Mac's Drive Thru — Restaurant in Gainesville

Disclaimer, I come from the cradle of In N' Out. Their first location and Burger University is about 20 minutes away from my old house. It is difficult to please me with a drive through style burger (don't get me started on the Carl's Jr. vs. Hardee's). With that said, Mac's is okay. A little bland, but okay. If they ask if you want salt, take it as the burger may need some. For the price, the food is great though.

Fries: Fries are a good texture, light and crispy outside, airy, fluffy inside. They remind me of traditional shoestring fries, of which they are a good representation. They are very lightly salted, and come in a little wax paper pocket. In the serving I received, all of them were fairly uniform in texture, none were excessively crunchy or limp. Serving size is reasonable.

Burger: The burger is a perfect size for lunch. It's not so big that you are going into a food coma in the middle of the day, but not so small that you feel like you won't make it to dinner. As others have said elsewhere, the burger is a good amount of greasy. It's not so greasy that it busts through the bottom of the bag, but not so dry that you have to wash it down with water (both of which I have had before). I had my burger "All the way" which has all the fixings; lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mayo, etc. and there was no excess lettuce water or veggie liquids saturating the burger, which is great. The meat is flame grilled. It had a nice crust and was done throughout, there was no pink, just grey. Do not expect a juicy burger nor a charred burger. It's right in the middle. The meat tastes like unseasoned ground beef. This makes the burger unoffensive and pallet-able to all. I had ordered the double burger (no cheese or bacon). Adding a couple of strips of bacon may resolve the primary issue I have of the blandness.

Experience: The second time here, I came at about 12:30, so it was busy. It didn't feel like forever, but the drive through like took about 20 minutes. The lady at the window was very friendly and welcoming. My food came out pretty fast after arriving at the window. Change was counted back to me and I went on my merry way.

Overall: I want to love Mac's, I really do. It reminds me of the old California burger joints I would frequent. You know, the ones that serve all kinds of burgers, sandwiches and Mexican food. No matter which one you went to, they would never really disappoint. The smell lofting from Mac's brings me back to So Cal. I will return to Mac's to try a burger with bacon and sample their other sandwiches. I will rate this 3 stars because it's okay. It's not amazing, nor terrible, not good, nor bad, just okay. And that seems to be the theme with Mac's. Give it a shot if you are in the area and are hungry. For me, it's a short 2 minute drive from work, but I wouldn't make a trip from the opposite side of town for it.

So....

Nobody goes to Mac's because they are poor and it's cheap food. Their customers include attorneys, city officials, car dealers, and folks who live in the Duckpond neighborhood, so yeah, poverty food? Not so much. And there are cheaper and faster burgers at BK a couple of blocks down the road.

They have a simple menu (only one size of fries, only a few selections for sandwiches.) If you want variety, look elsewhere. Old-fashioned burgers and fries without the frills and trendy nonsense is what it's about.

The food is fresh, and they prepare your items to order, they don't pull them off a pre-made assembly line and microwave them like BK does.

Despite (or perhaps because of) the lack of a sophisticated computer point-of-sale system, they manage to get your order right every time. I've never yet found a fast-food place that could manage to do that.

Cash-Only means they don't have to deal with credit card fees, and they are not losing any business because of it, since they're slammed at mealtimes.

So not only are people willing to wait in line for the food, they're willing to stop by an ATM first and get some cash, THEN wait in line, all so they can choose a few items from a limited menu with old-fashioned speakers. Are all these people REALLY doing that for bad food?

Of course not.

I just wish they hadn't started closing at 6, makes it harder for me to get there after work. And they stopped selling the "Cuban" which wasn't really a cuban, but was...

We go to Gainesville every 3 months for my son to see a doctor down there at the hospital it is a long 4 hour drive down for us and we always try to find a good spot especially one the locals suggest to eat when we go down because we are always hungry after the visits. After so many suggestions and seeing all the reviews we tried Macs. We got there about 1pm and the line was out into the road so that must be a good sign I thought, and the walk up windows had at least 15 people standing out there. Took us about 20 minutes to get to order which wasn’t too bad with the amount of cars in line. Got to the window the gentleman at the window had the best customer service skills ever! He was absolutely so nice and polite. The food was hot and fresh and for 4 of us the price point was good. We pulled across the street to the little strip mall they had over there to eat since this was a drive thru only establishment. The food was on point. The burgers were seasoned perfectly, the buns were so soft and fresh. The fries were crispy and hot. The sweet teas was perfectly sweetened as well! I see why the reviews are so high! This is a definite must try if you are in Gainesville! We have already decided we are going back next time we...