McDonalds Shake Fries

storewanderer
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McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by storewanderer »

McDonalds is testing shake fries in Sacramento, CA. The shake fries have been sold at McDonalds in certain other countries for a while.

The fries are still prepared as normal with plain salt.

Then (currently free, but this appears to be a promotion), if you want the shake fries, you are given another paper bag and a seasoning packet (currently buffalo, ranch, or garlic parmesan). The fries still come in the standard paper bag or box.

You dump the fries from the standard bag or box into the larger shake fry bag. Then you put the seasoning in and shake. There appears to be just one size seasoning packet and if you read it, it says to use less for small, more for large. I used about 1/3 of the container for a small and they were overly salty for me, but not too much so. The fries were good as they were crisp and fresh. I could see this being a mess with soggy fries as the seasoning would stick to the first fries it came into contact with and not properly distribute when you shake.

I am further curious about this item since fast food here has typically been "ready to consume immediately" items requiring no effort on the part of the customer. This requires effort since you have to move the fries from the original bag into the shake bag, think about how much seasoning to use, shake, etc.

The other thing I noticed was the shake bags and seasoning packets were not kept in the fry area but over in the area with other condiments. This creates an interesting work flow issue for the employee having to go to two different "stations" to fill one single item order. This is very unusual for McDonalds.

I am also surprised at the lack of a pepper flavor.

With all that said this seems like a reasonable enhancement to their menu in the United States.
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by BillyGr »

Didn't Burger King have some kind of powdered seasoning for fries once? Not sure about giving a bag to shake them in, though.
storewanderer wrote:McDonalds is testing shake fries in Sacramento, CA. The shake fries have been sold at McDonalds in certain other countries for a while.

The fries are still prepared as normal with plain salt.

Then (currently free, but this appears to be a promotion), if you want the shake fries, you are given another paper bag and a seasoning packet (currently buffalo, ranch, or garlic parmesan). The fries still come in the standard paper bag or box.

You dump the fries from the standard bag or box into the larger shake fry bag. Then you put the seasoning in and shake. There appears to be just one size seasoning packet and if you read it, it says to use less for small, more for large. I used about 1/3 of the container for a small and they were overly salty for me, but not too much so. The fries were good as they were crisp and fresh. I could see this being a mess with soggy fries as the seasoning would stick to the first fries it came into contact with and not properly distribute when you shake.

I am further curious about this item since fast food here has typically been "ready to consume immediately" items requiring no effort on the part of the customer. This requires effort since you have to move the fries from the original bag into the shake bag, think about how much seasoning to use, shake, etc.

The other thing I noticed was the shake bags and seasoning packets were not kept in the fry area but over in the area with other condiments. This creates an interesting work flow issue for the employee having to go to two different "stations" to fill one single item order. This is very unusual for McDonalds.

I am also surprised at the lack of a pepper flavor.

With all that said this seems like a reasonable enhancement to their menu in the United States.
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by Alpha8472 »

Burger King has a new and young CEO. I believe he is 33 years old and he actually spent time working at a Burger King serving food and scrubbing toilets. He realized that there were too many food choices. The huge menu and excessive number of toppings slowed down the food making process and the lines. He went through the menu and got rid of the time consuming items. The key to fast service is simplifying the ingredients. Use as few toppings as possibles and make the sandwiches simple and quick to make.

Shake fries just adds time and makes a mess. Little add on ingredients take up time and slow everything down. I don't believe that people will be impressed by shake fries and it probably won't attract any new customers. Fast food is all about being fast, cutting costs, and getting customers in and out of the restaurant.

McDonald's is experimenting with so many new menu items such as frapps, teas, smoothies, shakes, new burgers with tons of different combinations. It is getting to be too much. Everyone else is being slowed down and customers are upset at the increased wait times and long lines. Those chicken wings were the ultimate in time consuming labor. Employees had to defrost, set aside a section of the fryer for the wings, and prepare everything. Catering to a few customers who want something time consuming, takes time away from 10 other customers who could have been served in the mean time.
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by pseudo3d »

Remember, the McDLT was also a "DIY assembly" item too, requiring customers to actually put together parts of the burger themselves... :roll:

Can't see it lasting long, though...I still remember the Fish McNuggets back in spring 2013. That was a fun item. :roll:
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by Super S »

McDonald's has tried many new ideas. But one where they hit a home run in my opinion is by now serving breakfast all day. Jack In The Box has done this for years. For many people like myself whose work schedules can vary and start at later times, it is nice having a breakfast option at a nontraditional breakfast time. I will say I have stopped there at times I otherwise would not have because of the fact breakfast is now served all day.
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by arizonaguy »

McDonald's actually has too many items on the menu.

The all day breakfast didn't go well with some franchisees: http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonald ... re-2015-10
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by BillyGr »

arizonaguy wrote:McDonald's actually has too many items on the menu.
Just the opposite of the original concept, which took a large menu (when the brothers still had it as a carhop served drive in) and cut it to a minimal selection (burgers, soda, side - originally chips then fries, shakes, coffee) to make it easier to serve people rapidly.
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by pseudo3d »

Gotta admit, when I heard the term "Shake Fries" I was thinking it was some sort of milkshake-flavored fries or something. Now that would be innovation :mrgreen:
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by jamcool »

arizonaguy wrote:
McDonald's actually has too many items on the menu.

Just the opposite of the original concept, which took a large menu (when the brothers still had it as a carhop served drive in) and cut it to a minimal selection (burgers, soda, side - originally chips then fries, shakes, coffee) to make it easier to serve people rapidly

Which is In-N-Out Burger's current menu and it works fine for them!
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Re: McDonalds Shake Fries

Post by Brian Lutz »

If you want to see something today that looks a lot like McDonald's did back in its early days, the Dick's Drive in chain in Seattle seems to be a pretty good approximation. The menu is basically four different types of burgers, fries, shakes, drinks and a few ice cream items.

http://www.ddir.com/menu
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