# What happens if someone orders 100 hamburgers at McDonalds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997 "2013-04-18T02:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/21 "2013-04-18T12:27:36Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Maybe it was for a Mexican family who wanted the food not as a main dinner course, but to keep their large number of extended guests happy for lunch during the wedding day or a pre-wedding get-together. Reasonable no? Wouldn’t the Mexican family probably prefer Mexican food? ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/22 "2013-04-18T13:08:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > We took band/orchestra trips in high school. The bus would stop at places where there was several fast food places within walking distances. That way we all didn’t pile into McDonalds. Back then we just picked a place and walked over for a burger and returned to the bus. Even then it was crowded. I learned a long time ago to \*never \*stop at a fast food place that had a bus in the parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/23 "2013-04-18T14:10:36Z")
> [@2gigch1](#): > > Reminds me of a little ditty I heard decades ago: > > _Going to McDonalds, > Gonna stand in line, > Order a billion hamburgers, > Watch 'em change the sign…_ They don’t change the sign anymore, it just says “Billions and Billions Served”. Maybe when they hit the trillion mark, they’ll get around to changing the signs again? What’s the over/under on when that will happen? And I worked at McDonald’s. Large orders just take longer, and 100 hamburgers isn’t that many. Maybe if you ordered 10,000, we tell you to come back tomorrow, or call another store for backup or something. I wouldn’t know because it never happened. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/24 "2013-04-18T16:30:56Z")
Ok so 100 is definitely not a problem as indicated so far. 10,000 _might_ be a problem but evidently this is an open question. What number is RIGHT OUT? 100,000? ONE MILLION HAMBURGERS? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/25 "2013-04-18T16:35:08Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Sounds like a classy affair. Which truckstop was the service at? It was actually a steak house. After the Fast Food wars, all restaurants in America are Taco Bell. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/26 "2013-04-18T16:39:58Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > And I worked at McDonald’s. Large orders just take longer, and 100 hamburgers isn’t that many. Maybe if you ordered 10,000, we tell you to come back tomorrow, or call another store for backup or something. I wouldn’t know because it never happened. By the time you get the hundred hamburgers home or to the party or whatever, they’re going to cool down. I can’t imagine they’d be very appetizing at that point. Years ago I remember ordering a six-foot sandwich from Subway for an office party. At least that sandwich was supposed to be cold. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/27 "2013-04-18T16:49:11Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > After the Fast Food wars, all restaurants in America are Taco Bell. Show some respect! My dad died in some war! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/28 "2013-04-18T16:49:15Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It was actually a steak house. After the Fast Food wars, all restaurants in America are Taco Bell. Nitpick: _Franchise_ Wars. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/29 "2013-04-18T17:16:31Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Ok so 100 is definitely not a problem as indicated so far. 10,000 _might_ be a problem but evidently this is an open question. > > What number is RIGHT OUT? 100,000? ONE MILLION HAMBURGERS? I didn’t work at a McDonald’s but I used to work at a Wendy’s with a similar amount of business as a busy McDonalds (interstate exit) 100 or 1000 would be possible (although we’d probably have told you wait if it was during rush, especially for 1k). 10,000 would probably be more beef than we had on hand (deliveries every other day). ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/30 "2013-04-18T17:56:25Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > They don’t change the sign anymore, it just says “Billions and Billions Served”. Maybe when they hit the trillion mark, they’ll get around to changing the signs again? What’s the over/under on when that will happen? McDonald’s claimed in their April 1994 owner operator convention that they had surpassed 99 billion hamburgers, and were changing their signs to “billions and billions sold.” They apparently passed the quarter trillion mark in 2010 and sold about 1.25 billion a month or 15 billion a year. With no growth, it would take just over 50 years to cross the trillion mark See > **[OVER HOW MANY BILLION SERVED?](http://overhowmanybillionserved.blogspot.com/)** for more details. However, use the site’s extrapolation with caution. I suspect the reported monthly growth rate there of 6.4% is a monthly growth annualized. If they were actually growing at 6.4% per month, sales would more than double each year. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/31 "2013-04-18T18:05:44Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > I learned a long time ago to \*never \*stop at a fast food place that had a bus in the parking lot. Tell me about it. Of course, my experience is that the problem with buses isn’t the number of burgers being ordered, it’s that each person orders and pays separately. If they’d just have the coach/tour guide/whoever make a list and do it all in one order, there would be a much smaller impact on other customers. The cash registers wind up being a bigger bottleneck than the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/32 "2013-04-18T20:26:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > By the time you get the hundred hamburgers home or to the party or whatever, they’re going to cool down. I can’t imagine they’d be very appetizing at that point. Years ago I remember ordering a six-foot sandwich from Subway for an office party. At least that sandwich was supposed to be cold. McDonald’s (and White Castle, which I’m also partial to) hamburgers are pretty good microwaved. I’ve known people who buy and freeze a Crave Case (30 White Castle sliders) and eat them all week. I’m sure you could do something similar with McDonald’s. Not that I’d want to. I may be a fast food connoisseur, but I’ve got a figure to maintain. However, if they were on sale really cheap, I might think about it. The only times I can remember large orders like that at McDonald’s were when we had a canned food drive and offered a free (or cheap, can’t remember which) cheeseburger for each can. Moms would empty their whole pantry to get a good deal on a crapload of McDonald’s cheeseburgers. Either they had huge families or they froze the burgers for use in several meals. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/33 "2013-04-18T22:05:29Z")
I worked at McDonalds in the 80’s and back then the quickest you could cook ‘regulars’ (ham and cheeseburgers) was a “12-turn”. You would put down 12 patties and when you turned them, you’d put down 12 more and repeat. You would always have 24 patties down and they only took about 3 mins to cook so if nobody else needed some, you could have 100 in 15-20 minutes easy. You could also run a “12-6” which alternated between 12 regulars and 6 big macs. The real limiting factor is fries. You can only drop so many fries at a time. If you drop more than you should, the fryer can’t keep the temp up and then they take longer to cook. Nowadays they seem to cook the meat ahead of time and assemble the burgers one by one. It’s now quicker to make just one, but I bet they would be slower for a large batch. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/34 "2013-04-18T22:16:39Z")
When the spouse and I were in college we took one of those $5.00 bus junkets to Vegas (the bus drives straight through, you pile off, spend about 4-5 hours in the sponsoring casino, then pile back on the bus and go home). When they stopped for dinner in Barstow, it was at a place with several fast food places that catered to such large bus tours. One of the guys on the bus had started his revelry a little early (he was drunk as a skunk) and proceeded to order fifty cheeseburgers at Burger King. They made his order without a protest, he paid for it, and cheerfully started handing out cheeseburgers to the people in line. He didn’t get back on the bus. We’re not sure what became of him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/35 "2013-04-18T22:28:32Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Obligatory Woody Allen [clip](http://youtu.be/On7U-x_s_EE). See also the [Burger Nation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkIR5E1Jy5M) sketch. (although both scenes owe something of a debt to [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC8PAQQIoCM).) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/36 "2013-04-18T23:14:09Z")
My coworker is planning her wedding for next October. The venu is on the other side of the country. At this point, I am sure she would be VERY happy to just be able to order a couple of hundred Taco Bell tacos (and she happens to like them). ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/37 "2013-04-19T01:33:07Z")
I think it’s trendy now. I seem to recall a recent celebrity wedding who catered hundreds of In 'n Out burgers for the reception. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/38 "2013-04-19T04:14:10Z")
Former McD’s employee and manager here, back when I was in high school and college. 1977-1981, at stores in Hartford & West Hartford CT, then San Francisco & Goleta CA. **RedSwinglineOne** ’s memory matches mine: 3mins grill time for 10:1 meat (hamburgers, Big Macs) [and 5mins grill time for 4:1 meat (Quarter Pounders)]; 12 on the turn. My math tells me this takes 15mins, beginning to end. The last set ends with 4 patties on the grill, pulled off 15mins after starting. Not a problem. The limiting factor would be bun toasters. If you had a second bun toaster, toasting 12 at a time, you could double the speed. Every McD grill I saw had a big enough 10:1 grill (at 350 °F) to handle this. The 4:1 grill is at 375 °F, so should not be used, but in a real pinch I suppose it could. Quality control suffers because the grill timers were fixed-program timers. With two bun toasters, you’re done in 9 minutes. Two employees: one to grill, toast and dress (condiments), the other to wrap, and help dress if they wanted to. The second person was usually the manager in this scenario. A third employee to man the register (“Window” in McD parlance) and do the fries. Typical fries stations could easily keep up with this rate. Grills and fry vats could operate this way, theoretically continuously for hours. The people would drop, though. Have I overanalyzed this enough? 😃 That was the process & timing back then, before microwave ovens. And, based on my memory, of course. It’s been over 30 years since I did it. I’m willing to bet I could do it again! Yes, I’m a legend in my own mind… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/39 "2013-04-19T04:35:06Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It was actually a steak house. After the Fast Food wars, all restaurants in America are Taco Bell. Have they figured out how to use the seashells yet? ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997/40 "2013-04-19T04:44:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > If you walk in, order 100 hamburgers and pay in full, will they make them for you? Is there an upper limit to how many they’ll make? I have actual, firsthand experience of being the next customer in line, not once but _twice_. 2 different McDonald’s, both in Urbana-Champaign. In each case, the person behind the register didn’t seem surprised, but calmly told the person doing the ordering that their cash registers had a $99.99 limit (almost certainly untrue, but they were talking to an inebriated frat member who was low enough on the totem pole to get stuck going out for them) and that after $99.99, they’d have to go to the back of the line to order more. > [@PoorYorick](#): > > I learned a long time ago to \*never \*stop at a fast food place that had a bus in the parking lot. Depends on the place. There’s a Wendy’s in a truck stop in Carlisle, PA (on 11 just before the PA Turnpike) which has the fastest staff I’ve ever seen. They do get a lot of long-distance bus traffic. I’ve seen a couple instances of the driver letting everybody off the bus for food, then going to shower, and by the time he was done, everybody from the bus had received their order and was chowing down. In the ‘old days’, a sign saying “Buses Welcome” was a pretty good indicator of speed-of-service. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-someone-orders-100-hamburgers-at-mcdonalds/655997.md?page=3)