McDonald's has been around so long, ordering from the burger chain should be second nature
by now, right? Turns out, there are a few ways you can enjoy your Micky D's experience
even more if you avoid these mistakes everyone makes when ordering McDonald's.
Sure, every fast-food place, every retail store, every brand pretty much has their own
app these days, and many of them just take up valuable space on your phone with their
useless notifications and features. However, that's not the case with the McDonald's app,
especially if you frequently find yourself headed toward those golden arches. You could
be missing out on tons of deals and perks if you don't have this app on your phone.
The McDonald's app allows you to order takeout right from your device, gives you access to
exclusive deals you won't find anywhere else, and lets you earn points that can be redeemed
for some of your favorite menu items. Plus, it's not uncommon to get freebies just for
downloading the app for the first time.
It's the oldest McDonald's "hack" in the book. If you want the hottest french fries possible,
some will advise you to ask for fries with no salt. This forces employees to make a completely
new batch, since all of the fries that are currently sitting around, waiting to be served,
have already been salted. But, unfortunately, that's not the best course of action. You're
just annoying the employees and making things hard on them for no reason because you can
get your fries fresh without this time-consuming request.
When you ask for unsalted fries, the employee is required to either clean the scoop and
fry station before making your new batch or take your fries directly from the fryer oil
to the carton. Usually, the employee chooses the latter because it's faster, but it's also
riskier and can end in painful burns.
As one Quora user pleaded,
"Please don't ask for unsalted fries simply to get fresh ones. We are more than happy
to make fresh fries for you if you ask us to! [...] There's nothing more frustrating
than when customers ask for unsalted fries, only to turn around and dump several packets
of salt all over them."
You're too hungry for a six-piece box of McNuggets, but you're not sure if that 10-piece order
is worth the cost. So, what do you do? If you feel like something doesn't add up, you're
not alone. In fact, you may not want to ever order a set of 10 McNuggets again.
According to a viral TikTok video, a six-piece goes for around 33 cents per nugget, but the
ten-piece is 58 cents a nugget. With the latter, you're paying more than three bucks extra
for four additional McNuggets. So, if you're trying to save some cash, the six-piece is
the way to go — but don't feel like you have to walk away from McDonald's hungry.
Just go ahead and order two six-piece boxes. You'll get a better value and enjoy two extra
nuggets that you wouldn't have gotten if you had ordered the ten-piece. Bear in mind these
figures will vary by location.
Why not save a little cash the next time you order a meal at McDonald's? You may be able
to get your favorite sandwich or combo at a more budget-friendly price if you ask for
certain things on the side.
As one McDonald's employee on Reddit explains, if you get a Sausage Egg McMuffin, you'll
be charged $3.29. However, you can save a dollar by ordering a plain sausage McMuffin
and a side of eggs for a total of $2.29. This methodology applies to pretty much all breakfast
sandwiches.
For those who want the taste of a Big Mac, they can save money by ordering a more affordable
burger and asking for a side of Big Mac sauce, since McDonald's does not charge for sandwich
sauces when they're on the side. This employee also informs us that you can sometimes get
a better deal when ordering a Happy Meal and swapping out the apple slices for an extra
order of fries. Plus, you get a cool toy with your food. And let's face it — you're never
too old to get excited over a Happy Meal toy.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Trust me, I'm an expert"
As that Redditor notes, it's important to keep in mind that prices will vary by location,
but the general principle should apply.
If you're looking to save a few calories at McDonald's, you'll probably be surprised by
what you should and shouldn't order. Believe it or not, McDonald's salads were in no way
healthy or nutritious options when they were available. The Southwest Buttermilk Crispy
Chicken Salad, for example, had up to 630 calories, 33 grams of fat, 11 grams of sugar,
and 1,250 milligrams of sodium after factoring in the Creamy Southwest Dressing. Surprisingly,
all of these numbers exceed those of the Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Maybe that's part of
the reason why McDonald's ended up removing salads from its menu in 2020. While CNBC blamed
the omission on the pandemic and a need to fulfill drive-thru orders quickly, even after
restrictions eased up and indoor dining resumed, salads remained absent from the menu.
You'll find some other foods on the McDonald's menu that are held up as healthy, yet they
aren't that healthy at all. For breakfast, you may assume that the fruit and maple oatmeal
is the most nutritious, lightest item on the menu. Surprisingly enough, you'll actually
save some calories by ordering the sausage burrito instead. At lunch and dinner, you
might think that going with a chicken sandwich is your best bet, but at 470 calories, the
crispy chicken sandwich will do more damage than several of the chain's burger options,
including the double cheeseburger and bacon McDouble.
For some, the McDonald's dining room touchscreens are a godsend. You just walk in, tap a few
buttons, and then wait for your order without having to interact with another human being.
But by using this handy bit of technology, you might be doing yourself a disservice,
creating longer wait times not just for your food, but everyone else's as well.
While dining room touchscreens increase the number of orders that a McDonald's restaurant
can take, that doesn't mean there are more employees available to satisfy those purchases.
The skewed ratio of orders to servers results in extended wait times, which isn't good for
anyone. Employees are expected to work harder to fulfill more orders, which, when you think
about it, is a bit of an unreasonable ask. This could account for your cold fries and
melted McFlurry.
If you consistently order the same morning meal at McDonald's, you might not be aware
that the chain uses two different types of eggs for its breakfast sandwiches. The Egg
McMuffin features a perfectly circular egg patty, while the biscuit and McGriddle sandwiches
use what's essentially a folded egg sheet. For those who've tried both, the clear winner
is the Egg McMuffin's circular egg patty. Why's that, you may ask? The folded egg sheet
is pre-cooked and then reheated, resulting in a less-than-eggy flavor and an overall
undesirable experience.
If you find those odd folded eggs to be somewhat repulsive, you can easily make them a thing
of the past. All you have to do is ask for the round egg — the same one that appears
on the Egg McMuffin — to be added to your breakfast sandwich as a substitute for the
other egg.
It's happened to all of us; you order your food, take it from the drive-thru employee
in a hurry, and then drive off without checking the bag. When you get to your destination,
you open up that brown sack and discover a meal totally different from what you had ordered.
While this common McDonald's mistake can easily be remedied by simply checking your order
before you drive away, you want to be careful how you do it. You don't want to sit in the
drive-thru lane checking your order and holding up the line. Instead, move to an empty parking
spot, stop, and take a peek inside. Then, if something is missing or incorrect, don't
go through the drive-thru line again to get it fixed; rather, go inside, which employees
report is your fastest option.
Another way that you can end up holding up the drive-thru line? Not ordering the extra
sauces you want when you place your order. And we're not talking about sandwich sauces
you can request on the side for free, which you should also ask for before arriving at
the window. We're talking about extra dipping sauces, which do indeed cost more money at
most McDonald's locations. Typically, you're allowed two dipping sauces per menu item.
If you ask for more after you've already paid, you'll hold up the line as the employee is
required to ring up a separate, secondary order for you.
If you're really determined to get free sauce, some publications actually advise that you
ask for the extra packs at the second drive-thru window. According to The Mirror, the poor
drive-thru employee likely isn't going to ask you to go back to the first window to
pay, but they probably won't bother telling you "no" either.
McDonald's is one of the few fast-food restaurants that are open 24 hours, allowing you to get
your fix regardless of how late, or early, it may be. However, if you visit during certain
late-night hours, you may want to do yourself a favor and bring cash.
According to one McDonald's employee on Reddit,
"McDonald's that run 24 hours are required to restart their system nightly. This results
in a 30 [to] 90-minute window where we are cash-only."
And not only are the restaurants cash-only during that period, but since the entire system
is down, everything has to be done the old-fashioned way. Employees take orders with pen and paper,
check prices manually, add it all manually to get your total, and then physically go
tell the cook what to make.
So we've already discussed how you can get free sandwich sauce on the side and why you
shouldn't try to weasel your way into free dipping cups. But did you know you can swap
out the sauce on any sandwich you want? There's no reason why you shouldn't be asking for
tartar sauce on your McChicken, mayo on your burger, or Big Mac sauce on your Filet-O-Fish.
As one McDonald's employee on Reddit says,
"you can sub any sauce on burgers (honey mustard, mac sauce, ranch, BBQ, etc.) and even change
the bun (sesame seed buns on a mcdouble, for instance)."
Use this method to try out the best sauce and sandwich "hacks," such as adding ranch
dressing to a chicken-burger combo.
Sometimes, you and a group are ready to chow down on a ton of fast food, so you head to
McDonald's or send one person along with a massive order for the drive-thru. In cases
like this, there's proper etiquette to keep in mind. For one, don't place that large order
during the lunch rush.
As one McDonald's employee advises on Reddit,
"[Place a large order] a little later (after 1:00). Going at 12:00, when the store is busiest,
will be a poor experience on both ends. This makes it a lot easier for the kitchen staff,
and should get you in and out of the store a lot faster."
Lastly, and along these same lines, you want to make sure that you call ahead when placing
a big order at McDonald's. Just showing up at the drive-thru or the register with a laundry
list of items leads to a headache for employees and a long wait for you. One Redditor notes,
"Stores have no problem handling big orders, but a bit of forewarning is GREATLY appreciated.
You'll be served if you show up and ask, but you're doing the entire store a service by
calling ahead."
So what exactly constitutes a "big" order? That's where employees tend to disagree. While
some say 20 burgers is nothing and that a store should be able to handle it, others
insist that such an order should be placed ahead of time so staff can plan accordingly.
A good rule of thumb? If you're ordering for more than a few people, call ahead just to
be safe.
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