McDonald’s – W. Saginaw & Vermillion

23 11 2009
  • 7240 W. Saginaw Highway
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 323-2228
  • Website
  • Menu

My quest for cheap meals went on with one of the most obvious choices when it comes to dining on the cheap. 

My first day of work in East Lansing ended around 8:30.  I was exhausted and headed straight for my hotel.  As I was driving across town on I-496, I was trying to picture what I could grab quickly and eat in my  hotel room.  I was drawing blank, but I knew there were a couple options right there near the Red Roof Inn.

Like most cities, Lansing is littered with McDonald’s.  I chose the location on West Saginaw Highway and Vermillion Road in Delta Township for one reason.  It was close to where I was going. 

Being 9:00 at night on a Thursday meant I should be able to get in and get out in a hurry.  I’m not a drive thru fan.  In fact, I despise them.  Unless I absolutely have to, I never use them.  If J forces me to, she leans across the seat and yells into the speaker.  I guess I don’t speak clearly or something because I never have good luck.  I’d rather just take the extra few minutes and walk inside.  No one has ever died from getting out of their car for a hamburger. Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Fast Food, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

McDonald’s – South Cedar

12 06 2009
  • 4700 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 393-8678
  • Website
  • Menu
McDonalds on South Cedar near Jolly Road in Lansing.

McDonald's on South Cedar near Jolly Road in Lansing.

I know I haven’t blogged all week and I always feel bad when the only thing I have to blog about is a chain restaurant, but I left Oldsmobile Park after a heartbreaking Lugnuts loss and I was starving.  The game went longer than I had anticipated due to yet another extra inning game.  When I started heading home a little after ten o’clock, my choices were limited.  I knew there was some fast food along the way, so I waited until I got a little bit closer to home.

The McDonald’s on South Cedar Street sits just north of Jolly Road.  Being late, the drive-thru was the only option.  As I was heading south, I pulled in to the second drive.  I always think if you pull in the one farther to the north, it gives you a bad angle at the drive thru. 

I’m not a very adventurous eater when it comes to the Golden Arches.  I always get the same thing.  It’s a good thing I looked at the menu board as I pulled up to the speaker though.  It must have been a while since I’ve eaten a burger McD’s because they moved the Double Quarter Pounder w/cheese meal to #3 instead of #4.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Fast Food, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

McDonald’s Outsources Jobs

26 02 2009

You know the economy is in the crapper when McDonald’s is outsourcing minimum wage jobs.

I ordered a cup of coffee today from a woman in North Dakota. It was in my hands within about 10 seconds, and was plenty hot enough to scorch a lap.

The process went like this: I pulled up to the drive-through squawk box at the Charlotte McDonald’s.

[snip]

After thanking me for my “persistence,” Scott confirmed that the Charlotte McDonald’s is, indeed, a test site for an experimental “call center” approach, and that drive-through orders went “out of state

Go to the LSJ’s website and read the whole article.  Great job by LSJ columnist John Schnieder for digging this up.  A few weeks ago, there was a storyline on King of the Hill where Bill fell in love with the drive thru lady who worked for a call center out of state and went on a road trip to find her.  I thought it was all a joke.  I never imagined that someone would actually outsource their drive thru operation.  I laughed out loud when J pointed out this article to me.  Seriously?  They’re outsourcing minimum wage jobs? 

I hate drive thrus as it is.  This is even more incentive to stay the hell away.  I can never understand the person on the other end.  What if the call center is in the south or New England and the person on the other end has an unfamiliar accent.  I’ll never get my food.  I’m at a loss for words.  Outsourcing drive thrus.  Wow.


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McDonald’s – South Holland, IL

19 02 2009
  • 700 E. Tri State Tollway
  • I-80/294 Milepost 1 – Lincoln Oasis
  • South Holland, IL 60473
  • (708) 596-3195
  • Website
  • Menu
The business listing for the Lincoln Oasis on the Tri-State Tollway

The business listing for the Lincoln Oasis on the Tri-State Tollway

OK, this is my last Illinois review for….two weeks.  Finally, after a week back in Illinois for a family emergency and then work, I was heading back to Lansing.  I like my family and miss them a lot, but I was really, really ready to get back to Michigan.  J and I had been watching the radar for the last two days wondering if I was even going to make.  It never fails, if we have to drive through southwest Michigan and Northwest Indiana, it’s guaranteed to snow.  Guaranteed.  Today didn’t look much better, but I decided to chance, so after a quick phone call to J to let her know I was on the way, I packed up my truck and headed north.

I left my parents right around 11:30 and sort of ran out in a hurry wanting to be on the road in between snow storms, so I didn’t get lunch with them.  I was on the road about an hour when I started to get hungry.  I knew I was coming up on the Lincoln Oasis, so I decided just to wait.  For those of you that aren’t regulars on the toll roads, the Oases are stops along the toll road where you don’t actually get off the highway, so you don’t have to pay to get off and get back on.  On I-294 (the Tri-State tollway), the Oases are suspended over the road.  In other places, they usually look more like rest stops with gas stations off on either side of the road, but around Chicago, there’s not much room, so they built a parking lot on either side then built the actual building across.  We used to stop at one of the other Oasis’s near O’Hare when we went to shows at The Rosemont Horizon (later called Allstate Arena).  They always have some sort of fast food.  Some have Wendy’s.  Some have McDonald’s.  This one has McDonald’s.

This McDonald’s is located in the Lincoln Oasis which is near South Holland, IL on the Tri-State tollway.  There are are other restaurants and services.  The McDonald’s only takes up a small part of the space yet they are pretty much the main attraction since they are open 24/7.  I was northbound on I-294 when I stopped.  The McDonald’s is near the south bound side, so I had to walk all the way through to find McDonald’s tucked in to a little corner.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : 24-Hour Diner, Chains, Fast Food, Illinois, Restaurant, Reviews, South Holland

McDonald’s – East Lansing

9 02 2009
  • 1024 E. Grand River Avenue
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 332-6647
  • Website
  • Menu
McDonalds on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

McDonald's on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

I took the easy way out.  I was at Jenison Field House for MSU wrestling and I had an hour lunch/breakfast break at about ten AM.  I thought about going out for an actual breakfast, but really wasn’t in the mood.  We didn’t get back to Lansing until midnight the night before and I had to be at the Field House at seven AM.  I was tired.  I was cranky and I just wanted something quick.  I had always been intrigued by the McDonald’s on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.  I had never seen a two story McD’s before. 

The only McDonald’s in East Lansing is on Grand River Avenue a few blocks from the campus of Michigan State University.  You can’t really tell from the road, but it’s kind of squeezed into a small space.  There’s not much of a parking lot and if there’s someone in the drive thru line behind you, you’re going to have a hard time getting out of a spot.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : breakfast, Chains, East Lansing, Fast Food, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

McDonald’s – Benton Harbor

8 09 2008
  • 2020 Pipestone Rd.
  • Benton Harbor, MI 49022
  • (269) 926-7600
  • Website
  • Menu
McDonalds in Benton Harbor

McDonald's in Benton Harbor

I have now eaten at McDonald’s more this week than in the previous year combined.  I left Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL (review HERE) after the IRL without eating lunch.  After searching for our car for a half hour then getting caught in traffic trying to get back to I-80, I was starving, but really wanted to get back on the road.  I had been gone since Thursday afternoon and hadn’t seen J since then.  It was already 7:30 back in Lansing, so I passed on going to dinner with my family and hit the road.  I decided to drive for a while hoping my options would get better if I could get to a bigger city.  I don’t like stopping in Indiana because there is so much construction on I-94 it’s hard to get on and off, so I just kept moving. 

I got to Benton Harbor around 9:00 EST.  I knew there was a mall just off the Interstate, so I figured there would be some food options around there.  I got off the Interstate and everything was dark.  The only places still lit up were McDonald’s and Steak ‘N Shake.  Neither was an ideal choice, but McDonald’s is more filling, so I drove to the golden arches to grab something to go. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Benton Harbor, Chains, Fast Food, Michigan, Reviews

McDonald’s – Paw Paw

4 09 2008
  • 829 S. Kalamazoo St.
  • Paw Paw, MI 49079
  • (269) 657-2835
  • Website
  • Menu
McDonalds in Paw Paw located just off I-94

McDonald's in Paw Paw located just off I-94

When I left Lansing this afternoon, I had no intention of eating fast food.  I knew when I left for Champaign, IL at about 1:30, I would have to stop somewhere for lunch before I got to my parents house.  Just to their house, it’s about a four hour drive and Champaign is another hour after that.  I got just passed Kalamazoo and got really, really hungry.  I pulled off in Paw Paw.  Being a county seat, I assumed there would have to be sandwich places near the courthouse.  There were a lot of restaurants, bars, and pubs, but not a whole lot of quick sandwich shops.  The one I did find in the main business district was already closed for the day as it was almost 3:00.

After striking out downtown, I drove back out towards the Interstate where chains dominate the landscape.  There used to be a place called the Chicken Coop (review HERE) close to I-94, but since the last time I was in town (May), it has been torn down and a Walgreens is being built.  So, my choices were all chains.  I contemplated Taco Bell, but realized that would be hard to eat in the car.  I ended up choosing McDonald’s mostly because it was next to a stop light and it’d be easy to cross traffic to get back to the Interstate.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Michigan, Paw Paw, Restaurant, Reviews

McDonald’s – Holt

20 08 2008
  • 2400 S. Cedar St.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-9431
  • Website
  • Menu
The McDonalds on South Cedar St. in Holt

The McDonald's on South Cedar St. in Holt

Surprisingly, McDonald’s is one of my favorite fast food restaurants.  I don’t eat there often because I don’t eat fast food all that much, but I do really like their “burgers.”  Since moving to Lansing, I haven’t eaten at one even though there is one right down the road from our place.  J and I needed to make a run to Target this morning to get a diaper bag and some bottles…..for my brother who’s wife is expecting my first niece in about seven weeks.  While we were out, we decided to just run and grab lunch instead of coming home and trying to make something.

J wants to get back on the Weight Watchers diet and the only way it will work is if I get on it too.  I’m not super excited about it because it takes away all the foods I like and makes me eat larger portions of the foods I don’t.  But, she wants to do it and I want to help her, so I’ll do my best. 

Since she wants to start this diet, my usual double quarter pounder with cheese value meal isn’t really an option.  For the first time since I was five and ordering happy meals, I ordered something other than the #4.  I didn’t really know what any of their salads were so I just ordered what J did.  We both got the Southwestern salad.  I got grilled chicken and she got crispy chicken. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Fast Food, Holt, Restaurant, Reviews

McDonald’s Pulls Tomatoes

9 06 2008

McDonald’s and most other fast food restaurants are worried about Salmonella.

McDonald’s Corp., Wal-Mart and some other restaurant and grocery store chains will stop selling some types of tomatoes while U.S. health officials try to find the source of the outbreak, which has sickened at least 145 people.

The FDA issued an expanded warning Saturday, saying raw red Roma, red plum and red round tomatoes have been linked to an outbreak of Salmonella serotype Saintpaul, an uncommon type of Salmonella food poisoning. The first warning went out on June 3.

Last year it was the high price.  This year is possible sickness.  Tomatoes ruin burgers anyway.  Why are people still destroying meat or meat-like patties with vegetables?


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McDonald’s Now Trans-Fat Free

22 05 2008

According to this AP article, McDonald’s has finally replaced it’s oil with a trans-fat free oil.

McDonald’s has lagged other restaurant operators in switching over to a zero-trans-fat cooking oil out of worries it would compromise the taste of its trademark fries. It has been under increasing pressure from consumer advocates and some public officials to make the change.

The new oil is canola-based and includes corn and soy oils.

CEO Jim Skinner told shareholders at the annual meeting at its headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., that the new oil has been in use in U.S. restaurants for a few months now for french fries, hash browns, chicken, filet of fish and biscuits.

I’m not a huge McDonald’s eater, but when I do need fast food, I usually look for a McDonald’s.  I do like the taste of their fries.  Obviously, I’m not expecting a fast food places to cut potatos (even though Arby’s and Hardees leave the skin on their fries).  It was just in 2002 that McDonald’s thought they were doing something good by switching from beef tallow to a healthier fat with less trans-fat.  Now, six years later, they’ve been forced to switch again.

The problem with this whole situation is….who goes to McDonald’s for healthy fries?  You know what you’re getting into when you pull up to the drive through.  McDonald’s or any restaurant shouldn’t be forced to change their menu by anyone other than the shareholders or owners.  When you start changing ingredients, you start messing with taste.  Taste is the most imortant thing in any food and it shouldn’t be determined by a bunch of do-gooding hippies.


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