McDonald's — Restaurant in Town of Halfmoon

A Deeply Disappointing Experience, from Counter to Corporate

I walked into McDonald’s expecting nothing more than a quick hit of familiarity and convenience. What I got was a masterclass in apathy—proof that the Golden Arches have tarnished into something more closely resembling sad brass.

Service: A Study in Indifference

The moment I stepped up to the counter, the cashier barely looked up from her phone. My greeting (“Hi, how’s your day going?”) was answered with a sigh so heavy I felt the HVAC system adjust to compensate. Orders trickled out of the kitchen in no discernible sequence; a teenager who ordered ten minutes after me collected his food first, while I stood watching congealing fries idle under heat lamps like limp yellow confetti. When I asked for an update, the response was an unconvincing “It’ll be right out,” delivered with the enthusiasm of a voicemail menu.

Food: Consistently Inconsistent

I’ll grant that no one walks into McDonald’s expecting haute cuisine, but even the rock-bottom bar of “warm, edible, and vaguely burger-shaped” was missed. The bun: stale, the kind of dry that sticks to the roof of your mouth like packing peanuts. The patty: gray, under-seasoned, and so thin it resembled a meat-flavored Post-it note. The lettuce was a translucent afterthought, wilted into a damp lettuce-skeleton. As for the fries—long touted as the brand’s saving grace—they alternated between brittle, over-fried shards and oddly chewy strips that tasted of reheated grease. Salt distribution? Imagine shaking the barrel of a shotgun and hoping the pellets land evenly.

Even the “safe” fallback, a vanilla sundae, arrived half-melted, its swirl now a beige puddle slouched against the side of the cup. The single embedded peanut felt like an insult rather than a topping.

Cleanliness: The Not-So-Hidden Cost

Tables were dotted with smeared ketchup fingerprints and receipts curling at the edges like molting snakeskin. A stray pickle slice adhered to the tile floor, clearly so fossilized that future archaeologists could carbon-date the moment corporate ignored the mops. The drink station looked like a soda crime scene: sticky puddles spreading in slow motion, lids scattered like plastic lily pads, and a lone straw wrapper floating in the iced tea reservoir.

Bathrooms? Picture a gas-station restroom that lost its last “Employees Must Wash Hands” sign in 2016. Paper towel dispensers hung at odd angles, as if shamefully turning away from the situation they could no longer solve.

Atmosphere: Manufactured Joy, Malfunctioning Parts

The piped-in music—an algorithmic loop of pop anthems—played at a volume guaranteed either to irritate or disappear entirely beneath the clatter of plastic trays. Fluorescent lights flickered intermittently, bathing everything in a sickly pallor that made even Ronald’s trademark smile feel menacing. Digital menu boards promised zesty innovation (“Grand Deluxe Bacon Ranch!”), but actual availability was a roulette wheel: 40 percent of the items bore the dreaded “Temporarily Out” sticker, which looked permanent enough to outlast the furniture.

Corporate Culture Bleeds Through

Poor service and bad burgers could be chalked up to one mismanaged location, but McDonald’s corporate ethos is visible in every corner: a relentless drive to squeeze pennies that shows up as understaffed crews, minimal training, and ingredients sourced for rock-bottom cost rather than basic quality. The chain’s recent marketing spins nostalgia—shaking us by the shoulders and insisting we remember how the fries taste—but memory can’t hide the reality of wage stagnation, supply-chain shortcuts, and an overreliance on self-checkout kiosks that break down more often than they streamline.

Value: Cheap, Yet Overpriced

Yes, my entire meal cost less than a gourmet coffee—but value isn’t purely mathematical. When the experience feels like a chore and the food fails the simplest tests of freshness, every dollar feels wasted. I left still hungry, still annoyed, and somehow still coated...

the woman who took my order this past Sunday (4/6/25) just kept saying "and what else?" after every single thing I ordered. And in the pushiest way possible? If that makes sense? It was annoying honestly. I don't understand why it is so difficult to take an order through the drive thru? Maybe let people take a breath and look at the menu before badgering them? Instead of saying "and what else? maybe say "anything else?" or "is there anything else you'd like/I can get you?" Anyway. I ordered 2 double cheeseburgers, 1 with no mustard no pickle. Large Hi C Orange and Large Dr. Pepper light ice.

The regular double cheeseburger all the condiments were clumped in one small section of the burger. And the bun was rock hard/stale on the bottom, so it was impossible to eat. Just gross. The burger without mustard and pickle, still had pickle on it which my friend tried picking off but she is very picky and swears she can still taste the JUICE of the pickle. So she wouldn't eat her burger neither. I don't know if I actually believe that, but I guess when you really hate something? Maybe it's true? She said she could smell and taste it on the burger still.

The worst part of this: I was the only one in the drive thru except one car ahead of me and they were at the window already before I started ordering. So I pulled up behind them and they were handed this big box with Buffalo Bills on the side of it and drinks. And then they sat there talking, loudly with the guy in the window, about football. I could hear their entire convo. I looked at the clock, and my friend said "Cmon, what are they doing? Why are they just talking and not moving? They got their food...time to go...." and I told her she was being impatient, and surely they still had other items coming...the guy in the window wouldn't just be sitting there chatting and laughing and conversing knowing they had another customer waiting in line right? WELL...that's exactly what he did. For over 7 minutes. Because just when I started to get fed up and was going to pull off after waiting so long...the car just drove away. They weren't waiting on anymore food. They were literally just sitting there chatting with the guy at the window. So I pulled up, and he tried handing me drinks, but one of the drinks he tried giving was a sprite not dr pepper. So I told him I didnt order that. And he got all flustered and started looking around and I said its Dr Pepper not Sprite. So he made a new drink and handed it to me, and I asked him why he thought it was okay to just let people sit in a line waiting for their food while he sat talking about football with people? He handed me my bag and closed the window walking away without answering me.

I have never been to this location before. I dont know if I will ever be there again. But when I find out what locations the owner of this one owns (if any other?) I will avoid them all like plague. If they allow an idiot like this? No thanks. They will have them at every location probably and I dont have the...

McDonald’s is going from bad to worse.

Story time.

We stopped by this location during our road trip—hungry and excited. We ordered a bunch of items: nuggets, a Deluxe McCrispy, a Double Quarter Pounder, and more. While ordering, we specifically confirmed that the Double Quarter Pounder should not have bacon, and clearly stated that we cannot have bacon. We pulled up, paid for our order, received our food at the next window, and drove off. Once back on the highway and ready to eat, we opened the boxes—only to find bacon pieces in the Double Quarter Pounder. Of course, we were disappointed and still hungry. We took the next exit and went back to the location—adding 30 minutes to our trip just in driving time. Inside, we explained the situation to an employee and showed her the burger with bacon. She took it to the back, shouted to the kitchen, and then returned to minding her own business. We waited: 5 minutes… 10 minutes… 15 minutes. At that point, we were wondering—how long can it take to make one burger? When we finally saw her again and asked for an estimated time, she yelled over to the kitchen again and continued with whatever she was doing. A few minutes later, she handed us a new burger in a paper bag, and we went on our way. That’s where we made our mistake—we trusted McDonald’s to get it right this time. We should have checked the burger before leaving. Back on the road again, our first order now cold, we opened the bag—only to find a regular Quarter Pounder instead of the Double we originally ordered. Normally, one missing patty wouldn’t be a big deal—but at this point, it’s the principle. After messing up our order, making us drive back, wasting gas, waiting 15 minutes, and adding nearly 50 minutes to our trip, getting the order wrong again was the final straw. Instead of turning back again, we decided to call the store. After letting it ring for 10 minutes with no answer, we gave up and called McDonald’s customer service. We were connected to someone in an overseas call center who, to her credit, was very kind. She took our info, the complaint, and said the store manager would call us back. When the manager did call, my boyfriend—who doesn’t speak English fluently—answered. He was told that we would only receive one coupon for a Double Quarter Pounder to make up for everything. When he explained we had ordered a meal, not just the sandwich, he was told we’d still only get a coupon for the sandwich and nothing more. This ignored the fact that:

-They messed up the order twice. -They made us return to the store. -They forgot to remake our order promptly the second time. -All our other food got cold. -We lost nearly an hour of our trip.

As someone who works in the service industry, I never expect this level of disregard from an establishment. I always treat service workers with respect—just as I hope to be treated at my job. But this experience honestly made me understand why Karens act the...