McDonald's probably worse than it appears

I think the best of bad options is to just let McDonald's be McDonald's. Some people like it. Others, like me, have discovered places they like better. In my case, In-n-Out and El Pollo Loco. No matter what they do, they won't get back their lost customers.

Nobody has ever accused me of being good at business, but my advice would be to keep the menu simple and traditional. You never see In-n-Out adding anything to their menu. Forget adding healthy options. If anything, I think they should market their history. Like Jack Daniels -- Unimproved since 1898 (or whatever the year).

BTW, we're overdue for a McNugget Challenge. Any takers here?

McDonald's is absolute ruler in the USA of quick service restaurants. Their net is 3X Subway. Subway has more locations but the earnings per location is very low.

Jason's Deli is high earing per location, but with only 248 locations, their overal revenue rank is 42 out of 50


Rank overall revenue (franchised locations + corporate locations
9 Chick-fil-A (1,713+62)
34 Krispy Kreme (155+94)
1 McDonald's (12,739+1,539)
11 Panera Bread (910+867)
42 Jason's Deli (106+142)
15 Chipotle Mexican Grill (0+1,595)
23 Whataburger (125+633)

Whataburger was founded in 1950, so it is nearly as old as McDonalds


Chick-fil-A is popular down South where most of the chicken chains were founded. It's exapnding rapidly, but each location is high revenue generation. Most of the chicken chains

Chicken chains rank (out of 50) total revenue in millions
9 Chick-fil-A $5,052.6
10 KFC $4,300.0
21 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen $2,179.7
26 Zaxby's $1,073.4
27 Bojangles' $925.2
30 Church's Chicken $855.4
37 El Pollo Loco $604.0
39 Boston Market $600.9
45 Wingstop $540.2

I'm a Dog n Suds guy from the 60's.
They had cute car hops and was the
place to go on summer nights in
your ride. Best root beer too..

What's ironic is, there's a scene in Guess
Who's Coming to Dinner where a 67 year
old Spencer Tracy goes to a car hop drive
up in 1967, the same year I was going to
Dog n Suds a lot. He's one year older than
me in this pic. He acts about as dopey
as I probably would at a drive-in now.

Quote: Wizard

BTW, we're overdue for a McNugget Challenge. Any takers here?

Not me.

I'd like to see a different variation of the challenge.

Like the first 90 earns them. $50. Each additional nugget they get down is worth $5 after that.

Quote: Wizard

BTW, we're overdue for a McNugget Challenge. Any takers here?

Forget about it.

As I recall, this thing started with the burrito challenge at the Sahara (pop quiz: what's the opposite of "burrito"?) Ok, Dupar's at the Golden Gate now has a huge stack of pancakes that is free if the customer eats it in a certain time. That would be a better venue. The rest of us could have some delicious pie while we watch.

With a multi ethnic population in this country.
I think a menu including some ethnic foods will keep some chains expanding and growing
Here in Tampa , I really like Pollo Tropical, a small chain that is growing, specializing in the cuisine of the Caribbean

Best Burger
5 Guys
Very high meat to bread ratio.
Too many hamburgers have too much bread. Big mac has an extra slice of bread in the middle. ugh.
I just want enough bread to hold it together and thats what 5 guys does.
Cooked to order with about 20 different choices for toppings.
Their fries rock also

Quote: terapined

I think a menu including some ethnic foods will keep some chains expanding and growing

I wonder whether a torta restaurant would be a hit in the US. These are a kind of Mexican sandwich on a roll.

Quote: Evenbob

3 of these I've never even heard of,
and Chick I never heard of till they
were in trouble last year. Still have
yet to see one. Whataburger?
You made that up, what a stupid name
for a restaurant.

Whataburger is west coast, went there once in AZ. Not great, locations didn't work, so never went back. It is kind of just a different fast food joint to go to. The had a promotion on local NBA broadcasts when a 3-point shot was made the announcer said "What a shot-Whattaburger!" I read that wiki, as I have never sat through an NBA broadcast.