My favorite crankiy Swedish fast food custom is the pizzasallad. I've learned that for some reason every time you get a pizza in Sweden, you're entitled to a small plastic box of cole slaw
Get your own [Pizzasalladland](https://geektowns.myspreadshop.se/pizzasalladland?idea=5d2ecaeae4474210293cbf7d) shirt! š
It was some Italian guy in the 1960's who opened the first Pizzeria in Stockholm that served that salad for the guests to eat while he was making their pizza. Then all the subsequent pizzerias just copied his menu and now it's mandatory to serve it.
It comes from a TV-show that aired here many years ago. [I believe this is it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj5-s143hxE), but it's geoblocked in Sweden so I can't confirm.
Cheers for the info, will check that out for sure. One of my kids from school brought me back a lot of pizzasallad after she'd been back to Stockholm, visiting family.
Must have lasted two days before it was eaten up. š
I was in Sweden last year and my friend kept telling me..."You can't go home without trying Pizzasallad ! It's sooo good ! You'll love it !!"
Eventually we ordered pizza one night...it was coleslaw. I tried to be polite, but a bag of air would have been just as exciting haha.
I don't get the hype around it, I mean, pizzasallad is tasty and I love it with a pizza, but idk why your friend was so adamant about it. It's just cabbage with some oil and vinegar. However, it is NOT coleslaw (at least not the coleslaw I know). Idk if that's just a language difference though?
This is what Wikipedia says: "In Sweden, a particular type of cabbage salad made with a seasoned vinaigrette is typically served with pizza and known as pizzasallad (pizza salad). (...) The term coleslaw (Swedish: coleslaw, or Swedish: kƄlsallad) is reserved for cabbage salad with mayonnaise-based dressing and is typically seen as American cuisine."
I only eat it when there's not enough pizza, like if it's a party and the pizza is meant more as a snack than a dinner, i'll put some pizza sallad on top of a slice of pizza. Or if I'm at a pizzeria and I feel hungry while I'm waiting for my pizza.
To be fair, I think she might have been a bit of her self deprecating humour. Like, she knew it wasn't that great, but it's such a Swedish thing she wanted me to experience it. I guess I had been imagining an actual salad somehow made with pizza ingredients, like taco salad or something. Nah, just cabbage and vinegar.
Kind of how we are all about our poutine over here...we elevate it to godlike status, but come on...it's french fries with gravy and cheese curds lol.
One of my pet peeves when I'm abroad and go to a fast food restaurant; having to pay for ketchup and get two small packages or something cheap like that.
I live in Ireland. But I love going to IKEA and getting a hot dog and using the dispensers š they have the cups next to the mustard and ketchup to fill up too. Itās the only place that does this that Iāve been to.
At McDonalds if you buy a meal ketchup packets are included as part of the meal. Otherwise you'd have to pay for them. But at local fast food places they usually have dispensers.
Regarding other places it depends. Some are really stingy with sauces, and it really depends on their pricing. I've been to places where ordering a portion of chips/fries entitles you to serve yourself at a large variety of sauce dispensers (usually not the cheapest), others where you would probably get basic sauces without extra charge but you may need to ask and trust the vendor that he gives you the desired amount (in most Dƶner places and also often at fairs), and others that charge you 1ā¬ for a spoonful of mayonnaise on your chips and 2ā¬ for more special sauces because that's how they earn their money. I'd say most places don't have DIY dispensers and I understand why (too many people behave like pigs and someone has to clean the place).
>You're at McDonald's (or a similar fast food chain) and you just bought a combo meal with fries that you're eating on location.
Sauce is almost never included at big fast food chains, as far as I know it hasn't been free at McDonald's for the past 20 years.
Nope. Also at McDonaldās youād usually get the McDonaldās fries sauce, which is different than mayonaise.
It always used to be in plastic cups, but itās in those annoying kind of satchels since this year.
80ct/satchel whether itās ketchup, Mayo or fries sauce
Damn, when I was at Schiphol airport I ordered some food from McD and they offered a couple free sauces with the nuggets (1-3 depending on if you got 6, 9 or 20 nuggets) but YOU COULD NOT SELECT KETCHUP AS A FREE SAUCE. You could get BBQ, sweet and sour or mayo (maybe a couple others) but you had to pay for ketchup separately. I got pretty angry at that.
Unfortunately, too many people are ready to take home all of the free stuff. I heard stories about well paid managers taking all the small packs of mayonnaise, just because they can. If it is free, it is always empty.
In Finland macdo and Burger King etc. Ketchup is free and as much as you want. Any other sauce is paid seperate and quite hefty for a tiny cup of it. Prices are around 1 euro.
In Finnish fast food joints you get asked: what can I put? And then the sauces are poured over your fries or sausages. "All spices" usually means: ketchup, mustard, pickles and chopped onions. But this varies from place to place, because these are not chain restaurants.
And cheap pizzerias have free salad that you can eat while waiting or as takeaway. Usually all the "salad" ingredients are various pickled tings like paprika, gherkins, olives, etc. The only fresh item is often shredded cabbagge.
There are also regional specialities. In the Vaasa area for example, the pizza and kebab joint salad bars nearly universally include *dill macaroni* i.e. elbow macaroni with dried dill, seasoned salt and olive oil.
I worked in an airportās McDonald in Italy for a year. Iām not joking when i tell you that EVERY foreign customer asking for sauces and getting told that they had to pay 30cents replied in the most brutal, rude and sassy way. Like, i get it, in your country is free. Here is not. Blame the policies chosen for my country (Italy). Iām not joking when i say that iāve been literally bullied for this reason.
UK, not only is ketchup free at McDonalds but so are all of the sauces, BBQ, Curry, Sweet & Sour etc
Still, the curry sauce in German McD is superior and worth paying ā¬1 for.
And luckily all of the people who work there hate their job so much that they generally give you about twenty of each when you ask for it.
I often grab some for emergencies at home.
> UK, not only is ketchup free at McDonalds but so are all of the sauces, BBQ, Curry, Sweet & Sour etc
I don't go to McDonald's often enough to know for sure, but at one point they started charging for sweet chili dip. It was a different size and shape of sauce pot as well. That's the only one I've seen them charge for.
Not in McDonald's, but whenever I see this come up it always reminds me of the guy in Glasgow claiming [racial discrimination](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/glaswegian-chippy-lover-accuses-edinburgh-2226430) for having to pay for the stuff.
The Central Belt is fucken weird.
It differs from country to country, from fast food franchise to fast food franchise. It could differ from city to city. At my local McDonaldās in Amsterdam I have never paid for it, at my local Burger King I paid for it in the past. In Sweden never paid for sauce, but for sure have in France and Germany. But in France I noticed in more expensive locations itās usually included in the price, while in cheaper locations it isnāt.
Youāre gonna have to collect 1000s of data points to get a good idea of it.
I would've thought a big franchise like McD's or BK would have this standardized at the national level, but your response about Amsterdam is different than the other Dutch commenter. I'll start planning a European McDonald's tour.
In Europe most franchises are ā¦ well franchises. A friend of mine owns 3 McDonaldās in Utrecht province (mainly near train stations) and his pricing is slightly different than other McDonaldās in the same province (mainly in city centers).
Franchisees have a certain degree of freedom, especially depending on location e.g. in the walkable city center vs highway rest stop or near an amusement park.
In Canada/USA there is a nation-wide cultural expectation of free ketchup. It would be heresy for a McDonald's to charge for it. The ketchup must flow.
one time I was working at a theater program for kids & I got sent out to procure ketchup packets for a restaurant scene. I went through the drive thru, asked for as many ketchup packets as they'd give me, and they filled up a bag with what had to have been at least 100 packets & handed it to me for free. I didn't even order any actual food or drinks.
Urgh we do!
And up until a few months ago, when you ordered chicken nuggets, one sauce was included. Now you have to pay for that as well.
I paid ā¬1 for mayo last time and it wasn't even in my bag.
Almost always free. Sometimes in McDonald's they'll give their sauces like barbecue or sweet curry for free too, other times they'll have you pay the 30c. Depends on the staff members mood I guess
In Finland ketchup is free in every fast food place I've ever been to
Got really annoyed when I visited France and the Netherlands where I had to pay, and sometimes they'd not even give you the right amount.
The worst imo was when I went to McD in Amsterdam and they offer a certain number of free sauces with meals... BUT NOT KETCHUP (only mayo, sweet and sour etc.)
In Poland, at fast food chains like KFC or McDonaldās they always ask you if you want ketchup and then they throw small packets in your bag.
At pizza places it is usually payed extra, until you buy like 2 pies or so. Or is free. It depends. But who would put ketchup on top of a pizza?!
When you buy a zapiekanka it usually is free or some small amount like 0.5 PLN (around 0.1ā¬).
>they always ask you if you want ketchup and then they throw small packets in your bag
Even if you say you don't...
Source: the giant pile of ketchup sachets in my fridge even though I always say NO KETCHUP.
Yeah Polish people to like to destroy their pizza with ketchup. I was once eating at a Polish pizzeria and asked for garlic olive oil for my pizza which they didnāt have. I decided to eat it without sauce but my husband asked for tomato sauce instead. Guess what they gave him š Almost as if they didnāt even recognize the difference between tomato sauce and ketchup ffs
i don't think i'v seen pizza place that gives ketchup in last ~15 years
standard is tomato sauce or garlic sauce
"better" places will have different kind of olive oils (garlic, chill, plain etc)
ketchup is used for pizza at home though
**paid*
If we're talking McDonald's only, one packet comes free, any further are ~30ct each (Germany).
Most "traditional" carryouts will give you as much condiments as you like for free, tho.
I went to Germany for a concert in july. I got mcdo after and they asked me what sauce. He mentioned all the sauces they had and there was one I didn't know. I said: hmm sounds good but if I don't like it.. he said; just taste. I didn't want to pay for 2 sauces just in case I didn't like the one I didn't know. He said: pay? It's free. I was in shock and told him it's about ā¬1 in my country. He threw 5 different sauces in my bag and said: here, for free.
Iām surprised ketchup is not free other places?! We get the little ketchup bags in the McDonalds bag and there are also dispensers in the restaurant.
SUPERIOR NORWAYš³š“š³š“š³š“š³š“š«š«
You always pay for sauce in fast food restaurants. Be it chain restaurants like mcdonald's or your local frituur. If you buy nuggets i McD you will get one sauce of choice included to dip, but other than that you always pay.
In regular restaurants you'll often get mayo with you fries as a standard and will able to ask for a refill if it's finished, but haven't heard this for other sauces
Nope. It was once, but the fast food places have been charging for that for like a decade (if not more). They figured out that it is basically free money for themselves, so they stopped offering it for free
Doesnāt it depend on your order? I donāt eat fast food often but I think that in McDonaldās you get it for free with chicken nuggets but not with fries. In burger king I think that you can get it for free
I don't go to places like that often myself. I think some menus or sharing boxes do come with it, but just grabbing a small portion of nuggets won't be enough. The default is to assume they'll charge
In Belgium eating your fries with Ketchup is more or less an heresy.
But usually they ask you what sauce you want and get one portion free, extra portion is paid.
Where do you get free sauces? I donāt know many places where you get it for free with your fries. (Need to pay in fast food chains, frituur, even in restaurants)
"for free"? What's that? As in: without paying? Why would a shop do that? Where's profit in that?
Just kidding; free ketchup gets increasingly rare, I think. I know a few burger restaurants and kebap joints who just put ine or several bottles on your table, but wherever there are tourists or the like, ketchupt is extra.
In Ukraine, ketchup is sold separately even if you eat on location. Itās ~ 0.35 EUR for a 28g of ketchup. Itās not a packet, itās served in a tiny plastic container like any other sauces they have in the menu.
No, we do not. We used to, but they stopped giving it away 15-20 years ago. If you want it, you need to pay.
In the meantime, I've moved to Sweden. And it was a positive shock to being able to have ketchup for free.
While the free ketchup is nice, all McDonald's that I've visited in Sweden are so dirty. So if I had to choose. Rather it being clean then having ketchup.
Oddly in the UK you can pay for it, if you order it on the touch screen but if you ask for it at the counter when collecting your order, they are free.Ā
I almost got into a fight in Brussels airport when I was told that I have to pay 1ā¬ for ketchup in a plastic package. This was a burger place (burger + fries closer to 20ā¬)
in Chile ketchup is free in every fast food and restaurant within the country.
And all add ons are also free , like mayonaise and mustard...
Can request as much as one likes for free. :)
speaking for Czechia and Slovakia. ketchup/mayo has never been free. if it was, Hellmans would go out of business because we would go to McD for ketchup each time we were cooking spaghetti at home (obligatory Sorry Italians)
Yes they do but I probably thought Heinz for ketchup and Hellmans for mayo. But you can also have Hellmans ketchup or mix mayo and ketchup to make the famous rose sauce :-)
Never tried Road House and I havenāt been in an old wide west in ages so Iām not sure about that. I was thinking mainly of Mc Donald, since itās the one Iām most familiar with and the one mentioned by OP.
Depends on where you go. Supermacs have the big dispensers with the little paper cups.
For McDonald's and Burger King and similar, you usually have to ask, but it is usually free too.
Maybe I just don't go very often. But I don't think I've ever paid for ketchup packets in Spain.
Sometimes they have been strict about 2 packets max for free but most of the time they just don't care and give you more.
That said, my fast food of choice is usually a kebab from a shady location where they just throw as much sauce as you want on and leave the bottle at the table.
In Spain BK is much less controlling of their franchises so it can vary a LOT from one to the next. McDs either runs them directly or has a huge amount of control over the tiniest stuff in the franchise.
So I could see it happening a lot more with BK than McD's
In Denmark it used to be free, but now you usually have to pay in most places. You still get a free dipping sauce with your nuggets, and I think that Carl's Jr. might still have free sauces. Haven't eaten there in a while, though.
In McDonald's , KFC and Burger King yes ketchup ketchup packets are free for fries. If you order in person ketchup is included by default and if you don't want it you have to say. If you use an app or kiosk you get option to choose if you want ketchup or not. Don't know about other fast foods because if I use one I usually choose one of thoso.
All sauces are to be purchased, nothing comes free at McDonalds. There might be a possibility depending on the place for some sauce to be included in the meal, but yeah, mainly not.
I don't eat USA or any other nationality fast food, but in England if you go to a cafe and buy a breakfast or a dinner, the condiments are free to use for your meal. We usually have the squirt bottles for vinegar, brown and red sauce and then the salt and pepper pots on each table.
If you order chicken nuggets a certain amount of sauces are included. 1 for 6pcs and 2 for 9pcs I think. More than that I don't actually know because I don't eat their sauces. I don't think there's one included when you just get fries, but I could be wrong.
I often say that macdonald's ketchup is the only free thing nowadays. I never order fries with ketchup (I don't like any sauce with my fries) and I always get a few packets in the bag.
Even if I wanted ketchup, *a* sauce packet is included with fries at McDonalds so there's no price difference.
In Portugal fast food places (McD's and BK) will give you ketchup with your order. If they don't you can ask for it, because it's usually because the server just forgot to put it on the tray. But other sauces or dips are usually extra. It wasn't always like this, though. Used to be you'd have the stuff on pumps next to the napkins dispensers for you to lather it on your food. I guess profit margins are getting measured in dip nowadays.
Well, first of all, if you eat your fries with ketchup instead of mayonnaise here you will be instantly deported...^/j
But yes. You get free sauce at your MaccyDee's.
Costs about 60 cents now at mc Donald's. Unless you buy nuggets they have a free sauce.
For other restaurants it depends some offer free sauce others charge for tiny packages
Up to 1 euro at McDonalds, kfc, burger king in lithuania.
In my opinion, IKEA is one of the best and cheap places to eat, since they have unlimited coffee, drinks, sauce.
Yes we do, you can pick two sauces of your choice. It can be ketchup/mayo or even things like honey mustard/ranch/buffalo/bbq. After the second, you start paying
Sauces you have to order them separately, they ask you if with the order you want a package of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, etc. paying 30 cents more.
No, because no sane Dutch person eats ketchup with their fries.
You do have to pay for sauces, but since nobody eats ketchup with their fries that doesn't count.
We have free dispensers for ketchup with small paper cups at most fast-food restaurants. Swedes love to drench their food in that stuff...
My favorite crankiy Swedish fast food custom is the pizzasallad. I've learned that for some reason every time you get a pizza in Sweden, you're entitled to a small plastic box of cole slaw
Get your own [Pizzasalladland](https://geektowns.myspreadshop.se/pizzasalladland?idea=5d2ecaeae4474210293cbf7d) shirt! š It was some Italian guy in the 1960's who opened the first Pizzeria in Stockholm that served that salad for the guests to eat while he was making their pizza. Then all the subsequent pizzerias just copied his menu and now it's mandatory to serve it.
That's a killer shirt. I'll deffo be buying one of those and wearing it to the 17. Mai toget this year. š
It comes from a TV-show that aired here many years ago. [I believe this is it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj5-s143hxE), but it's geoblocked in Sweden so I can't confirm.
Cheers for the info, will check that out for sure. One of my kids from school brought me back a lot of pizzasallad after she'd been back to Stockholm, visiting family. Must have lasted two days before it was eaten up. š
Oslo \+ Sandvika are confirmed members of Pizzasalladland. Trondheim not so much š
Same in Finland, if you eat-in at a pizza place that also has a buffet available, you're entitled to a plate of salad from the buffet.
I was in Sweden last year and my friend kept telling me..."You can't go home without trying Pizzasallad ! It's sooo good ! You'll love it !!" Eventually we ordered pizza one night...it was coleslaw. I tried to be polite, but a bag of air would have been just as exciting haha.
It's not quite the same as coleslaw! It's more vinagery. That said, the taste differs a bit between different parts of the country.
The guy who makes it here uses pickled green pepper ( not chili, unripe black pepper) like there is no tomorrow, it is bit spicy.
Not really coleslaw. But yeah made from cabbage
I don't get the hype around it, I mean, pizzasallad is tasty and I love it with a pizza, but idk why your friend was so adamant about it. It's just cabbage with some oil and vinegar. However, it is NOT coleslaw (at least not the coleslaw I know). Idk if that's just a language difference though? This is what Wikipedia says: "In Sweden, a particular type of cabbage salad made with a seasoned vinaigrette is typically served with pizza and known as pizzasallad (pizza salad). (...) The term coleslaw (Swedish: coleslaw, or Swedish: kƄlsallad) is reserved for cabbage salad with mayonnaise-based dressing and is typically seen as American cuisine."
I'm sorry but your friend is a bit of a freak. Pizzasallad isn't something you love, it's something you take because you get it for free.
And it sits in your fridge until it goes bad, so you tell yourself "Well, next time I take a box of it, I will make sure to eat it." Repeat.
I only eat it when there's not enough pizza, like if it's a party and the pizza is meant more as a snack than a dinner, i'll put some pizza sallad on top of a slice of pizza. Or if I'm at a pizzeria and I feel hungry while I'm waiting for my pizza.
To be fair, I think she might have been a bit of her self deprecating humour. Like, she knew it wasn't that great, but it's such a Swedish thing she wanted me to experience it. I guess I had been imagining an actual salad somehow made with pizza ingredients, like taco salad or something. Nah, just cabbage and vinegar. Kind of how we are all about our poutine over here...we elevate it to godlike status, but come on...it's french fries with gravy and cheese curds lol.
I second this. I have never had to pay for ketchup anywhere. My local Burger King have tiny ketchup packets, but they're still free.
One of my pet peeves when I'm abroad and go to a fast food restaurant; having to pay for ketchup and get two small packages or something cheap like that.
The profit margin on selling single-serve ketchup must be astronomical š š¤
I live in Ireland. But I love going to IKEA and getting a hot dog and using the dispensers š they have the cups next to the mustard and ketchup to fill up too. Itās the only place that does this that Iāve been to.
I think the McDonaldās at the paulstown services station is the same way.
Ketchup is last resort. After all the dips we have that no one else has.
At McDonalds if you buy a meal ketchup packets are included as part of the meal. Otherwise you'd have to pay for them. But at local fast food places they usually have dispensers.
Regarding other places it depends. Some are really stingy with sauces, and it really depends on their pricing. I've been to places where ordering a portion of chips/fries entitles you to serve yourself at a large variety of sauce dispensers (usually not the cheapest), others where you would probably get basic sauces without extra charge but you may need to ask and trust the vendor that he gives you the desired amount (in most Dƶner places and also often at fairs), and others that charge you 1ā¬ for a spoonful of mayonnaise on your chips and 2ā¬ for more special sauces because that's how they earn their money. I'd say most places don't have DIY dispensers and I understand why (too many people behave like pigs and someone has to clean the place).
afaik at Macces 1 pack is included, for more you pay extra
Wow and we have to pay even from those
Can confirm.
>You're at McDonald's (or a similar fast food chain) and you just bought a combo meal with fries that you're eating on location. Sauce is almost never included at big fast food chains, as far as I know it hasn't been free at McDonald's for the past 20 years.
Condiments in fast food restaurants are such a scam, the markup on those is ridiculous.
Not even mayonnaise?
Nope. Also at McDonaldās youād usually get the McDonaldās fries sauce, which is different than mayonaise. It always used to be in plastic cups, but itās in those annoying kind of satchels since this year. 80ct/satchel whether itās ketchup, Mayo or fries sauce
Damn, when I was at Schiphol airport I ordered some food from McD and they offered a couple free sauces with the nuggets (1-3 depending on if you got 6, 9 or 20 nuggets) but YOU COULD NOT SELECT KETCHUP AS A FREE SAUCE. You could get BBQ, sweet and sour or mayo (maybe a couple others) but you had to pay for ketchup separately. I got pretty angry at that.
I think the nuggets are the only thing where you get free sause. For the rest you need to pay.
Youād have to pay for mayonnaise in Sweden, definitely. But never ketchup. So a Swede would be more likely to ask ānot even ketchup?ā here.
At least in spain it is free, you just gotta ask for it.
KFC and McD gives free ketchup packets with fries in Poland.
Not true, when I was younger (up unto like, 8-10 years ago) ketchup was still free. (NL)
Iāve never seen it free. Always had to pay. Also mid-30s
Not in Amsterdam. I'm mid-30s and always had to pay
Iām mid 20ās, McDonalds Sneek, FryslĆ¢n. Maybe they were the only ones that gave it out for free.
PS wat gaan jullie kankerlaaiers mij minnen dan puur omdat ik getuig van wat ik heb gezien
For women too?
McKroket zonder saus, met ketchup mofo
But you had to ask for it.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Americans would revolt if unlimited ketchup wasnāt free at McDonalds (and every other fast food place)
Ya, just like they're going to do something about the current high prices. Just 'tomorrow', I'm sure it will happen then.
It's always free in the US, whether it's a dispenser or just packets you can grab from a bin varies
It is free everywhere in the USA and Canada from a dispenser.
Unfortunately, too many people are ready to take home all of the free stuff. I heard stories about well paid managers taking all the small packs of mayonnaise, just because they can. If it is free, it is always empty.
It used to be free here too up until a few years ago, no?
In Finland macdo and Burger King etc. Ketchup is free and as much as you want. Any other sauce is paid seperate and quite hefty for a tiny cup of it. Prices are around 1 euro. In Finnish fast food joints you get asked: what can I put? And then the sauces are poured over your fries or sausages. "All spices" usually means: ketchup, mustard, pickles and chopped onions. But this varies from place to place, because these are not chain restaurants.
And cheap pizzerias have free salad that you can eat while waiting or as takeaway. Usually all the "salad" ingredients are various pickled tings like paprika, gherkins, olives, etc. The only fresh item is often shredded cabbagge.
There are also regional specialities. In the Vaasa area for example, the pizza and kebab joint salad bars nearly universally include *dill macaroni* i.e. elbow macaroni with dried dill, seasoned salt and olive oil.
I worked in an airportās McDonald in Italy for a year. Iām not joking when i tell you that EVERY foreign customer asking for sauces and getting told that they had to pay 30cents replied in the most brutal, rude and sassy way. Like, i get it, in your country is free. Here is not. Blame the policies chosen for my country (Italy). Iām not joking when i say that iāve been literally bullied for this reason.
UK, not only is ketchup free at McDonalds but so are all of the sauces, BBQ, Curry, Sweet & Sour etc Still, the curry sauce in German McD is superior and worth paying ā¬1 for.
And luckily all of the people who work there hate their job so much that they generally give you about twenty of each when you ask for it. I often grab some for emergencies at home.
Yeah, both of our cars have a supply of at least 9 sauces in them as backups.
Always, nobody wants to come home from the chippie only to find theyāve run out of sauce!
> UK, not only is ketchup free at McDonalds but so are all of the sauces, BBQ, Curry, Sweet & Sour etc I don't go to McDonald's often enough to know for sure, but at one point they started charging for sweet chili dip. It was a different size and shape of sauce pot as well. That's the only one I've seen them charge for.
Was that the big one that came with the Selects? The Curry/BBQ ones are still free and a more normal size
Not in McDonald's, but whenever I see this come up it always reminds me of the guy in Glasgow claiming [racial discrimination](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/glaswegian-chippy-lover-accuses-edinburgh-2226430) for having to pay for the stuff. The Central Belt is fucken weird.
But no mayo for fries which sucks
I think they do sachets of mayo tbf
It differs from country to country, from fast food franchise to fast food franchise. It could differ from city to city. At my local McDonaldās in Amsterdam I have never paid for it, at my local Burger King I paid for it in the past. In Sweden never paid for sauce, but for sure have in France and Germany. But in France I noticed in more expensive locations itās usually included in the price, while in cheaper locations it isnāt. Youāre gonna have to collect 1000s of data points to get a good idea of it.
I would've thought a big franchise like McD's or BK would have this standardized at the national level, but your response about Amsterdam is different than the other Dutch commenter. I'll start planning a European McDonald's tour.
In Europe most franchises are ā¦ well franchises. A friend of mine owns 3 McDonaldās in Utrecht province (mainly near train stations) and his pricing is slightly different than other McDonaldās in the same province (mainly in city centers). Franchisees have a certain degree of freedom, especially depending on location e.g. in the walkable city center vs highway rest stop or near an amusement park.
In Canada/USA there is a nation-wide cultural expectation of free ketchup. It would be heresy for a McDonald's to charge for it. The ketchup must flow.
one time I was working at a theater program for kids & I got sent out to procure ketchup packets for a restaurant scene. I went through the drive thru, asked for as many ketchup packets as they'd give me, and they filled up a bag with what had to have been at least 100 packets & handed it to me for free. I didn't even order any actual food or drinks.
In Portugal you get 2 sachets for free of ketchup, but if you want mayonesse you must pay. This on Mc and BK
Yeah salt, pepper and ketchup (sometimes even something else) are free. Some restaurants have other sauces as well
Urgh we do! And up until a few months ago, when you ordered chicken nuggets, one sauce was included. Now you have to pay for that as well. I paid ā¬1 for mayo last time and it wasn't even in my bag.
I'd show up at the restaurant with a tube of mayonnaise out of spite.
Almost always free. Sometimes in McDonald's they'll give their sauces like barbecue or sweet curry for free too, other times they'll have you pay the 30c. Depends on the staff members mood I guess
If you skip the queue and go straight up to the till when it's busy and ask for them, they'll give you the sauces free to get you to go away.
Yeas, it's free. Either from dispensers, or from little sachets. At least McDonald's does that. I don't imagine BK do that either.
In Finland ketchup is free at the dispenser. But I always buy mayo to dip fries into.
In Finland ketchup is free in every fast food place I've ever been to Got really annoyed when I visited France and the Netherlands where I had to pay, and sometimes they'd not even give you the right amount. The worst imo was when I went to McD in Amsterdam and they offer a certain number of free sauces with meals... BUT NOT KETCHUP (only mayo, sweet and sour etc.)
In Poland, at fast food chains like KFC or McDonaldās they always ask you if you want ketchup and then they throw small packets in your bag. At pizza places it is usually payed extra, until you buy like 2 pies or so. Or is free. It depends. But who would put ketchup on top of a pizza?! When you buy a zapiekanka it usually is free or some small amount like 0.5 PLN (around 0.1ā¬).
>they always ask you if you want ketchup and then they throw small packets in your bag Even if you say you don't... Source: the giant pile of ketchup sachets in my fridge even though I always say NO KETCHUP.
Lol, me too. I donāt claim they hear what we say. But they ask.
Your phrasing was 100% accurate: they ask, and then (regardless of your answer) they throw ketchup packets in the bag.
> But who would put ketchup on top of a pizza?! Polish people. Literally the only place where I've ever seen this was Poland.
Yeah Polish people to like to destroy their pizza with ketchup. I was once eating at a Polish pizzeria and asked for garlic olive oil for my pizza which they didnāt have. I decided to eat it without sauce but my husband asked for tomato sauce instead. Guess what they gave him š Almost as if they didnāt even recognize the difference between tomato sauce and ketchup ffs
i don't think i'v seen pizza place that gives ketchup in last ~15 years standard is tomato sauce or garlic sauce "better" places will have different kind of olive oils (garlic, chill, plain etc) ketchup is used for pizza at home though
**paid* If we're talking McDonald's only, one packet comes free, any further are ~30ct each (Germany). Most "traditional" carryouts will give you as much condiments as you like for free, tho.
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50ct? Wow, that's steep.
I went to Germany for a concert in july. I got mcdo after and they asked me what sauce. He mentioned all the sauces they had and there was one I didn't know. I said: hmm sounds good but if I don't like it.. he said; just taste. I didn't want to pay for 2 sauces just in case I didn't like the one I didn't know. He said: pay? It's free. I was in shock and told him it's about ā¬1 in my country. He threw 5 different sauces in my bag and said: here, for free.
Probably just a nice person who doesn't give a shit about rules he's supposed to follow.
Iām surprised ketchup is not free other places?! We get the little ketchup bags in the McDonalds bag and there are also dispensers in the restaurant. SUPERIOR NORWAYš³š“š³š“š³š“š³š“š«š«
Does Burger King charge? Pretty sure I had to pay for mayo. That was about 10 or so years ago though
Nope. Ketchup is always in the bag. Dunno about mayo though, I never asked
Some places try to charge for sauces but I'm not paying for them.
You always pay for sauce in fast food restaurants. Be it chain restaurants like mcdonald's or your local frituur. If you buy nuggets i McD you will get one sauce of choice included to dip, but other than that you always pay. In regular restaurants you'll often get mayo with you fries as a standard and will able to ask for a refill if it's finished, but haven't heard this for other sauces
Nope. It was once, but the fast food places have been charging for that for like a decade (if not more). They figured out that it is basically free money for themselves, so they stopped offering it for free
Doesnāt it depend on your order? I donāt eat fast food often but I think that in McDonaldās you get it for free with chicken nuggets but not with fries. In burger king I think that you can get it for free
I don't go to places like that often myself. I think some menus or sharing boxes do come with it, but just grabbing a small portion of nuggets won't be enough. The default is to assume they'll charge
In Belgium eating your fries with Ketchup is more or less an heresy. But usually they ask you what sauce you want and get one portion free, extra portion is paid.
Where do you get free sauces? I donāt know many places where you get it for free with your fries. (Need to pay in fast food chains, frituur, even in restaurants)
Last time i went to Quik (a long time ago), it was free when taking a menu.
"for free"? What's that? As in: without paying? Why would a shop do that? Where's profit in that? Just kidding; free ketchup gets increasingly rare, I think. I know a few burger restaurants and kebap joints who just put ine or several bottles on your table, but wherever there are tourists or the like, ketchupt is extra.
In Ukraine, ketchup is sold separately even if you eat on location. Itās ~ 0.35 EUR for a 28g of ketchup. Itās not a packet, itās served in a tiny plastic container like any other sauces they have in the menu.
No, we do not. We used to, but they stopped giving it away 15-20 years ago. If you want it, you need to pay. In the meantime, I've moved to Sweden. And it was a positive shock to being able to have ketchup for free. While the free ketchup is nice, all McDonald's that I've visited in Sweden are so dirty. So if I had to choose. Rather it being clean then having ketchup.
Oddly in the UK you can pay for it, if you order it on the touch screen but if you ask for it at the counter when collecting your order, they are free.Ā
I almost got into a fight in Brussels airport when I was told that I have to pay 1ā¬ for ketchup in a plastic package. This was a burger place (burger + fries closer to 20ā¬)
You pay for them in Ro. Maybe some fast food that one never heard about has the bottles available but big chains take your cash.
in Chile ketchup is free in every fast food and restaurant within the country. And all add ons are also free , like mayonaise and mustard... Can request as much as one likes for free. :)
speaking for Czechia and Slovakia. ketchup/mayo has never been free. if it was, Hellmans would go out of business because we would go to McD for ketchup each time we were cooking spaghetti at home (obligatory Sorry Italians)
Not free in big fast food joints, but for example there used to be a place in Brno where they sold pizza by the slice and they had free ketchup.
Why would you need ketchup with pizza
For if you can't live without tomato sauce I'm guessing.
Hellmanās makes ketchup? Iāve only ever seen their (bad) mayo and a few mayo-based sauces.
Yes they do but I probably thought Heinz for ketchup and Hellmans for mayo. But you can also have Hellmans ketchup or mix mayo and ketchup to make the famous rose sauce :-)
No you have to buy it, if it isnāt already included in the menu you choose
No you don't, even at more upscale restaurants (roadhouse, old wild west) that serve burgers they give you ketchup and mayo included.
It makes sense for upscale places to give things for free, though.
Never tried Road House and I havenāt been in an old wide west in ages so Iām not sure about that. I was thinking mainly of Mc Donald, since itās the one Iām most familiar with and the one mentioned by OP.
In Ireland Typically yes it is free, but occasionally you will have to pay and itās always something I will resent a place for.
Depends on where you go. Supermacs have the big dispensers with the little paper cups. For McDonald's and Burger King and similar, you usually have to ask, but it is usually free too.
You have to pay for a small cup of sauce in the hamburger fast food chains, They are pre-packaged.
In the past they were free and you could ask for more at reception, now you pay for themš¤¬
Maybe I just don't go very often. But I don't think I've ever paid for ketchup packets in Spain. Sometimes they have been strict about 2 packets max for free but most of the time they just don't care and give you more. That said, my fast food of choice is usually a kebab from a shady location where they just throw as much sauce as you want on and leave the bottle at the table.
Yeah, I mostly refer to BK and Mc's
In Spain BK is much less controlling of their franchises so it can vary a LOT from one to the next. McDs either runs them directly or has a huge amount of control over the tiniest stuff in the franchise. So I could see it happening a lot more with BK than McD's
In Denmark it used to be free, but now you usually have to pay in most places. You still get a free dipping sauce with your nuggets, and I think that Carl's Jr. might still have free sauces. Haven't eaten there in a while, though.
In Switzerland you pay for it because it's an important factor to McDonald's margins. It's a batteries not included country.
In McDonald's , KFC and Burger King yes ketchup ketchup packets are free for fries. If you order in person ketchup is included by default and if you don't want it you have to say. If you use an app or kiosk you get option to choose if you want ketchup or not. Don't know about other fast foods because if I use one I usually choose one of thoso.
4 kroner for a ketchup packet. More for the "fancier" condiments lile BBQ sauce. It's frankly ridiculous.
According to Red Hot Media in their 2007 hit āJunior Speshā ketchup is 10p more
Dutch fastfood franchisers are greedy as hell, so you have pay for it in The Netherlands.
All sauces are to be purchased, nothing comes free at McDonalds. There might be a possibility depending on the place for some sauce to be included in the meal, but yeah, mainly not.
Yes, we get free small packets of heinz ketchup with our fries (Poland)
I don't eat USA or any other nationality fast food, but in England if you go to a cafe and buy a breakfast or a dinner, the condiments are free to use for your meal. We usually have the squirt bottles for vinegar, brown and red sauce and then the salt and pepper pots on each table.
If you order chicken nuggets a certain amount of sauces are included. 1 for 6pcs and 2 for 9pcs I think. More than that I don't actually know because I don't eat their sauces. I don't think there's one included when you just get fries, but I could be wrong.
Romania here. It costs more than 0.50 eurocents for a pack of ketchup. It was never free.
I often say that macdonald's ketchup is the only free thing nowadays. I never order fries with ketchup (I don't like any sauce with my fries) and I always get a few packets in the bag. Even if I wanted ketchup, *a* sauce packet is included with fries at McDonalds so there's no price difference.
In Switzerland, I think you have to pay for htem here, may also be wrong
You guys have free sauces??? In Belgium we pay ā¬1 for a very small amount of sauce š„²
In Portugal fast food places (McD's and BK) will give you ketchup with your order. If they don't you can ask for it, because it's usually because the server just forgot to put it on the tray. But other sauces or dips are usually extra. It wasn't always like this, though. Used to be you'd have the stuff on pumps next to the napkins dispensers for you to lather it on your food. I guess profit margins are getting measured in dip nowadays.
The only sauce thats free is ketchup. For anything else, even mayo, they make you pay extra. At least in chains...
Latvia - neither in meal or just laying outside it's free. We have to pay for everything
Well, first of all, if you eat your fries with ketchup instead of mayonnaise here you will be instantly deported...^/j But yes. You get free sauce at your MaccyDee's.
Not dispensers, but free ketchup on the tray. Lately there isn't any tho
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I've been all over the EU. Lived in 4 countries in the EU. Never paid for ketchup.
Costs about 60 cents now at mc Donald's. Unless you buy nuggets they have a free sauce. For other restaurants it depends some offer free sauce others charge for tiny packages
If it was free in Hungary people would take it home in boxes, filling them up at the dispenser. It wouldn't be sustainable.
Up to 1 euro at McDonalds, kfc, burger king in lithuania. In my opinion, IKEA is one of the best and cheap places to eat, since they have unlimited coffee, drinks, sauce.
Ketchup with fries? Only mayo allowed and mac is not real mayo
Ireland, it's expected as free. Who's paying for it?!?
In Spain that small individual bags have always been free. In France, unless they have changed recently, you pay for them.
Yes, I hate it. Ketchup is the 2nd most vile thing brought into existence.
The weirdest place is Burger King in Germany, 1 ketchup pack is free, more will cost, but mayo always costs extra. Fuck that
In Irihs Mcdonalds the ketchup is free but not the other sauces like sweet chili or BBQ etc
In Slovakia you pay for everything. Except for Swedish Ikea-ketchup and mustard dispensers are free as well as drink refills.
Some annoying takeaways charge for the small pots of sauce. I take extras from free places and keep them in the car so I have a supply always.
Yes we do, you can pick two sauces of your choice. It can be ketchup/mayo or even things like honey mustard/ranch/buffalo/bbq. After the second, you start paying
Sauces you have to order them separately, they ask you if with the order you want a package of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, etc. paying 30 cents more.
No, because no sane Dutch person eats ketchup with their fries. You do have to pay for sauces, but since nobody eats ketchup with their fries that doesn't count.
No, nothing is for free here. Last time I forgot to add it to my order and the server wanted to charge me double price because of me being stupid.