McDonald's — Restaurant in Gainesville

I write this review not merely as a record of my personal misfortune, but as a meditation on the subtle, insidious machinery of contemporary capitalism. Earlier today, I visited my local McDonald’s—an establishment which, for decades, has served as both shrine and sentinel to the consumerist zeitgeist. I approached with the modest hope of procuring a single cheeseburger. A humble request. A fleeting pleasure. And yet, what was delivered—or, more precisely, not delivered—has compelled me to reflect upon the profound inequities of our society.

The cheeseburger I ordered, modest in price yet monumental in symbolic weight, was forgotten. Lost, perhaps, in the shuffle of clerks and cash registers, but in that moment, I recognized a truth far greater than my own culinary disappointment. Consider: the $5 I spent, while insignificant in isolation, is a token of the uncountable sums extracted from the laboring class by the corporate leviathan that is McDonald’s. Every burger, every fry, every artificially sweetened beverage is a silent transaction in the ledger of modern exploitation. Today, it was my cheeseburger that was misappropriated; tomorrow, it will be something more consequential—time, attention, dignity.

I imagine the corporate boardrooms where these decisions—however trivial they appear—are codified. Figures in suits, distant from both the griddle and the humanity of their patrons, consider the mechanics of profit and loss without ever tasting the tangible fruits of their own enterprise. And yet, I argue, there is a poetry in this neglect. A cheeseburger forgotten is not merely a meal; it is a metaphor. It is the condensation of the countless ways in which the working class is systemically undervalued, overlooked, and—dare I say—cheated. To lose a burger is to glimpse, however briefly, the grand tapestry of inequality.

Let it be clear: this review is not motivated by the triviality of five dollars, nor by the fleeting pangs of hunger. It is a record, a testament, a warning. Even in the smallest interactions—here, a single cheeseburger—one may discern the shadow of a far-reaching structure designed to appropriate both labor and expectation. And while some may scoff at such hyperbole, I submit that the philosophical gravity of this moment should not be underestimated.

In conclusion, while the price of my missing cheeseburger may seem negligible, the implications are monumental. McDonald’s, knowingly or not, participates in a system that commodifies not only food but human experience. One star, therefore, is not merely a reflection of today’s operational failure; it is an elegy to the working class, a lamentation for the stolen cheeseburger, and a warning to all who dare to approach the Golden Arches with hope...

I would give it zero Stars if I could. First I went there to get an Apple fritter for my son because that's his favorite thing to eat when he's allowed a special treat. It was 9:57 a.m., well within breakfast time parameters. The apple fritter was hard and cold, very nasty. So of course my son was extremely upset, so I said let's just wait for lunch and we'll get some fresh nuggets. So we waited around until 10:42 just to make sure they were ready for lunch. Proceeded to order a cheeseburger, I asked for special preparations and was met with a very confused reply. It was a very simple modification, but it seemed to dumbfound the order taker. Then I ordered a 10-piece nugget, and was told that I could not get nuggets because they were changing the grease. Okay totally understandable I don't want old grease left over from breakfast. So I said that's fine how long will it be, the reply was I don't know. Okay, so I ordered a mocha frappe, and I was told we don't do mocha anymore. Okay well let me try the caramel macchiato, that machine is broken. Okay so now I'm like zero for four seems like I can't get anything I want today at the McDonald's that I go to a lot. So I said okay fine let's just go back to the cheeseburger, and I'm totally expecting it to be wrong when I get to the window and pay. Of course it was wrong like I expected. But one plus side I was told that the grease was ready, and they were cooking the nuggets. Well to my surprise when I received my 10-piece nugget it was room temperature. So of course I'm confused at this point thinking well these should have been really hot considering this is fresh grease, and they were just cooked. So what that tells me is there's an inconsiderate staff who frankly does not care about customer service. That's what they're there to do, and that's what they get paid for. So basically both trips through McDonald's drive thru this morning we're absolutely terrible. I truly don't understand why people don't want to do their jobs anymore. But yet they definitely want that pay raise don't they? $15 an hour to treat people like garbage, and completely get everything about their order wrong. There are men women out here laboring extremely hard jobs, and get paid the same amount as these McDonald's workers. It makes me absolutely sick. So I definitely will not be going back to that McDonald's ever again. As long as there's a staff in there that takes zero pride...

10/10/24:

I was refused service in the lobby because "The lobby is closed after 10" despite me sitting there for 30 minutes before anyone took my order. The manager acted EXTREMELY ghetto about the whole situation and didn't offer to even take my order on the only kiosk that was open, and instead told me to just order on the mobile app and get into the drive through. I walked into the lobby because I Wanted to sit down and eat my food, not waste my gas by idling in a carloop with slow staff who can't read directions. Never in my life have I heard of a McDonalds being open 24/7 and the lobby closes down at 10. It seemed to me the manager and her crew didn't want to do their jobs fully and just collect pay checks. Now I don't have dinner tonight after a long evening of work. Thanks McDonalds for hiring complacent lazy staff who wants to just collect a pay check. There's not reason they couldn't have taken my order in the lobby when the drive through was dead empty. If I could rate -10 stars I would. Piss poor management still, lazy and horrible workers who will let a customer sit in the lobby for 30 minutes then deny him service the way he wants. I hope McDonalds corporate shuts this establishment down.

3 months ago:Incompetent staff, who apparently don’t understand no onions extra pickles. Because every time I ask for a McDouble with no onions extra pickles. They always screw the order up and give me no pickles EXTRA onions. Now I have to dismantle my sandwich and scrape an absolute ass load off onion off my burger. The staff is absolutely rude and doesn’t give a damn about their job. Whoever is the manager of this establishment needs to be replaced by a proper manager, and the staff needs to be replaced with competent people who have an actual work ethic. I shouldn’t have to go back to McDonald’s for them to replace my food, they should be able to read instructions, be it they’re verbal or written. I also don’t appreciate the drive thru operators making me repeat my self multiple times then tell me to calm down because I have to repeat my order over and over. Do yourself a favor and avoid this joke of an establishment. So thanks McDonalds on West University Ave for screwing up my sandwich. I get yall don’t wanna have to work in a hurricane, but don’t take it out on the...