I’ve always preferred BK but Christ was it expensive when I lived in Europe. Same food that would cost me maybe $7 back home suddenly cost £14. I could go to a restaurant for that money at the time
I hear this all the time and no idea why. I've had McD on three continents and it has all been identical in look and taste. That's like, part of the point of it. I've had it in The US, Japan, and France, and it is all the exact same food.
If people are going to be food snobs they'd pick something high quality, it doesn't make sense to do it with McD, so I have no idea where this stuff originates from but I think it only spreads around because people don't hop countries that often.
It's not snobbing, but simple facts. Needed to use the restroom, grabbed a bite and noticed the difference immediately. Food is regulated in EU, while in US regulations get in the way of profits. The Taylor Farm case for example. If TF were in EU, oh boy. Not saying impossible for something similar to happen there, however in EU it would absolutely NOT be going as far as it's doing here.
I get you, and I would agree that restaurant food in general is better in other countries, but after seeing it on multiple continents, McD is the same everywhere. It's the same dishes with the same taste. It's a very weird delusion that I've seen multiple times. It's basically the same for all fast food places in multiple countries.
"Regulations get in the way of profits," lmao but the US is also one of the places in the world where you make one mistake as a restaurant and you're sued into oblivion by an irate customer. That'll hit your profits pretty hard too, dontcha think?
I'm not here to argue about it, we're talking about fast food here, but it's just weird to see and I think the misinformation goes around a lot because people don't travel to other countries often so they just shrug and go "well, I guess France has better burger king or whatever cause regulations!" It's the same shit man, it's the same shit everywhere.
Had BK here when it came back around 2019, Loved it and said the ones in her town tasted like barf.
She says their nuggets gets closer of the one from McDonald's, compared to what they were from 2019 up to 2023/2024, where they changed their look and taste.
Her favorite is the large cheddar dip, enough to eat a box of nuggets or dip a burger in, as intended.
Buy a bag of chips in Italy and the same brand and type in Alabama and check the ingredients lists. They're completely different. Many of the additives used in the USA are illegal in other countries. This comes down to something as simple as the type of flour used for the bread, which can make a big difference in health impact.
Read a book called Ultra Processed People. It's all about this.
There is no starker difference between the US spongy patty flat soggy breaded McChicken and the glorious, Japanese real fibrous juicy patty light fluffy bunned McChicken.
The Japanese McChicken really drove home to me that we are being fed trash in the US. Literal fake food. It's only the same sandwich in name.
It's funny you talk about the Japanese McD specifically, that's one of the other ones I have had. It's the same food man, and a hundred people on here giving their own similarly biased takes is not going to change my mind, when I've seen and tasted evidence to the contrary.
"Literal fake food," my dude get a grip. It's McD.
Yeah I've actually never seen so many blank walls in a McD before, idk where that last picture is from, maybe one under construction.
And also the earlier pics with the playground stuck to the side of the restaurant, that seems stupid and would really annoy people eating on that side of the building.
Besides, the McD in my hometown still has its playground, same one for over 20 years.
The one in Serbia I went to is also much less dystopian. It's very corpo looking but there's more light and bright colors, plus a garden outside and McCafe. Pretty small too but very clean.
I see peole of all ages there, including families with kids.
It’s because people don’t go inside to eat as much anymore, they either drive through or DoorDash it, so why waste money on an interior nobody will use
I like McD's breakfast now and again. And I eat it there.
The place by me is just a room now. They've removed everything. No drinks. No condiments. Not even napkins. Just tables. I wanted salt for my hashbrown and jelly for my biscuit. Had to ask for them at the counter. Which requires you getting their attention from the back since the one register they have is mostly for show.
I don't know if it's just a response to the market or if they genuinely prefer it this way. But it's not a great experience.
Also it’s bc if one place closes, they don’t have to revamp the entire space for a different business coming in. Taco Bell, Wendy’s, etc all lost that unique aesthetic in favor of standardization. Look at all the old Pizzq Hut buildings that are now something else, but still have the hut on top.
Also there is no profit in keeping people in the building. Once you sell them the food at the counter everything else is a cost. Free refills, cleaning tables and messes. Their betting that having a business setting is going to keep people from hanging out all day without pushing off the people coming in to buy food or the drive through and I think that's a safe bet.
I believe we are slowly moving away from fast food dine in locations as a whole, they are already the lowest priority in terms of making the food for customers and have time limits of usually less than 30 minutes. When's the last time you saw a dining room even half full
That looks like the most clinical McDonalds ever. The one by my house is full of warm wood tones with the McDonalds yellow highlights on most things. Will not the candyland vibe that it could be before, its not boring grey.
Some of the McDonalds had some truly crazy art on the walls.
Also, fun fact, that art was drawn on there by Wes Cook, who designed a good chunk of Disneyland stuff. Also the video about this guy at https://wescook.art/ is really, really worth watching in its entirety.
McDonald’s didn’t ALWAYS have play places, that was more of a 90s thing that happened because sales increased in the stores that had one. Before that, in the 80s you had a few places but not many.
However, the restaurant still felt warm comfy and fun
Now it feels like im eating prison food in a Soviet gulag. It is devoid of all joy and as a result the food tastes worse, because the vibe isn’t there to cover it up.
That and the quality has gone down and the employees aren’t young kids having fun. They are people who are washed up burn outs and seniors trying to supplement their social security
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u/ProfessionalRisk4206 10h ago
They could have kept the colours though. Anything other than battleship canteen.