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McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

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61–70 of 86 posts

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#61

And it’s not like people are tired of burgers. Smashburger, In-N-Out Burger, BurgerFi, and Five Guys Burgers & Fries are all expanding. So is Shake Shack... McDonalds problem is the same problem they've always had. The food just isn't very good. It never was. No amount of spiffing up the storefront or juggling menu items can help them when competition the likes of the above moves in. All they're doing is driving thei…

I think the Big mac and McNugget have a very unique taste and cant say I've heard of or tasted any competitors versions of these that actually tasted similar. Im surprised to see a few people agree with the bland opinion.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#62

And it’s not like people are tired of burgers. Smashburger, In-N-Out Burger, BurgerFi, and Five Guys Burgers & Fries are all expanding. So is Shake Shack... McDonalds problem is the same problem they've always had. The food just isn't very good. It never was. No amount of spiffing up the storefront or juggling menu items can help them when competition the likes of the above moves in. All they're doing is driving thei…

You're being charitable. It's downright bad, even compared with various other franchises on an item by item basis. The last time I ate in one back in 2008 because nothing else was open that early, I had a breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and sausage. Everything tasted almost identical - an oily salty mound - with only different chew textures. (Okay, maybe the sausage had a little ext…

You definitely bought the wrong thing. You tried to order a normal diner breakfast at McDonald's. They don't do that well. You wanted to get one of their sandwiches -- Egg McMuffin, etc -- which, while not really like any other normal breakfast, certainly has that distinctive taste everyone here is talking about.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#63

I worked in a franchisee-owned McDonalds circa 2011 and I agree with the sentiment of this article. At the time they were trying to be all things to all people. Instead of focusing on their core strength: burgers and fries, they expanded an already crowded menu by introducing items like the McWrap and Fish McBites that nobody really wanted. Since then I think they've been trying to turn things around by trimming the…

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Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#64
post #15

How times have changed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac#History

People had trouble pronouncing "the aristocrat"?!

McDonald's​ used to have a third pounder burger, but it didn't end up selling well because people thought it was lighter than a quarter pounder.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#66
he says one recent morning as he sits in the Hastings McDonald’s, sipping a skinny vanilla McCafé Latte. Such “foo-foo coffee,” as he calls espresso and its variants, is partly why he bailed: He loves the taste, but the complexities of making it came to epitomize his disillusionment with McD’s. “The service times went up

If McDonalds didn't sell this hard to prepare "foo-foo coffee" then potential patrons will just go across the street to Starbucks... and pick up a sandwich there for lunch too.

I can see why a complex menu creates financial and operational demands on restaurants, but driving customers to other restaurants does too.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#67

And it’s not like people are tired of burgers. Smashburger, In-N-Out Burger, BurgerFi, and Five Guys Burgers & Fries are all expanding. So is Shake Shack... McDonalds problem is the same problem they've always had. The food just isn't very good. It never was. No amount of spiffing up the storefront or juggling menu items can help them when competition the likes of the above moves in. All they're doing is driving thei…

I think the Big mac and McNugget have a very unique taste and cant say I've heard of or tasted any competitors versions of these that actually tasted similar. Im surprised to see a few people agree with the bland opinion.

Unique is the word. This is not a good thing—what exactly is a mcnugget if not fried chicken?

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#68
post #16

The all-day breakfast brought them more of my business. I really like the Egg McMuffin. But, the burgers are nothing to write home about - they're thin and not that juicy, and seem to be mostly bun. Their competition (Wendy's, Burger King) aren't really making good burgers either. I'm lucky that Austin has a wide choice in burgers from various independent restaurateurs.

Have you had any of the never-frozen Wendy's? Vastly improved over the last few years.

I'm fairly sure Wendy's has always used fresh beef. "Fresh, not frozen" was a slogan in their stores when I was growing up in the '70s and '80s. As far as I know, the only shift a few years ago was to refocus their marketing efforts.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#69

And it’s not like people are tired of burgers. Smashburger, In-N-Out Burger, BurgerFi, and Five Guys Burgers & Fries are all expanding. So is Shake Shack... McDonalds problem is the same problem they've always had. The food just isn't very good. It never was. No amount of spiffing up the storefront or juggling menu items can help them when competition the likes of the above moves in. All they're doing is driving thei…

I think the Big mac and McNugget have a very unique taste and cant say I've heard of or tasted any competitors versions of these that actually tasted similar. Im surprised to see a few people agree with the bland opinion.

I always loved their dollar menu, but these days it seems crappier in both selection and price.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#70
post #16

The all-day breakfast brought them more of my business. I really like the Egg McMuffin. But, the burgers are nothing to write home about - they're thin and not that juicy, and seem to be mostly bun. Their competition (Wendy's, Burger King) aren't really making good burgers either. I'm lucky that Austin has a wide choice in burgers from various independent restaurateurs.

Have you had any of the never-frozen Wendy's? Vastly improved over the last few years.

I think their patties are too thin, but I like the 4/$4.
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