Place: McDonald's
Lunch: McRibble, fries, Coke
For those who don't remember, a McRibble is the term I coined for when you buy a McRib Extra Value Meal with a second McRib for $1 special, then remove the bottom buns and fold the sandwiches together to make one double McRib. Try to keep up, class.
Our local McDonald's stores have added mobile ordering through the McDonald's app. I've played with the app but haven't actually used it yet because I don't really see the point.
I am an avid app user for some other chains, most notably for Taco Bell, because you can make crazy customizations to anything on the menu without locking up the brains of the counter help. I also use the app for Which Wich. Customize your sandwich, pay, walk into the store, go back to the Pick Up, give your name, they hand you the sandwich, walk out. Awesome.
But customization on the McDonald's app is seriously limited. They give you a list of the standard ingredients on each item and you can remove them or add extra to SOME of them. For example, forget adding extra beef patties. You can add extra cheese to cheeseburgers...up to three slices (why would you limit something you're charging extra per slice for?)...and for some reason five on the Filet-O-Fish, but I can't, for example, add cheese to a McRib. Then they have a Condiments tab where you can add a very limited number of specific things to each sandwich. One of the options is usually that condiment known as "Bacon". Finally, there's a "Special Requests" tab. That usually has one option..."Plain".
It's not even the same over all sandwiches. I can add mayo to most of the burgers, but I can't to the Filet-O-Fish, even though they make ketchup an option on it. And by the way, who would put ketchup on a Filet-O-Fish? I don't even want to know you.
The really annoying thing is that you can't substitute cheddar cheese for American cheese. It's back there in the kitchen. They have sandwiches with cheddar on the menu all day. Why can't I have a Quarter Pounder with Cheddar?
It's like somebody at corporate decided "I'll let people have this and that, but not this" on each specific sandwich.
If I want to build a Big Mac with McChicken patties or even sausage breakfast patties, why can't I? I want to be able to Frankenstein up any concoction I can think of with the available ingredients on hand.
So don't expect me to use the app with any regularity. Elderly Counter Guy and Wilford Brimley Lookalike Rod will just have to keep taking my orders the old fashioned way. It's not like I customize anything at McDonald's anyway.
But I look forward to seeing what I can eventually concoct on the Whataburger app.
