# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/61 "2013-11-21T23:00:35Z")
> [@brad\_d](#): > > 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. The employees there must be smarter than the ones here were! When I worked there I got that for my employee meal every single shift, and they still couldn’t figure it out. I started putting: CHEESEBURGER PLAIN ADD LETTUCE ADD TOMATO NO MEAT NO MEAT That still didn’t work, so I started putting it 3 times. Still didn’t work but I didn’t want to be a total dick and put it more than 3 times. Kind of annoying to eat up half of my break just begging them to make me one without meat, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/62 "2013-11-22T03:36:30Z")
> [@Wednesday\_Evening](#): > > 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. > [@hajario](#): > > 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. I know that I’ve been ordering burgers from McDonald’s since at least the 70s, and I’ve always ordered them without onions. It used to piss my mother off, because it meant that my burger would have to be cooked to order. She was always of the opinion that I could eat onions if I wanted to, I just didn’t want to. I wish that she’d been right. I had a cheeseburger tonight from Griff’s. If you have a Griff’s around you, give them a try. Tasty and affordable, though their fries are not the best. The menu isn’t huge, but that is a point in their favor. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/63 "2013-11-22T09:16:16Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > It used to piss my mother off, because it meant that my burger would have to be cooked to order. See, that’s the rationale I see for a lot of people who order something different. It’s not that they don’t like all the ingredients, just that they want a fresh burger. Nowadays I don’t think you have to do that at McDonald’s. But you can ask for fresh fries, and the difference is incredible. Somehow McDonald’s fries have a very fast decay rate in quality. Fresh is amazing, hot is good, lukewarm is tolerable, and cold or reheated are awful. I’ve never encountered anything like that with any other food. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/64 "2013-11-22T11:44:21Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > 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. I’ve asked for “no ketchup” and received something with more ketchup than can possibly be eaten. I’m in western Canada, where vinegar for fries isn’t popular. But ketchup is. Vinegar is less common though it does exist. Note that I grew up in eastern Canada, where vinegar for fries was a popular condiment (probably more popular than ketchup), and is often on the table at diners, alongside salt and pepper. That being said, I remember one trip to the drive through at Burger King in Alberta: Me: Double Whopper meal please, Coke to drink. Them: No problem. How many ketchups you want? Me: None. Vinegar and salt, though, thanks. Them: Okay, extra ketchup. Me: No, vinegar and salt. Them: Vinegar? You serious? Me: Yes. Vinegar. And salt. Them: Yeah, sure… When I got my order, I was dismayed to find that there was neither vinegar nor salt. There was, however, twenty packets of ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/65 "2013-11-22T18:59:48Z")
I used to eat a lot of Long John Silver meals. At one store, I’d tell them “No tartar sauce, just a couple of vinegar packets” and that’s what I’d get. At another store, I’d say the same thing, but I’d always get tartar packets, and only occasionally would I get my vinegar packets. If I had to go to the second store, I learned to check the bag before driving off. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/66 "2013-11-22T20:13:57Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I had a customer that did this regularly, too (1993/1994). This was her way of getting it made fresh, rather than just pulling a pre-made hamburger out of the sleeve. It wasn’t a big deal. I have done this for the same reason. To me, nothing more vile than a bun soaked in ketchup or sauce for an hour or more. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/67 "2013-11-22T20:45:18Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > Around here we have Five Guys Burgers, Two Guys Burgers, and Guy’s Burgers. I find the fewer Guys the better the burger. So you’re saying “Too many guy (cooks) spoil the burger.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/68 "2013-11-22T20:53:10Z")
One thing I’ve noticed about most of these fast food threads is that no one talks about Culver’s. Does no one eat at Culver’s. Somebody must as they seem to have a lot of stores. I really don’t care for it myself. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/69 "2013-11-22T21:44:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > See, that’s the rationale I see for a lot of people who order something different. It’s not that they don’t like all the ingredients, just that they want a fresh burger. It wasn’t McDonald’s, but a friend in high school who worked at Taco Bell opined that the best way to get a fresh taco was to order something like a Taco Supreme and have them leave off the tomatoes or sour cream, since that would require them to make it fresh, rather than just grab one out of the rack. Personally, I think the main time you’ll end up with aged fast food is when you’re hitting the end of a busy period, or getting there just as the busy period starts. In both cases, I’d think there would be food on the rack- in one case, uneaten leftovers (of a sort) and in the other, premade to cushion the rush. ---
**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 22, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/70 "2013-11-22T21:53:00Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I have done this for the same reason. To me, nothing more vile than a bun soaked in ketchup or sauce for an hour or more. Interesting. Never heard of that trick, nor why the kitchen would honor it as a cheeseburger vs. a plain hamburger. I guess it’s the wrapper? The trick I heard from McDonald’s employees was to ask for fries, no salt, and then salt them, to get super fresh fries. The McDonald’s I’ve been to have had good enough throughput that I’ve never had to ask. ---
**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 22, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/71 "2013-11-22T21:57:42Z")
I know this is about custom ordering: the concept, vs. custom ordering: the reality, but I am reminded of even more screwups from our trip last year (we don’t normally go to fast food places). McDs: I don’t like the topping on their milkshakes. So I order it without. Over half the time they plop it down on the counter with the topping. A Sonic or some such. Ordering “to go”. Reminded them I wanted ketchup with my fries. Get back to the room. No ketchup. It happens with such amazing frequency that it makes one wonder how these places stay in business. Like I said, we rarely go to them except when driving a long ways. How do the people who eat at these places daily deal with this? Subway, OTOH, seems especially set up for customization and does most of it right. Although what I think is a thin swipe of mayo or mustard is 1/10th the thickness of what they consider a thin swipe. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/72 "2013-11-22T22:06:46Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > One thing I’ve noticed about most of these fast food threads is that no one talks about Culver’s. Does no one eat at Culver’s. Somebody must as they seem to have a lot of stores. I really don’t care for it myself. That’s because it’s so regional. Personally I love love love me some Culver’s. Their Butterburgers are fantastic but I also really like their fried chicken dinner and their pork tenderloin sandwich. Pretty much everything there is good, especially their frozen custard. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/73 "2013-11-22T22:12:24Z")
Yebbut, people constantly talk about In-N-Out Burger and Five Guys and Sonic and Jack In The Box, etc and they are certainly regional. I’ve never seen either around here. I do hear they are getting a Five Guys in the state’s largest city soon though. Not to mention all the talk about Popeye’s and Church’s Chicken and others that are also pretty regional. ---
**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 22, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/74 "2013-11-22T22:14:56Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Subway, OTOH, seems especially set up for customization and does most of it right. Maybe. But every time I go to Subway the sandwich maker looks at me with a combination of astonishment and vague offense when I present them with my order: I want a six-inch ham and Swiss on white, with extra cheese. That’s it. “What else do you want on it?” they ask, as their hand dips automatically into the lettuce hopper. “Nothing, please. Just close it up.” Stare. “Nothing?” Hand is still poised over the lettuce. “Nothing. Just close it up, please.” “Mayo?” “Nothing.” “Not even salt and pepper?” “NOTHING.” Suspicious glance, like maybe I’m un-American, or a cat, or something. Holy crap, people: surely SOMEBODY else orders their sandwich plain. Yeah, I’m a little weird. I get it. But I’m the customer and you make sandwiches to order. Mine’s easy. Just roll with it, wrap it up, and tell me what I owe you! ---
**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 22, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/75 "2013-11-22T22:17:28Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > That’s because it’s so regional. Personally I love love love me some Culver’s. Their Butterburgers are fantastic but I also really like their fried chicken dinner and their pork tenderloin sandwich. Pretty much everything there is good, especially their frozen custard. Didn’t see this. Culvers is fucking awesome. Up there with In n Out and Five Guys, for my money. They do seem to be a little more variable though, I must admit. But for that crispy-edged, flat, griddled fast-food burger? Hell yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/76 "2013-11-22T22:18:27Z")
They did try a Sonic in the largest city once, but it didn’t last. Might have had something to do with the no inside seating in the middle of winter thing. ---
**Author:** ![Fluke\_Starbucker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3e96dc/32.png) [@Fluke\_Starbucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluke_Starbucker)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/77 "2013-11-22T22:32:59Z")
I like ordering my fries with no salt. That way, they’re freshly fried and right out of the oil. Sometimes it takes a couple extra minutes, but those fresh fries are soooooo much better than those that have been sitting for a while, and they only cost a couple of stinkeye glances from the staff ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/78 "2013-11-22T22:33:29Z")
> [@bump](#): > > It wasn’t McDonald’s, but a friend in high school who worked at Taco Bell opined that the best way to get a fresh taco was to order something like a Taco Supreme and have them leave off the tomatoes or sour cream, since that would require them to make it fresh, rather than just grab one out of the rack. > > Personally, I think the main time you’ll end up with aged fast food is when you’re hitting the end of a busy period, or getting there just as the busy period starts. In both cases, I’d think there would be food on the rack- in one case, uneaten leftovers (of a sort) and in the other, premade to cushion the rush. Unless Taco Hell has drastically changed the way they do things, your friend was full of it. No fast-food Mexican place that I know of pre-makes tacos or burritos. They line up the shells in the trough and ladle in the ingredients as needed. I know that’s the way we did it when I worked fast-food, and it’s the way I see it being done everywhere today. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/79 "2013-11-22T22:58:12Z")
McDonalds has been set up for custom orders for years. Every sandwich is custom assembled. The only thing that sits around are the patties, which are grilled, then put into a warming drawer. You ask for a Big Mac, two of the appropriate size patties are pulled out of the drawer and the sandwich is assembled. This all started happening back then they adopted [their clamshell grill](http://mcd.manitowocfsusa.com/products/cook/double-sided/electric/garland-3-platen-electric-clamshell-grill). Nobody actually flips burgers at McDonalds any more. The patties are laid on the grill, then _another_ grill comes down on top of it, grilling the patties on both sides. Cuts the time in half, ensures the product consistency and eliminates one more potential area for employees to screw up. The link says that the grill can actually recognize the type of patty that has been placed upon it! I’d imagine that all of this is tied into the POS system to insure that patties don’t spend too much time in the drawer, and prompts the employees to grill enough patties for the upcoming lunch or dinner rush. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405/80 "2013-11-22T23:02:20Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Unless Taco Hell has drastically changed the way they do things, your friend was full of it. No fast-food Mexican place that I know of pre-makes tacos or burritos. They line up the shells in the trough and ladle in the ingredients as needed. I know that’s the way we did it when I worked fast-food, and it’s the way I see it being done everywhere today. Yeah, I’ve never been to a Taco Bell where the food wasn’t freshly made. It’s not as if it is particularly difficult to [put an assemblage of up to five ingredients into a shell.](http://www.theonion.com/articles/taco-bells-five-ingredients-combined-in-totally-ne,3781/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-custom-order-at-mcdonalds-you-learn-something-new-every-day/674405.md?page=5)