I’m mystified how they became so popular when their basic hamburger is so gross. Only worse ones are White Castle grease bombs.
Grease bombs, mmmmmmmmmmm! :o
Parent of a five year old here reporting.
PLAYGROUND, PLAYGROUND, PLAYGROUND.
If the cost of 40 minutes of peace is some crappy burger and some fries I’m all in.
EDIT:BTW the bacon egg and cheese biscuit is the bomb, I have actually craved it!
I can’t believe 43 posts in and nobody has mentioned the Mcrib.
I HATE the McRib, but the way some of my fellow Dopers fawn over this culinary creation, it surprises me no one has mentioned it.
That said, McDonald’s does have some tasty items:
French Fries. Salty and fresh out of the fryer.
The McGriddle.
Their premium burgers aren’t bad either.
Damn, I loves me some White Castle.
Anyhow, love is too strong a word for McDonald’s (although I have been having a torrid affair with their jalapeno doubles until they just got rid of them. Grr…) But I do enjoy them and their distinctive taste. I stick basically to McDoubles, 1/4 pounders with cheese, and the breakfasts. Oh, those breakfasts. Don’t like the McRib, and stay away from whatever the “premium” stuff is. I just want a basic McDonald’s style burger (with the exception of that jalapeno double, but that wasn’t a premium item. It was a $2 McDouble variant, basically.) Of the Big 3, overall, they’re my favorite. 80s-era Wendys would have beaten them out, but I just no longer get hamburgers at Wendy’s, being disappointed time and time again (their spicy chicken sandwich, though I do like.) And BK … not a fan at all.
You have In& Out, TheH Habit, and Kahuna Grill. That last one if you’re in Santa Barbara. That’s just burgers.
I don’t love McDonald’s, but I’ve never understood the hate as they have good simple food at reasonable price. There is one thing that gets us to order McDonald’s frequently. Online-ordering and delivery. I live in Beijing and this is awesome. The restaurants used to be crowded and almost impossible to find a seat. Now, it’s delivered to our door. Tired, no food in the house, no problem.
McDonald’s?
…meh
I got spoiled at an early age. In the 60’s and 70’s, long before my town had a McDonalds or a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, we had something better. Imagine fast food burgers and fries a cut above McDonald’s PLUS Kentucky Fried Chicken (before it was called KFC and they still knew now to make it finger-lickin’ good) all under one roof!
Well, I didn’t have to imagine it…I lived it!
That’s right, we had a Gino’s Hamburgers & Chicken
Yeah, that’s right…fast-food burger perfection + KFC when they were at the top of their game.
Oh, the memories. I’d waltz (yes, actually waltz) into our local Gino’s, saunter up to the cashier snap my fingers and say, “gimme a Giant, fries and a black & white*…oh, and while you’re at it…gimme a chicken leg to gnaw on while I wait, ok toots?
The Gino Giant was like the Big Mac, only better X infinity. I’m too sophisticated to have said it, but some people called the Gino Giant special sauce, God’s ejaculate—it was that divine.
They had the best fast food.
The best commercials
And the best jingle.
I mean c’mon, the lyric, “Everybody goes to Gino’s, ‘cause Gino’s is the place to go!"— says it all. It’s the perfect catch-phrase. Think about it. Gino’s is the place to go. Why? Because everybody goes there—brilliant! And that music. Sublime! It’s on my playlist between Beethoven and Mozart.
Good news: they’re back; Bad news: I don’t live anywhere near one anymore. If anyone has been to the new incarnation, tell me if the food tastes anywhere near as good as it tasted decades ago.
*Black & White: This is a milkshake made with 50% chocolate and 50% vanilla… not to be confused with a type of cuckhold porn.
I love the grilled chicken wraps with a dash of chipotle sauce. That is the suburban housewife’s go-to at the drivethrough, with a coffee or iced tea. Nice little snack, being a decent non-burger/fries. I hate burgers and fries except a junior whopper at BK …McDonalds used to sell little chicken fajitas with thin strips of marinated chicken, onions and peppers, and cheese, wrapped in a flour tortilla. Cheap, too! One was not enough, two a little too much. They were the best fajitas I ever had in my life then and now. Just scrumptious. I’ve tried replicating them at home
to no avail. 
I love a large Mc Coke-a-cola when I’m out running errands and get tired. And that big 1/3 lb burger with the mushrooms and caramelized onions calls my name now and then. Usually when I’m in the mood to drown (smother?) my sorrows.
So I can’t say I’m a fan, but those $1 cokes are the bomb when you’re out running around on a hot day.
Whoever said their shakes are the best has obviously never had one at Chik-fil-a, the which are second only to Roy Roger’s shakes and ice cream.
I only like the breakfast options. I will defend the Egg McMuffin. Not much else…
I’m-ah like-ah their crispy chicken-ah sandwiches. (Not grilled-ah!) Fries are decent.
-ah.
Think I’ll hit Spaghetti Warehouse today, though. I seem to have a hankerin’-ah.
The 1/3 burgers are better than I expected. I expected them to be very very dry (no other way I could describe it), but they are OK.
The problem for me is this: a McDouble is $1.29. Anything more substantial is around $5. For around the same price in my area you can get many other large burger options that actually have choices when it comes to toppings (and many more specialty combinations) from Wendys, BK, Steak n Shake, Culvers. Plus a couple tiers of burgers that are not much more expensive, such as Five Guys for fast/casual and Max and Ermas, Dennys, IHOP, Ruby Tuesdays, etc for cheap sit down options.
I like the Filet o Fish. You can get pretty much the same thing buying Van De Kamps, the cheapest American cheesefood you can find and steaming a $1 pack of buns. As some one will point out, that’s nice but people want to be able to get food out. That’s fine, but I rarely buy food for less than 4 people and honestly I feel very bad about paying over $20 for a fast food meal. I’d rather go up a tier and eat at a real restaurant or eat at home for 1/3 the expense. The same reason I just spent $17 for a pack of 12 1/3lb burgers to put on the grill. I’d rather do that than 3 fast food burgers. Fries are also much better at home, though very messy and time consuming.
Sometimes I will opt for the place with better fries- so I might go for a Double 1/4 meal at McDonalds over a similar thing at Steak n Shake (avg acceptable meal gets around $8 or so when I replace their papery fries with onion rings and upgrade to a shake) for example.
Also, my daughter will still go for a Happy meal as her default option, and my son can live off McDoubles and Cinamelts. So, it’s just easy to go there. McDs certainly has their good points.
This is something that I have been puzzling over for years. I simply cannot understand how anybody could prefer McDonald’s fries. To me, they are by far the worst fries of all the national chains. Limp and just generally weak all over.
For fries, I like Burger King best, with Wendy’s a close second.
Burger King fries suck. They are some of the worst fast food fries out there.
There is a McD on the way home from work, so I’ll stop buy and pick up dinner on the random nights the wife doesn’t feel like messing with anything. The basic Quarter Pounder or Big Mac for me, with large fries of course. As long as you don’t do it too often, McDs is very decent fast food.
Other standouts: apple pies, Sausage McMuffin, pretty good hash browns and excellent coffee.
Agreed. Burger King’s fries used to be tolerable, until they changed them a few years ago. Now they completely suck.
McDonalds USED to have the most delicious fries ever, when I was a kid. That was when they still cooked them in real beef tallow, rather than vegetable oil. I also liked how they had actual honey, not just sauce flavored sauce, if you wanted it for your McNuggets.
Of course, when I was a kid, MickeyD’s was just a once-in-awhile treat, so that was part of the appeal.
I’m nuts, but I think Wendy’s fries are the best of the super common fast food places.
Only when dipped in a Frosty. Ever done that?
I’m British; have always lived in the UK. Include me in the camp of those with a big liking for some of McDonalds’ breakfast stuff. I find McDs’ non-breakfast fare not unpleasant, but rather dull – but I delight in the Big Breakfast and the Sausage & Egg McMuffin with hash browns.