ALT.MCDONALDS FAQ -- PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING!!!
Kevin M. Hebert
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This list of questions and answers is intended to help the new alt.mcdonalds
reader learn a few basic things about McDonald's and its food. It will
be posted weekly on alt.mcdonalds and alt.food.mcdonalds.
Last revised: March 6, 1995
If there is a blatant problem with this FAQ, please email me at
kmhe...@seas.gwu.edu and I'll fix it!
Please feel free to distribute this FAQ any way you like.
-- Kevin M. Hebert
1.) Q: What is McDonald's?
A: McDonald's is an international restaurant business, with franchises
and owner-operated stores throughout the world, if not the universe.
2.) Q: Who founded McDonald's?
A: McDonalds was founded in Arcadia California by two brothers,
Maurice and Richard McDonald, in 1937. Ray Kroc was a Multimixer (for
shakes) salesman in 1954 when he came across McDonalds (he supplied
their multimixers). He was in awe of their efficient, cheap, popular,
and profitable operation. Although he wasn't the only one to franchise
the McDonalds name he was the only one who was was a stickler for what made
the original work, and was by far the most successful. The Kroc run
stores started up in the Chicago area in 1955. Ray Kroc was a bit of
a weirdo. His excitement for buisness and food shows in this statement in
his autobiography: "It was not her sex appeal but the obvious relish with
which she devoured the hamburger that made my pulse begin to hammer
with exitement."
3.) Q: What characters are associated with McDonald's?
A: Well, many, actually. Most famous is Ronald McDonald, a clown who
frequents McDonald's apparantly quite often, and loves kids. McDonald's
also has characters associated with its various products. Mayor McCheese,
the Mayor of McDonaldland, has a head shaped like a cheeseburger. Big
Mac, a policeman character, has a head shaped like a Big Mac sandwich.
Grimace, a purple, endearing blob character, loves McDonald's milkshakes.
Grimace - Grimace is Grimace. According to the "Straight Dope" syndicated
column, who quote McDonalds spokeswoman Jane Hulbert, Grimace is a "big fuzzy
purple fellow...[who] personifies the child in everyone...He is Ronald's
special pal. Everyone loves Grimace because of his innocent loving nature. He
occasionally causes trouble in McDonaldland because he is clumsy, but his
friends overlook this because he is so happy." Grimace is _not_ related to
Barney! Grimace was originally called the Evil Grimace. He had a penchant for
stealing milkshakes from small children. Consider the definition of grimace:
"A sharp contortion of the face expressive of pain, contempt, or disgust".
(from The American Heritage Dictionary). Fry Guys, little mophead-like things,
love McDonald's fries, as do their counterparts,Fry Gals. And, Captain Crook is
the hero of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich. There is Birdie the Early Bird, who was
introduced when breakfast began being served at McDonald's, and of course the
villianous Hamburglar, who steals hamburgers from McDonald's (but, can
you blame him?).
4.) Q: Wow! That's a lot!
A: Yes, it is. There is also an alien character, CosMc, but he is
unimportant. Also, there was a character called Mac Tonight
who had a head shaped like the moon and a theme song to the
words of "Mack the Knife".
5.) Q. Who was the orginal Ronald?
A. Famed weatherman Willard Scott. In the very first Ronald McDonald
commercial, with Willard Scott as Ronald(c.1960), he actually says something to
the effect of "I know you're not supposed to talk to strangers, kids, but it's
okay to talk to me, because I'm Ronald the hamburger-loving clown!"
6.) Q: What products does McDonald's serve?
A: Well, among other things, most American McDonald's have:
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A MENU. THIS IS A LIST OF ITEMS THAT ARE FREQUENTLY
DISCUSSED ON ALT.MCDONALDS.
BREAKFAST
Egg McMuffin -- Canadian bacon, egg, and cheese on an English Muffin.
Big Breakfast -- Sausage or Bacon, eggs, hash brown, etc.
Hot Cakes -- pancakes.
Sausage Biscuit -- sausage patty on a biscuit
Sausage and Egg Biscuit -- above, w/egg.
Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit -- Biscuit, with a circle of bacon and a
slice of cheese, and egg.
Danish -- usually cheese or apple pastry, other flavors available.
Hash Brown -- deep fried hash browned (potatoes) patty.
Breakfast Burrito -- a concoction made of eggs which is only vaguely Mexican.
Contains green chiles, onions, diced tomatoes, peppers,
American cheese, eggs, and diced sausage.
Orange Juice, Coffee, Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Orange Drink, Milk,
Iced Tea, Hot Tea, other beverages.
LUNCH/DINNER
Big Mac -- McD's trademark sandwich, 2 all beef patties, special sauce,
lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
The Big Mac was invented in 1974 by a Pittsburgh store owner
to counter other chains large sandwiches (e.g. Burger King's
Whopper). The buns in a Big Mac are, from top to bottom, the
crown, club, and heel.
Filet-O-Fish -- North Atlantic Cod Patty with cheese and tartar sauce.
The Filet-o-Fish was invented in 1965 by a store owner
(Louis Groen) in Cincinnati to counter the fish sandwich at
Bob's Big Boy on Fridays (Cincinnati had a large Catholic
population).
Hamburger -- small 100% beef patty w/ onions, pickle, ketchup, mustard.
Cheeseburger -- above, w/ a slice of American cheese.
Quarter Pounder -- 1/4 lb beef before cooking, w/ onions, and usually cheese.
McChicken Sandwich -- Chicken fillet with mayo, lettuce, also
Cajun Style McChicken and McGrilled Chicken Classic.
McDLT -- 1/4 lb beef, had tomato, lettuce in one side of a styrofoam
container, beef in other side, no longer avaliable in this fashion.
McLean -- 91% fat free burger, made with carrageenan (a seaweed deriviative)
topped with ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, pickles, tomatoes,
and lettuce.
McRib -- processed pork shaped like ribs, with BBQ sauce.
Chicken McNuggets -- processed chicken nuggets, with honey, BBQ, sweet and
sour, and hot mustard dipping sauces.
Chicken Fajitas -- spicy strips of chicken with peppers, etc in a flour
tortilla.
Daily Double -- 2 small all-beef patties, lettuce, tomato, cheese, mayo.
(Not available in all areas)
McPizza -- a decent pizza with cheese, pepperoni, and the works.
(Not available in all areas)
Happy Meals -- kid-sized portions of either cheeseburger, hamburger,
McNuggets, McPizza, with McDonaldland Cookies, small fries
and drink, and a toy.
DESSERT
Hot Apple Pie -- This baked concoction pales in comparison to its
predeccessor, a deep-fried, piping hot delicious concoction.
Soft Serve Cones -- small, inexpensive frozen yogurt; choc., van, or twist.
Sundaes -- great tasting hot-fudge, caramel. butterscotch, or strawberry
sundaes, with nuts if requested.
Chocolatey Chip cookies -- chocolate chip cookies.
McDonaldland cookies -- shortbread cookies in the shapes of McDonaldland
characters.
Milkshakes -- vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, with seasonal ones like
Artic Orange, Grape, and the INCREDIBLE Shamrock Shake.
MCDONALD'S ALSO HAS TEMPORARY OFFERS, SUCH AS THE MCJORDAN, DOUBLE/TRIPLE
CHEESEBURGERS, DOUBLE QUARTER POUNDER WITH CHEESE, ETC.
I have decided not to include worldwide information about McDonald's,
because there would be 1.) translation problems, and 2.) the size of
this file would triple. Also, while there are quite a few questions and
discussions about international McDonald's, none of them are general
enough to be included in a FAQ.
7.) Q. Wow! How many calories in all that food?
A. Exact nutritional numbers (including vitamins, fat, protien, carbos,
etc.) can be found at any restaurant in the pamphlet section. As a
basic rule though, all the entrees (and the fries) except for the McGrill
and McDLT have approximately 50% of calories from fat!
Big Mac: 490 (calories) 49% (%of calories from fat)
QuarterP.Cheese: 490 51%
McChicken: 490 55%
McNuggets 9pc.: 400 53%
McGrilled Chicken: 400 28%
Filet-o-Fish: 370 43%
McLean w/Cheese: 370 35%
Cheeseburger: 300 40%
Hamburger: 250 32%
Large Fries: 425 50%
Shakes (small):
-chocolate 350 17%
-strawberry 340 13%
-vanilla 310 15%
8.) Q. What is the special sauce?
A. The special sauce appears to be a mixture of mayonaisse, ketchup, and
relish. It is akin to thousand island dressing.
9.) Q. Does the beef for the hamburgers come from the rainforests?
A. In the U.S., only 100% American beef is used. In other countries,
McDonald's tries to use beef of that country. So you'll probably only
get a "rainforest" hamburger in Brazil! Actually, McDonald's DOES NOT
USE RAINFOREST MEAT whatsoever. Anyone telling you different is lying.
10.) Q. Does McDonald's offer free refills?
A. Yes. Some places may not advertise it, but if you bring your cup to
the counter, they are supposed to give you a free refill (Except
in several European countries). Also, McDonald's may be making a
switch to self-serve fountain drinks in the near future.
11.) Q. What is "Q-ing", and how can I make sure my sandwich doesn't
get "Q-d"?
A. "Q-ing" is the McDonald's term for microwaving (the Q stands for
"Quality"). Recently, McDonald's has been taking sandwiches that
were special ordered (i.e., extra cheese, etc.) and sticking them
in the Q-er to make them hot. The sandwiches get hot, but let's
face it -- we don't go to McDonald's for microwaved food! To get
a special order, order it AND THEN SAY "Do not microwave this
sandwich in the Q-er. I want it made the old way, fresh off the
grill". Then, if they microwave it (if you can't tell the difference,
then don't worry about it), take it back and say "I asked that this
sandwich not be "Q-d". Please remake it the way I asked". This may
seem extreme, but you have to be assertive to get what you want in
this world!
12.) Q. Where is the largest McDonald's in the WORLD?
A. The McDonald's in Beijing, China, is 28,000 square feet, 2 stories,
seats 700 and employs 1,000. This is the largest McDonald's in the
world. The Moscow McDonald's also seats 700.
13.) Q. What is the corporate address of McDonald's?
A. One McDonald's Plaza
Oak Brook, IL
60521
Telephone # (312) 575-3000
14.) Q. This is a newsgroup devoted to McDonalds. May I discuss other fast
food restaurants here?
A. Yes. There is a generic fast food newsgroup, called alt.food.fast-food,
but its propagation is limited (I don't get it, anyways), and you are
always welcome to express your opinions on McDonald's or any other
fast food chain here on alt.mcdonalds (although the flames and trolls
got tired years ago).
Special thanks to those who helped complete this FAQ, including:
"Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonalds" by Ray Kroc (with Robert
Anderson), 1977, Henry Regnery Co, Chicago.
"Straight Dope" syndicated column by Cecil Adams, 1994.
"McDonald's Nutrition Facts", pamphlet avail. at every McD's
"Hinduism Today", March 1991.
cca...@emerald.tufts.edu (Carolyn Cayode)
hub...@sci.kun.nl (Engelbert Hubbers)
Tony LaPaso lap...@asu.edu
Jai Maharaj jaima...@mcimail.com
mgma...@aol.com (MGMax1919)
ze...@picard.cs.wisc.edu (Curt Jacobsen)
ne...@acca.nmsu.edu (GareBear)
trc...@freenet3.scri.fsu.edu (Toby Cobb)
pickens@happy (Myron)
Jbat...@bigcat.missouri.edu (Jack Batterson)
fagan...@cobra.uni.edu (Molly Fagan)
do...@unixg.ubc.ca (Darren Downs)
jferra@tiahost (JJ Ferra)
carl...@it.uwp.edu (Kevin Carlborg)
gall...@nbnet.nb.ca (Brett Gallant)
wmcc...@gmu.edu (Bill McClatchie)
br...@gusun.acc.georgetown.edu (David Bruno)
qui...@gusun.acc.georgetown.edu (Jeffrey Quinn)
and a VERY special thanks to Michael Brian Field, fi...@cae.wisc.edu,
"The Burger Boy", because a lot of this FAQ is taken directly from his
preliminary alt.mcdonalds FAQ.
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Questions, comments, or additions to this FAQ should be sent to Kevin M.
Hebert: kmhe...@seas.gwu.edu. Kevin Hebert is not affiliated with McDonald's
in any way, shape, or form, but I know that he eats there a whole lot.
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holly hummel
about those kinds of things because it can cause a lot of trouble.