The Very Official McDonalds (and other fast food outlets) Thread

[cwathen]

Although I can't help but wonder if in fact they'd manage if they were using the older kitchen format where they made the most popular items in bulk and put them on the racking.

Personally, I always thought the new kitchen format and making every single thing to order was a bad move anyway. The whole point of fast food is that orders can be anticipated and made in advance so the customer just comes in and picks it up. It might well be slightly fresher now, but no one is going to Maccies in pursuit of Michelin star food. Service slowed at that point and it just seems a far less scalable way of working than their old practices, when right now being able to scale up to cope with the extra delivery business would seem to be desirable.

[Pete]

Although I can't help but wonder if in fact they'd manage if they were using the older kitchen format where they made the most popular items in bulk and put them on the racking.

Personally, I always thought the new kitchen format and making every single thing to order was a bad move anyway. The whole point of fast food is that orders can be anticipated and made in advance so the customer just comes in and picks it up. It might well be slightly fresher now, but no one is going to Maccies in pursuit of Michelin star food. Service slowed at that point and it just seems a far less scalable way of working than their old practices, when right now being able to scale up to cope with the extra delivery business would seem to be desirable.

It also means things like the cheese doesn't have a chance to melt over the burger and the bun is often toasted but cold. So the food is "fresher" but isn't always better.

[Andrew Wood]

Absolutely this. Under the current prepare to order system, it all seems too cold. Nothing could beat a quarter pounder with cheese that had been stuck in the production bin for way over the 10 minute maximum holding time. Hot all the way through and the cheese just oozing.

[Andrew]

I agree with these thoughts. It seems delivery drivers get priority, as there are presumably targets to be met, drive thru is second, as if the queue gets too long it backs out onto the road and disrupts the flow of traffic

A distant third place priority seems to be people who have been the least lazy and actually gone into the restaurant. Hence 20 min waits as you stand around getting in everybody’s way waiting for your number to be called.

Then if you use the drive thru, they give you your coffee and then ask you to park up, meaning you drink is half way to going cold before you get your food

Surely they should still make the most ordered items upfront, as they are presumably never more than a few minutes away from someone ordering a McMuffin or a Quarter Pounder

To be honest I’m not a fan of the introduction of delivery services at places that were not set up for it. It’s the same at Costa where you can be waiting an absolute age in a short queue because a takeaway order for loads of drinks has come through.

[cwathen]

I agree with these thoughts. It seems delivery drivers get priority, as there are presumably targets to be met

Can't claim to know McDonald's policy on this, but I know first hand from a friend who works for a restaurant chain which has introduced an off-brand delivery service out of their kitchen that this does happen. It's seen as a growth area, so management up and down the chain is under pressure to hit targets and get good reviews from their delivery operation, even if that is to the detriment of other customers. Wouldn't surprise me if the same approach is pretty standard.

Then if you use the drive thru, they give you your coffee and then ask you to park up, meaning you drink is half way to going cold before you get your food

That I think does kind of highlight the inefficiencies in the new system. Most McDonald's drive thrus only have 2 or 3 dedicated parked order bays, and in the past those were pretty rarely used. These days my local one routinely ends up park ordering virtually the entire carpark to keep the queue moving, and then inevitably builds up an overwhelming backlog of food to run which could see you waiting ages. Possibly now even longer if they are prioritising the delivery orders. This also causes chaos as people wanting to use the restaurant have limited space to park and just park on the road. The other alternative would to be to hold the drive thru queue but then that would cause similar chaos as it backs up onto the road.

Surely they should still make the most ordered items upfront, as they are presumably never more than a few minutes away from someone ordering a McMuffin or a Quarter Pounder

I'm not sure they have the capability to do that any more. There used to be a pass with racking from the kitchen to the front where premade items could be hot held. Since the remodel it now just looks like items get made on a line and then sent straight to an area to be bagged/trayed. Don't see any facility to premake and hold, and of course the whole point of the remodel was to get rid of that so doubt it would have been retained. Wouldn't surprise me if it does end up getting reintroduced after an appropriate amount of time has gone by.

[Zimba]

The best way to sort out the delivery problems is to open more dark kitchens and get them out the normal restaurants.

I know there's one up here to cover the McDonalds at Silverlink which is, and always has been, one of the busiest in the country. Believe there's a second one at Byker aswell to cover the Newcastle area even known you can still weirdly order from Byker DT aswell.

[Philip]

Agree with all the comments made here.

Their priority seems to be delivery drivers first, everyone else a distant second.

If you go in the restaurant and it's not too busy, table service is usually ok and avoids waiting around forever.

I don't see the point in going in the drive thru anymore as I can't remember the last time I wasn't parked for even the simplest of orders. If your Maccies has Click & Serve just do that instead.

[Charlie Wells]

When we use McD we tend to use the table service option. At least this means whilst waiting several minutes we can be sat down and chatting.

I guess the current kitchen format with customisation is designed in part to reduce food wastage. Means that customers eating in potentially throw less away, and it means they don't have left over cooked burgers. Also, getting the customer to customise via the touchscreen or app saves relying on going to a manned till and that person adding a custom note.

Maybe for those using the delivery services a reduced menu with no customisations should be offered. That way a few things could be either pre-cooked or prepared quicker. There's probably a case for an extended kitchen with additional staff and a separate collection point for these couriers. Given that a lot of McD's are franchises I doubt they'd be too happy if dark kitchens were opened up instead.

[JetixFann450]

I happen to notice that even the marketing for McDonald's has been pushing the idea that you can eat McDonald's in the privacy of your own home.

I mean, often we do order from the restauraunt itself and then come back to our home, but being at the restaurant has a lot more security and reassurance, especially if you've made the trek back and realise one of the items you've ordered is wrong.

Delivering your food has a more likely chance that either the deliverer won't arrive at your home and/or happened to munch away on half of your order or the restauraunt you probably ordered from didn't bother to include the items you've ordered. Or there's a mixup in who's ordered what.

[Jonwo]

I don't get why the central London McDonald's have delivery drivers, surely there's enough locations elsewhere that can cater.

I know Chipotle uses dark kitchens so it wouldn't be surprise me if McDonald's does decide to use them more often.

[Blewatter]

I don't get why the central London McDonald's have delivery drivers, surely there's enough locations elsewhere that can cater.

I know Chipotle uses dark kitchens so it wouldn't be surprise me if McDonald's does decide to use them more often.

I've been arguing that for the last couple of years actually. I think that all of the Fast Food places could benefit from rejigging their store formats. McDonalds is just starting to with its segregated Just Uberoo delivery sections, but its only a start, and even then, its doing nothing to deal with kitchen capacity.

I actually think it would benefit all of the restaurants if they started moving towards a model like this:
- In Town locations: No Just Uberoo, only walk in customers.
- Out of Town Drive Thrus: Just Uberoo, but reduce seating, and prioritise drive thru, and increased Kitchen capacity
- Dark Kitchens: Just Uberoo only, no walk ins (Though maybe pickup only, without a drive thru)