Going behind the scenes at my local McDonalds

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Blogging really does make dreams come true – I got to go to my local McDonalds,  meet the team and go behind the scenes to make my very own Big Mac. There have been two new McDonalds in my town in the last 18 months and they’ve heralded a new way of doing things. I headed to the shiniest new one to see the difference for myself, what they call The Experience of the Future. What is so futuristic? Well, when you enter the new look restaurants, you won’t see a row of tills anymore. In fact, there’s only one till to order from. You are greeted by staff who will help to guide you. If you want to pay by card, you are invited to order at a self service screen, which are dotted around not just at the till area but also upstairs and out of the way. There’s no need to queue at all.

The self service screens are really user friendly, using visual cues with all the options you need plus some you might not even know about – for example when ordering a kids happy meal, you can substitute the chips for a fruit or veg bag. You also have the option to make your meal how you want it, without cheese or gherkins if you like. If you’re vertically challenged or in a wheelchair you can make the picture lower to order. The calories are on display too. As soon as you order, it then goes down to the kitchen to be made freshly for you. There’s no more batch cooking, so even if you want no onions or a plain burger for your fussy child, they’re all being freshly made anyway so there’s no extra wait. With a more streamlined kitchen it’s still quick even though it’s made to order.

You then get a number and go and wait for it to be called, which doesn’t take long. It’s a bit like a well known catalogue based store. The best part, which I didn’t even realise (and I’ve been there) is that you can have table service. This is a revelation to me, no more lugging the kids around, standing around and then struggling with a big tray and drinks, then trying to get the sauce before finding a seat. You can choose a table area (anywhere in the restaurant), order your food at the self service screen then sit down and await your food! Genius. Even better, minimal interaction with strangers, perfect. Next time I’m totally doing that.

The tablets are proving so popular at McDonalds, this restaurant has quite a unique feature with theirs, the step like seating has been a hit with children and adults. There are more tablets downstairs with stools where in the morning you’ll find workers having a coffee and checking their emails. They have free wi-fi and it has safety built in. On each table they have charger docking pads so you’ll never run out of battery. In today’s tech driven world it just makes life easier. I could stay all day!

Onto the food – We were taken behind the scenes to the staff room, all staff have their own lockers with charger points in for their phones, and computers to access training, plus tablets on the tables like in the main restaurant. I get the feeling McDonalds really looks after their staff. The guy that showed us round and told us about the changes started as a crew member and is now an operational manager. They had laid out a hat and apron with a badge for us – I was beyond excited! I have no stars on my badge, apparently you have to earn them. We washed our hands according to a handwashing guide, although I’m used to it from working in the NHS. Every 30 minutes the staff wash their hands and obviously after breaks etc. They don’t wear gloves as it’s proven worse than regular hand washing.

The kitchen was amazing, a tightly run ship of sparkling chrome, machines that go ping and efficient workers churning out the goodies. There are sauce bottles, massive grill machines and of course the fryers. The orders are computerised of course, and when they come through they are made straight away. No more shouting out! There’s also an intelligent computer system that looks into trends and what they will need to order. We saw the great big fridge and freezer rooms. There are heated draws much like on an aeroplane, where the burgers and chicken pieces are kept once they’re cooked. They are only there for a specified time, then if not used they are thrown away. When you choose your meat or other element, you choose the drawer that has the brightest light on, this needs to be used first. The most important thing in a McDonalds restaurant is consistency and quality for the customer, so if you order a Big Mac here or in Glasgow, it should be the same.

There are charts everywhere so if you are totally new to it there’s a helping hand and anyone should be able to make a burger. There’s a machine for grilling the buns, one for heating the wraps and these amazing guns for applying the sauce, much like the decorating guns you get for filling in cracks. We watched a Big Mac being made, then it was my turn. It was super quick and easy, I could have made more. Once it’s made it goes on a conveyer belt down to the front to be put on a tray or bagged up – that was really fun, I could have played with that some more. Here’s a little video of me in action:

I look so happy! Then we got to eat them, fantastic. They served me up my burger together with the one made by the expert – which was which?

Answer – mine’s the one on the right, the only way I could tell was because I recognised the gherkins I put in, ha ha! They put two in a Big Mac, and they should be slightly overlapping, kissing. I used to take mine out as a teenager but I’ve since grown to love them. My burger tasted delicious, even better because I made it.

The team were lovely and the staff I met all seemed happy. Even with all the computers and technology, there are still the same amount of staff, they’re just not lined up at the tills anymore. They have more staff on the floor serving and helping customers, and the team in the kitchen is well oiled. Any crew member can turn their hand to anything. I have taken my children to McDonalds since they were tiny as a treat. Every time we go past this one, it’s on one of our regular routes, they beg me to go, even if they’ve just eaten. I’ll be taking them there soon, but I’ll leave my apron and hat at home in case they put me to work.

Disclosure: I have been compensated for my time in writing this post, however all opinions are my own.

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