McDonald’s is launching a new-look restaurant in the US that boasts an all-you-can-eat fries bar. Intriguingly, the restaurant takes most of its cues from McDonald’s Australia, including touch screen kiosks, table service and Create Your Taste burgers. Could a self-serve fries bar be coming to Australia too?
McDonald’s America has announced a new 2000 square metre restaurant in Missouri that will provide patrons with customisable burgers, digital touch screen menus and all-you-can-eat fries. The latter will presumably be offered for a premium, although pricing has yet to be announced.
McDonald’s Australia has been offering digital touch screens with an emphasis on bespoke burgers since 2014, but the parent company has been a bit slower on the uptake. The first Create Your Taste restaurants only began appearing in the US last year.
With the restaurant taking many of its design cues from Australia, we imagine local Macca’s representatives will be monitoring the success of the launch with keen interest. Could an all-you-can-eat fries bar be heading Down Under?
The main stumbling block would be Australia’s food standards which are stricter than America’s. For example, the laws surrounding kilojoule displays would make all-you-can eat fries problematic. Plus, the bad publicity would be substantial, arguably negating any boosts in profits that the initiative would bring in.
We’ve contacted McDonald’s Australia about the all-you-can-eat fries to see whether there are any plans to bring the initiative to Aussie customers. Watch this space!
[Via Business Insider]
Comments
14 responses to “McDonald’s Might Be Getting All-You-Can-Eat Fries”
“The main stumbling block would be… the laws surrounding kilojoule displays (which) would make all-you-can eat fries problematic.”
Why?
They’re approximately X kilojoules per serve, and as long as “a serve” is defined, wouldn’t that satisfy the display requirements?
If it’s self-serve, how is a customer expected to know what constitutes a “single” serve?
It wouldn’t be too difficult – you could indicate that an (n)kJ serve of chips is say, 100g. Give customers the ability to weigh their chips (maybe as they place them on a box/plate?) and you’ve done all you can.
Then you watch as they tip the entire fryer of fries on their plate and walk off happily.
Did I say I was referring to myself? Definitely not referring to myself… *laughs nervously*
Mass sensor in the bain marie, overhead display that converts mass of fries removed into number of servings. Basically like those overhead speed displays on the way from Geelong to Melbourne.
Even though it’s all you can eat, I would imagine you would get some form of standard chip box to load them into. Surely you’d just have signage that “a box is equal to X kjs, and be done with it.
But fries are like the worst thing on the menu
heathen!
Nutritionally
I would expect they would use a serving implement (eg a “scoop” much like they do to service fries in the back) that consitiuites a serve, people will abuse but really i see it much the same as Subways drink machines….
It would be no different to a buffet elsewhere. If they indicate their kJ / serve and that’s it, then they are doing much more than almost everywhere else that provides an all you can eat buffet menu.
Ugh. As if americans (and more and more aussies) need any more encouragement to become fat useless shits. Open salad bar would be better or at least put out along side the fries.
You are on the spot: we are following the American way in several ways and obesity is right there. According to government agencies from both countries: 68.8% of American adults are overweight (source NIH) and 63% of Aussies are the same (source AIHW).
Yeah it’s awful. While obese people disgust me, I’m the first person to say ‘each to his own’. However, let’s how many people are defending obesity in 20+ years when it’s costing us billions annually in medical.
I see self serve all you can eat fries working a little differently to how everyone else seems to think it would be. what if instead of a giant trench of fries which would be a health NIGHTMARE due to everyone sticking their gross hands into the chips, not to mention snot nosed children getting all over them, mcdonalds simply prepared chips the usual way, scooping them into the chip cups and then customers can just grab as many of the chip cups as they want. maybe theyd have three sizes, or maybe theyd just make a shitload of medium fries and people can go nuts.
that way, you dont have to worry about people not understanding how much a serve is, and you dont need to worry about other peoples germs (as much)
Or just place your chip cup in the holder, & press the button until it fills.