McDonald's Cuts Back Gourmet Range. Not Available after Midnight

LBakez on 16/12/2019 - 05:21
Last edited 16/12/2019 - 10:16 by 1 other user

I just got told (in the drive through) that as of about 3 weeks ago Maccas no longer offers their gourmet burger range after midnight.

Is it really worthy of being called a 24hr joint when half the food and drinks are unavailable after midnight.

It seems to have been a follow on from the US who stopped them back in April of this year. I'm led to believe that its all gourmet burgers (I was ordering the classic Angus). They now only offer the old school big Macs Quarter Pounder and probably the one that is pretty much a big chicken nugget with a spattering of shredded lettuce with mayo.

I couldn't see anything from Australia about it when I googled it, mind you, I only looked on 2 or 3 pages, and come to think of if, I removed location access in Google recently, so that might be part of the reason. (Google likes to pretend it knows absolutely nothing about me until I give it back, it's not like I changed my region, or language settings so plz stop with the wildly random and useless results)

Anyway, anyone else hear# if this? Visor know why? Must be to make more money. That's all it is ever about. But I'm open to any other reasons you can think of?

Will this even affect anyone? Maybe not.

What do you buy from Maccas?

Poll Options expired

  • 24
    Nothing ever.
  • 34
    Originals-Big Mac double/quarter pounder etc
  • 4
    Breakfast
  • 7
    gourmet range- Angus, clubhouse chicken etc
  • 2
    Coffee
  • 5
    Soft serves, shakes, Frozen/soft drinks
Food & Grocery

Related Stores

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Comments

  • Nutrino on 16/12/2019 - 06:21
    +7

    This is terrible news, just terrible. Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

  • Hithere on 16/12/2019 - 07:15
    +7

    The Burgers are better at Hungry Jacks.

    • Bakez on 16/12/2019 - 07:34

      Not at the hungry jacks near me.
      And they keep bumping the price up, of everything.
      Is it wrong that im angry, the soft serve is now 70c.

      • Bakez on 16/12/2019 - 07:42

        Even if it is.
        I'll still be angry,
        I'll just have to revert to using options that are better value.

        Like pretending I have an ice cream.

        • myusername on 17/12/2019 - 03:56
          +1

          firstworldproblems

      • Forfiet on 16/12/2019 - 09:58
        +1

        Meanwhile….is the ice cream machine even working at maccas? I give it a 50/50 split….

        • lost in transit on 17/12/2019 - 04:34
          +1

          Glad someone else notice’s this, i’d put it at 70%not working and 30% it is, they keep using these machines that are unreliable this alone must cost them a lot annually especially on hotter days..Dumbasses.

          • eug on 17/12/2019 - 11:47
            +1

            @lost in transit:

            this alone must cost them a lot annually especially on hotter days..Dumbasses.

            I wonder if the amount of money they make on cones is actually enough to maintain the machine. We all go to maccas for a soft serve cone because they're cheap, but maybe they don't prioritise the machine because they don't make much money from it.

    • Yummy on 16/12/2019 - 09:44

      Not at my local. I'd blacklisted em.

  • thatonethere on 16/12/2019 - 07:48
    +2

    The Angus range wasn't bad when it first came out but once the publicity was over they became pretty ordinary. The attention to detail and quality was then the same as their crap burger range.

    I stick with the coffee

  • SnowDragon on 16/12/2019 - 08:04
    +14

    As someone who worked there for nearly 8 years and did a few overnights, you really wouldn't want anything other than the basics.

    Overnight is basically all about cleaning and doing a massive list of jobs. Any order you get slows you down. For this reason, most of the products are cooked at around 10:30 in a big batch before the grill is turned off for cleaning. There is a secondary grill, but that's not the point.

    This batch cooked at 10:30 will often stay in the heating cabinets for a long time. Often past midnight and into the early hours of the morning. The only meat I would trust at 1 in the morning is 10:1 (cheeseburger, big mac, all the smaller burgers) or the 4:1 (Quarter pounder etc). The "gourmet" or angus burgers hell no. They'll be old, dry and generally just gross.

    Must be to make more money.

    It's more likely to sacrifice quantity for quality. When there is a skeleton crew of 3 people on, it's easier to make half the menu than all of it. It's also easier to maintain a level of stock for the popular items.

    It's just how it is unfortunately.

    If you're interested, here's a list of items I would avoid in the middle of the night (if they are even sold)

    • Grilled chicken
    • McBites
    • Bacon
    • Muffins (just in general, muffins after lunch time aren't going to be as fresh as they are during breakfast)
    • If there are muffins, then the eggs. I've seen too many rubbery eggs.
    • Angus meat
    • captaincabinets on 16/12/2019 - 08:26

      Thanks for this post. I don't buy anything but coffee from Maccas but I love insider gossip.

    • FareEvader on 16/12/2019 - 09:36

      McMuffins as well? And these things only cooked when you order them?

      • SnowDragon on 16/12/2019 - 10:20

        Muffins are cooked in a separate toaster than the normal buns.
        Most stores will have two of these and you can fit 5 muffins on a tray. Then these 5 are put into the heated cabinet.

        Only wholemeal muffins are cooked to order because they are rare.

        I say muffins are good during breakfast because of the high turnover. Even though there apparently was a high demand for all day breakfast, not many people actually really ordered it.

    • Kenb0 on 16/12/2019 - 10:17
      +1

      The only meat I would trust at 1 in the morning is 10:1 (cheeseburger, big mac, all the smaller burgers) or the 4:1 (Quarter pounder etc).

      Had to google what "10:1" and "4:1" means, learn something new every day :)

      For anyone else interested, https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/mcdonalds

      • SnowDragon on 16/12/2019 - 10:22
        +1

        Fun fact: i wrote most of the stuff in that wiki :)

        But yes, the meat is referred to as such because it's the ratio to a pound.
        10:1 = 1/10th of a pound.
        4:1 = 1/4th a pound. Hence why we have a quarter pounder. I wonder what they call them in France
        Angus beef is 3:1 but more commonly just called Angus nowadays.

    • John Kimble on 16/12/2019 - 15:25
      +1

      I thought the were "made to order" these days…so they are just made to order with "old" ingredients now?

      Remember the days when they were all premade and lined up on the slanted divider…there were the time card things that showed how long they were sitting there…simipler times.

      I can't remember if it's better or worse now, but if it's as you describe, wouldn't be much better anyway…

      • SnowDragon on 16/12/2019 - 16:01
        +1

        When I started (09) I think they had just stopped (a few years?) making everything prior to a rush and it became made to order.

        Everything is still made "fresh" it's just that the meats and chicken are cooked and stored in a heated container for a maximum of 30 minutes. When a tray of meat is put into the container, a button is pushed a timer starts. When the timer runs out, the meat is supposed to be discarded. The idea is "cook less more often" i.e - cook smaller runs of meat so there is less to go to waste. But this only happens when head office is in and scrutinizing everything. Otherwise common practice is to push the button again and start the timer.

        Generally during busy periods, we would use the entire tray before the timer ran out. So this is why I warn people to not expect quality during off-peak times.

        So yes, it is made to order. The bun is cooked fresh, all of the ingredients (ketchup, mustard, lettuce, onion, cheese) is added to the burger. Then the meat cooked 5-15 minutes prior is added. If you're ever waiting ages for food, it's likely they ran out of a meat, chicken or fries. So you'll get something fresh at least… either that or the store is incompetent and can't function well.

        Edit: Looks like MFY started in the early 2000s. I've always wondered what MFY stood for. When you get your receipt it'll say "MFY Side 1". This indicates which side of the "line" the food was made on. For reference, looking in from the customer area, line 1 is on the left. Behind it will be the grill. Side 2 is on the right and behind it will be the fry vats. One set for chicken and such (the kitchen uses) and one for fries (front counter)

  • tallkid123 on 16/12/2019 - 08:06

    You should report this to the police, OP.

    I'm being serious though. These turn of events will probably affect them more than the average Ozbargainer who is too busy hitting F5 at their screen to notice anything else.

    • vikvance on 17/12/2019 - 01:56
      +1

      I would go straight to the ACCC.

      Or, maybe my local neighbourhood bikies.

  • pinchies on 16/12/2019 - 08:13

    I for one miss the option for a late night Angus. Yes, things are juicier since the last round of changes, but no, a 10:1 does not suffice, and IMHO the Angus options were a fair bit better in quality than the 4:1 options. (man, that angus with the special crispy smokey bacon in particular!!)

  • EightImmortals on 16/12/2019 - 08:37
    +1

    How dare they!

  • eug on 16/12/2019 - 08:56
    +1

    Must be to make more money. That's all it is ever about.

    Weird, it's as if they were running a business!

  • Bid Sniper on 16/12/2019 - 09:20

    Thousands of stoners will die

  • Skramit on 16/12/2019 - 09:21

    BRB just reporting them to ACCC.

  • Forfiet on 16/12/2019 - 10:02

    Still better than when they didn't offer burgers at breakfast….I still remember those days….Night shifters generally prefer a burger to a mcmuffin….

  • seraphim2017 on 16/12/2019 - 11:10
    +4

    "McDonalds" and 'Gourmet". Surely an oxymoron?

    McDonalds = I'm hungry RIGHT NOW and don't care about the bowel obstruction I'm planning on having in 12 hours trying to pass it!

    (I still go there occasionally, though, sometimes, your mind just needs junk food!) :)

  • Some Human on 17/12/2019 - 01:18

    Angus sucks. Tried it when it first came out and it was like eating a large ball of grease that tasted like the smell of cow sheet.

    No offense to anyone named 'Angus' out there, I'm talking about the burger, not you.

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