What McDonalds Employees Make for Themselves at Work

http://mcdonalds-talk.livejournal.com/158400.html

kenji wrote:http://mcdonalds-talk.livejournal.com/158400.html

unless things have changed since I served my time @ the McDonalds in Charleston, IL. years ago.. there wasnt any of this going on, you got your shift meal from the menu and that was it. Very tightly run ship, no thinking/cooking/eating outside of the mcbox allowed.

kenji wrote:http://mcdonalds-talk.livejournal.com/158400.html

I am not an English professor but the spelling and grammar make me weep for the future.

And, yes, I know it's a blog, but...

"tortia?" "stemmer?" ugh

Davooda

Davooda wrote:

kenji wrote:http://mcdonalds-talk.livejournal.com/158400.html

I am not an English professor but the spelling and grammar make me weep for the future.

And, yes, I know it's a blog, but...

"tortia?" "stemmer?" ugh

Davooda

There's a reason they're working at McDonald's....

apple pie McFlurry? they may have something there....

Back in 1979-1980 I worked at McD's and would grab some butter out of the walk in and grill some onions to add to my 1/4#er that was about as fancy as I got.

mhill95149 wrote:Back in 1979-1980 I worked at McD's and would grab some butter out of the walk in and grill some onions to add to my 1/4#er that was about as fancy as I got.

Was anyone else making any incremental changes to their food behind the scenes?

My best friend worked at McDonald's behind the counter. I remember she advised during your breaks, you were supposed to watch training films. This was the mid-70's, I don't what medium she was looking at. I never heard of her or anyone else monkeying with the food.

I did have a friend who was a year older who worked at McD's, too. She was lamenting the quality of the milkshakes after they changed machines.

During this time, I knew a number of people who worked part time at McD's. There was one family where the Mother was manager with her son and daughter who were lower on the totem pole. Just from my neighborhood, I knew of five people who worked there when I was in high school. Of course, this was the old Highland Park with both a Walgreens and a Woolworth's across the street from each other on Central Ave.

Regards,

My brother and I worked at the HP McDonald's around the same time, a few years later. There was no monkeying with food allowed, no making your own food. For your meal on your shift, you were supposed to take food that was already prepared and wrapped, take it downstairs to the break room, and watch training videos.

Katie wrote:My brother and I worked at the HP McDonald's around the same time, a few years later. There was no monkeying with food allowed, no making your own food. For your meal on your shift, you were supposed to take food that was already prepared and wrapped, take it downstairs to the break room, and watch training videos.

Yep, that exactly mirrors Cathy's experiences.

Cathy2 wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:Back in 1979-1980 I worked at McD's and would grab some butter out of the walk in and grill some onions to add to my 1/4#er that was about as fancy as I got.

Was anyone else making any incremental changes to their food behind the scenes?

Not that I was aware of... But most of my fellow employees were not interested in cooking even though they were actually cooking 20 hours a week....

I worked at Kedzie/Peterson in the mid 70's and we used to do the grilled onion thing (with cheese) that mhill described, with the addition of fried Canadian bacon (used for Egg McMuffins) We would also make "jumbo" Big Macs by using quarter pounder meat instead of the smaller, standard version. Another fun mod was making grilled cheese sandwiches by inverting the top and bottom of a bun, adding cheese to the middle, and then cooking it in the horizontal bun toaster.

I mistakenly threw out my retainer in the garbage can in the parking lot of the McD at Kedzie and Peterson in the mid-70's, probably 1976. Realized it later, drove back and fetched it out of the trash. That's when I actually liked eating at McDonald's.

You would think that Mc D University test kitchens would love this blog. It has creative ideas with food already on hand.

I wonder if the person who put the $1 Grilled Onion Cheeseburger on the menu recently was one of those teenagers in the 70's?

Ms. Ingie wrote:I mistakenly threw out my retainer in the garbage can in the parking lot of the McD at Kedzie and Peterson in the mid-70's, probably 1976. Realized it later, drove back and fetched it out of the trash. That's when I actually liked eating at McDonald's.

I'm not a squeamish person but this hit me like a gut punch. I worked at Mcdonald's in high school and I once saw something in the trash can that almost caused me to walk off the job.

There was no monkeying around with the menu for us. We got our one meal per shift, standard menu items only.

dk wrote:I wonder if the person who put the $1 Grilled Onion Cheeseburger on the menu recently was one of those teenagers in the 70's?

They have a grilled onion cheeseburger on the menu? Awesome! Oh, how I miss the old Cheddar Melt. Maybe this will fill the void.

Well, after trying the grilled onion cheeseburger I have to say, no, it doesn't fill that void. It does have potential though. Throw on another patty, increase the onions, and maybe we got the start of something. I'll have to try ordering two of them next time and combining them into one burger.

Binko, you did go to a suburban McD's right? There's no good McDonanld's in the city. (by McDonanld's standards)
I've only had them in ABQ, where you can get them w/ green chile added. Now that is something to try.

I'll be honest: I find McDonald's the be one of the most consistent fast food establishments I've ever been to, so there's really no "good McDonald's" and "bad McDonald's" to me (as long as I get the right order). Maybe I don't have a sophisticated enough palate, but it's not like a Long John Silver or Waffle House where the food quality is all over the map, depending on location. Service quality and speed, maybe. Actual product? Not really.

The problem with that burger for me, mainly, was that it was a single cheeseburger. The onions had a nice caramelized flavor to them--I liked that. I wasn't so hot on the cheese they were using (I miss the liquidy orange cheddar-like product of the original Cheddar Melt. As a double, with double onions, I think it'll work. And for $2, I'll try it one of these days.

Binko wrote:I'll be honest: I find McDonald's the be one of the most consistent fast food establishments I've ever been to, so there's really no "good McDonald's" and "bad McDonald's" to me (as long as I get the right order).

The only time I did not get what I expected at McDonalds was an rougue franchise in Paris in the 1970's.

I once arrived to Minsk on a night train where my cabinmate drank vodka deep into the night. I never felt I could fully go to sleep, because of the unpredictable stranger. When I arrived on a cold, gray morning, McDonald's colorful exterior was a beacon of hope. I knew there would be predictable food, clean toilets and Coke with ice.

I was in Moscow when McDonald's spent 10 years and possibly more trying to work through the issues of opening a franchise there. Until they knew they could get it right, they did not open. The other issue was what to do with a ruble income. They need to learn how to source things in Russia to use elsewhere effectively converting soft currency rubles for hard currency. I believe they looked at mustard seeds and potatoes. During this time, I would hear stories from the Foreign Trade people I knew about McDonald's efforts. I never met the team involved.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

Binko wrote:I'll be honest: I find McDonald's the be one of the most consistent fast food establishments I've ever been to, so there's really no "good McDonald's" and "bad McDonald's" to me (as long as I get the right order).

The only time I did not get what I expected at McDonalds was an rougue franchise in Paris in the 1970's.

I once arrived to Minsk on a night train where my cabinmate drank vodka deep into the night. I never felt I could fully go to sleep, because of the unpredictable stranger. When I arrived on a cold, gray morning, McDonald's colorful exterior was a beacon of hope. I knew there would be predictable food, clean toilets and Coke with ice.

I was in Moscow when McDonald's spent 10 years and possibly more trying to work through the issues of opening a franchise there. Until they knew they could get it right, they did not open. The other issue was what to do with a ruble income. They need to learn how to source things in Russia to use elsewhere effectively converting soft currency rubles for hard currency. I believe they looked at mustard seeds and potatoes. During this time, I would hear stories from the Foreign Trade people I knew about McDonald's efforts. I never met the team involved.

Regards,

Had a very similar experience outside of Krakow. After driving all day we made it to the city at about 1 am. There was a brightly lit and well-populated McDonald's on the way to our hotel. It was much nicer than any I've visited in the states, had an attached Cafe with leather armchairs and a nice selection of pastries. You're always assured of clean toilets and plenty of ice.

And speaking of McDonald's that are much nicer than in the US, there's this one in Budapest which was down the street from where I worked. I know it's not your typical tourist destination, but it's worth a quick peep if you're ever in Budapest (and if you happen to arrive at Nyugati Palyaudvar/Western Railway Station, it's right next door.) There's a reasonable chance you'll find yourself walking by it at some point.

Elfin wrote:You would think that Mc D University test kitchens would love this blog. It has creative ideas with food already on hand.

Or, maybe not -- might be like movie and TV shows -- they don't read such things lest they be accused of stealing an idea and risk getting sued.