# Why is hard to order cheese on a bun at a fast food restaurant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785 "2015-12-18T17:07:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/21 "2015-12-18T20:17:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t see what the problem is in ordering something without cheese. When I worked fast food, we had a key that let us punch “no cheese” into the order. Same with no pickles or onions or whatever. So you could order a quarter pounder or deluxe burger with no cheese and it would go up on the monitor with the rest of the order. It was no pain in the ass for us at all as it was not out of the ordinary. > > Although I admit an order for a bun with no meat would have left us scratching our heads. Doesn’t seem like it should be a problem but it has been many times. So much so that I won’t, for example, participate in group delivery lunches at the office. Obviously not fast food, but it’s really any kind of food establishment. They really want me to eat the cheese, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/22 "2015-12-18T20:38:42Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > As to how I order, I’ve tried different approaches. > > “A cheeseburger, but with only cheese, nothing else, not even meat.” (This was what I said the first time, but of course calling it a ‘cheeseburger’ is confusing.) > > “A bun with only cheese on it, nothing else–not even meat.” > > “Kind of like a grilled cheese sandwich, but on a hamburger bun” (Said to clarify after the first round of confusion sometimes.) > > “You can charge me for anything you want but what my kid wants is just cheese on a bun, can you do that?” > > Stuff like that. Try “Cheeseburger, plain, no meat.” That’s exactly how it would show up on the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/23 "2015-12-18T20:42:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Aren’t cash registers at these joints set up with buttons for each item on the menu? If it’s not on the menu, no button. And it’s not like they’re hiring the local geniuses to run the registers. I think you’re right- times have changed; fast food restaurants aren’t primarily staffed by broke, but otherwise intelligent teenagers anymore. In my area, they seem to be staffed by people for whom these jobs are about the best they’re suited for; expecting them to have the mental snap and motivation to go outside their training and experience to make a jury-rig grilled cheese is probably asking far too much of them. There’s also probably more penalty for screwing up an order and making a customer mad than for saying “That’s not on the menu; we don’t serve that.” In that case, they’re unlikely to do it. I’m lucky in that my local fast food hamburger chain (Whataburger) both has a children’s grilled cheese on the menu all the time (my younger son loves it!), and also publicly advertises their ability to give you your burger “Just like you like it.” meaning that they’re ready and able to accommodate all manner of weird ingredient requests. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/24 "2015-12-18T21:19:51Z")
Even an anchovy burger? ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/25 "2015-12-18T21:37:06Z")
I worked at McDonald’s in the late 90s. IIRC, the registers had an only or no button, so you could customize the toppings on the meat, but there was no button for meat itself. Which means it was possible to order a “cheese only” cheeseburger, but that would have been parsed as cheese and meat on bun, no pickles, onion, ketchup, or mustard. There no way to articulate it through the system as “cheese only, no meat.” I did deal with this order a couple times in my McCareer, and it required me yelling it to the head guy in the back (yelling because it was noisy; we were one of the busiest McD’s in the state). And because we were so busy, anything special-ordered like that required me to stalk the guy making it the entire time. I had to make sure none of my coworkers accidentally took my sandwich. Meanwhile, I’m not multitasking like I should be, customers are piling up, and my manager’s giving me a look. It was a pain in the ass. Combined with the infrequency and unusualness of such an order, I can see why the OP has trouble. I know the request is really simple, but unfortunately really simple things can be difficult to handle. Don’t even ask me how we handled the guy who wanted a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit but all the components in separate boxes. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/26 "2015-12-19T01:26:38Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t see what the problem is in ordering something without cheese. When I worked fast food, we had a key that let us punch “no cheese” into the order. Same with no pickles or onions or whatever. So you could order a quarter pounder or deluxe burger with no cheese and it would go up on the monitor with the rest of the order. It was no pain in the ass for us at all as it was not out of the ordinary. The people at the Burger King in the mall seem to have great difficulty with the concept of “no ketchup.” Half the time I end up going back so they can try again; one time I even got my cheeseburger with _only_ ketchup! ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/27 "2015-12-19T03:07:49Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Pulling the meat off the cheeseburger doesn’t work because the cheese is melted to the meat. At both Burger King and McDonald’s, if you order a plain cheeseburger (no condiments), the cheese melts to the bun, not the meat patty, and you can lift it right off, easy peasy. Once you get to the better class of fast food restaurants, like Wendy’s, it’s more melted into the meat. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/28 "2015-12-19T05:17:42Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > At both Burger King and McDonald’s, if you order a plain cheeseburger (no condiments), the cheese melts to the bun, not the meat patty, and you can lift it right off, easy peasy. Once you get to the better class of fast food restaurants, like Wendy’s, it’s more melted into the meat. As a person who does not understand the whole put-cheese-on-everything mentality so prevalent in North America…I can assure you that you are quite wrong about this. Order a McDouble (I think I have the right name for this product), no cheese, and not only do I have about as much trouble as the OP getting them to understand what I’m asking for, but when they screw it up the meat is unsalvageable. I wish it were as you describe, but no such luck. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/29 "2015-12-19T05:30:27Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Why is that? As **DrDeth** mentioned, no key on the register. Really, why go to a burger place if you don’t want meat? In my experience, it was an unusual and bizarre request. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/30 "2015-12-19T05:33:28Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Oh got it. I mean, why not just key in “cheeseburger plain” and then yell it back? I see them yelling stuff back all the time. We certainly did it in my day. “Cheeseburger plain” means a cheeseburger with only meat, cheese, and a bun in most places. It does not mean “hold the meat.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/31 "2015-12-19T05:47:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I wonder if this means that the cheese is added directly to the hamburger patty while it’s on the grill. If so, it’d mean they’d have to figure out an alternative procedure to assemble a cheese sandwich. Sorry to triple post, the edit window’ s too short. I know in the place I worked, as well as at McDonald’s, the grill person would stage eight bun crowns on a tray. Then they go into the toaster. When they come out, they get a squirt of ketchup and mustard on and a pickle slice. He would then put a slice of cheese on the bun crown for each cheeseburger called back. When the meat on the grill was ready to pull, he’d add reconstituted onions, then the bun heels, or bottoms, on top of the meat. He’d pull the meat patties with the bottom halves of the buns and slide them onto the dressed crowns. The cheese didn’t go onto the meat on the grill, but the hot meat did meet the cheese on the top bun halves. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/32 "2015-12-19T05:49:59Z")
It’s on the menu at Five Guys. Other places have grilled cheese, but that might not work if you specifically want it on a bun. I’ve always ordered things not on the menu at mcdonalds. Maybe this one is just difficult for them. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/33 "2015-12-19T05:55:31Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > As **DrDeth** mentioned, no key on the register. Really, why go to a burger place if you don’t want meat? In my experience, it was an unusual and bizarre request. I’m usually traveling in a pack or a gang and not everyone in my gang would want the same exact thing. Maybe one of the gang might not want meat at a burger place, and all “burger places” mentioned here have no-meat menus, fwiw. These places have like 8 different salads and artisan seaweed burgers and shit. I’m sure they can figure out how to leave out a 1/10th lb burger patty. Or… I know I was told in another thread that it was considered very strange to take your kids to eat with you in the old days, and you just left them home to fend for themselves if Ma and Pa wanted to venture out to the Tastee Freeze, but sometimes you’ve got kids with you who don’t eat meat or whatever else and it’s not convenient for 1 family to go to 3 different restaurants and cook a partial meal at home. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/34 "2015-12-19T05:59:01Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > “Cheeseburger plain” means a cheeseburger with only meat, cheese, and a bun in most places. It does not mean “hold the meat.” Yes. That’s why I said “and then yell it back.” ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/35 "2015-12-19T06:00:09Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > At both Burger King and McDonald’s, if you order a plain cheeseburger (no condiments), the cheese melts to the bun, not the meat patty, and you can lift it right off, easy peasy. This is absolutely not true. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/36 "2015-12-19T06:01:57Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Really, why go to a burger place if you don’t want meat? I mean, this is directly answered in the OP. Okay I’m starting to feel too pissy for a thread like this TIME FOR BED G’NIGHT ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/37 "2015-12-19T06:32:24Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I’m usually traveling in a pack or a gang and not everyone in my gang would want the same exact thing. Maybe one of the gang might not want meat at a burger place, and all “burger places” mentioned here have no-meat menus, fwiw. These places have like 8 different salads and artisan seaweed burgers and shit. I’m sure they can figure out how to leave out a 1/10th lb burger patty. The place I worked at was a very small chain. It had a _very_ limited menu. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. If you wanted something a little different, we had a chicken sandwich, a Polish sandwich, and jalapeno poppers. No salads, no chicken wraps. We had no indoor seating. You walked up to a window to place your order. We were built on efficiency. We could have left meat off a sandwich, but our corporate office didn’t have it on the menu and didn’t give us a price for it. You want just a bun and nothing else? We didn’t know what to charge for it. That was the problem. I’m sure customers would balk at paying the same price for a bun as for a hamburger. We would do whatever was possible for customers, but there was no provision for anyone who didn’t eat meat. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/38 "2015-12-19T06:59:39Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I’ve never worked in a fast food restaurant, but from what I’ve heard, and from what I’ve read on [Behind Closed Ovens](http://kitchenette.jezebel.com/tag/behind-closed-ovens), He’s at Wonkette now and it’s called Off The Menu. People are still whackadoos. I lied about my age to work in fast food (when I was fifteen) and spent over twenty years in retail. I’ve not read one story that seemed like a lie in either one. To the OP, when I did work fast food, we did have people ask for it. Thirty years ago. They should’ve fixed it by now. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/39 "2015-12-19T09:41:03Z")
I’ve had no problem getting a cheeseburger with the meat on the side at McDs. I had one of those free coupons from the NFL game. I always just get the meat and condiments, but my dad wanted some food, too. (And, for some reason, he was obsessed with getting his money’s worth for the free Quarter Pounder with Cheese.) So I asked them to put the meat and condiments on the side, and they did it. I don’t remember for sure, but I believe the receipt just had “ASK ME” written on it. To be honest, McDonald’s has always been the best place for these types of orders. They are the least likely to fuck it up and require me to send it back. And they tend to be cheerful and pleasant, even giving us extra stuff since we come by so often. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785/40 "2015-12-19T14:12:59Z")
During my college vegetarian years in the early 90s, I had no trouble ordering a burger, hold the meat, from BK or McD’s. Sometimes I’d ask for extra lettuce and tomato. The cashier would look at me funny, then I’d nicely explain I didn’t eat meat but that my friends all wanted a burger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hard-to-order-cheese-on-a-bun-at-a-fast-food-restaurant/740785.md?page=3)