McDonald's: Here are 5 tips to get a perfect order every time

Fast-food fans know better than anyone: ordering at McDonald's can be a bit of a lottery. Overcooked or even charred fries, lukewarm and bland drinks or burgers that are already cold when you receive your order... The reasons for dissatisfaction with the American burger giant are as diverse as they are varied.

But fortunately, there are a few tricks of the trade, known mainly to the chain's current and former employees, that can help you make the most of every visit to McDonald's. Here are just a few of them.

Perfectly cooked French fries

It's one of the most common complaints of McDonald's aficionados: barely enough time to sit down at the table or rush home with the menu in hand before the fries are already cold. And yet, when ideally cooked, the American chain's potato strips are among the best in the world: crisp and fragrant to perfection, even if their composition still leaves something to be desired.

So, to ensure that the pleasure is there every time, some don't hesitate to use an increasingly well-known trick: ask for salt-free fries when you order. The staff will then be forced to make a fresh batch to satisfy your request, and these are likely to be perfectly cooked. All you have to do is add the salt as you wish.

And if you're one of those people who are always on the lookout for a receptacle for their French fry sauce, here's another tip that might just change your life:

Avoid cold burgers

Is there any more unpleasant feeling than returning home victorious only to discover that your precious Big Mac is now cold? To avoid this inconvenience, there's a very simple trick: perform what McDo employees call a 'grill order', i.e. remove an element from the basic sandwich so that it can be prepared to order.

And to make sure that this element isn't simply removed from an already existing sandwich, you can also pretend that you're allergic to the removed ingredient.

Optimize your drink

Why are some people obsessed with McDonald's Coke? Quite simply because it's made on the premises using syrup, then mixed with water in the fast-food chain's soda fountains. So, if you like the unique taste of your favorite McDonald's drink, we'd advise you to avoid ordering it with ice cubes: they'll quickly melt and dilute your Coke a little more, gradually erasing the taste.

On the other hand, if you find McDonald's drinks invariably too sweet, the best thing to do is systematically ask your team members for ice cubes. By the way, did you know that the numbered buttons on the lid of your drink have a very specific meaning?

Choose Drive

Want to be served as quickly as possible? Then the best thing to do is to use the Drive. McDonald's team members know this all too well: no matter how busy a restaurant is, orders placed via the Drive take priority. Customers who come to the dining room have to be patient if there's a backlog in the kitchen.

Obviously, this rule is less advantageous when traffic jams build up at the Drive, as was sometimes the case during a year marked by confinements in 2020.

Choose your time (well)

To avoid the wait and the crowds, it's best not to visit a McDonald's in the middle of the rush, during the lunchtime and dinner rush hours. If you have the opportunity, we'd advise you to postpone your visit to Ronald's for a while.

If that's all you can do, and since McDonald's team members are above all human and capable of making mistakes, don't hesitate to check the contents of your order to make sure everything's in your bag.

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This article has been translated from Gentside FR.