I have no idea about the status of McDonald's in other countries, but over here in America they tend to be somewhat repulsing.
Now, it is my understanding that McDonald's is meant to be cheap and fast. Although it can be cheap, it is usually by no means fast. The wait that I have experienced at McDonald's can sometimes be even longer than at a normal restaurant. Also, I tend to avoid McD's because I always wonder whether that sniveling acne-covered kid behind the counter did something I have no desire to know about to my food.
This could be easily remedied by training one or two of the employees at McDonald's in a fashion similar to that used at Japanese steakhouses. An open grill in the middle of the restaurant would allow full view of the cooking process, thus eliminating any chance of finding bodily fluids of any type somewhere in your drink. Of course, the style used by these would-be proffesionals does not have to exactly duplicate that of their Japanese counterparts. They could learn to flip burgers five feet into the air, while squirting gracefully arcing streams of chocolate shake into paper cups.
I suppose the drive-thru section could also be implemented with a separate chef in a window-enclosed space, so even from your car you could still have a full view of your food being cooked.-- Pseudonym #3, Mar 26 2002 Who do they think they are? http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/home.htmlWho they think they are. [popbottle, Oct 12 2014] McDongolian, um...-- thumbwax, Mar 27 2002 You must be going to the wrong McDonalds. I have never had to wait more than a minute or two even when its very busy. Also, they seem clean and their food consistent. Maybe not consistently good but consistently whatever level you'd call that food.
Nonetheless, I think your idea would make it a lot more fun to go to McDonalds even if all that fancy foodwork increased your wait time.-- bristolz, Mar 27 2002 The cleanliness is not that bad around here, but I've heard stories about the ones in the cities slightly south of where I live. And the length of time it takes for them to prepare the food is (and I can say this honestly) horrendously too long. I once waited about fifteen minutes for one of those 'Egg McMuffin' things. I would have just left, if I hadn't already been to the window where you pay.-- Pseudonym #3, Mar 27 2002 McDonihana's...
They'd need to raise their hiring standards, though. I would be a little nervous with a student part-timer juggling knives in my face.-- waugsqueke, Mar 27 2002 //McDonihana's//If that ain't the Holy Grail of better names for this idea, I don't know what is.-- thumbwax, Mar 27 2002 Fast food will be the death of you all.-- brewmaster, Mar 27 2002 That's baked as well, bliss.-- [ sctld ], Mar 27 2002 [waugs] - The cooks would, I imagine, have to polish up on several skills before taking this job on. However, I don't think they'd use knives; they would be more apt to use spatulas for the burgers. However, practice would still be very important. Having a clumsy employee fling several ounces of hot grease onto my crotch would not be enthusing.
However, I think this would improve service overall anyway. And bris, if you've ever been in a Jap. steakhouse before, they're actually pretty quick about cooking things.-- Pseudonym #3, Mar 27 2002 I'm not into the communal seating arrangement they generally have at such places. Speaking of which, would they have upscale seating, or would they still use those swing-out plastic chairs?-- waugsqueke, Mar 28 2002 The seating arrangement would have to be changed to allow everyone to have full view of the chef, which I imagine would mean getting rid of all of those strange little four foot walls with little paper crowns (Oops... that's Burger King) all over the place. Not sure about what type of seats to use, though.-- Pseudonym #3, Mar 28 2002 At my local McDonalds you practically can't walk around without a mindless employee mopping the area you've just trodeen upon, although the food does need a little work on the presentation side of things-- kaz, Mar 28 2002 Apparently, McDonalds fries are actually classed as confectionary because of the frighteningly small amount of potato in them.-- brewmaster, Apr 03 2002 Hey, they don't even flip burgers at McDonalds, they have a grill that presses them, and it cooks them on both sides. Also there are so many managers hanging around that the "pimple faced" kids don't have the chance to ruin your food, for fear of being fired, isn't it enough that they have to work there for minimum wage and put up with all your complaints?-- bluefish_133, Jun 12 2002 you work there, you're a manager there, it's your only source of food, your dad owns a store, you lost your first tooth there, you have your birthday parties there every year.. which one is it, bluefish? :)-- wyldephlower, Jun 13 2002 I don't really understand where the hell you people are getting your information.
Bluefish is correct. The manager would PWN you if you did anything stupid like that.
To add, what would we have to gain by putting our love juices into your burgers? I don't quite get it.
You should really seek knowledge before you bash people. It isn;t a nice habit to have.-- dracujesus, Nov 29 2004 random, halfbakery