McDonald's
Fast food restaurant · Pontoon Beach
2 Engineers Rd, Pontoon Beach, IL 62040
Highlights
Classic burger chain with iconic fries and burgers
Classic burger chain with iconic fries and burgers
"The fast-food chain released a 'Quarter Pounder Fan Club' merch line that includes a set of six novelty candles meant to replicate the individual components of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese—Bun, Ketchup, Pickle, Cheese, Onion, and “100% Fresh Beef”—alongside other items like a calendar and bumper stickers. Marketed as a gag (with an ominous recommendation to burn them together for the “full effect”), reviewers found each scent distinctly unpleasant: Cheese smells like congealed Velveeta-and-Rotel queso and stale chemical dairy; Onion is pungent and tear-inducing (suggested only for bathroom use); Sesame Seed Bun comes off as bland, mouth-drying “beige”; Ketchup gives a suffocating vinegar-and-corn-syrup aroma; Pickle evokes artificial, neon-green pickle juice; and the “100% Fresh Beef” candle reads as factory-farm grease and decades-old oil—a health-code-violation vibe. The overall take: an absurd, humorously gross novelty that succeeds at being off-putting, and it frustratingly omits the one scent many would actually want—french fry." - Jaya Saxena
"A major fast-food chain long known for offering the bacon, egg and cheese combo, its decades-long availability of the sandwich helps make the BEC a ubiquitous, cross-class breakfast staple; cited alongside corner stores in the piece, the chain’s offering underscores the sandwich’s everyperson appeal rather than any pretension, which is central to why the protagonist’s loss of that particular sandwich carries such emotional weight." - Jaya Saxena
"The modern chicken nugget began as a food-science invention by Robert C. Baker at Cornell in 1963 and was brought into the mainstream by a major burger chain in 1981 as a response to dietary shifts away from red meat. That product became a runaway success and exemplifies industrially engineered fast food: golden-fried, ideal for dipping, repeatedly reformulated over the years, and composed of more than 20 ingredients that reflect deliberate processing rather than a simple cut of meat." - Caleb Pershan
"Franchise owners are publicly frustrated with the chain’s chicken offerings and circulated a fervent National Owners Association email urging development of a chicken sandwich customers will crave, warning members not to be distracted from that priority. The letter uses dramatic, rallying language to frame the mission, defends the brand amid recent allegations of racial discrimination (emphasizing that franchisees feel duty-bound to “hold up the Arches” and assert that the truth is on their side), and laments past missteps such as a poorly received spicy BBQ chicken sandwich while invoking ambitious comparisons to historical goals like the moonshot. With customers defecting to competitors, owners even debate tactical changes — from recipe tweaks to suggestions like using dark meat — because the current McChicken is failing to retain patron loyalty." - Jaya Saxena
"Diners zero in on drink quality, with at least one reviewer insisting the fountain Sprite "tastes like gas," a terse, vivid complaint that captures the kind of hyperbolic, sensory-focused criticism common in one-star reviews." - Jaya Saxena
