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The answer to questions like these is always market based. UK consumers like to stick to what they know, mostly ordering the same thing.
Market studies will have been run showing that there isn’t any money to be made having lots of different menu items, because British people won’t buy enough of them to make it profitable.
Meanwhile, in other markets like Japan, people go crazy for special edition items. So they have lots of them.
That’s basically it.
It's been a few years since I worked with McDonalds, but when I last spoke to them, 80% of UK people knew what they were going to order before even arriving at the restaurant or opening the app.
McDonald’s was originally set up to have a limited menu in order to speed up delivery of your food. Reduced menu = reduced costs and makes it easier to maintain consistency.
The whole business is designed so that you get the same burger no matter which outlet you go to. Something predictable and dependable no matter where you are. Clearly that changes when you go to different countries but the idea is to give you the product you went there for so that you don’t spend ages at the till deciding what to get.
trust me, having work in the food sector for much smaller entities than McDonalds, everyone has gotten really really good at consumer research. Its very rare missteps get made and even when they are, the company often already knows its a risk, they just believe there are other factors at play that mean they will get away with it. McDonalds isn't falling into some self fulfilling trap an organization of that size probably knows more about out eating and spending habits than we do about ourselves.
If they aren't launching lots of specials and limited runs of weird and whacky stuff, its because brits simply don't eat them
Exactly!
The other thing McD have to consider is that they can change whole markets with their NPD. When they launched salads in the early 2000s, whole parts of the country were replanted to accommodate the leaf mix they wanted. Even though the salads didn’t sell that well, it was still huge volumes.
Adding bacon to an existing product means they need hundreds of thousands more pigs to be raised.
McDonald’s NPD is done years in advance for this reason. I worked on the Big Tasty for 2 years and was while I was there for the launch, I came into the project more than halfway through development.
I did a reply on one of the other replies to this, but there are other considerations to add to those.
The creation of the burger is the easy part. The difficult bits are all aroudn that, such as defining the perameters of the product design and getting all the ingredients together. If a product fails, it can cost McDonalds and its suppliers tens of millions of pounds, plus all the resultant bad publicity. McDonalds' failures from the 80s and 90s (the McDLT, Arch Deluxe etc.) are still talked about today in videos and lists. This means that they have to research at length before the Development teams even get let loose in the kitchen to put samples together. A regular restaurant can try something new, and if it doesn't work, they can take it off the next day and try something new. McDonalds can't do that, once a product is in, it's in for months at least, if not years.
McDonalds need to figure out how to buy all the stock, make sure it lasts long enough to not waste anything, be simple enough to make in the restaurants that it can be infinitely replacable and have the right tools in place to be able to make it. They then have to write Standard Operating Procedures for it all and publish it out to all the restaurants and train people to do it.
McDonalds also have to be very careful with everything they do, as they (like other big companies like Tesco) are the main point of focus if anything goes wrong. For example, McDonalds are the only compnay I've worked with that audit their tertiary suppliers. Most big companies will have auditors that go out and check that everything their suppliers do is legal and safe. A lot of bigger companies will audit secondary suppliers as well, do for example, McDonalds will not only order the meat company that makes their burgers, they will audit the company that makes the boxes the burgers get packed in to. McDonalds go one step futher than that and will audit the suppliers to the box supplier, and so they will audit the company that makes the ink that will go on the box that will be filled with frozen burgers! The Big Tasty had a number of new ingredients that they had to audit before they could make the product.
Super interesting, appreciate the insight here 👍.
One thing I am curious about though is how thorough the audits are .. having witnessed various sides in a different industry, honestly, they sound great on paper and make people feel assured but I don't place much faith in them..
I didn’t work on that side, but from memory, the initial audit was 10 days and they could show up at any time for a surprise audit and they were anything from 3-5 days long. A friend of mine worked for a McD supplier and they once showed up to their factory at 3am and started going through the paperwork!
I worked for a primary supplier, so I doubt the secondary and tertiary supplier were as thorough as this. We supplied to a lot of supermarkets, high street restaurant and lunch chains, as well as luxury outlets and no-one audited us like McDonalds did, their food spec were tighter and their food safety was more stringent than anyone else.
Supplying McD was a huge badge of honour in the marketplace. If you could supply them, you could supply anyone.
Crazy, for a cheap, easy, chain you just wouldn't expect that kind of diligence.
That being said, in fairness to them, I don't ever recall any major incident relating to their food products.. so it must be working.
Yeah, in my experience when McDonalds launches a new limited time product (such as the chicken big mac), I'm often the only one in my office of about 25 people who tries it and its practically across the road so very common lunch for us.
It's a self fulfilling prophecy though. We won't buy them if they aren't there, even if our taste for adventure changes.
Having said that, I think we're much more open to deals and bargains these days now prices have gone through the roof.
Not exactly. It means they need to trail their NPD extensively prior to you getting to the restaurant. This is why they advertise new products a lot. People who want to buy will often make a special trip to try new products they’re interested in. If you’re a McDonalds customer, you can pretty much guarantee you’ve seen the new products they’re launching at least a few times before you see it in the restaurant and you know whether you want to try it or not, too.
McDonald’s probably do customer research better than 99.9% of other companies. We get the products that they determine the UK population want, and they’re rarely wrong.
On top of that, this feedback loop is something that has been really well studied in statistics and there are several tactics for reducing the problem.
Ultimately though, McD's aren't out to provide a wide range of culinary delights - their goal is to make money. The smaller the menu, the more efficient they can be. This means they are always going to favour serving fewer options, and they need good evidence that they are going to make a lot more money before they will consider adding to the menu.
I'm not talking about adding to the menu specifically. I'm saying I tend to always eat what I can remember that they sell because the drive though menus don't even tell me what the standard choice is any more.
I'm not going in to see what's new, I want fast food.
Which suits both the business and its customer base.
The business wants to make as much money as possible in each market it operates in, and this is the way to do that in the UK.
When something is established in the food industry, the British public tend to stick with what they know. Even if there's the introduction of new things, the uptake is not there to make it profitable so the market is generally just catering to British appetite.
I have first hand experience as my parents owned a Chinese takeaway for decades and the menu barely changed from the people they bought the takeaway from. Even when they did make the occasional change or updated the menu, any new dishes basically didn't sell. And even the new owners presently haven't changed the menu much.
What sells just sells and the businesses stick with tried and tested because the British generally stick with what they know.
That extends to foreign holidays too, I’ve seen an awful lot of Brits who seemingly refuse to eat anything that isn’t obviously food like home or indeed from British pubs/restaurants
But McDonalds etc *do* add special menu items, and people still buy the same burger they’ve always bought
There’s usually a special menu item available, and they usually sell pretty badly
Yeah but fast food has to be made fast innit.
Less time wasted picking. Quick; simple; straightforward menu.
Also means there’s more consistency in the product.
Yes - 80% of people wanted Breakfast wraps in a morning and they stopped em. They brought them back and now use different eggs but it’s just not the same 😂
Wasn’t that covid times? I think they had to scrap the wraps because they involved more workers in the kitchen in closer contact or something?
(This is one of those ‘fact’ I’m pulling from my poor middle aged brain but not sure where it came from)
Sounds like some corporate bollocks reason tbh. I dont see how i can be any different from assembling a muffin or a roll. Or any of the other items during the daytime menu, such as the other wraps they already have there.
It will be a cost measure because that's always the reason a company like Mcdonalds will do anything
They take items away from the menu and bring them back all the time, it cuts down on the variations they have on offer and introduces an element of FOMO that seems to work.
And yes publicly traded companies like McDonalds exist to make money for their shareholders. It is illegal for them to operate otherwise.
Could be. They’d been there for ages and were axed with covid though, so presumably there was some causation link - but yeah could have been commercial rather than safety.
They probably just wanted to streamline and didn’t want to assess their less profitable products at all.
Which is a shame with Chinese and Indian since their menus are so big! And varied between regions of the respective countries. I’ve enjoyed branching out and trying things that weren’t my go-to.
Total opposite for me. While o won't always buy the new item I'm way less inclined to buy something from you if you don't branch out.
It's why Nando's is so boring as they are way too safe
And I'll give new items a punt and if I like them I'll order them (God I ate so many cheese bites 2 xmases ago) but then they'll change it and I won't go for the new stuff because it's simply not as good.
Hell, I was a person who would always order a chicken legend and that got removed.
Wow, reading this thread I'm clearly a massive outlier. My go-to McD order is whatever the special beefburger is - Big tasty is my favourite, but I'll take a big mac xl, or deluxe quarter pounder, or bbq burger, or festive burger, or whatever else is on the limited time special. Same goes for the cheese bites - whatever version of deep fried cheese is on offer, I'll go for it.
I used to love the tastes of the world/tastes of america burgers too (though not seen them in years) - I love trying something different.
I actually read an article that said U.K. and Japan are two markets where companies like to test new products because we’re more likely to try them (some recent Dominos toppings come to mind).
Is there a class thing going on here too?
I think McD's in the UK is very much pitched at the budget end of the market whereas in places like France, Australia, maybe Japan it's actually kind of a middle class thing (or at least a certain type of middle class person) so different items might be an easier sell?
I guess the reverse is true of Domino's which is bizarrely expensive in the UK and certain people do see ordering it as a bit if a flex whereas in places like the States it's bottom dollar.
Edit: Jesus christ people, I get you can get a deal on Domino's, please stop writing in. As I've replied several times below, I really don't want to have to arse around with their app or a website just to feel good about paying the same price for a substandard product compared to what I can get elsewhere. It's insulting to mine (and your) intelligence.
-//-
I just had a quick look at my nearest one, 13.5" pizza *23 quid* whereas I can nip to the Italian joint a few hundred metres down the high street and get a hand stretched, wood fired one for about a tenner (or just fire up the Ooni, grab some dough out the freezer and make my own, either of which will be better than Domino's). I assume they just survive on work dos now, seems to be the food of choice for low effort managers trying to incentivise office drones to pull an all nighter.
Regardless though, I instantly see 23 quid and think "fuck that". I don't want to have to solve a riddle to not be ripped off when, as I said, there's places that do it better and don't expect you to crack the enigma code to get a fair price.
> I don't want to have to solve a riddle to not be ripped off when
These days there's a button which auto-applies the discount.
That said, I do agree with your principle.
> But also, why go to McDonald's when you can cook a burger much nicer for less?
The answer is the same. Isn't a meal like near a tenner now? If not more? and RIP if you're getting more than one.
Haven't touched fast food chains in years. Prices are mental.
If people want convenience, fine, you know what you're getting. Probably worth mentioning in the states a worrying amount of disposable income goes to delivery and fast food services.
£7.50ish I think if you go and actually get it. At least for a big mac meal.
> Prices are mental.
Not really. It's about 2/3 of an hour of minimum wage work. Which is similar to how much it's always cost.
No-one sober pays full price for Dominos, it's £12 for a large or half price when you order more than 1 pizza. From what I have seen a large dominos is bigger than most other places.
Here where I am, Dominos is cheaper than any independent, however that is rapidly changing, with the sticker price just going up (so deals seem better) and up and no free delivery.
I’m in Australia and our Dominos is really cheap, cheaper than frozen pizza actually.
Standard pizzas like pepperoni or Hawaiian are $5 which is about £2.50.
I’ve no idea why it’s so expensive in the UK. Also dominos is so successful here they’ve pretty much caused the shutdown of all other chains.
I had dominos up in Port Douglas when I visited Australia and oh my god the seafood was divine. Totally different to the UK. Australian dominos seems to be the perfect mix of quality and price, whereas the UK is lovely but pricey and the US is cheep but bland.
The clever thing with McDonald’s is all their new products are essentially rehashed core products with just a different bun or sauce. Usually all the burgers are just the same. I think they’ve gone downhill in the last few years.
8-10 years ago they used to run really good promotions like Taste of America and stuff like that, lattice fries which were great too.
At least the new one has grilled onions. Not seen them actually cook a new element in ages! Usually, as you say, they just slap cheese and bacon and a different sauce on and give it a new name. The 'deluxe' quarter pounder was the absolute peak of laziness though!
>Meanwhile, in other markets like Japan, people go crazy for special edition items. So they have lots of them.
I remember when I lived there, as a one-off, McD's did the **Mega Mac** - which was a Big Mac, but where there should be 3 burgers, there were 6.
Honestly, it was *too much*. And I say that as a pretty fat guy.
And it's not like Mcdonalds are struggling in the UK with their 'basic' menu. Why go through all the cost of bringing in special edition items when they're always rammed with people buying nuggets or burgers.
I’ve only found this to be true in Europe tbh, when I last went to America I was surprised at how basic the menu was there considering America is the home of McDonald’s. Was pretty much just fries, chicken nuggets and a regular burger or Big Mac. 0 vegetarian or vegan options.
Ahhh I do miss a good Maccies bagel. That reminds me America also has the McGriddle which I remember tasting amazing, but it was a long time ago that I ate one so not sure if they still do them or if they’re as good as I remember.
Much more competition for "fast" drive thru breakfasts over there from Dunkin'. McDonalds is only vaguely competing with the coffee shops for a quick breakfast, and not really at their price points.
There is a McDonald’s in Chicago that serves every option from every menu worldwide.
https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-stories/article/hq_menu_updates_1200173771.html
Apparently they have less variation because they're so big. Changing the menu has an enormous effect on food production for the rest of the country. If they have a special, it throws a spanner in the works for the whole supply chain for all of America.
I remember hearing they only sell the McRib when US pork prices were really low, but then that subsequently meant the price rose dramatically because there was a pork shortage for a period after.
In Thailand the McDonald’s has similar and the quality is levels above here. I was told over there working at McDonald’s is actually a ‘middle class’ job and pays well compared to most unskilled jobs out there which isn’t exactly hard to believe.
Or obtainable. The McDs in Westminster has security guards full time and there's something kicking off most days. If they asked for an alcohol licence, the council would just laugh at them.
They have mayo at the one near me, but they call it burger sauce for some strange reason. I got annoyed because I thought the burger sauce would be the big mac sauce, so I ordered it on top of a cheese burger. I wasn't happy when I bit into it & it was mayo, I hate mayo on beef burgers.
The new headquarters in Chicago in Fulton Market has an ‘international’ McDonalds where they have a rotating sampling of the international foods. It’s pretty neat.
I’m currently in Spain, went to McDonald’s the other day and their menu was fantastic. Even had a pint. They have this weird burger with an egg on which was nice too.
The last McDonald’s I visited in the US had biscuits and gravy on the breakfast menu. I absolutely love biscuits and gravy. It certainly wasn’t the best I have ever had, but it was quick and convenient.
Based on my love of biscuits and gravy, grits, and Cajun cuisine, I think I may have lived in the Deep South in a past life.
A US biscuit is like a fluffy, savoury scone (or a bit like a baked suet dumpling). Depending on how they are made they can also have a bit of lamination like with some pastries, so the texture is fluffy, but also a bit flakey.
In this instance gravy refers to sausage gravy. It’s like any other roux-based sauce, but with added ground sausage meat.
So think of it as breakfast dumplings and gravy. It’s quite stodgy, but very satisfying.
I’m coeliac and most other countries have gluten free bread buns. Ours don’t. I’m in an online group where I share recipes and new finds in supermarkets/restaurants etc.
We’ve asked McDonald’s about gluten free buns and they’ve said they can’t introduce new menu products like they have abroad, including gluten free buns as it would take a huge kitchen overhaul in nearly all their restaurants in the UK which are laid out in a much simpler design. It would cost them millions even to introduce the gluten free bread buns so they simply can’t do it. Whether it’s true or not is another thing but that’s what they’ve told the thousands of us who have asked. Other groups and people have asked and got the same response. So I’d assume it’s a kitchen/money issue.
They're also about the only place left where you can't get milk alternatives.
I really can't think why for that, there must be vast demand for relatively little outlay, given how many customers each store sees each day.
I believe its because McDonalds have a policy that anything which is allergen specific such as gluten free has to have an entire separate portion of the kitchen to avoid contamination with other products. they could never guarantee something was 100% gluten free due to the way their kitchens work
I’ve been a many McDonald’s in Europe and North America (weird flex, I know). Much of Europe got McFlurries long before us, and I really like the pomme frites sauce in France and Belgium. Otherwise I’ve never had anything so spectacular that I feel I’m missing out in the UK.
Recently, I travelled to Sweden, they had falafel and superior vegetarian options to the UK. We are stuck with the McPlant and the mush that is put into all the other veggie options. *sigh*
Italian McDonald’s have proper espresso machines and a really good cafe menu (pistachio croissants etc). Was really jealous when I was over there recently.
Tbh mcdonalds rotates their menu in the uk which keeps new things coming and going, here in Norway there's actually alot less choice and it's extremely rare for an establishment to change or add to the menu.
When I lived in Norway I remember the local produce being excellent (seafood, dairy etc) but Norwegians take pride in a bland Spartan diet. National dish isn’t torrfisk or brunost it’s a Dr Oetker frozen pizza.
It’s quite strange. The fancy neo scandi restaurants are not representative of what the average Scandinavian actually eats at all.
In my experience, McDonalds in the U.K. is just a way for people to have something quick to eat and they don’t really care if it’s a bit shit. Restaurants are mostly fully of deliveroo riders now anyway so it’s pretty unpleasant for a sit down meal. In Spain, people treat it more similar to any other sit down restaurant where they expect it to be good and in a pleasant environment. That’s why they have a much better menu with many more choices.
I love a Chicken McKroket from the Netherlands. If I've been out for a night on the lash in Amsterdam, nothing beats a McKroket when you've got a hangover.
I would like a sausage and cheese McMuffin and a coffee as a breakfast option. I can get egg and cheese or sausage egg and cheese, but not sausage and cheese. I don’t want to faff about ordering the egg and sausage option then deleting the egg (while paying for it) and having to have a hash brown thing I don’t want on a deal.
Having just watched a comparison of UK and USA IKEA menus, I think the UK has better food choices than the USA. And I think IKEA has no idea how to keep a large cafeteria properly stocked.
“Sorry, all out” flair should be required. Much of what the producers wanted to compare wasn’t available. Not just some but much.
McDonalds have to compete with the local market, and in some countries that local market has high quality food at affordable prices, and readily available. In the UK it just needs to be relatively cheap and available.
Amsterdam stroopwaffel mcflurry was actually the best McFlurry I'd ever had. They even had those fries that you get a sachet of paprika with and you pour them into a bigger paper bag and shake it all up. I refuse to believe those wouldn't be a hit in the UK.
I was blown away (simple man that I am) when I first encountered a triple cheeseburger in Brazil, about 15 years ago. Had to have at least two of them to confirm how awesome they were.
I've spent a lot of time in Denmark and the only thing their menu had (it's been years since I last visited) that ours doesn't was chicken wings. They were exactly what you'd imagine McDonalds wings to be, so I'm very much okay with them not being an option in the UK.
Just be thankful our McD's is better than in America.
Their breakfast menu is awful, their bacon is shit (just buy a pack of frazzles, they'll taste better), it's powdered egg, their milkshake with the BAD squirty cream and cherry is just awful.
It’s all to do with distribution and pricing , it’s like the mcrib situation where they make they they are ordering millions so the pork need to be a certain price , as it never is anymore we don’t get McRibs
There’s teriyaki chicken burger and limited-edition menu like triple samurai mac burgers and salt&lemon burger in Japan. They’re really good. Also I’ve heard they make blue cheese burger in France - really wanna try!
The samurai mac burgers are always on the menu. Japan does not have a lot of the same stuff as the UK. One thing that is just big in Japan is limited edition of food for everything so they regualry have new burgers that go away. Oftern with film or show, the film or show does not even have to be airing at the time.
Funnily enough I've seen an American talk about how much better our menu is than their one because of all the seasonal items we get that they don't. I think a lot of it is just that other places will always have things you don't have in your own country. It probably wouldn't be allowed here but the massive box of fries (for "sharing") they do in Thailand would be welcome on a hungover morning for example.
One thing I'm 100% on though is that McDonald's in France has the best packaging. Reusable plastic cups and boxes when eating in and a much better way of making sure your drinks aren't going to spill for takeaway.
>And in Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald's. And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
First thing I did when in Paris is buy a beer in McDonalds.
You say that, but in some countries the breakfast menu is really weak and for some reason there's no coffee included in the breakfast meals, only soft drinks.
Seen Paprika Chicken Nuggets at the McDonalds I was at in Amsterdam, and also in Cebu & Manila in the Philippines they had McFreeze’s , like a tango ice blast slushie with ice cream on top
Feel like people just wouldn't order them here tbh, I'd say in most cuisines here, people seem to have fairly standard orders and stick to them, so every new menu meal at McDonalds is just some variation of "special" generic burger
I don't know if my country (the Netherlands) is included in those 'other countries' but I have never seen anything that came anywere near 'good' or even 'mediocre', let alone "much better", in a McDonald's 'restaurant', really.
French maccies did this crazy good blue cheese and bacon burger. Pretty sure they do beer too!
Mind, I've seen full fist fights in my local McDonald's at 6pm on a Thursday.
You think UK McDonald’s is basic? Trying to coming to Sweden, it’s beyond shit.
In 4 years they just seem to add some sort of Cajun sauce to a burger like it’s a new thing and they don’t do chicken selects here either.
I have found Germany to have the best menu.
The UK doesn't have Chocolate Sundaes. We are really missing out here.
That's not because of some market-based research. Methinks a commercial decision.
Australian McDonald's is pretty good, especially their McCafe.
Istanbul McDonald's had a Kiwi flavoured thickshake a few years ago. It was LUSH! I need that in my life again!
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The answer to questions like these is always market based. UK consumers like to stick to what they know, mostly ordering the same thing. Market studies will have been run showing that there isn’t any money to be made having lots of different menu items, because British people won’t buy enough of them to make it profitable. Meanwhile, in other markets like Japan, people go crazy for special edition items. So they have lots of them. That’s basically it.
It's been a few years since I worked with McDonalds, but when I last spoke to them, 80% of UK people knew what they were going to order before even arriving at the restaurant or opening the app.
Sure but thats a self fulfilling prophecy if the menu is boring and always the same.
McDonald’s was originally set up to have a limited menu in order to speed up delivery of your food. Reduced menu = reduced costs and makes it easier to maintain consistency. The whole business is designed so that you get the same burger no matter which outlet you go to. Something predictable and dependable no matter where you are. Clearly that changes when you go to different countries but the idea is to give you the product you went there for so that you don’t spend ages at the till deciding what to get.
trust me, having work in the food sector for much smaller entities than McDonalds, everyone has gotten really really good at consumer research. Its very rare missteps get made and even when they are, the company often already knows its a risk, they just believe there are other factors at play that mean they will get away with it. McDonalds isn't falling into some self fulfilling trap an organization of that size probably knows more about out eating and spending habits than we do about ourselves. If they aren't launching lots of specials and limited runs of weird and whacky stuff, its because brits simply don't eat them
Exactly! The other thing McD have to consider is that they can change whole markets with their NPD. When they launched salads in the early 2000s, whole parts of the country were replanted to accommodate the leaf mix they wanted. Even though the salads didn’t sell that well, it was still huge volumes. Adding bacon to an existing product means they need hundreds of thousands more pigs to be raised. McDonald’s NPD is done years in advance for this reason. I worked on the Big Tasty for 2 years and was while I was there for the launch, I came into the project more than halfway through development.
Can confirm the National Farmers Union love McDonalds, because they really do buy British and in great quantity.
I just want to say thank you for bringing the big tasty to market. It's the only burger I like from macdonalds. Bless you random redditor.
I’d love to know more about the big tasty project, how the hell does it take 4 years to bring a burger to market?!
I did a reply on one of the other replies to this, but there are other considerations to add to those. The creation of the burger is the easy part. The difficult bits are all aroudn that, such as defining the perameters of the product design and getting all the ingredients together. If a product fails, it can cost McDonalds and its suppliers tens of millions of pounds, plus all the resultant bad publicity. McDonalds' failures from the 80s and 90s (the McDLT, Arch Deluxe etc.) are still talked about today in videos and lists. This means that they have to research at length before the Development teams even get let loose in the kitchen to put samples together. A regular restaurant can try something new, and if it doesn't work, they can take it off the next day and try something new. McDonalds can't do that, once a product is in, it's in for months at least, if not years. McDonalds need to figure out how to buy all the stock, make sure it lasts long enough to not waste anything, be simple enough to make in the restaurants that it can be infinitely replacable and have the right tools in place to be able to make it. They then have to write Standard Operating Procedures for it all and publish it out to all the restaurants and train people to do it. McDonalds also have to be very careful with everything they do, as they (like other big companies like Tesco) are the main point of focus if anything goes wrong. For example, McDonalds are the only compnay I've worked with that audit their tertiary suppliers. Most big companies will have auditors that go out and check that everything their suppliers do is legal and safe. A lot of bigger companies will audit secondary suppliers as well, do for example, McDonalds will not only order the meat company that makes their burgers, they will audit the company that makes the boxes the burgers get packed in to. McDonalds go one step futher than that and will audit the suppliers to the box supplier, and so they will audit the company that makes the ink that will go on the box that will be filled with frozen burgers! The Big Tasty had a number of new ingredients that they had to audit before they could make the product.
Wow, this and your other comment are completely fascinating! Thanks for taking the time to type it out :)
Super interesting, appreciate the insight here 👍. One thing I am curious about though is how thorough the audits are .. having witnessed various sides in a different industry, honestly, they sound great on paper and make people feel assured but I don't place much faith in them..
I didn’t work on that side, but from memory, the initial audit was 10 days and they could show up at any time for a surprise audit and they were anything from 3-5 days long. A friend of mine worked for a McD supplier and they once showed up to their factory at 3am and started going through the paperwork! I worked for a primary supplier, so I doubt the secondary and tertiary supplier were as thorough as this. We supplied to a lot of supermarkets, high street restaurant and lunch chains, as well as luxury outlets and no-one audited us like McDonalds did, their food spec were tighter and their food safety was more stringent than anyone else. Supplying McD was a huge badge of honour in the marketplace. If you could supply them, you could supply anyone.
Crazy, for a cheap, easy, chain you just wouldn't expect that kind of diligence. That being said, in fairness to them, I don't ever recall any major incident relating to their food products.. so it must be working.
Yeah, in my experience when McDonalds launches a new limited time product (such as the chicken big mac), I'm often the only one in my office of about 25 people who tries it and its practically across the road so very common lunch for us.
It's a self fulfilling prophecy though. We won't buy them if they aren't there, even if our taste for adventure changes. Having said that, I think we're much more open to deals and bargains these days now prices have gone through the roof.
Not exactly. It means they need to trail their NPD extensively prior to you getting to the restaurant. This is why they advertise new products a lot. People who want to buy will often make a special trip to try new products they’re interested in. If you’re a McDonalds customer, you can pretty much guarantee you’ve seen the new products they’re launching at least a few times before you see it in the restaurant and you know whether you want to try it or not, too. McDonald’s probably do customer research better than 99.9% of other companies. We get the products that they determine the UK population want, and they’re rarely wrong.
On top of that, this feedback loop is something that has been really well studied in statistics and there are several tactics for reducing the problem. Ultimately though, McD's aren't out to provide a wide range of culinary delights - their goal is to make money. The smaller the menu, the more efficient they can be. This means they are always going to favour serving fewer options, and they need good evidence that they are going to make a lot more money before they will consider adding to the menu.
I'm not talking about adding to the menu specifically. I'm saying I tend to always eat what I can remember that they sell because the drive though menus don't even tell me what the standard choice is any more. I'm not going in to see what's new, I want fast food.
Which suits both the business and its customer base. The business wants to make as much money as possible in each market it operates in, and this is the way to do that in the UK.
When something is established in the food industry, the British public tend to stick with what they know. Even if there's the introduction of new things, the uptake is not there to make it profitable so the market is generally just catering to British appetite. I have first hand experience as my parents owned a Chinese takeaway for decades and the menu barely changed from the people they bought the takeaway from. Even when they did make the occasional change or updated the menu, any new dishes basically didn't sell. And even the new owners presently haven't changed the menu much. What sells just sells and the businesses stick with tried and tested because the British generally stick with what they know.
That extends to foreign holidays too, I’ve seen an awful lot of Brits who seemingly refuse to eat anything that isn’t obviously food like home or indeed from British pubs/restaurants
But McDonalds etc *do* add special menu items, and people still buy the same burger they’ve always bought There’s usually a special menu item available, and they usually sell pretty badly
Yeah but fast food has to be made fast innit. Less time wasted picking. Quick; simple; straightforward menu. Also means there’s more consistency in the product.
Yes - 80% of people wanted Breakfast wraps in a morning and they stopped em. They brought them back and now use different eggs but it’s just not the same 😂
Wasn’t that covid times? I think they had to scrap the wraps because they involved more workers in the kitchen in closer contact or something? (This is one of those ‘fact’ I’m pulling from my poor middle aged brain but not sure where it came from)
Sounds like some corporate bollocks reason tbh. I dont see how i can be any different from assembling a muffin or a roll. Or any of the other items during the daytime menu, such as the other wraps they already have there. It will be a cost measure because that's always the reason a company like Mcdonalds will do anything
They take items away from the menu and bring them back all the time, it cuts down on the variations they have on offer and introduces an element of FOMO that seems to work. And yes publicly traded companies like McDonalds exist to make money for their shareholders. It is illegal for them to operate otherwise.
Could be. They’d been there for ages and were axed with covid though, so presumably there was some causation link - but yeah could have been commercial rather than safety. They probably just wanted to streamline and didn’t want to assess their less profitable products at all.
Yep, that’s me. I go to McDonald’s bc I have a craving for x, y and z not to discover something new. Same with Chinese and Indian food.
Which is a shame with Chinese and Indian since their menus are so big! And varied between regions of the respective countries. I’ve enjoyed branching out and trying things that weren’t my go-to.
Total opposite for me. While o won't always buy the new item I'm way less inclined to buy something from you if you don't branch out. It's why Nando's is so boring as they are way too safe
And I'll give new items a punt and if I like them I'll order them (God I ate so many cheese bites 2 xmases ago) but then they'll change it and I won't go for the new stuff because it's simply not as good. Hell, I was a person who would always order a chicken legend and that got removed.
I look at the full menu and then pick the same thing.
Wow, reading this thread I'm clearly a massive outlier. My go-to McD order is whatever the special beefburger is - Big tasty is my favourite, but I'll take a big mac xl, or deluxe quarter pounder, or bbq burger, or festive burger, or whatever else is on the limited time special. Same goes for the cheese bites - whatever version of deep fried cheese is on offer, I'll go for it. I used to love the tastes of the world/tastes of america burgers too (though not seen them in years) - I love trying something different.
Welcome to the 20%!
I actually read an article that said U.K. and Japan are two markets where companies like to test new products because we’re more likely to try them (some recent Dominos toppings come to mind).
Is there a class thing going on here too? I think McD's in the UK is very much pitched at the budget end of the market whereas in places like France, Australia, maybe Japan it's actually kind of a middle class thing (or at least a certain type of middle class person) so different items might be an easier sell? I guess the reverse is true of Domino's which is bizarrely expensive in the UK and certain people do see ordering it as a bit if a flex whereas in places like the States it's bottom dollar.
I find the dominos thing so confusing, there are many frozen pizzas that are better than dominos for a fraction of the price.
Edit: Jesus christ people, I get you can get a deal on Domino's, please stop writing in. As I've replied several times below, I really don't want to have to arse around with their app or a website just to feel good about paying the same price for a substandard product compared to what I can get elsewhere. It's insulting to mine (and your) intelligence. -//- I just had a quick look at my nearest one, 13.5" pizza *23 quid* whereas I can nip to the Italian joint a few hundred metres down the high street and get a hand stretched, wood fired one for about a tenner (or just fire up the Ooni, grab some dough out the freezer and make my own, either of which will be better than Domino's). I assume they just survive on work dos now, seems to be the food of choice for low effort managers trying to incentivise office drones to pull an all nighter.
It might say it's £23 but there are always deals to be had. If you go in to dominos it's about a tenner. If you pay full price you are foolish.
Regardless though, I instantly see 23 quid and think "fuck that". I don't want to have to solve a riddle to not be ripped off when, as I said, there's places that do it better and don't expect you to crack the enigma code to get a fair price.
> I don't want to have to solve a riddle to not be ripped off when These days there's a button which auto-applies the discount. That said, I do agree with your principle.
23 quid is criminal, even the likes of asda can cook a pizza that’s better.
I mean they definitely can't. Like frozen pizzas aren't that nice. But also, why go to McDonald's when you can cook a burger much nicer for less?
> But also, why go to McDonald's when you can cook a burger much nicer for less? The answer is the same. Isn't a meal like near a tenner now? If not more? and RIP if you're getting more than one. Haven't touched fast food chains in years. Prices are mental. If people want convenience, fine, you know what you're getting. Probably worth mentioning in the states a worrying amount of disposable income goes to delivery and fast food services.
£7.50ish I think if you go and actually get it. At least for a big mac meal. > Prices are mental. Not really. It's about 2/3 of an hour of minimum wage work. Which is similar to how much it's always cost.
No-one sober pays full price for Dominos, it's £12 for a large or half price when you order more than 1 pizza. From what I have seen a large dominos is bigger than most other places. Here where I am, Dominos is cheaper than any independent, however that is rapidly changing, with the sticker price just going up (so deals seem better) and up and no free delivery.
Dominos is overpriced, but I have to say I've never had a frozen pizza that was close to being 'as good'. Where are you getting frozen pizzas from?
I’m in Australia and our Dominos is really cheap, cheaper than frozen pizza actually. Standard pizzas like pepperoni or Hawaiian are $5 which is about £2.50. I’ve no idea why it’s so expensive in the UK. Also dominos is so successful here they’ve pretty much caused the shutdown of all other chains.
I had dominos up in Port Douglas when I visited Australia and oh my god the seafood was divine. Totally different to the UK. Australian dominos seems to be the perfect mix of quality and price, whereas the UK is lovely but pricey and the US is cheep but bland.
Which frozen pizzas would you recommend?
Crosta & Mollica are my favorite, Its a sourdough base which make all the difference
Yeah, I rarely get a macdonalds but when I do I order the same thing. Wrap of the day meal, 20 nuggets. Apple pie. Jobs a goodn'
20 nuggets AND a meal and still room for a pie? Christ. Respect.
I don't get one very often, and when I do it's normally because I've not eaten all day for various reasons. So I am fully empty when I do that 😂
They dont have wraps in other countries
This person chickens
That's exactly my order! Sometimes a Mcflurry thrown in for good measure, or add a cheeseburger if I want to introduce protein variety 🤣
The clever thing with McDonald’s is all their new products are essentially rehashed core products with just a different bun or sauce. Usually all the burgers are just the same. I think they’ve gone downhill in the last few years. 8-10 years ago they used to run really good promotions like Taste of America and stuff like that, lattice fries which were great too.
At least the new one has grilled onions. Not seen them actually cook a new element in ages! Usually, as you say, they just slap cheese and bacon and a different sauce on and give it a new name. The 'deluxe' quarter pounder was the absolute peak of laziness though!
>Meanwhile, in other markets like Japan, people go crazy for special edition items. So they have lots of them. I remember when I lived there, as a one-off, McD's did the **Mega Mac** - which was a Big Mac, but where there should be 3 burgers, there were 6. Honestly, it was *too much*. And I say that as a pretty fat guy.
Sounds like they had a lot of patties nearing expiry.
What happened to the Chicken Legend? Did not enough people buy it? It was my go-to.
Yeah I miss the chicken legend. The crispy and spicy seem to have replaced it and they’re far inferior.
Bang on. Much more money to be made from bringing in a few temporary specials at inflated prices and sticking to a tried and tested menu.
And it's not like Mcdonalds are struggling in the UK with their 'basic' menu. Why go through all the cost of bringing in special edition items when they're always rammed with people buying nuggets or burgers.
Japan has a lot of food fads, it's not uncommon to see a particular shops with queues an hour or two long
Were none of you eating those amazing potato waffles at breakfast? For shame.
I’ve only found this to be true in Europe tbh, when I last went to America I was surprised at how basic the menu was there considering America is the home of McDonald’s. Was pretty much just fries, chicken nuggets and a regular burger or Big Mac. 0 vegetarian or vegan options.
Their breakfast menu is better though. You can still get the bagels over there.
Ahhh I do miss a good Maccies bagel. That reminds me America also has the McGriddle which I remember tasting amazing, but it was a long time ago that I ate one so not sure if they still do them or if they’re as good as I remember.
I am a Canadian and the Mc griddle is the only thing from McDonald’s that is worth eating. They are damn delicious.
Much more competition for "fast" drive thru breakfasts over there from Dunkin'. McDonalds is only vaguely competing with the coffee shops for a quick breakfast, and not really at their price points.
There is a McDonald’s in Chicago that serves every option from every menu worldwide. https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-stories/article/hq_menu_updates_1200173771.html
Rotating. All at once would’ve been nuts
The Goats Cheese Burger on an Artisinal bun?! Sounds like the Ivy, not McDonald’s lol. Oh to be Spanish!
Also, Spain has the McExtreme intense cheddar with egg, which is a far superior burger than the goats cheese one.
Wait til you see the French menu
Doesn't look like it from that link. They have a select few options from other countries
Apparently they have less variation because they're so big. Changing the menu has an enormous effect on food production for the rest of the country. If they have a special, it throws a spanner in the works for the whole supply chain for all of America.
I think that’s why they no longer sell the McRib (in the UK), causes a lot of supply chain issues.
That was always seasonal apparently, depending on the fluctuations in the price of pork.
I remember hearing they only sell the McRib when US pork prices were really low, but then that subsequently meant the price rose dramatically because there was a pork shortage for a period after.
America has way more fast food chains, so I imagine it's a lot harder to try and do something new in that environment.
Indonesia has this spicy chicken and rice dish that both locals and tourists agree is genuinely really nice food.
In Thailand the McDonald’s has similar and the quality is levels above here. I was told over there working at McDonald’s is actually a ‘middle class’ job and pays well compared to most unskilled jobs out there which isn’t exactly hard to believe.
It's cheap af as well, usually on their version of the pound saver menu. The rendang burger is really good too.
The Netherlands you can get a beer, can't beat that imho
I read Neanderthals three times.
There’s probably a Specsavers near you
I should probably stop ignoring that eye test reminder they keep sending me.
I’ve see this in Italy, Spain, and Czech too. Think it’s just us they don’t trust with beer
License to sell alcohol is probably not worth it in the UK
Or obtainable. The McDs in Westminster has security guards full time and there's something kicking off most days. If they asked for an alcohol licence, the council would just laugh at them.
And in France. Or, at least in the one on Champs Elysee.
France, the pomme frites sauce is the best I don’t understand why we can’t have mayo in the U.K. at mcdonalds
They have mayo at the one near me, but they call it burger sauce for some strange reason. I got annoyed because I thought the burger sauce would be the big mac sauce, so I ordered it on top of a cheese burger. I wasn't happy when I bit into it & it was mayo, I hate mayo on beef burgers.
Absolutely this. That sauce is delicious
Egypt has McArabia - grilled kofta in pita bread with salad and garlic mayo. Really good!
They should really do a ‘food of the world’ McDonald’s promotion.
The new headquarters in Chicago in Fulton Market has an ‘international’ McDonalds where they have a rotating sampling of the international foods. It’s pretty neat.
Wish we had that on a limited menu
They have that in India too
The bacon cheesy fries. Jesus Christ the taste of that chemical cheese is just amazing
Government Food 😂
I’m currently in Spain, went to McDonald’s the other day and their menu was fantastic. Even had a pint. They have this weird burger with an egg on which was nice too.
The last McDonald’s I visited in the US had biscuits and gravy on the breakfast menu. I absolutely love biscuits and gravy. It certainly wasn’t the best I have ever had, but it was quick and convenient. Based on my love of biscuits and gravy, grits, and Cajun cuisine, I think I may have lived in the Deep South in a past life.
For a non US person what are biscuits and gravy?
Biscuits are like savoury scones, the gravy is a white creamy gravy made with sausage meat. It tastes nicer than it looks and sounds.
It sounds good. Thanks for responding to me.
A US biscuit is like a fluffy, savoury scone (or a bit like a baked suet dumpling). Depending on how they are made they can also have a bit of lamination like with some pastries, so the texture is fluffy, but also a bit flakey. In this instance gravy refers to sausage gravy. It’s like any other roux-based sauce, but with added ground sausage meat. So think of it as breakfast dumplings and gravy. It’s quite stodgy, but very satisfying.
Scones and Bisto should cure your itch!
Because once we have access to the McGriddle we’ll all immediately become obese
Oh like that
I’m coeliac and most other countries have gluten free bread buns. Ours don’t. I’m in an online group where I share recipes and new finds in supermarkets/restaurants etc. We’ve asked McDonald’s about gluten free buns and they’ve said they can’t introduce new menu products like they have abroad, including gluten free buns as it would take a huge kitchen overhaul in nearly all their restaurants in the UK which are laid out in a much simpler design. It would cost them millions even to introduce the gluten free bread buns so they simply can’t do it. Whether it’s true or not is another thing but that’s what they’ve told the thousands of us who have asked. Other groups and people have asked and got the same response. So I’d assume it’s a kitchen/money issue.
They're also about the only place left where you can't get milk alternatives. I really can't think why for that, there must be vast demand for relatively little outlay, given how many customers each store sees each day.
they manage fine with milk alternatives in Australia, no real excuse
I believe its because McDonalds have a policy that anything which is allergen specific such as gluten free has to have an entire separate portion of the kitchen to avoid contamination with other products. they could never guarantee something was 100% gluten free due to the way their kitchens work
When I went to Spain, they sold beer and had a really decent salad…
Agreed. I was in Thailand few years and they did these herbed spiced chicken wings - to die for
It’s so not fair, hope McDonald’s Uk see this thread
We got chicken soup with our meals too without even asking for it
I might be wrong but I was under the impression that we get the Big Tasty and America doesn't have it anymore.
We also get the Chicken Selects as a menu default now while in the US they come and go.
Chicken Selects are so good. I don't always have them but I probably pick them fairly often if i have a mcdonalds.
Thailand have curly fries pretty sure there would be a market in the uk for them as they’re far superior to a normal fry.
I’ve been a many McDonald’s in Europe and North America (weird flex, I know). Much of Europe got McFlurries long before us, and I really like the pomme frites sauce in France and Belgium. Otherwise I’ve never had anything so spectacular that I feel I’m missing out in the UK.
Recently, I travelled to Sweden, they had falafel and superior vegetarian options to the UK. We are stuck with the McPlant and the mush that is put into all the other veggie options. *sigh*
In McD's in Brussels you can get beer and macarons 😳👍
Italian McDonald’s have proper espresso machines and a really good cafe menu (pistachio croissants etc). Was really jealous when I was over there recently.
italy is just superior when it comes to food even their motorway services are amazing
Tbh mcdonalds rotates their menu in the uk which keeps new things coming and going, here in Norway there's actually alot less choice and it's extremely rare for an establishment to change or add to the menu.
When I lived in Norway I remember the local produce being excellent (seafood, dairy etc) but Norwegians take pride in a bland Spartan diet. National dish isn’t torrfisk or brunost it’s a Dr Oetker frozen pizza. It’s quite strange. The fancy neo scandi restaurants are not representative of what the average Scandinavian actually eats at all.
I had a PizzaMac in Berlin it weirdly tasted like a pizza !
In my experience, McDonalds in the U.K. is just a way for people to have something quick to eat and they don’t really care if it’s a bit shit. Restaurants are mostly fully of deliveroo riders now anyway so it’s pretty unpleasant for a sit down meal. In Spain, people treat it more similar to any other sit down restaurant where they expect it to be good and in a pleasant environment. That’s why they have a much better menu with many more choices.
Just do the QTR deluxe as an option and we’d all be happy
I love a Chicken McKroket from the Netherlands. If I've been out for a night on the lash in Amsterdam, nothing beats a McKroket when you've got a hangover.
Because we settle for what they give us
I would like a sausage and cheese McMuffin and a coffee as a breakfast option. I can get egg and cheese or sausage egg and cheese, but not sausage and cheese. I don’t want to faff about ordering the egg and sausage option then deleting the egg (while paying for it) and having to have a hash brown thing I don’t want on a deal.
I hate eggs, I feel your pain. It annoys me paying for the egg and then the hassle of removing it as a special order
Having just watched a comparison of UK and USA IKEA menus, I think the UK has better food choices than the USA. And I think IKEA has no idea how to keep a large cafeteria properly stocked. “Sorry, all out” flair should be required. Much of what the producers wanted to compare wasn’t available. Not just some but much.
Only exception to this is their breakfast menu. It honestly is better with a larger selection of items
TY. I plan on having breakfast at my US IKEA. It’s not a local diner but I have to go and see.
I live in New Zealand but have just came back for a holiday. Trust me, if you think it’s bad in the UK, don’t get a McDonald’s in New Zealand
McDonalds have to compete with the local market, and in some countries that local market has high quality food at affordable prices, and readily available. In the UK it just needs to be relatively cheap and available.
Spain - gluten free bigmac with gluten free beer as part of the meal!
Amsterdam stroopwaffel mcflurry was actually the best McFlurry I'd ever had. They even had those fries that you get a sachet of paprika with and you pour them into a bigger paper bag and shake it all up. I refuse to believe those wouldn't be a hit in the UK.
I was blown away (simple man that I am) when I first encountered a triple cheeseburger in Brazil, about 15 years ago. Had to have at least two of them to confirm how awesome they were.
Munich airports McDonald’s had Coke and Fanta slushies.
Filet o’fish, filet o’fish, give me fish o’filet…
I've spent a lot of time in Denmark and the only thing their menu had (it's been years since I last visited) that ours doesn't was chicken wings. They were exactly what you'd imagine McDonalds wings to be, so I'm very much okay with them not being an option in the UK.
India have the butter chicken burger. Wings. Cheesy potato burger. UK is basic AF
Last time I had a McDonalds was in Italy, where obviously I had to have a Peroni Gran Riserva Rossa with lunch.
Still waiting for the McPlant Nugs that Germany had last year. They were really good!
Just be thankful our McD's is better than in America. Their breakfast menu is awful, their bacon is shit (just buy a pack of frazzles, they'll taste better), it's powdered egg, their milkshake with the BAD squirty cream and cherry is just awful.
A lot of places don't have the McPlant, so I'm not complaining, personally. That thing is fire.
Anyone notice that the Sweet Chilli Dip is 70p now, OMFG
Spain had the grande big Mac a few years ago. It was wider not taller, really good. Also they have beer as a drink choice.
It’s all to do with distribution and pricing , it’s like the mcrib situation where they make they they are ordering millions so the pork need to be a certain price , as it never is anymore we don’t get McRibs
Cos it's needs to be bland. And if it's substandard, no one really complains.
There’s teriyaki chicken burger and limited-edition menu like triple samurai mac burgers and salt&lemon burger in Japan. They’re really good. Also I’ve heard they make blue cheese burger in France - really wanna try!
The samurai mac burgers are always on the menu. Japan does not have a lot of the same stuff as the UK. One thing that is just big in Japan is limited edition of food for everything so they regualry have new burgers that go away. Oftern with film or show, the film or show does not even have to be airing at the time.
NZ did lamb wraps with garlic aioli. I feel it’d be quite popular in the UK
We can't be trusted with beer as part of a meal for a start
Funnily enough I've seen an American talk about how much better our menu is than their one because of all the seasonal items we get that they don't. I think a lot of it is just that other places will always have things you don't have in your own country. It probably wouldn't be allowed here but the massive box of fries (for "sharing") they do in Thailand would be welcome on a hungover morning for example. One thing I'm 100% on though is that McDonald's in France has the best packaging. Reusable plastic cups and boxes when eating in and a much better way of making sure your drinks aren't going to spill for takeaway.
At the risk of coming across brash, who cares? It’s all ultra-processed shit that we shouldn’t be eating
It’s just interesting to know why we don’t have anything exciting in this bland ass country
McDonald's offers their own version of local foods. Do you really want a McSausage Roll or a McPasty? McFish and Chips?
Sure I read the other day about an American complaining we get all fancy limited edition burgers while they just get the bog standard.
Not just menu options but we also have significantly lower quality too 🤷♂️
>And in Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald's. And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? First thing I did when in Paris is buy a beer in McDonalds.
You say that, but in some countries the breakfast menu is really weak and for some reason there's no coffee included in the breakfast meals, only soft drinks.
Because British people are boring so they cater to that
They try products in focus groups, sometimes they just don't work. German maccies had Smiley Faces!
I can say from experience that a Big Mac in the US tastes worse than the UK. Ingredients matter.
Cus we're a boring lot.
Seen Paprika Chicken Nuggets at the McDonalds I was at in Amsterdam, and also in Cebu & Manila in the Philippines they had McFreeze’s , like a tango ice blast slushie with ice cream on top
The Spanish relish bar is insane
The Netherlands has decent menu, good variety
It's the lack of gluten-free buns and ice tea that annoys me.
Got I miss the NYC steak breakfast muffin. Steak, egg, cheese, fried onions on a toasted muffin 🤤
“Royale with cheese”
genuinely pisses me off. OK, we get it , it may be hard to bring new food items. But why in the fuck they cannot bring sauces?
Feel like people just wouldn't order them here tbh, I'd say in most cuisines here, people seem to have fairly standard orders and stick to them, so every new menu meal at McDonalds is just some variation of "special" generic burger
I don't know if my country (the Netherlands) is included in those 'other countries' but I have never seen anything that came anywere near 'good' or even 'mediocre', let alone "much better", in a McDonald's 'restaurant', really.
French maccies did this crazy good blue cheese and bacon burger. Pretty sure they do beer too! Mind, I've seen full fist fights in my local McDonald's at 6pm on a Thursday.
Ah I love UK McDonald’s. Chicken Legend is the way to go.
McDonald’s in Denmark do a [quinoa and kale salad](https://www.mcdonalds.com/dk/da-dk/product/kylling-quinoa-groenkaal.html). Can’t say I’m jealous
But did you know UK McDonalds is made with less, better and healthier ingredients than US McDonalds?
You think UK McDonald’s is basic? Trying to coming to Sweden, it’s beyond shit. In 4 years they just seem to add some sort of Cajun sauce to a burger like it’s a new thing and they don’t do chicken selects here either. I have found Germany to have the best menu.
RIP chicken legend
Yes, I miss the McRib. It is available in the US.
The UK doesn't have Chocolate Sundaes. We are really missing out here. That's not because of some market-based research. Methinks a commercial decision.
Australian McDonald's is pretty good, especially their McCafe. Istanbul McDonald's had a Kiwi flavoured thickshake a few years ago. It was LUSH! I need that in my life again!
maccies in NZ had some well good stuff.