YDKF Episode 199: McDonald’s

[m00npie]

Title: YDKF Episode 199: McDonald’s
Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2021 23:12:17 +0000
Link: http://podcast.robohara.com/ydkf-episode-199-mcdonalds/

Description: On this episode of You Don’t Know Flack, I talk about the earliest restaurant I can remember — one that serves Big Macs, Filet-o-Fish, Quarter […]

[AArdvark]

I have to go through my Group II swag and see what antiques I saved. Have you ever seen any of the training films they showed to new workers?

[Flack]

I've watched a few of them on YouTube. There are a lot of McDonald's, Burger King, and Pizza Hut ones that people have uploaded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLm36MpPSeM

[obliterator918]

When I was little, the town I lived in had one McDonald's and it was a small one without any kind of playground. Ours had something fairly unique, some kind of bicycle shrine in it. I did some image searches and I couldn't find any pictures of it. It's probably not there any more, and there are certainly more McDonald's in that city now. But anyway, it was this huge bicycle with a massive front wheel and a tiny back wheel. In my memory it is huge, anyway. It was in a huge plexiglass enclosure on top of a bar seating counter, so I have a lot of visual memories of looking at it while I ate. I guess it was like the biplane you described in yours, except you couldn't sit in/on it.

When I had a paper route, I would go out and collect my route money, then ride my bike directly to McDonald's and waste it on a burger. I'm not sure how I managed to pay the newspaper company their part of the payments.

I worked at a McDonald's for a year as a teen. I don't have any sentimental attachment to McDonald's after that, LOL.

[obliterator918]

You mentioned the fish sandwich and Lent. I don't know about Lent, but when I worked there, we sold a ton of those things on Fridays back when Catholics weren't allowed to eat meat on Fridays.

When I worked there, they had "25 cent hamburger Tuesdays." It was INSANE how many hamburgers we sold on Tuesdays. Looking back I don't know how we managed to do it, how do I put this... safely. We pre-made huge stacks of burgers, at least an hour before the $0.25 price kicked in. I guess we managed to get them out within 2 hours, but they certainly weren't fresh. It was working at McDonald's that I learned how cheap fountain drinks are for the retailer. They basically sold their hamburgers at, or under, cost, and made all the money on Tuesday nights on fries and Coke. The Coke in the cup cost them less than the cups they served them in.

[Flack]

When I worked at Pizza Hut my boss told me a large pizza cost about $1.80 to make, and $1 of that was cheese. Every pizza place had their own measuring systems (Mazzio's used bowls and scales, while Pizza Hut used a dummy-proof system of colored cups) and all of them were pretty strict about "free handing" (not measuring) pizzas. Even the managers who had been making pizzas for years would freehand all the ingredients but still weigh the cheese (at least when the rest of us were watching).

Wednesday night was inventory night at Pizza Hut and managers were always writing fake tickets for orders to help balance out the food loss.

[fergojisan]

I loved this episode so much, thank you Rob. When I was 18 or 19, I got it in my head that I was going to try to eat one of everything on the McDonald's menu. I ordered stuff in shifts and tried to go from smallest to largest. First I got a hamburger, cheeseburger, Quarter Pounder and fries. Then I got a Big Mac and a Cheddar Melt (which was new at the time, and disgusting), and inexplicably, more fries. Then came the big mistake, more fries (!) and a 20 piece Chicken McNugget. Why I didn't get a 6 piece and stop with the fries is beyond me, but that was it for me. I think I had 3 sodas in there as well. This did not put me off McDonald's. Another thing that did not put me off of McDonald's was getting a supersize Quarter Pounder meal and eating it in the parking lot while reading Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation (I swear to God) and then throwing up in the parking lot. I still love McDonald's, it is my favorite fast food place, only because we don't have White Castle in Delaware. I always get the Quarter Pounder meal, if I'm feeling especially randy I'll get a cheeseburger as an appetizer. I still want to try getting an Egg McMuffin and putting the innards on a Quarter Pounder ever since I saw a McDonald's hacks web site.

When McDonald's announced they were discontinuing their Styrofoam packaging, I decided I would try to get one of each (not in the same sitting this time). I still have them, most of the regular ones but also the Hotcakes and McDLT styrofoam, and I think a McRib as well. What I really want someday is one of the milk glass coffee mugs. They are tiny but I have such nostalgia for them, even though I never drank coffee from them and I don't think I knew anyone who did.

[obliterator918]

Then I got a Big Mac and a Cheddar Melt (which was new at the time, and disgusting),

I have given up trying new burgers they come out with. I like McDonald's mainly because I know EXACTLY what I am going to get when I make my order. My go-to is a Quarter Pounder. It tastes pretty good and when I am hungry I will double it.

Then they come out with some "Arch Deluxe" or something else, and I'm like, okay, let me try. I always, ALWAYS regret it. McDonald's should not try to do "artisan" burgers. They are never as good as their normal stuff.

One thing they don't seem to have at all locations or even all the time at any location are their breakfast steak bagels. Those are ridiculously good, but I first had it like 20 years ago I think, so it doesn't break my "no fancy stuff" McDonald's rule.

Also about their coffee, which Flack mentioned. I am a slight coffee snob. I don't like Starbuck's coffee (it's burned) but McDonald's has a very good system now for their specialty coffee drinks. They way they have designed their hardware, it doesn't take a lot of training for someone to be able to crank out good coffee drinks. They're doing a good job on that front.

[AArdvark]

Anyone ever try their spaghetti? I think it lasted about a year and was terrible. Back when I worked there we used to make the best (non-menu) stuff for ourselves. Get that breakfast burrito mix and roll it up in a really thin pancake or make deep-fried biscuits, stuff like that. I think the holding cabinets and the microwave ovens signaled the end of the traditional burger system. that was my sign that I should get the hell out and find a real job. Had a lot of fun working there during my party years

THE
BURGER CONVERTER
AARDVARK

[k8track]

My favorite McDonald's sandwich ever was the Cheddar Melt. I think I was a junior or senior in high school when it debuted. I loved it so much but it didn't stick around. I also really loved the four different Arch Deluxe varieties (hamburger, grilled chicken, breaded chicken, fish fillet). That was around October of 1996 and it REALLY didn't stick around. I don't know why it failed. The ad campaign was super bizarre though.

When I was a kid, McDonalds was amazing and I loved it, especially the happy meals. I'll always remember the exact date of my 2nd grade field trip, May 25, 1979, one of the funnest days ever. One of the places we went was McDonalds. Not for lunch (we ate our own bagged lunches at Glenwood Park), but afterward. We got a tour and even got to go in the secret manager's basement.

Soon after, when Hardee's opened (or at least when we started going there), it kind of overtook McDonalds in my mind. They had char-grilled burgers (even said so right on the sign) and you could really taste it. I can still imagine the taste perfectly.

I would have to say my most favorite all-time restaurant as a kid was Sambo's. Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut would have been right after that.

[Flack]

I touched on this thought but didn't expand on it during the episode. As a kid, visiting McDonald's seemed like a dining experience. Of course we went through the drive-thru but it seems like maybe 50% of the time, we dined it. I literally can't remember the last time my family actually dined inside a McDonald's. The only time we seem to go inside one anymore is when we need to use the bathroom while on a road trip.

Same with Pizza Hut. Going to Pizza Hut, with their fancy glass light fixtures, plastic cups and red-and-white checkered table cloths, felt as fancy as Outback Steakhouse to me. I can remember sitting in an oversized booth, eating breadsticks and waiting for our pizza to arrive. I can tell you that the experience was not as magical in the kitchen.

[obliterator918]

I remember that if my father was taking the kids to eat fast food, we would go to McDonald's, and if my mother took us, we would go to Burger King. If we all went together, we'd usually go to a non-fast-food restaurant. But it sticks out in my memory that my mom never took us to McDonald's.

Something else about McDonald's that I don't recall now if you talked about: they have regional menu items, sometimes. I don't know if I have noticed this travelling in the continental states, but in Hawaii they have breakfast platters with Portuguese Sausage and steamed white rice (usually called "sticky rice" to differentiate it from that Uncle Ben's junk), and they also often had a Teriyaki burger, which was downright disgusting because in addition to the Teriyaki sauce it had mayo on it. I could NEVER understand that. But the Portuguese sausage and sticky rice was actually pretty good and was a common breakfast in the islands. They also offer Spam Eggs and Rice, another common island breakfast. But I don't know why their website doesn't have a picture of it: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/spam-eggs-and-rice.html