(This is a repost from my Sturbridge McDonalds review)
We were staying in the hotel next door and noticed the Burger King and McDoe's in Sturbridge are right next to each other. IDEAL conditions to finally go through with a long debated taste test comparison. Items: dollar menu burger with ketchup only, dollar menu fries, nuggets with BBQ sauce, and a small coke.
We are at BK first - although my husband is a die hard McD fan, he was pleasantly surprised that the burger was thicker than expected and also pretty juicy. And we liked the sesame bun. Fries were a bit too thick in terms of coating but were def crispy and did taste like potatoes. Nuggets flavor was surprisingly improved over our memory of how BKs nugs have gone downhill, however they did leave an unsavory greasy mouthfeel. The Coke soda proportions were messed up, it tasted like a melted frostee. One note: the girl working at the front counter was super nice, seriously the nicest employee we've ever encountered at a fast food chain. Now we take a final sip of soda and walk across the parking lot to test out McD's and complete the challenge.
We get in and there are two people working, and two customers. One customer is explaining "no sauce" and the two people working the stations debate with each other and don't seem to understand what "no sauce" means. Okay this is kinda funny but why is that so hard to understand? No sauce means no sauce. We look around and the place is a mess - straw wrappers and ketchup cups littered all over the dispenser. Clearly understaffed. Our immediate thoughts are "this will not be a fair matchup", however my husband had proposed the challenge and we agree, "any given Sunday". Well we stand there for another seven or so minutes watching the fiasco that ensues; girl in the back with a head set taking orders from the drive thru while guy in front prepares fries and too many caramel sundaes. (And douses fresh fries with salt but let's them sit, no shake of the bowl ....). Now the driver at the drive thru window wants a refund but they can't figure out how to do it. Girl in the back had overcharged the driver for 2x caramel sundaes. They switch cooking positions (to the dismay of the two customers ahead of us inside who have clearly been waiting ten plus minutes for a burger) to deal with the return. We don't think any food has been made since we got there except for too many caramel shakes and the unfinished fries. 10 minutes. The amusement is waning. Our presence at the register hasn't been acknowledged and we have no hopes that we'll be noticed anytime soon. There's a steady stream of cars outside and they are prioritizing those orders. We throw in the towel. Alas, we must wait another day to complete our challenge.
The manager at McDonalds needs to staff up. It was somewhat heart wrenching to watch those two teenagers suffer through it. There was a third employee we noticed, hiding, and peering out at the situation from behind kitchen equipment. She might have been "sweeping". We wondered why she wasn't cleaning up the mess out front, where it was really dirty.
Oh well. We went across the road and had Friendly's for desert instead.
BK won the taste test tonight, but it's still a fast food burger.... 3 stars. read more