Hacker News Reader

Comment by DigitalSea | Hacker News Reader

I get the theory behind recommending the worse idea so that people recommend something that isn't nearly as bad but what is so bad about McDonald's? Here in Australia there aren't many fast food establishments opened at 3am besides McDonald's and when you're driving to work or had a night out on the town which is worse: dodgy kebab, slightly warm 3 day old curry or McDonald's?

I tend to use a similar tactic when we're brainstorming internal project ideas especially. I'll come up with something really stupid to break the ice and then others feel better knowing their ideas probably aren't nearly as bad.

View on HN

> what is so bad about McDonald's? Here in Australia [...]

McDonald's Australia has excellent QA, process management and supply chain. I received some insight through someone...involved in all that good stuff (my background is QA/Environment so I get to meet some interesting people from various industries).

Coworkers from the US all tend to say the same thing after going to an AU McDonald's - great burgers but ~3x the price. It's a different beast in the US where quantity trumps quality.

Very well put. I can't speak for US McDonald's but Australian McDonald's where I worked in my youth for a bit had very strict QA processes. The store I worked at was in a low income area, but it was kept spotless, food was kept for the minimum amount of time (maximum 10 minutes for fries I think), burgers made to order.

In many neighborhoods I've been in in NYC, McDonalds was easily the cleanest and highest quality restaurant within convenient distance. It smokes most non-gourmet/artisinal establishments.

Nothing wrong with McDonald's in the states. The guy is probably some hippie who thinks he's too good for fast food. You know, the type who flairs his nostrils if he can't order his favorite bottle of wine at a restaurant.

(Not the author, just another McDonald's hater.) It's not an elitist thing at all. I think McDonald's is absolutely disgusting and no one should eat there, not that I'm above it. And I don't even drink wine.

McDonald's in Germany most certainly also. Fresh ingredients, clean restaurants, ...

What this doesn't change, though, is that their food (fries excepted) tastes like total shit. And their burgers taste like nothing. But it does so consistently.

I'm sorry, but my bad opinion of McDonald's is not based on the quality of their ingredients or their quality. It's based on taste.

The use of McDonalds as idiomatic low quality trash is questionable too, I've found McDonalds in Australia and New Zealand is significantly higher quality than in the US. While it's still not a luxury brand by any means the restaurants do have a much more sophisticated atmosphere.

I suspect there's a fairly high variance within the US, too. I've never had a crappy McDonald's food, but I'm usually in an upper middle class suburb or downtown Seattle when I go.

I'm from BC and have had mcdonalds from downtown/suburb seattle* and it is pretty different, definitely not as high quality imho and a different taste too.

Strangely having mcdonalds in eastern europe was more like canada then the US.

*last time was a few years ago

It's a local thing. Australian McDonalds might actually be OK. But it's also a question of alternatives, and in most cities (not suburbs) at lunchtime near where people work, there are a plethora of better options than McDonalds.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com