# You can "custom order" at McDonalds? You learn something new every day! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405 "2013-11-21T03:30:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/41 "2013-11-21T16:34:43Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > The last time I went to Whataburger, the conversation went like this: > > “I’ll take a plain bacon cheeseburger.” > “Plain?” > “Yes, just cheese and bacon.” > > When I opened it later, there was just cheese and bacon on a bun. It was a little too plain. 😕 Were you expecting something less plain? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/42 "2013-11-21T16:36:05Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > 😕 Were you expecting something less plain? I think he was expecting a meat patty too… ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/43 "2013-11-21T17:04:37Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I say the time is ripe for someone to start a business that serves only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, sodas and shakes. Think of the volume! You’ve just described [In-N-Out Burger](http://www.in-n-out.com/menu.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/44 "2013-11-21T17:08:22Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > You’ve just described [In-N-Out Burger](http://www.in-n-out.com/menu.aspx). Or MacDonald’s, ca. 1960. Difference is In-N-Out actually has big and stacked burgers, and Mac didn’t at first. ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/45 "2013-11-21T17:21:28Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I say the time is ripe for someone to start a business that serves only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, sodas and shakes. Think of the volume! I see what you did there…😃 To the OP, when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, it was unheard of to customize your order at McDs. When I acquired kids of the Happy Meal age a few years ago, it was a happy day when I learned I could order a hamburger with no onions, instead of scraping off the onions every time I ordered them a hamburger Happy Meal. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/46 "2013-11-21T18:47:34Z")
> [@Pinmin](#): > > Pretty much any fast food place will remove or leave things off with no problems (no tomatoes or lettuce on my burgers, please). Adding things can be hit or miss; some won’t at all, some complain, some charge. Pretty Much, yes, but they will shock you sometimes. BK at times will run cheeseburgers cheaper than hamburgers… 2 for $1 where the HB is .89. So I ask for 2 cheeseburgers, with no cheese. BK :We can’t do that. Me : Ma’am… you CAN’T do that??..why not? (The whole Have it your way thing runs through my mind.) BK :That’s not a CB Me: Can I get one without pickle? BK: Yes Me: Ketchup BK: yes me : Pickles? BK :Yes Me: But not cheese?? BK : No, you got to have cheese Me: Of course you understand cheese cost you money, and you make more money if you do not put cheese on my burger. BK: But it has to have cheese to be a cheese burger. Me: Well can I get it on the side? BK: yes, that’s no problem Then I get my burgers, and a French fry paper, with 2 pieces of cheese in it, which I toss in the trash. Not sure if the problem was they do not have a button { - cheese}, or what. Never did quite understand ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/47 "2013-11-21T18:51:52Z")
They pull the same stupid shit with Whoppers but in the other direction. \* This week only - Whoppers for 99 cents!\* Customer: I’ll have a whopper with cheese please… Cashier: That’ll be $3.50 Customer: $2.50 for a slice of cheese? Cashier: Apparently so… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/48 "2013-11-21T18:53:11Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > _blink blink_ > > For certain values of best, I suppose. Five Guys has wonderful fast food style burgers. I prefer In n Out, though, for both taste and price. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/49 "2013-11-21T19:17:30Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Heh, I worked at a McDonald’s back in 1996! Represent! > > Strangest order I ever got - some dude wanted a regular old cheeseburger, “hold the cheese.” I was a bit perplexed and asked, “so, just a regular hamburger?” “No! Cheeseburger, hold the cheese!” I’ve mentioned this here before that I order hamburgers this way. Why? Because when I order a hamburger over half the time I get a cheeseburger. I guess cheeseburgers are just the default burger or something. If I order a cheeseburger without cheese I almost always get a hamburger. I don’t mind playing this game now that I understand the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/50 "2013-11-21T19:20:25Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > The American version of this is the aforementioned “Five Guys”, and they are one of the best fast food burgers around. Around here we have Five Guys Burgers, Two Guys Burgers, and Guy’s Burgers. I find the fewer Guys the better the burger. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/51 "2013-11-21T19:21:10Z")
My 5-year-old daughter prefers her Cheeseburger Happy Meals at McDonald’s without meat - nothing but a slice of cheese between the buns. The POS system appears to be equipped to handle it - with a quick push of a couple of buttons the cashier seems able to enter “CHEESEBURGER - PLAIN - NO MEAT”, which is how it appears on the receipt. I usually get a salad when I’m eating there with her - I find their Southwestern chicken salad to be pretty good. McDonald’s burgers taste OK to me going down, but I wind up feeling strange an hour or so later. I like In-N-Out’s burgers, but in my opinion (slightly heretical here in Southern California) Five Guys’ are much tastier - I’ve not noticed the greasiness that **Inner Sticker** reports. Five Guys is also a bit more expensive, so to an extent you get what you pay for… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/52 "2013-11-21T19:29:49Z")
> [@Wednesday\_Evening](#): > > To the OP, when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, it was unheard of to customize your order at McDs. When I acquired kids of the Happy Meal age a few years ago, it was a happy day when I learned I could order a hamburger with no onions, instead of scraping off the onions every time I ordered them a hamburger Happy Meal. Really, because I worked at McDonald’s in the early 80’s and went there as a kid all through the 70’s and special orders was a totally normal thing. They had pre-printed little forms that were used for them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/53 "2013-11-21T19:52:25Z")
> [@brad\_d](#): > > I like In-N-Out’s burgers, but in my opinion (slightly heretical here in Southern California) Five Guys’ are much tastier - I’ve not noticed the greasiness that **Inner Sticker** reports. Five Guys is also a bit more expensive, so to an extent you get what you pay for… I don’t know what Five Guys uses, but In n Out is calculated to be around [60% lean to 40% fat by these guys](http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/07/the-burger-lab-how-to-make-an-in-n-out-double-double-animal-style.html). That seems a tad bit high to me, but when I make my own burgers, I like to stick to 20-30% fat. Anything leaner, and it doesn’t taste like a burger should. This is for the thin-style burgers I cook well-done. For the medium rare guys, I prefer something more around the 15% fat range. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/54 "2013-11-21T20:00:47Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I think he was expecting a meat patty too… Correct. I didn’t think I had to specify that I wanted the burger part of a cheeseburger. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/55 "2013-11-21T20:59:50Z")
I never do it at the drive through, but I regularly order [ul] [li]Sausage McGriddle - subtitute bacon[/li][li]Quarter Pounder with Cheese - with tiny chopped onions (or reconstiuted, as it says on the recepts) instead of sliced.[/li][li]Double Hambrger - ketchup only[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/56 "2013-11-21T21:54:44Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Heh, I worked at a McDonald’s back in 1996! Represent! > > Strangest order I ever got - some dude wanted a regular old cheeseburger, “hold the cheese.” I was a bit perplexed and asked, “so, just a regular hamburger?” “No! Cheeseburger, hold the cheese!” > > Never figured that one out though I did dutifully put in the order and it got filled correctly. The cooks didn’t even blink. Proper yellow/orange wrapper rather than the white/brown for a regular hamburger. > > At the time the cashier screen would have looked something like: > > CHEESBRGR > -CHEESE > > Maybe he was just trying to fuck with me? I was just a kid, after all. Maybe a corporate spy trying to judge our customer service? Whatever. Dude got his cheese-less cheeseburger, no complaints. I worked at McD’s when I was a young teenager and the weirdest order I got was a McDLT (remember those, in the “hot” and “cold” styrofoam container?) with extra grease. He wanted us to scrape extra grease off the grill and put it on the patty. We did. I always figured he was ordering for his unpopular boss or something. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/57 "2013-11-21T22:06:13Z")
I just wish the BK at the mall would get it through their heads that “Whopper, no ketchup,” does not mean “Whopper, ketchup only.” They seem to have serious problems with the concept of a burger with no ketchup on it… ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/58 "2013-11-21T22:07:53Z")
I don’t particularly like McDonald’s but sometimes it’s a necessity. (cheap, fast. etc). I usually order a quarter pounder with no ketchup and no cheese, (I don’t like that fake crap they call “cheese”). On rare occasions, (on Monday or Tuesday only, because most fast food restaurants don’t change their fry oil til the end of the week), I’ll get a filet o’fish with no cheese, but extra tartar… (I know, so disgusting). I only get extra because their normal is a dot the size and thickness of a dime. 😃 ---
**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:** [November 21, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/59 "2013-11-21T22:16:27Z")
I’ve been getting Quarter Pounders with Cheese plain since I was a kid back in the '70s. I still remember those little grill slips they used to put in the clamshell box. Sometimes I wish McD’s wouldn’t try to be so “helpful,” though. This happened to me the other day at my local drive-thru: Me: I want a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, plain. Cashier: Anything else? Me: Small fries. Cashier: Any ketchup? Me: No ketchup. I always order no ketchup, and they always put ketchup in. No ketchup, please. So I go to pay, then drive forward to the pickup window. Pickup guy (after a long wait–usually they have my order ready when I get there): Can you please drive out and park and we’ll bring your food? So I drive out and park. And wait. And wait. And wait. Eventually they bring out a bag. It feels heavy. Uh-oh. By this time the kid has hightailed it back inside. So I open the bag and find: - A _double_ Quarter Pounder with Cheese, plain - Small fries - Several packs of ketchup - A pie. It doesn’t even say what kind on the box. Just…a pie. Now the thing is, I’m trying not to eat like a pig (well, as much as McD’s allows, anyway) and so I order exactly what I want. I know they were trying to be nice and helpful by giving me extra food because I had to wait, but all that ended up happening was that I ate the burger because I didn’t want to waste it but was annoyed at my lack of self-control, tossed the ketchup (as usual) and the pie ended up getting tossed as well because neither me nor the spouse likes them. Which I felt bad about again. So instead of “helping,” they actually kinda made things worse. Just give me what I ordered, guys! I don’t mind having to wait occasionally if you’re backed up. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/60 "2013-11-21T22:42:31Z")
Yeah, some custom ordering has been around since the 1960s. Even then, it was a common way to get a “fresh” item. BK’s “Have it your way.” ad campaign was a masterstroke. Imply that McDs didn’t do the same thing. But getting them to actually do it is another thing. The last time I was in a McDs (over a year ago), I ordered a Big Mac, no cheese. Got it. The box even had “no cheese” written on it. Yup, had cheese. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405.md?page=4)