McDonald's

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2006-05-01 10:17pm

McDonald's is, McDonald's was, McDonald's will be... complete shit! Ia Ftaghn!

Anyways, here the alt. chain A&W, which serves pretty damn good burgers. And if you don't just take out they get your drink in a big-ass chilled, frosted-glass mug, which is neat. Fries, awesome root beer and a triple-patty burger with cheese and bacon for three bucks is pretty nice.

felineki · Post by **felineki** » 2006-05-01 10:37pm

My parents tell me that our town used to have an A&W decades ago...

We also used to have a regional fast-food franchise known as "Penguin Point". Dang good stuff; fresh crinkle-cut fries, all manners of burgers, fried chicken... unfortunately it's gone now, too.

Pick reminded me... Arby's is certainy one of my favorite fast-food joints. Normally, I'm niot really big on any kind of meat aside from chicken or fish, but I just love their roast beef sandwiches. They've got some great chicken strips and fries, too. We had an Arby's in town for a few years, but it closed and remained empty for several more years, until Subway finally moved into its place recently. Sorta funny, actually... still looks like an Arby's, but with all the red painted over with green.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-05-01 10:44pm

I like A&W. Their burgers are of decent quality and the root beer float is my kids' favourite fast-food drink by a long shot.

Luckily, there are plenty of A&W locations in town.

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2006-05-01 10:45pm

Ahhh! I don't even eat burgers, and I don't even know what an In-and-Out burger is, and I only lived in CA from the ages of seven months to four-and-a-half, But I swear loyalty to it anyway! Just don't hurt me!

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2006-05-01 10:45pm

Darth Wong wrote:I like A&W. Their burgers are of decent quality and the root beer float is my kids' favourite fast-food drink by a long shot.

Luckily, there are plenty of A&W locations in town.

A pox upon thee! They took away the only one here!

But yea, they're awesome.

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2006-05-01 10:53pm

Theres an A&W about 30 minutes from me. Its definately worth the trip in the summer.

As for McDonalds, the only thing I eat there with any regularity is the McGriddle, which I got hooked on last summer getting out of work at 6am and starving. Those things are good.

Everything else tastes like it came out of an Easy Bake Oven

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-05-02 12:27am

Locally, the best fast food burgers by far are Hardee's thickburgers.
A few weeks ago, I made one of my rare visits to a McD's for breakfast.

BIG mistake.
The breakfast burrito and hash browns were lukewarm.
The coffee machine ran out of coffee while I was filling my cup.
The fucking manager who took my request to refill the coffee machine didn't act on it in the 20 minutes I was in the place.

It'll be a cold day in Hell before I go back to a McDonalds for anything other than a cup of ice water.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-05-02 12:59am

I don't think I've eaten food from McDonald's for something like ten years, and the general contracting firm my dad works for builds them...

When we get fast food, we usually get Wendy's (whose food in my opinion is quite stellar), or occasionally Burger King, or KFC. But more often than not we generally just get one or two self-bake pizzas from Papa Murphy's.

Anyone remember when Hardee's used to have fried chicken?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2006-05-02 01:19am

Hardee's easily serves the best fast food burgers around. That's because there's actual meat on them, and they don't have to pretty them up for commercials by stacking everything nicely. The burger is simply plopped on camera for you to see. Sure, they're more expensive, but they're easily worth it.

And I'll second A&W. I can't pass up a good root beer float.

Meeper · Post by **Meeper** » 2006-05-02 02:39am

Note that the weird, warmed over taste is not universal; I had McDonalds in Egypt last year, and they make the burger for you when you order it. They also had chicken Big Macs.

In any case, the closest way to get a fresh burger from them is to order something specific; say, a McOz with no lettuce, a Quarter-Pounder with no pickle, etc. It doesn't sit in its wrapping for four hours then, and it's pretty close to half-decent.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-05-02 04:14am

Have to keep the things said in this thread in mind while outside of Finland. Here the quality of McDonald's food varies a bit from place to place, but it's generally edible. They use reasonable quality ingredients and actually follow the rules about not setting things sit out there for too long etc. I in fact prefer McD over some of the other offerings around. The Hesburger chain (local to Finland) has overly inflated prices and their burgers aren't any better. Everything else is too fucking expensive.

Edi

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-05-02 05:01am

I think a lot if it has to do with the switches in cooking techniques done in the name of 'efficiency' over the years.
The quarter pounders years ago were juicy, hot, and gooey with melted cheese.
Just the thing you expect from a fast food burger.

The last time I had one though, it was dry, barely warm, and the cheese wasn't even melted.
And this was one that I watched them fix 'fresh'.

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2006-05-02 07:28am

Edi wrote:Have to keep the things said in this thread in mind while outside of Finland. Here the quality of McDonald's food varies a bit from place to place, but it's generally edible. They use reasonable quality ingredients and actually follow the rules about not setting things sit out there for too long etc. I in fact prefer McD over some of the other offerings around. The Hesburger chain (local to Finland) has overly inflated prices and their burgers aren't any better. Everything else is too fucking expensive.

I hate hesburger as well, I call it hästburger(horseburger). I refuse to eat their food. McD is way better than hesburger.

The best burger I know is whats named a "stor helkötts" or roughly translated "big meat" which is made in a mobile kiosk that sits outside the local health centre in Malax. However they are more expensive and no longer what they used to be. There used to be three Quarter pounder sized patties in it, now there are only two.

Also in Stockholm I went to a Burger King, it was ok too. Better than horseburger.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-05-02 07:33am

Here in Toronto we have tons of great burger joints. The good ones always flame-grill the burger right in front of you, of course, and use big fat patties rather than those compressed meat-substance things you get at McDonald's.

Lick's is a local burger joint that's worth checking out, and I still like Harvey's, in addition to some of the other chains mentioned earlier in this thread. But I've got slightly upscale tastes when it comes to burger; I'm perfectly willing to pay eight or ten bucks for a good burger or deli sandwich. As a result, I tend to measure the quality of cheaper burgers against the quality of better ones, at least on a "value for money" basis. Basically, if I buy a three dollar burger and it doesn't taste half as good as the eight dollar burger at a nice bar & grill, I figure I got ripped off. McDonald's doesn't even give me 1/4 of the eight dollar burger.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-05-02 07:50am

The only problem with most burger joints, is they won't cook a medium rare or Rare burger.

Alferd Packer · Post by **Alferd Packer** » 2006-05-02 09:49am

In Jersey, the best place to get a burger is a diner. Obviously, it's not quite fast food, but a good diner will get you your burger within ten minutes of sitting down. It's probably the best sit-down burger you'll get for four bucks.

For fast food, there's this place in Edison, NJ, where I used to live, called White Rose System Hamburgers. It makes the best gut-bomb burgers you've ever had, and cheap. If anyone in the Dirty Jerz lives near Edison, I'd recommend checking them out.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2006-05-02 09:52am

Harvey's makes an amazing tasting burger; I'll always choose them over any other chain based on their preparation methods and taste. However, A&W dominates the mall food court scene and thus gets served as a hearty second despite the fact that their burgers have earned the nickname "Saltburgers".

loomer · Post by **loomer** » 2006-05-02 10:12am

Personally, I've always flipped McDonald's the finger and gone over to Hungry Jack/Burger King. Here in Australia we demand a decent sized bruger and the big mac simply does not supply our requirement of potentially tainted beef. However, believe it or not, my mother used to teach Charlie Bell, the now deceased Head of the proverbial Headless Chook, drama. He introduced the McOz, a burger that was actually big enough for Australians, and in general, until he died, the advertising campaigns weren't quite as fucking obnoxious as "I'm loving it." No 'McCafe.' Decent tasting 'healthy' food. Then he died of colon cancer and things have been downhill ever since.

As side note, if you're ever visting Sydney, do yourself a favour and stop in at a little burger/kebab joint in the actual City. Can't remember the name, but the burgers are fantastic, so are the kebabs.

Metatwaddle · Post by **Metatwaddle** » 2006-05-02 12:15pm

Here in Delaware, the only place to go is a place called Five Guys. Their burgers are fucking amazing. Their fries are excellent too - served fresh and hot. A little too hot, sometimes, but that's much better than stale and cold.

...I need to get lunch.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-05-02 12:20pm

theski wrote:The only problem with most burger joints, is they won't cook a medium rare or Rare burger.

Liablity reasons.
They don't want to get sued if you get sick from undercooked meat.
When I worked as a short order cook back during the first 'mad cow' scare, I was told that from now on only medium well (cooked through juicy) or higher was the only way we'd send it out.

Though I did have some dumbass try to order a pork tenderloin sandwich 'medium rare'.
I was so tempted to do it.

In Jersey, the best place to get a burger is a diner. Obviously, it's not quite fast food, but a good diner will get you your burger within ten minutes of sitting down. It's probably the best sit-down burger you'll get for four bucks.

The best places to get a non fast food burger at a decent price around here are bars and the snack counters at bowling alleys.

$3.50 for a real quarter pound burger cooked fresh with a side of potato chips isn't a bad price.

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2006-05-02 12:27pm

I personally find McDonalds burgers to be OK, sure they arent fresh but IMO they taste alright. However, If I want a REAL burger I'll go to a place called Star Burger here in Whitby, they make nice big grilled ones and you can customize them.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2006-05-02 01:00pm

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba wrote:McDonald's is, McDonald's was, McDonald's will be... complete shit! Ia Ftaghn!

Anyways, here the alt. chain A&W, which serves pretty damn good burgers. And if you don't just take out they get your drink in a big-ass chilled, frosted-glass mug, which is neat. Fries, awesome root beer and a triple-patty burger with cheese and bacon for three bucks is pretty nice.

Oh MAAAAAAAAAAN Hell yeah. I love their coney chili cheese dogs. I was so incredibly stoked when they opened one down the street out here, I had been A&W-less for a long time.

Speaking of Fast food hot dogs, Weinerschnitzel is delicious. Chili Burger, Chili Dog, Chili Fries all for $3.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-05-02 04:27pm

Sadly, the only A&W I was ever able to go to got turned into some frozen yogurt place.

As for In & Out Animal Fries, I like them but they cost too much.

P.S. I once won a bet by eating an In & Out 20x20 by myself.

Miles Teg · Post by **Miles Teg** » 2006-05-02 04:37pm

The only burger places I like are Wendy's and Sonic (hmmm.. Sonic). Both of those places actually still do three things that are of vital importance to my taste buds:

1.) Fresh made to order, and made from real hamburder patties not whatever the fuck McDiarrhea's makes their burgers out of.
2.) Just the basics (ketchup, tomato, lettuce, etc.). No fucking nasty ass mystery sauces.
3.) Decent buns that actually taste like bread, not cardboard.

Though, being fast food neither Wendy's or Sonic is perfect, but far, far better than anything else.

Miles Teg

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-05-02 06:03pm

The only places around here you can get anything vaguely resembling a proper burger is the pubs.

They tend not to be cheap, but you get a plate of rabbit food, onion rings, and chips with them.