Worked there back in the 80's and ran the back room by myself most times. Big Mac was my favorite, but today I don't even recognize the taste.
Southwest $alad and coffee are the only 'food items' left on the menu.
Way too expensive these days for the product.

Also worked at Taco Bell(those 20 packs were a hoot at rush hour).
Used to cook and season the fresh burger in vats, pressure cook and blend the beans, real sour cream, etc. Now everything is boiler bags.
I suspect the product distribution model went from bi-daily to bi-monthly.

I was so happy the day my sons stopped liking MD and switched to Subway. Never liked MD's but I think their coffee is good. Road food (fast food off interstates) in America just sucks - poor choices, IMO.

In many parts of the world, McDonald's is a luxury brand with prices to match. My wife and I once spent $15 for a basic chicken value sandwich (no fries, no drink) somewhere in France late at night when we couldn't find any other food.

As the lower class in America grows so will McD's. Goes hand-in-hand with the joke / observation: "How do you know when you're in the ghetto?", "you can see a Popeye's (you can substitute 'El Pollo Loco' or 'Chick-fil-A' - it still works)"

McD's is a former client of mine. They most definitely do deliberately target lower income neighborhoods for new restaurant locations.

Dang...didn't realize I live in the 'hood :D. This area has been simply booming over the past few years (despite the gloom & doom I read about in PARF), and two new Mickey Ds have opened within a couple of miles of where I live in that time frame. I remember when I was a youngin', McD would only open up one store for every 30,000 people in a given location/area. I KNOW they're not still following that policy by observation...

The second article I've read on MDs troubles...

McDonald

To the OP.

My pops and I were just yammering on this subject this past weekend.

The reason everything has changed is purely corporate greed. Starts with: How can we transform a mom and pop burger joint into a replicable (is that a word?) multi-location business? Then to more food faster for more people. They simply hit a diminishing return on the quality of food when the profit conversation crosses the speed and quantity discussion.

I used to service a place that made all of the buns for every BK, McD, and Wendy's in the entire northeast...interestingly similar end product ;)

SubWay is another great example of negative correlation between immense corporate growth compared to quality of food served. It started as a college kid who started a sandwich shop to fund his Med Degree with yummy hand made sammichez... The last time I ate a SubWay chicken sandwich, if I were blindfolded, I couldn't have guess it was chicken. That was the last time...

Another consideration...both my kids had a health class in middle school and were presented with nutritional information from big chain fast food places. Lots of negative information - sorta like drugs and drinking stuff they show teens. Both kids now refuse to eat at McD or Taco Bell but will happily grind down In-N-Out double doubles or burgers from Five Guys. When Zack was 12 we used to shuttle him 30 minutes across town for baseball practice 4x a week and would buy him 2 big macs (McD special then for $3.50 for two) to eat on the way. The kid's metabolism is several clicks past level 10 I would guess.

As a family we generally stay clear of fast food. On road trips our standard stop is Subway.

In the summer I will stop at a McDs for a drink, but that's it. The one close to home just did a remodel, they took out the double doors and made it a single door, in-out, just one door. It's a pain. Why? this isn't some ghetto area, why one door. I complained and the guy behind the counter said it was the way of all McDs.

Back in the early 70's i went in the local ballard store, after a night of partying, and watched the crew scurrying around in little blue smocks and little blue hats that all matched. for some reason it all seemed darkly comical, kind of like an alice in wonderland movie, and plastic, as we used to say. i left and haven't been back since.

That's the future of all chain restaurants, even upscale ones. I can tell when someone has opened a bag and dumped it out into a steam table. For me the problem is you don't really know what's in it, just how processed it is.

Lousy food, many alternatives, poor image.

My son likes the McRib so I get him one or two whenever they "bring it back". Otherwise we don't eat there.

We haven't stopped eating burgers and fries, but there are so many better ones. Locally we have Little Big Burger with their small but tasty burgers (1/4 lb, $4, quality fresh ingredients) and they have awesome truffle fries and beer (hey, it's Portland). I think this chain is on an expansion kick and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes public someday. Little Big Burger There is also SlowBurger for really excellent, gourmet burgers. Another local chain, Burgerville, is also head and shoulders better than McD. For roadtrips we've programmed all the In-N-Out locations on the car GPS. Among the national fast food chains, e.g. if we're on a roadtrip and there is no In-N-Out nearby, the kids like Arby's, Dairy Queen, even Jack better than McD; I personally also like Carls Jr but it makes everyone else in the family retch.

We probably eat fast food burgers and fries once every two to three weeks, but it is Little Big Burger >90% of the time.

Was there 2 weeks ago for the last time unless an extreme emergency.

Chicken nugget things ice cold, cheese burger cold.

When I ordered, the moron girl told me "we are holding on meat". I told her I didn't understand and she explained "we are holding on meat". After about 5 minutes of this back and forth I told her I didn't know what the hell she was talking about and she said, "the meat ain't ready yet". I got my food, took a bite and its all cold. I tossed it in the trash and won't go back. Disgusting food and moronic employees

So the consensus is that it was 'good' back in the day (early '80's or so) but to expand and grow they decided to sacrifice whatever quality was there then for a few pennies now. Shame - seems like they should go back to how it was then, eliminate all the crap laden menu and focus on their core product making it taste better...........................and the customers will start showing up again

I used to stop once in awhile at McD's to get a cheap Burger for my Airedale, but she died so I don't go there anymore.

....wiping coffee off the keyboard here ;)

Thought you loved dogs?

Stopped at Maccas in rural France because we needed wifi. SO got me a Big Mac meal. I was taken aback, twice. It came with a beer- and it was good. It was certainly not the same McDross I eat on road trips where I live.

And sadly, on road trips, the big FF joints are a better bet than road houses.

McDonald's is and has been a real estate company for a long time.

They just need the volume high enough for the franchisees to pay rent and royalties.