New Hartford, NY McDonald's Shines!

Six posts ago our title was "New Hartford, NY McDonald's Disappoints". What a difference four days makes.

Virtually everything about today's visit was the same (the lunch rush had passed, the store was quiet, and we were the only ones in line to order) except for the results. Service was fast, the food was perfect, and the restaurant was as clean as we have ever seen it. Awesome!

One of our McChronicles observers (co-participating in today's visit) had read the previous post and dropped into the store on Tuesday. They saw a pretty good cleaning effort in progress. Today's experience was great because of this, and the ongoing, effort.

The New Hartford store is well-known for its very professional and pleasant staff - and is usually quite clean. That's why our last visit left us so disappointed. The McChronicles is pleased to see this great crew back on track - we're impressed.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: The McChronicles.

Read More

Veggie McDonald's II

We just posted on the concept of a "Veggie McDonald's Menu", admittedly from an ignorant point of view. We asked a few stupid questions and hoped someone would comment and help us out.

Alas, it was our own diligence and good luck that brought us our answer - at least a part of it.

Here is a photo (from HelloNatasha's Flickr photo site) that depicts, to some degree, how McDonald's handles the vegetarian demand in India. Thanks hellonatasha.

Some of our veggie friends wish that good, healthy veggie offerings would start showing up on the McD's menu so the whole family can enjoy one restaurant (versus compromising or darting from one restaurant to the other).

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: screen grab from hellonatasha's Flickr site.

Read More

Regional McDonald's Websites

The McChronicles posted about an interesting website a while back. It is called "McDonald's of Central New York and Northern Pennsylvania". Basically it is a site that combines interesting info regarding McDonald's in a geographic region.

Since then we have learned about a couple of others. So now we know about these regional McDonald's websites:

• McDonald's of Central New York and Northern Pennsylvania
• McDonald's of the Pittsburgh Tristate Area (that somehow involves 4 states!)
• McDonald's of the NY, NJ, CT Tristate Area (that involves NY, NJ, and CT)

These regional efforts seem to be focused on aggregating resources toward the goals of community, educational, and health support, along with aiding their local Ronald McDonald House, an awesome program.

The McChronicles would like to learn more from you regarding other regional McDonald's websites. Please share anything you can on this topic.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: screen grab from the McDonald's NY, NJ, CT Tristate area website.

SPECIAL NOTE: This is The McChronicles' 350th posting! Yippee!

Read More

Yes!

It's a busy, fast-paced world out there. So a quick dash into McDonald's can be quite helpful when we're out on the road. But it's not that easy.

You see, we're not the only ones out there. We're accompanied by tons of germs and bacteria. And our hands aren't always squeaky-clean when we hear the call of the Big Mac. Frankly, the sinks in the rest rooms aren't always very clean either. So, The McChronicles really appreciated this cool idea - hand sanitizer dispensers in the dining areas.

We encountered this great idea while in China recently and really appreciate the respect shown to the customers who want to be clean while they eat.

Good idea McDonald's.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: The McChronicles.

Read More

Noooooo!!!!

Come ON people. It's 2006!

The McChronicles was aghast at the sight of a McDonald's straw dispenser (in China) that offered completely unprotected straws.

Standing beside the scene of the crime for only a brief moment allowed us to witness people pawing through several straws with their bare hands. We also witnessed the full array of pre-pawing atrocities performed with those hands (details of which we need not go into). Needless to say, The McChronicles passed on the straw and drank directly from the cup.

The bigger question is this. If this level of hygiene is accepted and promoted by the store's management, what else are they allowing behind the scenes??? Was our cup even a safe alternative?

Needless to say, in this day and age, with the knowledge we all possess, this is an abomination. Out of respect for your customers, and for your brand, we beseech you McDonald's. Do away with these archaic devices.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: The McChronicles.

Read More

McDonald's Sweet Taro Pie

The McChronicles encountered McDonald's sweet taro pie for the first time in China recently.

Sweet taro is a form of yam, or sweet potato. It is very popular throughout the Pacific islands - and almost unheard of other places.

The pie tastes like ... a yam or a sweet potato!

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: The McChronicles.

Read More

New Hartford, NY McDonald's Disappoints

"Disappointed" is the word that comes to The McChronicles' mind after a visit to the New Hartford, NY McDonald's today.

Store #: 825
Time: 1:51PM
Date: 02 October 2006
Order: 1 Big & Tasty, 1 medium Coke
Customers: 1 other person in order area, waiting for order
(McShuffled)
Online Time: 90 seconds
Order Wait: 60 seconds
Quality: overdose of mayonnaise and ketchup, squirting out of
sandwich
Service: no acknowledgement of customer for full 90 seconds while crew
milled about behind counter (seemed like 5 minutes)
Cleanliness: poor, sloppy, no effort

We've seen so many McDonald's operating on "excellent" mode that, when we see such sub-par performance, it really disappoints.

With NO ONE in the store except us and one other customer (waiting), well after the lunch rush, why can't anyone tidy up the condiment area? Why do we need to clean the debris off our table? Why do we have to eat while looking at litter beneath the tables?

The odd thing is that both of these images occurred in plain view of the crew. We didn't have to look in obscure places to uncover it. The garbage/condiment area is directly opposite the counter. The crew stares directly at it while working.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Images: The McChronicles.

Read More