The bit on wait times is really interesting. I don't go to McDonald's very often--maybe four or five times a year--but I've noticed that a lot of their restaurants don't have good ways to handle customers waiting for their food, which leads to people awkwardly hanging around the registers and makes it unclear when the next customer should step up, etc. It also seems to vary from franchise to franchise: is there a Starbucks-style place to pick up your orders, or do you have to stand right by the place where they took your order?
I think Five Guys handles the situation more like a pizza or Chinese restaurant: they take your name or give you a number and call you up when your food is ready. And at Chipotle or Subway and a lot of newer fast food places, they just shepherd you through the process until you pay and eat.
I wonder if McDonald's "linger-around-the-register" system is a relic of when they could turn meals around quicker.
Also, their restaurants just seem less well-maintained than those of their newer competitors--maybe because the same number of employees now spend more time prepping food and less time cleaning and changing flickering fluorescent bulbs--and the seating areas are that much less pleasant.
That has to mean a decent amount of lost business: people who will happily join business colleagues for a quick lunch at Chipotle probably wouldn't suggest McDonald's, families don't want to relax on the way home from wherever at a place with ketchup smeared all over the tables, and their periodic pushes into "treat yourself" coffee drinks and desserts are hard to take seriously when the restaurants just aren't pleasant to be in.
Maybe I've just had incredible luck at the locations I've been to ( West Coast & Mountain states in the USA ), but my experience has been much different.
McDonalds seem to be remodeling their dining areas - most of the locations I've been to in the past 2 years have been updated to feel closer to a 'Starbucks' atmosphere than a 'fast food' one.
As far as the queueing - even before the remodels, they've printed a customer number on your receipt and call out your number when your food is ready. If it isn't busy, the person at the register just brings your food to you instead.
I think for 'to go' orders made inside at the register - whether you're at Five Guys, In N Out, or McDonalds, people
will stand around waiting for their food. If you go during a main meal rush, there might be some confusion - but everyone standing around waiting for their food is usually polite enough to answer the question "are you in line?" with "Oh, I already ordered. Go right ahead." or "The line for ordering is over there."
I work remotely - the remodeled McDonalds are pleasant and clean enough of an environment that I'll go there to work if I'm having connectivity issues at home.
Also worth noting is that the remodeled McD's have free wifi and premium coffee & espresso drinks, and the ones around me also have had electric car charging stations added.
This is really interesting to me, I live in Australia and on a recent visit to the USA I noticed exactly the things you comment on at McDonalds, however in every other country in the world I've been to McDonald's is the place to head to if you want somewhere to sit down for free and a clean toilet.
In Australia I live across the road from a McDonald's so I admit I go a little too often for my own good, however they have implemented a number system so you give your order and they hand you a receipt with a number on it. When your food is ready your number appears on a TV screen above the collection area.
Pure speculation: Perhaps what's happening is that McDonald's hasn't noticed a significant enough drop in business when leaving these items untended in the USA, but the drop is more significant in the rest of the world and hence solves the problems you list.
I think McDonalds also targets different people in different countries. In Chile you will mostly see McDonald's in wealthy areas and shopping malls and the price it is not exactly a cheap meal for a regular Chilean. The restaurant are usually cleaner than in the US (in my limited experience). In the US you target a different audience, for example you can see homeless people eating at McDonald, you are never going to see that in Chile.
That's a good point--and probably another challenge for McDonald's in the US.
In a lot of cities, McDonald's is probably one of the easiest places for homeless people to come for cheap food (the 99 cent menu), shelter and toilets.
But that can't make it easy for the chain to target a more upscale market.
Starbucks, Chipotle, Five Guys and the rest probably don't have this problem to the same extent, because they don't really sell anything you can buy with spare change.
When I was growing up, it was typical for your order to be fulfilled absurdly fast. Almost by the time the cashier finished making change the tray would be ready with your order.
Their just still built around that model and never figured out what to do for those waiting. It's a constant problem at other fast food places as well. Taco bell, chickfila etc.
I think Five Guys handles the situation more like a pizza or Chinese restaurant: they take your name or give you a number and call you up when your food is ready. And at Chipotle or Subway and a lot of newer fast food places, they just shepherd you through the process until you pay and eat.
I wonder if McDonald's "linger-around-the-register" system is a relic of when they could turn meals around quicker.
Also, their restaurants just seem less well-maintained than those of their newer competitors--maybe because the same number of employees now spend more time prepping food and less time cleaning and changing flickering fluorescent bulbs--and the seating areas are that much less pleasant.
That has to mean a decent amount of lost business: people who will happily join business colleagues for a quick lunch at Chipotle probably wouldn't suggest McDonald's, families don't want to relax on the way home from wherever at a place with ketchup smeared all over the tables, and their periodic pushes into "treat yourself" coffee drinks and desserts are hard to take seriously when the restaurants just aren't pleasant to be in.