McDonald’s has been part of my life since forever. When I was a kid, my Mum used to save happy meal toys from when she had them and give them to me ( I had a lot of them!). At university, it’s become a ritual on a night out to grab a McDonald’s before the taxi home!
So when
they invited me to go behind-the-scenes at their restaurant at the Silver Link
I was quite excited to see what new exciting changes they’ve made!
staff who gave us a bit of history to do with the local area and showed us
around the restaurant. We were given our own aprons and caps and name badges to
keep!
A Fresh New Look
Upon arriving at the restaurant, I was really impressed with
the new décor. A really bright, colourful palette made it even more friendly. I
have to admit I was a little obsessed with the new light shades which are all hand made out of fries boxes, I love
anything eco friendly! I was also a big fan of the bright blues and fruit all over
the wall.
I also really like the introduction of the tablets! A place for kids or adults to sit and play games, access the internet and all of McDonald’s information on ordering food and nutritional information.
Introducing the interactive kiosk
I was really happy to see the new kiosks appear in McDonald’s
in the past year. They speed up the process of ordering, a few taps and a swipe
of your contactless card or phone and you can head straight away to the seating
area and wait for your meal. No more queuing!
The kiosks also allow you to add or remove ingredients from
food, so if you don’t like pickles, no pickles for you! I am such a fussy eater
and always feel really embarrassed asking for ingredients to be removed, or
even worse having to pick it out afterwards!
A really helpful measure that I didn’t know about is that
the height of the information can be adjusted for those with disabilities or children so they’re completely user friendly. All you have to do is tap the button in the bottom right corner.
Introducing Table Service
Another new feature of McDonald’s restaurants is table
service. A very handy addition for those laden with plenty of shopping or
trying to wrangle their kids to the table.
Make your order at the kiosks or even at the tills and head straight to
your zone and a member of staff will bring your meal straight to you.
The Tour
The staff showed us how speedy the production lines are,
each member of staff is assigned to a particular part of the process and they
only do their little bit which help speeds up production and stops the staff
running around like headless chickens. Above their heads, a screen dictates all
the precise times for each item that’s cooking and when its time to serve them
or chuck them away!
The order comes through from the kiosk or till and only then
does the production of your order begin. This cuts down massively on waste and
it ensures that your food is made piping hot, fresh and exactly how you like
it.
McDonald’s. Anytime. Anywhere.
To speed up your ordering process there are now multiple ways to purchase McDonald’s.
If you’re on the move or busy, you can order on the app and when you get to the restaurant, scan the QR code at the check-in point and your meal will be prepared for you immediately, saving you time and no need to stand in a queue!
UberEats is something I’ve only recently started using and I was quite surprised to see McDonald’s was on it. Abbie and I took advantage of it and had it delivered from our local restaurant to our house!
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| Abbie and I are big fans of Uber Eats! |
Making my own Big Mac
After our little tour of the restaurant, we got the chance
to make our own Big Macs!
As usual I am a fusspot so when it came to making our own
Big Mac, I decided to have mine without pickle, onions or lettuce! The staff
showed us what to do at each station and then let us do it for ourselves. It
took literally no time at all to assemble.
But the best bit? We got to eat them straight after as part
of a meal! We sat and chatted about all things McDonald’s and photography. It was a really lovely evening!
A Green Future with McDonald’s
McDonald’s have a goal to send zero waste to landfill by 2020 which would be an incredible feat for such a large company and will hopefully inspire others to follow suit! I was incredibly surprised but pleased to see the huge focus on eco-friendliness within McDonald’s. Their oil is recycled and turned into bio-diesel which fuels their trucks and the lampshades are made out of fries boxes!
Instead of just dumping all your rubbish into the bin at the end of your meal, liquids should be poured away and everything put into the correct recycling bin. I was seriously impressed by all of this effort to become a self sustained and eco-friendly company.
What’s your favourite thing to order at McDonald’s?
Shay x
*This is a paid collaboration with McDonald’s, but all opinions are my own*
