It's the little differences
March 10, 2025 3:00 PM Subscribe
If there's one thing McDonald's is known for among its American customers, it's its uniformity. Almost all McDonald's from Maine to California look the same and have the same offerings. And when McDonald's began to open restaurants outside the States over the course of the later 20th century, the standard menu of the United States McDonald's held an exotic appeal for non-Americans. McDonald's was exporting America. ...Now with over 40,000 restaurants across the planet, the McDonald's of each country can look and taste as different as the cultures in which they are embedded. from McAtlas documents, analyzes, and celebrates the international multiformity of McDonald's [BoingBoing]
A photographer visited McDonald’s in more than 55 countries. Here’s what he found [CNN]
One Photographer’s Quest to Document McDonald’s in More Than 50 Countries [Atlas Obscura]
A photographer visited McDonald’s in more than 55 countries. Here’s what he found [CNN]
One Photographer’s Quest to Document McDonald’s in More Than 50 Countries [Atlas Obscura]
Obligatory Mitch Herberg:
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:14 PM on March 10 [14 favorites]
Every McDonald's commercial ends the same way: Prices and participation may vary. I wanna open a McDonald's and not participate in anything. I wanna be a stubborn McDonald's owner. "Cheeseburgers?" "Nope! We got spaghetti, and blankets."
There is a McDonalds that serves spaghetti to compete with KFC doppelganger Jollibees, in the Philippines. Mitch would be so proud. You have to get the blankets from an online store.
posted by The_Vegetables at 3:22 PM on March 10 [5 favorites]
There is a McDonalds that serves spaghetti to compete with KFC doppelganger Jollibees, in the Philippines. Mitch would be so proud. You have to get the blankets from an online store.
posted by The_Vegetables at 3:22 PM on March 10 [5 favorites]
what's absolutely freaky is that a double cheeseburger taste the same as it did in 1974 as it did 5 months ago.
posted by clavdivs at 3:28 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 3:28 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
Some of these look amazing. India in particular has some stuff I would love to try.
Million dollar pitch: open up "McDonald's of the World" in a few select cities like idk Branson and Cleveland and Albuquerque. Serve food from a dozen of these non-US locations, make it like a destination food court. People would go nuts for it. I know the stuff can't be as cheap due to how they source materials in large contracts etc, but people would pay a premium for the experience.
(McD ppl: this one's free just get your act together on your McPlant Burger ok?)
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:37 PM on March 10 [16 favorites]
Million dollar pitch: open up "McDonald's of the World" in a few select cities like idk Branson and Cleveland and Albuquerque. Serve food from a dozen of these non-US locations, make it like a destination food court. People would go nuts for it. I know the stuff can't be as cheap due to how they source materials in large contracts etc, but people would pay a premium for the experience.
(McD ppl: this one's free just get your act together on your McPlant Burger ok?)
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:37 PM on March 10 [16 favorites]
I love this. You can get a signed copy for the same price at Kitchen Arts & Letters, FWIW-- don't be tempted by the zon.
posted by Pitachu at 3:38 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
posted by Pitachu at 3:38 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
Budapest is the only place I've been where the food in McDonald's looked like the food in the pictures above the counter.
Mostly I was only there to have a poo since the toilets in the hostel were appalling.
This seems like a good place to drop in that McDonald's puts so much effort into making its fries taste the same everywhere that they sold them cooked with beef fat in India and lied about it to Hindu customers.
posted by biffa at 3:42 PM on March 10 [7 favorites]
Mostly I was only there to have a poo since the toilets in the hostel were appalling.
This seems like a good place to drop in that McDonald's puts so much effort into making its fries taste the same everywhere that they sold them cooked with beef fat in India and lied about it to Hindu customers.
posted by biffa at 3:42 PM on March 10 [7 favorites]
I selfishly kind of don’t want a vegetarian burger option at McDonald's here in the US as it has made passing by it with kids easy (sorry kid’s - nothing for Mum and Dad - let’s go somewhere else….)
That said I could eat the McDonald’s Pineapple sticks I recently had at Abu Dhabi airport all day long. With hash browns. All the hash browns.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 3:48 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
That said I could eat the McDonald’s Pineapple sticks I recently had at Abu Dhabi airport all day long. With hash browns. All the hash browns.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 3:48 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
“It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same shit over there they got here, but, it's just, just, there it's a little different.”
posted by Capt. Renault at 3:58 PM on March 10 [5 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 3:58 PM on March 10 [5 favorites]
Also like 20 years ago I had McDonald’s in Japan (filet o fish if u must ask; I’m that weird fucker who likes filet o fish) and while the overall taste was exactly the same, the freshness and execution was just so much better.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:13 PM on March 10 [8 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:13 PM on March 10 [8 favorites]
Serve food from a dozen of these non-US locations, make it like a destination food court.
They actually sort of do this at their world headquarters in Chicago. It's only a few items from a few locations, not the full menu from a dozen countries, but the international items are pretty cool and I gather they change the selected items pretty frequently. It's called the "Global Menu" restaurant on West Randolph near Fulton Market if you're ever visiting :-)
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 4:15 PM on March 10 [14 favorites]
They actually sort of do this at their world headquarters in Chicago. It's only a few items from a few locations, not the full menu from a dozen countries, but the international items are pretty cool and I gather they change the selected items pretty frequently. It's called the "Global Menu" restaurant on West Randolph near Fulton Market if you're ever visiting :-)
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 4:15 PM on March 10 [14 favorites]
This is the ludicrously gorgeous and classy McDonald's in Nyugati train station in Budapest.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:18 PM on March 10 [9 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:18 PM on March 10 [9 favorites]
One of the things I loved about McDonalds in Japan circa 2003 was that for a combo you could replace the small french fries with either 4 or 6 chicken McNuggets (I forget how many), potatoes being fairly expensive. I don't know if you can still do that as I've stopped eating chicken but I made a lot of use of it at the time. Also they still had fried pies - if you're going to have a fast food pie of dubious quality it might as well be fried.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:20 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:20 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
The city of Porto sees your Hungarian train station McDonald's and raises you one converted Café Imperial
posted by chavenet at 4:42 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 4:42 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
The corn pie I had in Bangkok 20 years ago (omg) was amazing.
posted by stevil at 4:55 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
posted by stevil at 4:55 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
The Brutalist McDonald's is not real. So they say.
I choose to believe.
posted by Lemkin at 5:05 PM on March 10 [5 favorites]
I choose to believe.
posted by Lemkin at 5:05 PM on March 10 [5 favorites]
Saimin at McDonald’s was a fave when I was a kid, sad to see they don’t have it anymore.
posted by annathea at 5:12 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
posted by annathea at 5:12 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
On the other hand, Hawaiʻi McD's do still serve rice and egg plates for breakfast, with either Spam or Portuguese sausage, or both. And it's still the only state to deep fry its fruit pies.
posted by flod at 5:16 PM on March 10 [4 favorites]
posted by flod at 5:16 PM on March 10 [4 favorites]
One of my happiest food memories was eating a McBaguette at a McDo in Paris. I was three months pregnant and nothing was agreeing with me, and that sandwich hit the SPOT. I remember it better than any of the actual French food I ate that trip.
posted by potrzebie at 5:16 PM on March 10 [6 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 5:16 PM on March 10 [6 favorites]
This is fun. It's not a priority, but if the opportunity presents itself, I do like to visit a McDonald's when I am in other countries, just to see the little differences. I don't even necessarily buy anything other than a soda, I just want to see the decor choices and the unfamiliar menu items.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:11 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 7:11 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
And Yes you can get a McPoutine
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:12 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:12 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
5 days in Bangkok and I ate mostly at McDonalds. I like continuity and consistency . I did admire the street food stalls and enjoyed watching them make their creations. Their McDonalds ketchup was quite spicy.
.
posted by Czjewel at 7:18 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Czjewel at 7:18 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
When I was a kid on Long Island (New York), I remember McDonald's didn't put mustard on burgers in downstate New York, apparently due to regional preferences according to this Reddit thread, even though everyone I knew thought they were better with mustard.
Are there other regional differences like that in the US?
posted by smelendez at 8:16 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
Are there other regional differences like that in the US?
posted by smelendez at 8:16 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
When they first opened in the UK, it was pretty exciting. They ran what I think was the US menu at first, and I was especially keen to try root beer, which I had seen mentioned in books, but not in the wild. Huge disappointment! It tasted exactly like the smell of the cream my mum used on minor injuries when I was a kid. Turns out wintergreen isn't used as a flavouring in Europe, only in OCT medical stuff. It clearly wasn't a hit, as they took it off the menu after a few months.
I did like the little fried fruit pies, though.
posted by Fuchsoid at 9:41 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
I did like the little fried fruit pies, though.
posted by Fuchsoid at 9:41 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
What I remember about eating at a London McDonald's in the early 80s (we were expats, don't hate) was how indignant my mom was that they charged you 5p per ketchup packet.
Also the beef was ground differently, which is just a British thing, not special to fast food. We had to have ours ground specially by the butcher to get the texture we wanted for tacos.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:55 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
Also the beef was ground differently, which is just a British thing, not special to fast food. We had to have ours ground specially by the butcher to get the texture we wanted for tacos.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:55 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
This is a good time to remember Boing Boing, the original blog. 20-25 years ago it was The linkblog, together with Metafilter, with a similar spirit of abundance and community. Than, 10-15 years ago they went "commercial", flooding the site with incredible number of ads, and the user experience there went town to the toilet. They are still operating, but I'm sure that 99% of their old readers never visit the mother-ship anymore. RIP.
posted by growabrain at 11:21 PM on March 10 [8 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 11:21 PM on March 10 [8 favorites]
You know what they put on Boing Boing in Holland instead of ketchup?
posted by flod at 11:59 PM on March 10 [4 favorites]
posted by flod at 11:59 PM on March 10 [4 favorites]
I’ve been spending too much time gazing at the past in /r/nostalgia, and man, I really miss 80’s/90’s McDonald’s. The kids’ play structure! The solarium! The warm colors that felt less sleek and modern than today’s McDonalds, but also so much more comfortable.
The last couple of times I’ve been to McDonald’s it’s been just awful. Stale fries and McNuggets, the shitty self-serve kiosks, and a chicken burger that was inedible because of woody breast syndrome. I want to go back to the 80’s.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:29 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
The last couple of times I’ve been to McDonald’s it’s been just awful. Stale fries and McNuggets, the shitty self-serve kiosks, and a chicken burger that was inedible because of woody breast syndrome. I want to go back to the 80’s.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:29 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
The national quirk of Australian McDonald's is apparently the same for multiple other fast food chains: it's better. It's the standards. (It's also why Starbucks never took root here.)
posted by BiggerJ at 12:57 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
posted by BiggerJ at 12:57 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
the cream my mum used on minor injuries
Germolene?
posted by biffa at 2:11 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Germolene?
posted by biffa at 2:11 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
gotta love those pink slime burgers!
posted by nofundy at 4:07 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
posted by nofundy at 4:07 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
@qxntpqbbbqxl, Today's McDonalds Playplace looks like this
posted by growabrain at 4:37 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 4:37 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
I grew up in the United States but didn't have McDonald's due to my parents keeping kosher. As a vegetarian-then-vegan adult, I still don't eat there.
It's worth noting that in October 2023, per this BBC article, after the Hamas attacks on Israel and the start of the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli McDonald's franchisee said on social media that it had donated and continues to donate tens of thousands of meals to the Israeli army, the police, hospitals, "residents" around the strip and "rescue" forces. This quote is particularly gross: "McDonald's remains committed to the Israeli market and to ensuring a positive employee and customer experience in the market going forward."
Support for genocide is not one of my preferred ingredients, so no thanks.
posted by wicked_sassy at 5:00 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
It's worth noting that in October 2023, per this BBC article, after the Hamas attacks on Israel and the start of the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli McDonald's franchisee said on social media that it had donated and continues to donate tens of thousands of meals to the Israeli army, the police, hospitals, "residents" around the strip and "rescue" forces. This quote is particularly gross: "McDonald's remains committed to the Israeli market and to ensuring a positive employee and customer experience in the market going forward."
Support for genocide is not one of my preferred ingredients, so no thanks.
posted by wicked_sassy at 5:00 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
I worked at one for a summer when I was in high school, and it was... instructive. A few notes:
McLobster sandwich, no cap
They had these at franchises along the coast in Rhode Island for what felt like decades--every summer the big banner outside advertising the freshness of said lobster rolls got more and more sun-faded, which I enjoyed. The lobster roll itself, less so. Turns out that if your lobster meat is more than a few hours out of the ocean, the ceiling on lobster rolls is pretty low, and there's no way to square that with the industrial scale of McDonalds.
If there's one thing McDonald's is known for among its American customers, it's its uniformity.
Absolutely true. This is also a double-edged blade. Uniformity begets customer comfort, but also lets them operate at incredible kitchen speeds, even with, um, let's call it less-than-stellar employee retention rates. Every sandwich comprises a series of 2-5 steps, and everything is automated and on timers, so once you acclimate to all the various beeps, it's really hard to fuck things up too badly. Except when the execs roll out a new sandwich, or even worse a new sandwich with new components or processes. One grisly example: halfway through my fated summer at the Golden Arches, they rolled out some sort of barbeque-bacon burger in limited release. Bacon was a breakfast ingredient, and barbeque sauce wasn't a normal topping, which means it wasn't one of the half-dozen or so condiments that came in cylinders to be loaded into modified caulking guns. (Ketchup, mustard, mayo: all dispensed in very precise quantities via spring-loaded dispenser) The first day we had it, all the bacon had to be cooked by the breakfast crew, and then kept warm in an improvised warming tray that no one could agree on a temperature for. The barbeque sauce was even worse--we had to go find individual packets of chicken nugget sauce, open them, and scrape them out onto the burgers, which was so fiddly and time-intensive that it destroyed all the kitchen throughput times. (Even in the early 2000s, everything was timed precisely, so your burnout shift manager could yell at you if your average times dipped too far) Finally, two hours into my shift, someone unboxed the tubes of barbeque sauce and we loaded them into the guns and all was right with the world. Until six hours later, after a customer complained that his sandwich tasted funky, and we examined the tubes more closely. Turns out that was also the week they converted a few other things to caulking-guns, including chocolate sauce for the ice cream sundaes. We'd sent out dozens of bacon-chocolate sandwiches before anyone noticed or said anything.
Also like 20 years ago I had McDonald’s in Japan (filet o fish if u must ask; I’m that weird fucker who likes filet o fish) and while the overall taste was exactly the same, the freshness and execution was just so much better.
Fillets of fish don't break any of the standardized processes, but they're such a low-throughput item on most days (Fridays and Lent are a different story) that you have the choose between frying a batch and leaving them in a heating tray for hours on end, or frying them on-demand when they're ordered. Customers generally don't like waiting an unannounced extra two minutes for a frozen patty to cook, so we got customer complaints AND manager complaints when we did the latter, so the former was the de facto standard. If you order a fillet of fish in most US restaurants, you're going to get one that's been sitting in a warming tray for a long time unless you ask them to make you a new one.
posted by Mayor West at 5:33 AM on March 11 [9 favorites]
McLobster sandwich, no cap
They had these at franchises along the coast in Rhode Island for what felt like decades--every summer the big banner outside advertising the freshness of said lobster rolls got more and more sun-faded, which I enjoyed. The lobster roll itself, less so. Turns out that if your lobster meat is more than a few hours out of the ocean, the ceiling on lobster rolls is pretty low, and there's no way to square that with the industrial scale of McDonalds.
If there's one thing McDonald's is known for among its American customers, it's its uniformity.
Absolutely true. This is also a double-edged blade. Uniformity begets customer comfort, but also lets them operate at incredible kitchen speeds, even with, um, let's call it less-than-stellar employee retention rates. Every sandwich comprises a series of 2-5 steps, and everything is automated and on timers, so once you acclimate to all the various beeps, it's really hard to fuck things up too badly. Except when the execs roll out a new sandwich, or even worse a new sandwich with new components or processes. One grisly example: halfway through my fated summer at the Golden Arches, they rolled out some sort of barbeque-bacon burger in limited release. Bacon was a breakfast ingredient, and barbeque sauce wasn't a normal topping, which means it wasn't one of the half-dozen or so condiments that came in cylinders to be loaded into modified caulking guns. (Ketchup, mustard, mayo: all dispensed in very precise quantities via spring-loaded dispenser) The first day we had it, all the bacon had to be cooked by the breakfast crew, and then kept warm in an improvised warming tray that no one could agree on a temperature for. The barbeque sauce was even worse--we had to go find individual packets of chicken nugget sauce, open them, and scrape them out onto the burgers, which was so fiddly and time-intensive that it destroyed all the kitchen throughput times. (Even in the early 2000s, everything was timed precisely, so your burnout shift manager could yell at you if your average times dipped too far) Finally, two hours into my shift, someone unboxed the tubes of barbeque sauce and we loaded them into the guns and all was right with the world. Until six hours later, after a customer complained that his sandwich tasted funky, and we examined the tubes more closely. Turns out that was also the week they converted a few other things to caulking-guns, including chocolate sauce for the ice cream sundaes. We'd sent out dozens of bacon-chocolate sandwiches before anyone noticed or said anything.
Also like 20 years ago I had McDonald’s in Japan (filet o fish if u must ask; I’m that weird fucker who likes filet o fish) and while the overall taste was exactly the same, the freshness and execution was just so much better.
Fillets of fish don't break any of the standardized processes, but they're such a low-throughput item on most days (Fridays and Lent are a different story) that you have the choose between frying a batch and leaving them in a heating tray for hours on end, or frying them on-demand when they're ordered. Customers generally don't like waiting an unannounced extra two minutes for a frozen patty to cook, so we got customer complaints AND manager complaints when we did the latter, so the former was the de facto standard. If you order a fillet of fish in most US restaurants, you're going to get one that's been sitting in a warming tray for a long time unless you ask them to make you a new one.
posted by Mayor West at 5:33 AM on March 11 [9 favorites]
I am here to warn you that McDonald's in Canada is a sad, pale imitation of American McDonald's. Their vanilla milkshakes are pretty good but otherwise no. Everything is the same as the US but somehow slightly worse, like somebody told them Canadians like soggy fries and chocolate milkshakes that leave the impression you've swallowed somebody's spit. It's just the worst and I genuinely don't understand how they stay in business.
They had the McLobster here in Halifax for awhile and then it went away again, probably because you could buy a real lobster bun for only a dollar or two more down the street that had been caught and trucked in that morning.
posted by joannemerriam at 6:12 AM on March 11 [5 favorites]
They had the McLobster here in Halifax for awhile and then it went away again, probably because you could buy a real lobster bun for only a dollar or two more down the street that had been caught and trucked in that morning.
posted by joannemerriam at 6:12 AM on March 11 [5 favorites]
The Brutalist McDonald's is not real. So they say. I choose to believe.
It's not as showy, but there is a real brutalist McDonalds. It's right off the Red Line in North Quincy and until recently used to be surrounded by a hellscape of MBTA parking.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:16 AM on March 11 [4 favorites]
It's not as showy, but there is a real brutalist McDonalds. It's right off the Red Line in North Quincy and until recently used to be surrounded by a hellscape of MBTA parking.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:16 AM on March 11 [4 favorites]
For a long time, I lived in Morocco, where McDonald's is where the ritzy kids hang out and flirt. It's too expensive by local standards for anyone else, tourists don't go there because anyone who goes to Morocco eats Moroccan food, which is far more delicious, and because it's a quasi-American space, the kids can do things like hold hands and snuggle that would get them hazed by Women Enforcers of Patriarchy anywhere else. I used to never go there, because why, and then I sorted out that McDonald's gives you free soda refills (unheard of elsewhere in the country) and unlimited ICE in your drink. No Moroccans put ice in drinks, even if it's 45° C in the summertime, and my American ass was like oh hell yes ice give me more, and then I learned to amuse myself peoplewatching the teens.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 6:31 AM on March 11 [5 favorites]
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 6:31 AM on March 11 [5 favorites]
they're such a low-throughput item on most days (Fridays and Lent are a different story)
I just realized it's been Lent for almost a week and I'm not getting fish sandwich ads from McDonalds OR Wendys yet.
posted by thecaddy at 6:54 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
I just realized it's been Lent for almost a week and I'm not getting fish sandwich ads from McDonalds OR Wendys yet.
posted by thecaddy at 6:54 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Cheeseburgers with little condiment cups of hatch green chile in Tucumcari. At the bus station.
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:26 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:26 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Well, now I'm desperately missing McSpaghetti, a classic from my childhood. And the nearest Jollibee is eight hours away, so I can't do that, either. This is just wrong.
posted by PussKillian at 7:34 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by PussKillian at 7:34 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
A little disappointed not to see photographer Gary He's name anywhere in the post besides the tags. He's a friend and has been working on the McDonald's project for a few years and it's been fun watching the behind-the-scenes posts as he traveled around taking these pictures and produced the book. You can see some of that on his instagram.
It's also worth checking out some of his previous projects: How One New York Restaurant Fought to Survive (a chronicle of Saigon Social through the pandemic) and the James Beard award-winning Food and Loathing on the Campaign Trail (that's my hand holding an Iowa State Fair corndog against the yellow background! It was tasty.).
posted by msbrauer at 7:43 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
It's also worth checking out some of his previous projects: How One New York Restaurant Fought to Survive (a chronicle of Saigon Social through the pandemic) and the James Beard award-winning Food and Loathing on the Campaign Trail (that's my hand holding an Iowa State Fair corndog against the yellow background! It was tasty.).
posted by msbrauer at 7:43 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
Wow, some of those locations are making me kinda envious.
The unique items are cool, but what fascinates me is the tiny differences in the "universal" items, and the fact that every country's website has a slightly different hero shot of them. Compare the Big Mac in the UK (494 kcal, slightly off kilter), US (580 kcal, saucier), France (498 kcal, nicer bread and lettuce), and Singapore (558 kcal, shot from below). Or the nuggets: UK, US, France, Singapore.
posted by lucidium at 7:51 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
The unique items are cool, but what fascinates me is the tiny differences in the "universal" items, and the fact that every country's website has a slightly different hero shot of them. Compare the Big Mac in the UK (494 kcal, slightly off kilter), US (580 kcal, saucier), France (498 kcal, nicer bread and lettuce), and Singapore (558 kcal, shot from below). Or the nuggets: UK, US, France, Singapore.
posted by lucidium at 7:51 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
It tickles me that the eggs on the nasi lemak and the Hong Kong macaroni soup are clearly cooked in the same round mold as the egg on a McMuffin.
posted by Why Is The World In Love Again? at 8:03 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by Why Is The World In Love Again? at 8:03 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
I just realized it's been Lent for almost a week and I'm not getting fish sandwich ads from McDonalds OR Wendys yet.
Friend, if your location permits it, allow me to bring to you the good news of the Culver's fish sandwich.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:25 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
Friend, if your location permits it, allow me to bring to you the good news of the Culver's fish sandwich.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:25 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
The McDonalds HQ in Chicago has International menu items that change regularly. I try to go when they have McDonalds India menu.
posted by indianbadger1 at 8:41 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
posted by indianbadger1 at 8:41 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
Support for genocide is not one of my preferred ingredients, so no thanks.
Interestingly, before so many people in the West are now having the habit of boycotting American businesses lately, McDonald's hasn't been doing too well either due to the boycotts. Personally I haven't had a thing in the last two years, but there's a lot of streetside burgers I can get, and the one McD offering I'm missing during CNY is basically done in the same style (very heavy on sauces and spicy)
Anyway, I wonder how much of the various boycotts will overlap now since it is acceptable again to do consumer activism.
posted by cendawanita at 9:32 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
Interestingly, before so many people in the West are now having the habit of boycotting American businesses lately, McDonald's hasn't been doing too well either due to the boycotts. Personally I haven't had a thing in the last two years, but there's a lot of streetside burgers I can get, and the one McD offering I'm missing during CNY is basically done in the same style (very heavy on sauces and spicy)
Anyway, I wonder how much of the various boycotts will overlap now since it is acceptable again to do consumer activism.
posted by cendawanita at 9:32 AM on March 11 [2 favorites]
I go to McDonald's when traveling internationally because they usually have free toilets stocked with toilet paper. That's pretty much the only reason.
posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 12:01 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 12:01 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Likewise. In 30 years only the McDs in Bologna has managed to keep me out of their loos.
posted by biffa at 2:29 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 2:29 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Boingboing still exists? Did I just enter an alternate universe or go back in time? Well ok, I guess we have to mention achewood. All hail the Texas Bagel!
posted by es_de_bah at 3:58 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
posted by es_de_bah at 3:58 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
40k "burger" restaurants worldwide and they still can't put together even a vague approximation of a decent hamburger with the lot and pineapple. The whole outfit is just unserious.
posted by flabdablet at 5:27 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 5:27 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
I always try to visit McDonalds when I’m in a new country and love seeing the new menu items and even more so the design and happy meal toys. The fries are always the same and this is delightful when you’re either homesick or have tired of eating the same local food for weeks. It’s a great place to get free AC, wifi, and bathrooms. Like the poster above I noticed that in a lot of places either upper middle class or rich kids hung out in McDonalds and would even sit around sipping a drink or an ice cream.
posted by Bunglegirl at 7:34 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by Bunglegirl at 7:34 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
McLobster sandwich
They tried a crab meat sandwich at some McDonalds in the San Francisco area for a very short while. I had to try it. It was suprisingly excellent.
Just today I saw a video mentioning a weird test McDonalds spin-off being tried out a few places, called CosMc's. You can get strange drinks and a Creamy Avocado Tomatillo Sandwich.
posted by eye of newt at 12:09 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
They tried a crab meat sandwich at some McDonalds in the San Francisco area for a very short while. I had to try it. It was suprisingly excellent.
Just today I saw a video mentioning a weird test McDonalds spin-off being tried out a few places, called CosMc's. You can get strange drinks and a Creamy Avocado Tomatillo Sandwich.
posted by eye of newt at 12:09 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
I can't eat gluten and every time I am in a European country where McDonald's has gluten free buns, you'd better believe I am going in and ordering exactly two (2) cheeseburgers on gluten free buns and a Coke Zero (somehow McDonald's has the crispiest coke). So far I've eaten them in Spain and Finland and I think that's it but they bring my untold joy and I am not sorry about it.
Even when I can't eat it I enjoy checking what's on the international McD menus when we travel. We're going to Greece soon and I checked the Greece McDonald's menu and it's all typical North American stuff. Disappointing. In Spain, they have a thicker potato fry that is meant to be like papas bravas is just not good though. It's like they can't cook them enough, though I guess that is like some of the papas bravas you get.
Not being able to eat gluten, I appreciate that McDonalds does have some items of sustenance that I can eat without issue, since finding fast stuff to grab and go with is a major challenge with celiac disease. Their fries are cooked in dedicated oil and for breakfast I can get hashbrowns and a McMuffinless Egg McMuffin and have no issues. I also realized I can make a sandwich out of two hashbrowns and the innards of the Egg McMuffin but then I felt my arteries constrict and vowed to never do it again... probably.
I miss (Canadian) McChickens very much though. And pizza, obviously. I can still taste their perfect pizza in my brain.
posted by urbanlenny at 8:40 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Even when I can't eat it I enjoy checking what's on the international McD menus when we travel. We're going to Greece soon and I checked the Greece McDonald's menu and it's all typical North American stuff. Disappointing. In Spain, they have a thicker potato fry that is meant to be like papas bravas is just not good though. It's like they can't cook them enough, though I guess that is like some of the papas bravas you get.
Not being able to eat gluten, I appreciate that McDonalds does have some items of sustenance that I can eat without issue, since finding fast stuff to grab and go with is a major challenge with celiac disease. Their fries are cooked in dedicated oil and for breakfast I can get hashbrowns and a McMuffinless Egg McMuffin and have no issues. I also realized I can make a sandwich out of two hashbrowns and the innards of the Egg McMuffin but then I felt my arteries constrict and vowed to never do it again... probably.
I miss (Canadian) McChickens very much though. And pizza, obviously. I can still taste their perfect pizza in my brain.
posted by urbanlenny at 8:40 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
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