Friday, August 23, 2019

Your last weekly McDonald's update until next week



The under-renovation McDonald's on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street reopens on Monday, an employee told EVG McDonald's correspondent Steven.

The updated interior includes self-serve ordering kiosks and some uncomfortable looking stools...



This McDonald's outpost, which opened here in the early 1980s, closed for the upgrade back on July 29.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Feel bad for the elderly that used to hang out there. Those are the worst stools I've ever seen.

Anonymous said...

Will they go cashless too? Cashless is fascist!

Anonymous said...

It looks like kiddie furniture.
Terrible - especially for anyone with
any ailment trying to stand up from those
itty bitty seats.
How about the size of those tables ?

DaVid said...

Not a fan of self serve kiosks, but that has to be the slowest McD's on the planet. I've never gotten in and out of there in under 15-20 minutes for a to-go order. Was always slow and dirty so an upgrade can't hurt.

Anonymous said...

Cashless is the actually the safest way for transactions now. There is a lot of counterfeit bills not to mention robberies. We have to flip the script going into 2020. It is time to embrace the future. And most people who come in here are in and out. Who really is going to be sitting for hours on those stools anyways?

cmarrtyy said...

This is typical of retail and any public space - don't make it too comfortable or people might stay. Businesses want your money but they don't necessarily want you. Same for public spaces. Look at Astor Park... you sit on a rock, a boulder or a metal grill. It SCREAMS... GET OUT! God, what a world.

Gojira said...

Are those stools, or clown-theme thread spools?!? Jeez Louise, what's next, a neon sign saying "Not Welcome"?

Killer G said...

This McDonald’s is not a hangout spot for all of yous to be bitching and for DaVid they must not like you because this McDonald’s is always the fastest when I arrive .

Anonymous said...

Self-serving kiosks take jobs. Fu ck this place and McDonald's.

Cashless places discriminate against the poor and/or non-white.

KeyFood4Eva said...

I would love for everything to be cashless, but you do alienate a large part of the population who don't have enough credit to get a credit card or open up a bank account, lower-income individuals who may frequent places like McDonald's on a regular basis.

Scuba Diva said...

If they go cashless, maybe they'll honor EBT cards—but that's a nightmarish scenario, because most people on EBT get so little money per month, they'll eat up their benefits in no time going to Mickey Dee's without buying anything really nutritive.

Eden Bee said...

McDonalds's is going cashless in general. Don't know if that one will be. I saw a few cashless ones outside of the states and that is what they all looked like.

Giovanni said...

I tried this redesign out in another recently renovated McDonald’s, and there are definitely some big pluses and minuses. Those kiosks are like a visual roadblock when you enter the store, practically demanding that you stop and order right on the spot. You have to scroll through several screens with multiple options, which is great if you're a pro with a touchscreen, but it is much slower than giving your order to a cashier. if you're hungry it is annoying to have to scroll around to find your food. And these things ar big. It’s kind of like like using the worlds biggest iPad. There are way more customization options than you’d think McDonalds offers, which can be good but can also be confusing at first.

The stools near the touchscreens are very low to the floor, and with no back support not that comfortable. Since the stools are close to the kiosks, you really feel people hovering over and around you as they order or wait for their food.

If you select to eat in, you take a table tent with a number on it and they bring the food to you, which is an improvement. Maybe this makes it easier to get a table, or maybe not since that just makes them fill up faster.

The space is colder and the design is sparse, not as homey as the older stores. The best McDs I’ve ever been in is the recently demolished Rock n Roll McDonalds in downtown Chicago, with loads of music memorabilia, warm lighting, and it was a fun place and very comfortable. These new stores are nothing like that one.

McDs is trying very hard to do the Starbucks version of mobile ordering, where they put your curated takeout food on a little counter and call your number, which also flashes up on a screen behind the counter. The new system cuts down on long lines at the counter, but as everyone hangs back waiting for their number to be called it’s kind of like being in the waiting room to get into Hell, where everyone is anxious and tentative about what is about to happen, and where they can’t wait to leave.

StevenS said...

One of these has been open near me for a year, in Harlem (ev transplant) . Having self order/ pay machines doesn't mean "cashless" in this case. They still take orders and payment registers. And not all the seats look like those stools. So many of you, , on so many threads here, are so predictably overwrought without having a clue.

Not Overwrought said...

Here’s a clue for you: Lets not forget that as McDonald’s puts these kiosks in over 12,000 stores that there will be tens of thousands of cashier jobs lost to this new technology. I agree with the commenters who say that these new stores are colder and less welcoming than the old stores. It’s like eating in the cafeteria at IKEA. That might work when eating Swedish meatballs, but this is a hamburger joint that’s suddenly pretending to be a refined and upscale eatery. The new design simply doesn't match the food or clientele, which includes a ton of families with kids, Even the booths are less comfortable now. Not only does McDonald’s want to hire fewer workers, they also want fewer customers hanging out in their restaurants.

james said...

Place was looking rather run down and seedy to begin with kiosks are a option to use just another choice. My first summer job was at one the menu hamburger cheeseburger fish filet sandwich french fries shake or soda. They only employed boys the few girls that tried to apply were told sorry we can not hire you we only have a boys restroom. The golden arches displayed over a million sold McDonald's is still iconic America with three pickles on the bun it's nice to know they have infrastructure funds while the nation does not. Oh the hamburger was 20 cents french fries 15 cents the radio played "Light my fire" by the Doors. If you said the word Kiosk then somebody would say it was a Polish food they tried once.