McDonald's — Restaurant in Scotland

Hold my beer.... Firstly I take no pleasure in leaving 1 star reviews for McDonald's restaurants. I actively avoid it if I can. However, in Fort William I unexpectedly encountered the second worst McDonald's I have ever had the misfortune to (attempt to) frequent.

Picture the scene: Four road-weary travellers have driven 3.5 hours to Fort William from Skye in the pitch black, due to an unreliable smart car and random closed road. Really picture this - get a good mental image. The only thing keeping them going is the promise of the fabled golden arches. So eager were they, they had already made a list of what they wanted to order. Racing against time, the road and themselves to reach McDonald's before the alleged 10 p.m. closing.

Through the sheer skill of our driver and a plucky Hyundai i-10 that sounds as if it has a bad chest cold, we MADE it. 20 MINUTES to spare. GET IN! I sprant from the car to the McDonald's with a cramp in my leg. I was met by a stout fellow with a chip (I don't mean a McDonald's french fry) on his shoulder.

"We're shut, I'm staff" he crowed while locking up. I checked my phone in disbelief. 9.40pm. Yet the LEGAL CLOSING TIME IS 10PM. Perhaps I was hasty in giving him some words from the more colourful side of my vocabulary, but I had just had my hopes dashed. Dashed like the titanic against the iceberg on it's ill fated first voyage.

In the end we were left to make a piecemeal banquet from scraps that we could grab in the final ten minutes of Morrison's closing. Very disappointing.

My message to the staff is this: Was it really worth closing 20 minutes early so you could rush home and indulge in the pleasures of the palm, or whatever the hell it is a young man does in Fort William on a Monday Eve. Was it worth depriving an honest family a few morsels of food? Enjoy your...

So after climbing Ben Nevis and feeling like heroes (or at least sweaty, hungry hikers), my son decided McDonald’s was the best reward. The car park wasn’t too bad, but stepping inside was like walking into rush hour at a chip shop. Clearly, this is where half of Scotland stops off on their travels.

Ordering on the screens was easy enough – no dramas there – and the food didn’t take long, which was good because I was about ready to eat my own arm. Standard McDonald’s food: not gourmet, but it hit the spot.

Now for the fun part… finding a seat. That was like a game of musical chairs, except when the music stops you’re sitting on a table with someone else’s leftover fries staring at you. The place definitely needed a bit more TLC – rubbish on the floor, food on tables, and the bins working overtime.

And because the sun decided to be at full blast, the restaurant basically turned into a greenhouse. No blinds, no shades, just full-on “McSweaty” vibes. Add in a bunch of flies buzzing about like they’d paid for a Happy Meal and yeah… not the most relaxing atmosphere.

All that said, food was fine, hunger was gone, and at least it gave us a laugh. Just needs less rubbish, fewer flies, and maybe some sunglasses and bug spray...

Classic MaccyD's experience.. No fuss, No bother.. just the usual breakfast or burger and fries at a fast pace.. and a decent app which seems to work all the time!

I like the limited editions on the menu.. Philly Cheesesteaks, Chilli burgers, new limited edition drinks etc etc, seems like they add/remove items pretty often so keeps it interesting..

If you order from within the app it earns you points, and those points literally equals FREE stuff! It doesn't take long to earn enough points for a FREE medium sized meal or a breakfast.. or even just a drink or some small fries, you earn points with every order..

My advice is- let the points build up and you can get a decent sized meal for free pretty quickly!

You can order via the app and then pick up at the counter, or have them deliver it to your table, or use the drive thru.. You can also change the items from within the app, ie add some more cheese/bacon or remove the pickles or mustard or whatever you dont want beforehand, its really easy and simple to do.. job done!

Is it any wonder MaccyD's serves so many customers, they are consistently good at...