McDonald's will test market a small format spinoff brand

[storewanderer]

And as I noted in another thread, Red Robin seems to have switched to smash burger style cooking, and it actually seems to be a pretty good improvement compared to their older burgers (which could be thick and rather dense at times.)

Didn't Red Robin used to BBQ the burgers?

And now they are doing flat grilling?

I wonder if the are doing some weird thing like Habit has done some of sometimes where they grill the burger partially then put it on a flat to finish it.

I don't know what the machine is called but Red Robin would stick their burgers into a machine that has a conveyer belt and the burger would come out on the bottom cooked, similar to Burger King. They were not using a grill.

Interesting. I have received so many burgers over the years from Red Robin that were not cooked all the way through I always assumed they used an open grill.

The conveyor char broiling machines that Burger King and Carls use (vertical conveyor belt) do have some openings in the middle to only do a half-way through the conveyor char (for thinner burger, fish, etc.) so maybe they put them through the middle or something.

Some smaller format Burger King units have used a smaller vertical unit where you drop the burger into the top and it vertically char broils and comes out the bottom.

The thing with these systems is it is supposed to ensure a consistent cook through every time. With Red Robin that sure wasn't happening.

[cjd]

My prediction for this format:

4. Milkshakes/ice cream yes

You mean they’ll actually have an ice cream machine that works consistently?!

[storewanderer]

My prediction for this format:

4. Milkshakes/ice cream yes

You mean they’ll actually have an ice cream machine that works consistently?!

Yes, this new concept will transmit us back to the 80's when the equipment was working constantly.

They aren't alone at this. I went into a Wendys last week who had no frosty. They have two machines, how can both be broken? They also had a handwritten sign, "no biscuits," and another handwritten sign card/exact change only due to coin shortage. These signs were all new, not there last month.

[ClownLoach]

Looking up Heavy Handed, it seems to be a physical location for what used to be a food truck. Those prices seem to be stupid expensive, but are actually pretty typical (for better or worse) for food truck fare.

As for the "old" McDonald's, I think one of the closest modern analogues you can find to that is Dick's Drive-in in the Seattle area. The first location opened in 1954 and they have changed surprisingly little since that time, with only minimal changes to the limited menu and relatively low prices in spite of the high cost of living in the Seattle area. I was never a huge fan of Dick's when I lived in Seattle (I always preferred Burgermaster), but they have a very loyal following, and have recently opened several new locations in the Seattle suburbs (Edmonds, Kent, Bellevue and a Federal Way location just opened yesterday.)

Food for thought. Apparently Jack in the Box has suddenly started testing the "Smash Jack" at a location in LA. Pictures look vomit inducing and don't resemble anything smashed (just like their alleged ribeye burger didn't seem to be anything other than the usual frozen Jack patty more steamed than grilled to order). It's 50 cents less than Heavy Handed who is grinding their own premium meat and making their own sauce and pickles in house. So hard to call them expensive at that point.

[storewanderer]

Food for thought. Apparently Jack in the Box has suddenly started testing the "Smash Jack" at a location in LA. Pictures look vomit inducing and don't resemble anything smashed (just like their alleged ribeye burger didn't seem to be anything other than the usual frozen Jack patty more steamed than grilled to order). It's 50 cents less than Heavy Handed who is grinding their own premium meat and making their own sauce and pickles in house. So hard to call them expensive at that point.

Not sure what they are doing. It looks like they may be trying to copy Smashburger but that is thicker than Smashburger. I don't see any crispy edges or even an effort to get them. It appears it may be cooked similar to Five Guys with a big giant patty press that was perhaps barely pressed down (one big "smash"- doesn't make crispy edges but does smash it pretty thin). The proper cooking method with Steak N Shake where you hit it 4 times around the sides are what gets the crispy edges to come out. They may want to go visit Steak N Shake that is currently still open in Victorville or Yucca Valley to understand how this product is supposed to be made.

Those patties look just as thick as a typical Jumbo Jack patty. They are definitely thicker than a junior patty.

[Brian Lutz]

So it appears that one of the first locations for the new CosMc's format is under construction in Bollingbrook Illinois, and someone on Twitter has taken apparent pictures of one of the menu boards:



If this is to be believed, the menu will be focused mostly on drinks (leading to suggestions that they are looking to take on Dutch Bros) with some breakfast and dessert items from the regular McDonald's menu (along with a few unique to CosMc's) thrown in. It is expected that more official info will be revealed at an upcoming investor day at the end of the month.

A bit more info and more pictures of the building here:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/fo ... 799984007/

[storewanderer]

It looks like they can flip it to being a standard McDonalds in a few hours.

They need to address current execution; they have so many problems with the US poor operation a new concept is an unnecessary side show.

[ClownLoach]

It looks like they can flip it to being a standard McDonalds in a few hours.

They need to address current execution; they have so many problems with the US poor operation a new concept is an unnecessary side show.

This is a lot less food than I expected and I would imagine that the "kitchen" area for food is tiny. I don't think they could cook a whole meal. I wonder if they are sending Pre cooked meat that gets warmed in those "warming trays" the current restaurants put batch cooked components into.

Seems like an attack on Dutch Bros, all the Soda stand places popping up in AZ and elsewhere, and Starbucks. But this is way too much real estate. To make money with this limited menu they need to cut the space in half. Glad to see it appears to have a dining room though, I think the operators are backing off these brain dead COVID era ideas that were borne out of the insane idea man would be living a solitary life, not eating in public, etc. forever.

I also think this social media post is inaccurate. I think it was a focus group test not a commercial shoot, and as a result the actual menu items or pricing may bear no resemblance to this. Commercial shoots would have blocked the view entirely with rigs, lighting, tents, reflector panels etc. It is not very likely that this was a commercial shoot. I'll bet they keep bringing test customers for focus groups through the site and keep reworking the menu and such based on the feedback. I've participated in focus groups and they operate the same exact way.

I wonder if the intent is to flip a number of lower performing McDonald's to this format which is probably cheaper to operate?

[BillyGr]

I wonder if the intent is to flip a number of lower performing McDonald's to this format which is probably cheaper to operate?

Could be, and it could also be a way to satisfy those customers who were unhappy with not being able to get breakfast items throughout the day.

Say you have an area with a half dozen locations close to each other - take the worst performing one, swap it to this, then advertise that to the area "We heard those of you who wanted us to serve breakfast all day - it's now available at the CosMc's at xxx".

[ClownLoach]

I wonder if the intent is to flip a number of lower performing McDonald's to this format which is probably cheaper to operate?

Could be, and it could also be a way to satisfy those customers who were unhappy with not being able to get breakfast items throughout the day.

Say you have an area with a half dozen locations close to each other - take the worst performing one, swap it to this, then advertise that to the area "We heard those of you who wanted us to serve breakfast all day - it's now available at the CosMc's at xxx".

They also appear to have a couple of upgraded breakfast sandwiches with "omelet" eggs on this menu, which could be a test of new items for the regular McDonald's menus.