Place: McDonald's
Lunch: Steakhouse Sirloin Burger, fries, Hi-C Orange Lavaburst
Here we go again.
McDonald's is in a state of woe. Historically, McDonald's has responded to states of woe in two ways...a new value menu, or a new premium burger menu. We are now in the "premium burger menu" cycle. McDonald's is rolling out a line of 1/3 pound sirloin burgers. There's the Lettuce & Cheese version, the Bacon & Cheese version, and the most unique of the bunch, the Steakhouse Sirloin, which has grilled onions and sauteed mushrooms.
All of these have processed white cheddar cheese, which McDonald's has been putting on LTO burgers and breakfast sandwiches for a few years now, making me think somebody locked McDonald's into a long-term contract for this stuff that their lawyers have yet to find an out for. It's a very boring tasting cheese.
So how is the Steakhouse? Terrible. Possibly the worst McDonald's burger I've ever had. Really really bland. The white cheddar is no substitute for a slice of Swiss, the traditional paring for a mushroom burger, making the highlight of the meal the room temperature fries. No, actually, the orange drink. That was the highlight.
The Sirloin line is just another example of McDonald's trying to be something it's not. Much like the McDLT, Arch Deluxe, and Angus burger line. Let's face it, the last "premium" burger McDonald's ever launched that actually stuck was the Quarter Pounder.
So what does McDonald's really need to do here?
Streamline the menu to the basics and cook it all to order.
McDonald's (and Burger King) assembles food to order. That means they pre-cook the cooked ingredients, keep the ingredients in warming trays, then assemble the sandwiches when they're ordered. At least we're past the days of pre-assembled sandwiches that sit in the big warming bin for who knows how long before being instantly handed to the customer upon ordering, That was fine (well, not really) when there were just a few major players dominating the market and stores were always busy. But guess what? That's no longer the case. A growing list of competitors are taking the time to cook to order. And I'm not just referring to premium outlets like Five Guys, Steak n Shake, or Shake Shack. Culver's cooks to order. Freddy's cooks to order. In-N-Out cooks to order. Carl's Jr/Hardee's cooks to order (or very close to it). Whataburger cooks to order. Even Jack in the Box cooks to order. Jack in the Box is my go-to place for chicken nuggets for that very reason.
(Not all of these examples cook fries to order. If they did, I'd probably order fries more often.)
I don't care if it takes longer. I want hot fries. I want hot McNuggets. I want burger patties that are still juicy.
Actually, what McDonald's REALLY needs to do is take every penny of its profits and use it to buy back its stock and go private. These irrational reactionary moves they make are really designed to keep the stock price from collapsing. McDonald's really needs to get out of the stock market.
That...and cook to order.
