see ...

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Top_Bus_3833@reddit

Congrats! Fat people are gross.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

So are assholes

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itsmellslikefish@reddit

I hate to say this, but you gotta use the app. All fast food is trending toward it and if you order in person it's more expensive.

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beyondplutola@reddit

App defeats purpose of fast food. If I'm eating at McDonald's, it probably means I was in a rush and I did not plan very well.

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creeva@reddit

It’s sitting the parking lot and order on the app and roll through the drive through with your code. It’s literally a minute to order and you can pick it up immediately.

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Embarrassed-One-3246@reddit

But you don’t get what you actually want. You settle on what the app is offering.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

The whole menu is in the app.

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Embarrassed-One-3246@reddit

Sure, for regular price. It’s the app deals that move the needle.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

Oh. Yeah, I'm not the customer for that. I want what I feel like ordering. If their prices suck I'll just go somewhere better for the same amount of scratch.

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Embarrassed-One-3246@reddit

Unless $2 off $10 or $15 is an anodyne that quells your math problems.

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buttplugpeddler@reddit

When I have a hankering I cue it up in my work parking lot and hit send when I’m 5 minutes or so out.

Reading right away every time.

I hate repeating myself to those terrible drive through mics.

Great move on their part on the app.

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CowboyLaw@reddit

What if you hanker for a hunk of cheese?

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buttplugpeddler@reddit

Then I hit up my local corner store for the best string cheese I’ve ever had from Vern’s in Chilton. 🤷‍♂️

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beyondplutola@reddit

Then I oppose it on principle. I just want to yell “I’ll have a No 4 please” into the mic and be done with it. Put this in the category of “I see the QR code, but we’d like a paper menu. Thank you.”

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

There's no allotted time window, it's as soon as you can get there. And ordering ahead is faster, not slower.

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tallCircle1362@reddit

There is nothing fast about McDonald’s anymore. I hate using the kiosk. I’ve had problems where cell signal doesn’t work in the store and it can’t scan my coupon. Then it tells me I already used it. Just a nightmare. It was so easy in the past. Walk in. Give order. Pay. Get order leave. Now there are so many obstacles. You’ve got the kiosk. You’ve got the DoorDash people, Grubhub, regular customers picking up, drive thru. People coming into the counter are way down on the priority list.

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InevitableStruggle@reddit

Here’s the deal. You’ve traded your personal info (and credit card number?) for a discount on the same crap we are waiting in line for. And yes, I remember them when they were good. BTW somebody confirm for me—Chicken McNuggets are smaller now. Saw my grandson with a stack of them and I was pretty certain if it.

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Saint909@reddit

Yes they are. I had a happy meal on Monday and they are totally a lot smaller.

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shan68ok01@reddit

Yeah, not so much. I was ordering breakfast for three people in the app, with a bogo breakfast sandwich deal, and the total was around $35. For three sandwiches, two burritos, three hashbrowns, and two medium cokes.

I haven't spent a dime at McDonald's since I canceled that order. Thankfully, there's a Sonic drive-in and a Braum's right across the street from the McDonald's, if I don't feel like cooking breakfast at home.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

Sonic isn't any cheaper in my area.

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Throttlechopper@reddit

This, they want convenience and your data. Also, the Big Mac is crap, the Whopper is a superior burger.

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slimninj4@reddit

Whopper is much better burger but BK fries are lacking. Still only way I go to bk is with a coupon and the app with McDonald

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MarkItZeroDonnie@reddit

Apparently you have to get the quarter pounder, it’s the only non frozen burger on the menu . You can get a double and add Big Mac sauce and you’re cooking with gasoline

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

There's nothing wrong with frozen burgers.

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MyriVerse2@reddit

BK has literally no good food.

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MopingAppraiser@reddit

Nah those chicken sandwiches are still awesome and haven’t changed in years!

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bingojed@reddit

Nope. Not going to happen. Not going to use an app to order fast food. I’ll take my business elsewhere.

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Fly_Tetas@reddit

Yeah, they’re pretty much buying our personal information for a cheeseburger. No way.

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Mean_Fae@reddit

Its like this with Chick fil A too. I love ordering ahead and bypassing the suckers who are in the long ass drive thru line.

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countess-petofi@reddit

When I was little, my favorite thing was to find the pointiest fries in my order, stick them into the top of my Filet-o-Fish, and pretend it was a birthday cake.

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EdwardBliss@reddit

This is one of the reasons why I don't go to McDonalds anymore, even just occasionally. Too expensive.

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Low_Cook_5235@reddit

This summer I was driving my 14 yr old son and 2 teammates home from their baseball game and my son asked if we could stop at McD since they were hungry. I said sure no problem. In my head I was thinking it’d be $25 or so. Bill was just over $50!! WTF! Each kid got an adult meal (like Big Mac, fries and soda). I just got fries and a soda. When we got home I told my son, next time if you want food it needs to be after we drop his friends off.

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Kershiser22@reddit

If in 2024 I purchased an item for $50 then in 1994 that same item would cost: $23.50.

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RedLaceBlanket@reddit

Yup and I'm mad about it lol

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OPisabundleofstix@reddit

Crazy that Applebee's is cheaper than McDonald's

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l00ky_here@reddit

At least you still get those deep fried apple pies instead of the crappy baked ones we get here in the States.

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The_Machine80@reddit

It's not more expensive than a restaurant. Everything is more expensive. Inflation is equal against all business.

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Mean_Fae@reddit

They don't exploit their workers anymore. But don't eat there if you are not down with incorporating insect protein into your big mac. Soon.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

🤡

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dontbeajoiner@reddit

Google "Big Mac Index vs CPI" and you'll see the Big Mac was almost perfectly pegged to inflation until the public outcry about wages.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

OK bootlicker

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EastYouth1410@reddit

They could dial back the stock dividend one tenth of a percent and cover twice as much as the wage increase. Don't let these mf'ers fool you, there is plenty of money to pay fair wages.

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MopingAppraiser@reddit

Shhhh you’re going to be put on a list.

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equal_poop@reddit

Does anyone remember the McDonald's plates they released some time in the early 80s? I think it was some sort of promo where you get the entire plate filled with fries and you kept the plate. I ate off that plate from the day I got it until I was 16 years old. Then suddenly I was too old to have a special plate at dinner time.

I live behind a McDonald's so I go there when I'm coming home from the bus. I've lived here a year and one month, I'm already tired of it. I only go about 2 times a month, but the fries are just crap now. I also ordered breakfast for the first time in my life ( I'm a Hardee's breakfast girl) why do the hash browns taste metallic?

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

I do not remember that.

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Cantech667@reddit

I grew up in a small town, and I remember what a thrill it was to go to McDonald’s as a kid. The summer before going into grade 12, a McDonald’s opened up in my town and I worked there. I used to absolutely love McChicken back then. They were thick, juicy, and delicious. A far cry from what they are today. I go there for breakfast maybe once a month, but I’m not a fan of their current burgers and chicken. Way too often when I get home, the food is cold, and I don’t live far from the restaurant.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

McChicken was never good, my guy.

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cbatta2025@reddit

Occasional Big Mac still slaps.

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otravez5150@reddit

Taco Bell in my town has tanked since covid. We have 3 of them, all slow, all twice their old prices. Thank God for taco trucks. Better, faster and cheaper.

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EastYouth1410@reddit

Taco Bell just like McD has become very bland. The flavor is just not there anymore. So many better options for the same price or less.

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theflamingskull@reddit

A shitty, plain McDonalds cheeseburger now costs more than a fresh one from In-N-Out.

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EastYouth1410@reddit

In-N-Out is not mind blowing but it's a pretty good burger for a fair price. I almost always go there over any other place.

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Rattlehead71@reddit

and a patty that is twice as thin as the pickle

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EastYouth1410@reddit

McD's food is incredibly bland. I don't know how they justify those prices with so much high quality competition in the burger market. It's upwards of $18 to eat a combo where I live. No thanks, I'll just go to Smashburger or Five Guys for those prices.

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Shep1973@reddit

This post is full of Boomers. Not in age but attitude 😂

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LachlanGurr@reddit

Aussie MacDonald's ( macca's) went fancy and their stuff is expensive but quite nice, never enough sauce though.

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stephenforbes@reddit

Back in the day we knew it was junk food but it was hot, cheap, fast and tasty so we bought it anyways.

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GreatGreenGobbo@reddit

I have no idea why it takes 20 minutes to get my McDs order. It is bizzare.

I can go to a kebab shop and get a kefta plate bbqd from a raw skewers in less time for McDs.

AND McDs tastes like ass now.

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DeadpoolIsMyPatronus@reddit

I'll have to take your word for it on that one. I don't eat ass.

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LeadershipNo8763@reddit

McDonald’s gift certificates were the best.

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HotLipsMcgillicuddy@reddit

It also looks like the GDR

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Affectionate-Map2583@reddit

It's the same in the US. McDonald's kind of grosses me out except for the fries now. It's gotten expensive and makes me feel bad after eating it. In the town where I work, I have several better choices for lunch at or near the same price.

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Ceorl_Lounge@reddit

No need to edit... also slow, expensive, and shit in the ol' US of A.

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jcwillia1@reddit

I can’t stand McDonald’s. Been at least 10 years since I last ate it

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3chordguitar@reddit

Seems like they used the Covid/limited supply as reasoning for boosting prices. Their food isn’t great, but it WAS fast and cheap. It still sucks, it’s not as fast and it’s no longer cheap.

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imnotknow@reddit

I was just in the UK and I was shocked at how much y'all were gobbling up that shit and other American garbage. People are getting wise to it over here and it's on the decline

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StopSignsAreRed@reddit

Well, it IS on the decline there as well. But I don’t know if the decline in either place can be attributed to how “American garbage” it is. The prices have skyrocketed.

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Mfsmitty@reddit

I haven't eaten McDonald's since 1997. No interest at all.

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Electronic_Cow_7055@reddit

It's expensive due to minimum wage increase but still tastes like I remember. I just tried the chicken big mac. Pretty good. Also went to a wedding where mccdonalds cheeseburgers and nuggets were brought in as a late snack for people. Apparently this is a thing too.

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pinkaline@reddit

My parents like to remind me that they used to pay $5 for 4 meals (2 adults, 2kids), and they even got change back…as in the tv commercials back then.

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RCA2CE@reddit

I don’t eat at places like this often at all.

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boybrian@reddit

But when we were kids they could throw the food out fast bc it was already made and sitting 7 deer a heat lamp. It was not made to order. I think Burger King started that and Wendy’s built itself up on custom ordered burgers with us filling out those yellow sheets.

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ExtremeWild5878@reddit

Hey look at it this way, at least you're not eating half the shit they put in our McDonalds food here in the US.

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jessek@reddit

Dunno. Haven’t eaten anything at McDonald’s in over twenty years, other than a few fries.

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Heathster249@reddit

My boys don’t even ask for it anymore and they’re young.

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theghostofcslewis@reddit

I went to McDonalds in Munich last month, 100% ground beef locally sourced from EU and Ireland. I did get a Royal With Cheese because of the metric system.

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Minute_Feeling_307@reddit

Le big mac

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theghostofcslewis@reddit

Actually, it would be the quarter pounder with cheese.

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Minute_Feeling_307@reddit

I was referring to the scene in Pulp Fiction. After Vincent tells Jules that a quarter pounder with cheese is called a royale with cheese, Jules asks what they call a big mac. Vincent says its the same but the call it le big mac. Then Jules asks what they call a whopper and Vincent says "I don't know, I didn't go to burger king"

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theghostofcslewis@reddit

Ok, but...It was a "Whopper" only due to the fact that McDonalds also has the Big mac. This doesn't mean either of us are old, just seeking the truth.

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MopingAppraiser@reddit

I don’t remember asking you a god damn thing!

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Kale1l@reddit

I stopped eating at McDonald's when I got part of a beak in a chicken nugger. That was almost 35 years ago

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MopingAppraiser@reddit

That happened to my puppet cousin at KFC. He was on Crank Yankees. Schooly D is his name.

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Lookuponthewall@reddit

At one time, McDonalds was a restaurant with a drive through. Now, it's a drive through with a restaurant attached to it.

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MopingAppraiser@reddit

Such lazy ass people blocking roads cause they require the drive through.

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Hypnotic_Element@reddit

I don't know if I'd consider it food anymore. Did you see the amount of chemical food preservatives in this shit. Ewww. I wouldn't put that garbage anywhere near my mouth.

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MopingAppraiser@reddit

Fuckin’ nauseating!

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MopingAppraiser@reddit

It’s horrible. It’s expensive because more people started eating it as a regular diet instead of a treat. Disgusting.

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Impossible1999@reddit

We’re probably the last generation that has any positive memory of McDonald’s. The Millennials veered off to ultra healthy land, with vegan and organic food on their table, while GenZ have followed in being health conscious. Their kids won’t know McDonald’s.

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Reasonable-Proof2299@reddit

The McDonalds by my house is one of the few that runs smoothly

The one by my work is terrible and they can barely take an order

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Ok-Somewhere-2219@reddit

Be happy you're in the UK. It's actually better there than in the US.

I travel and always end up getting McD at some point in every new country where it's available. I am always curious as to what it is like in another country because it's so standardized generally.

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Jack_Q_Frost_Jr@reddit

It's still fast where I am in the USA, but it's pretty bad food. I loved it as a kid though. At least I have those memories.

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TheGreatOpoponax@reddit

McDonald's, food wise, is way better than it used to be. What I'm referring to is back in the day when they still used heat lamps. If you were lucky, you didn't get something that tasted like it was frozen and then thawed out under a sun lamp.

Price wise though? It's terrible. I have to travel for work and the only time I'll stop off at a McDonalds is if I haven't eaten in 7 hours and it's near the offramp I'm getting off on to get to my hotel. So yeah, I don't go there often anymore.

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Sherry0406@reddit

I've always liked McDonalds. I like the Big Mac.

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CitizenChatt@reddit

You can still get a crown 👑 at Burger King.

Just saying

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MyriVerse2@reddit

The crown is more tasty.

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Dry-Region-9968@reddit

Fast food isn't fast anymore. They are more worried about the drive-thru than the customer standing at the counter. I'm just wondering has anyone asked you to back up after paying at the drive-thru? I think it has to do with the timer to get food out to the customer. It's happened to me at Burger King and Taco Bell.

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Many_Exit_5358@reddit

The portions were much smaller then, which slightly explains the cost difference. Small soda was 8oz, iirc!!

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buckeyegurl1313@reddit

Picked up breakfast last week for 2. 19 dollars. For breakfast. At McDonald's. Never again.

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zoeyversustheraccoon@reddit

I haven't eaten there in a decade, not because of the prices but because it's bad for the environment and not healthy. Plus they manipulate the chemicals in the food to make it more addictive. Fuck them.

But I have to admit that once in a while I crave one of their breakfast sandwiches.

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AlbMonk@reddit

Didn't grow up on McDonald's and still avoid McDonald's all grown up. The only time I eat McDonald's if it is the only place on a long desert highway and there is no other food source for hundreds of miles. Even then, I might consider roadkill over a Big Mac.

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Minute_Feeling_307@reddit

I worked at McDonald's all through high school. I worked in the grill a lot on weekends and summer during the breakfast shift. I will still tear up a sausage mcmuffin with egg. Some places have them 2 for $5

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trinaryouroboros@reddit

You are not alone, there has been a mass exodus because of mcdonalds ridiculously inflated prices. You're better off going to a diner for their prices, get far more quality food and quantity, for the same price as a large combo, and be able to save half of it as leftovers.

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ikonet@reddit

The only time we eat McDonald’s anymore is if we’re on a road trip. We stop to get gas and a bag of ‘food’ and get back on the highway.

And each time we regret it. We are not great at learnin’ lol.

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peptide2@reddit

GUT GRENADE

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Didthatyesterday2@reddit

Any Gen X R still eating at these places is doomed. I haven't touched the stuff in 20 years. Survival mode activated!

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TheVoicesOfBrian@reddit

I don't know if it's because the food is garbage or because I'm getting older, but I cannot stomach McDs anymore.

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runningoutofwords@reddit

Late 70's early 80s, having your birthday at McDonald's was the shit. All the kids had fun, and it was dirt cheap. (and no, Chuck E Cheese was never an option where I grew up)

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pine-cone-sundae@reddit

When I was a kid, I hung with my Greatest Generation grandparents who were farmers. They raised their own food so didn't exactly eat junk. But they did love a good diner burger, and decided in their 60s fast food burgers weren't bad, and certainly were a good deal (I think basic McD burgers were 25 cents when I was a kid), so when we "went to town" to go to the stock market or grocery, a special treat was to go to get a (hearing my grandad's voice in my head) "MACdonald's hamburger."

Fast forward to my high school years- got the obligatory after school job of McDs. Back then the burgers were still made on the grill. Meat was frozen but still certainly a cut above the current practice of- ick- heating up precooked materials. The quality is very, very different. I don't know the precise year but I'm sure there is a contemporary news article about it on the web somewhere.

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StubbornNobody@reddit

A couple weeks ago I got two chicken sandwiches, fries, chicken nuggets, and a drink for less than $7.

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NorCalFrances@reddit

And it no longer even looks like McDonalds. We were in a parking lot and saw McDonalds, Panera and some other similar food place all at the outer reaches of the lot, near the road. The buildings were indistinguishable in brown, grey and black; only the single small sign differentiated each from the others.

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Yikes0nBikez@reddit

'round about the time their stock price became something people cared about.

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KermieKona@reddit

Our local McDonald’s is very fast… pay’s $18-20/hr… but food quality is the same.

So… fast food, yes… more expensive, yes (they are paying their workers more nowadays)… but same food🤨.