Review of McDonald's: Why I'm Still Loving Some of It

There's absolutely no doubt you'll see a McDonald's almost everywhere you go. There's about one in every square mile where I live in Metropolitan Detroit. You can go to their website just to see how endemic they are to the United States. So many people eat breakfast and dinner there they have become an American Icon. Even recently they have been ostensibly marketing to African-Americans and hip-hop culture with their grammatically incorrect slogan "i'm lovin it".

McDonald's is the poster child for the globalization movement. I was enamored with an article in High School I found while searching articles for my Global Issues class. It was about a McDonald's closing in a third world country because the whole country was so poor, hardly anybody could afford to eat at McDonald's except for a man who was in the IT business who was interviewed by the paper. To even think that there was people in a country who couldn't afford to eat at a McDonald's was fascinating to me.

A problem with eating at McDonald's is their low paid workers. I went into a McDonald's to order a Big Mac sandwich; the hamburger patty fell onto the counter while it was being prepared. I saw this and was a little shocked that the man just put the beef patty back onto the sandwich; I had no clue whether or not they clean the counters there. I alerted the manager who looked to be from South-Eastern Asia. He just took the offending patty off the burger, put another one back on and served it to me. I was disgusted by this; I wanted my hamburger to be remade but didn't say anything.

I was also in a McDonald's where a Big Mac can be had for two dollars and fifty cents, the cheapest price I have seen after I scrounged up some change, I saw something very strange. A hippie with dreadlocks down to his waist was in the restaurant, you would think he's against the McDonaldization of society. He received a hamburger, then opened it and said to the woman working there "Look at this, this is shit. I'm a gourmet chef and I wouldn't even eat this shit." He gave the hamburger to the woman working there and stated that he didn't even want his money. I was a little confused if this man was even intending to eat the hamburger or if he was just doing this as some sort of culture jamming thing to make people think twice about eating at McDonald's. After all, he only ordered a hamburger which is less than a dollar at most locations. Afterwards, the young lady working the register ensured me that their food was not shit and that it was good quality food.

As a child I ate McDonald's on occasion, Happy Meals and the Arch Deluxe were my favorites, I was influenced by the commercials on TV for the Arch Deluxe marketed to the adult market and yuppies, who were trying to sell to the public the idea that McDonald's wasn't just for little kids. The campaign backfired and the Arch Deluxe became a huge commercial flop. While eating a Big Mac meal at lunch time, I overheard a group of mothers with their children playing in McDonald's play place. They talked about the only reason even to go inside a McDonald's is because the kids wanted to play there and that the food was horrible there. Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef, author, tv personality and former heroin addict has said that "McDonald's is like crack for children". Aside from the Playplace at this particular location, there is even a fancy electronic player piano surround with wooden railing in this location. I'm not sure as to why they even have one there because a CD player could do the same exact thing and not take up any space.

I was lured into McDonald's as a teenager with their value menu. One thing McDonald's does have going for it is that being one of the largest purchasers of meat in the United States, they can purchase "100% pure USDA INSPECTED BEEF - No fillers, no additives" at a very small cost. Sure their food is unhealthy and has enormous amounts of salt in it, so those of you with high blood pressure should probably stay away. The Double Cheeseburger ordered with Sliced or Quarter Pounder onions instead of the diced onions that come on it is an excellent bang for your buck. It has more meat in it than a Quarter Pounder sandwich and it is significantly cheaper. I once ate 7 double cheeseburgers at once, after the first four I couldn't stomach the juice that was coming from the pickles for some reason, it tasted like bleach to me. After I got sick of Double Cheeseburgers I switched to Big Macs. Honestly, they aren't very good burgers and the only thing good they have going for them is the special sauce- a special emulsion of Thousand Island dressing that tastes mediocre.

Fruit And Yogurt Parfait: A sweet and tasty yogurt with fruit. The problem with this menu item is that lazy underpaid employees often place freshness stickers over parfaits that have been sitting out all day. It's disgusting and it's dangerous to consumer's health. I would avoid this menu item but if you do order one and this happens to you, definitely complain and report the problem to the manager and corporate if you want to score some free McDonald's gift cards or coupons.

Chicken McNugget: Anthony Bourdain has also said that the most disgusting thing he had ever eaten was a Chicken McNugget "... where's the chicken in the McNugget? Where on a chicken does one find a McNugget?". He is reffering to chicken McNuggets being made of rendered chicken skin & muscles. Even though McDonald's website lists White boneless chicken as an ingredient on their website and even has a blurb on their site about encouraging consumers to "Try McDonald's Chicken McNuggets now made with white meat, at participating restaurants.". I'm a little confused by all of this, what qualifies as "white meat" anyway and why is there are only some restaurants participating?

Filet-o-Fish Sandwhich: Do only people having a strictly halal (Basically kosher for Muslims) diet eat these things? Even though McDonald's lauds "Only whitefish from the Pacific Ocean, Bering, Baltic and North Seas for our ®Filet-o-Fish sandwich". The Filet-o-Fish sandwich, it was disgusting. It seriously tasted like I was "dining at the Y" with a prostitute. As much as I love McDonald's I white-knuckled my way through the entire sandwich, trying to hold it down. This was probably my worst McDonald's experience ever.

McGriddle: Though the Big Breakfast and other breakfast items at McDonald's are lackluster, the McGriddle certainly shines. It's about as innovative a product as Chicken McNuggets once were. McDonald's holds an exclusive patent on the crystallization of syrup which is then put into the McGriddle cakes. This means that the pancakes have the syrup cooked in them without, allowing you to eat your McGriddle ham-fisted and not worry about any mess. I am certainly a fan of the McGriddle, even though if it's ordered with sausage it can tend to get a little greasy.

Sources:

Vanessa Richmond, "Bourdain Lifts His Lid" The Tyee
McDonald's, "Meats" McDonald's USA
McDonald's, "McDonald's USA Ingredients Listing for Popular Menu Items" McDonald's USA
McDonald's, "Chicken McNuggets made with white meat" McDonald's USA