McDonald's will test market a small format spinoff brand

[Brian Lutz]

https://www.fastcompany.com/90993684/wh ... -led-store

And the first official information is out, and basically confirms what was seen in the earlier Twitter link. Drive-thru only locations focused mostly on drinks with some McDonald's breakfast and dessert items. Apparently 10 of these are supposed to open in Texas before the end of the year.

[babs]

They've struggled with coffee. Broken machines, only having whole milk as an option, etc... If they can't get the details right, this will struggle. I'm not seeing what innovation they're bringing to the market beyond their financial heft.

[storewanderer]

They've struggled with coffee. Broken machines, only having whole milk as an option, etc... If they can't get the details right, this will struggle. I'm not seeing what innovation they're bringing to the market beyond their financial heft.

I feel that way about this chain in general.

At least the US operation.

Much better run overseas.

[Alpha8472]

This is an attempt at stealing customers away from Starbucks and Dutch Bros. Dutch Bros. locations are small and cheap to set up. There is no dining room and the menu is focused on quick drive thru drinks with limited food.

CosMc's has no seating indoor or outdoor. There are no fryers or grill-tops. Food is heated in an oven.

[ClownLoach]

This is an attempt at stealing customers away from Starbucks and Dutch Bros. Dutch Bros. locations are small and cheap to set up. There is no dining room and the menu is focused on quick drive thru drinks with limited food.

CosMc's has no seating indoor or outdoor. There are no fryers or grill-tops. Food is heated in an oven.

I question the kitchen piece. They are serving the Egg McMuffin line as well as hash browns. They will definitely have some sort of small grill and fryer for both. It doesn't have to be large but I do not see McDonald's going through the work of fabricating equipment and shipping for pre-made egg patties for example when even crappy brands like Panera and it's sister bagel brands cook fresh cooked eggs on a special grill that is 24 inches wide with egg rings. If there is one thing that rings true about McDonald's it is their process for making their, well, processed food and they're not going to change that part of it. Also they have some fresher, fancier breakfast sandwiches that would not be frozen or pre-made including omelet sandwiches. There has to be a kitchen and furthermore if there wasn't one than this former Boston Market is potentially 75% empty inside which I find doubtful. McDonald's is not going to build troublesome tiny sites like Dutch Bros and furthermore there is no need to with so many dead Burger King, Carl's/Hardee's, Boston Market, Arby's and other failing chains clearing out their real estate. They obviously intend to convert such spaces as part of the concept otherwise they would have built a bespoke concept. The bespoke Dutch Bros concept is their downfall as it adds substantial expense to the opening process while their newer competitors that were likely ex employees (Human Bean, Black Rock and others) use recycled buildings most of the time. I believe McDonald's is cooking this concept up not only to compete with Starbucks but also derail their plans to convert most of their restaurants to drive thru sites. If CosMc's works then you could quickly see McDonald's competing for the same dead restaurants Starbucks is going after.

And I also suspect that there will be several with dining rooms and such in the wave to open in Texas.

Starbucks has been a big threat to McDonald's, but McDonald's knows that they have a major advantage with what I'd argue is superior breakfast food because it's made fresh. The upgraded items like the omelet sandwiches take a firm aim at Starbucks. I do not believe McDonald's would squander this fresh food advantage to compete with Starbucks literal frozen reheated breakfast food. Everything about this concept is "McDonald's done better" to capture the Starbucks customer that perceives their product as superior. Serving the same kind of frozen reheated processed foods would go against that entirely and would not warrant the space this is taking. It has to have a real kitchen with a small grill and fryer of some sort.

[Brian Lutz]

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/12/8/ ... -fast-food

The Bollingbrook CosMc's opened this past weekend to waits as long as 2 1/2 hours, apparently driven significantly by social media hype.

[veteran+]

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/12/8/ ... -fast-food

The Bollingbrook CosMc's opened this past weekend to waits as long as 2 1/2 hours, apparently driven significantly by social media hype.

Hysterical....................

[ClownLoach]

Pictures do confirm that they are using a real kitchen to cook the sandwiches at least as they are managing to put together toasted bread, cold unmelted cheese, and what look like factory eggs and batch cooked steam table sausage. Reviews from the Chicago Tribune are pretty mediocre overall but there were some drinks that were apparently good. The line system is chaotic, apparently you pay at the order kiosk and do not proceed until there is a "green light" then you go directly to the window. I don't think this is much better than a double order lane system.

[storewanderer]

Pictures do confirm that they are using a real kitchen to cook the sandwiches at least as they are managing to put together toasted bread, cold unmelted cheese, and what look like factory eggs and batch cooked steam table sausage. Reviews from the Chicago Tribune are pretty mediocre overall but there were some drinks that were apparently good. The line system is chaotic, apparently you pay at the order kiosk and do not proceed until there is a "green light" then you go directly to the window. I don't think this is much better than a double order lane system.

I didn't go look at the pictures but on the eggs is it the round egg or the square/yellow egg? The round egg with them starts from raw whole shell egg and back when they did all day breakfast they had a stand alone egg cooker thing they used to cook eggs (due to grill temperature being higher for burgers than eggs, this is why Jack in the Box eggs always seem so well done) after breakfast. The square/yellow egg is a frozen item that I find to be terrible and also I've tried to feed to multiple dogs/cats who refuse to eat it so it must really be a terrible product as the same dogs/cats love actual cooked whole shell egg including the round McDonalds egg.