McDonald's — Restaurant in Virginia

Stopped by this location with my three kids and MIL due to its wicked awesome outdoor play place we saw driving by a few times. It was right after lunch at about 1:15 when we came in. About 3-4 cars in drive-thru and 4 patrons inside/outside on foot. Upon entry, the back of the house seemed more chaotic than what it should be for that many guests. Behind the counter was pretty unkempt, even with the kiosks handling the majority of the load. I also noticed the drive-thru seemed to be running slow for its volume as well. It explains a lot when, who I figured out later was the manager, was just leaning there against the food runway chatting it up with 1 crew member while everyone else was running like wild. She’d tune in long enough to bark an order then back to her chit-chat. I wonder how our meal would’ve gone had she been engaged? Hmmm.

The interior is modernized and “relatively” clean. I say relatively because the drink station was unkempt and covered in old soda, an overflowing straw trash can, various items out of stock, and an ice dispenser that was either out of ice or malfunctioning with no signage. The floor in front of the order counter and soda machines were both tacky. The other thing was the bathroom. Not that any McDonald’s bathroom is a palace, but this one stunk of sewage. Probably a floor drain or something.

Other than those things, the chairs were neatly organized around tables, they have these neat stools for the kids to sit on that’s kind of in a nook; so that’s a plus. It made it easy for me to get around and feed the kids and grandma. High chairs had been cleaned thoroughly but apparently missed the renovation as they seemed to have years of “stick” on them. I chose to let my 1.5 y/o son sit on a stool which proved to be a hindrance.

The play place was updated and relatively clean. Looks like the concrete in the play place eating area could use a good power wash, especially with kids running around in socks and sometimes bare feet. Garbages outdoors were kept tidy and didn’t have much trash in them with the traffic in the area. Seems by doing that, they know how to keep pests at bay because there were no flies hanging around. The dining room attendant was working diligently to keep up with the demand outside. They should’ve had another keeping tabs on the inside.

Considering lunch rush was barely over and there were ample customers coming and going; the food was not of standard and took a pretty long time (20 minutes from kiosk order completion to table). Fries were wimpy, deluxe double quarter pounder was pretty lukewarm and missing ingredients (they did get me the ingredients but just kind of slapped them on the same burger, adding to the time that it was exposed and getting colder), and the nuggets for the kids' meals were kind of hard. Grandma liked her QP’er and my one daughter liked her burger.

They did skip the toy on my youngest boy's happy meal; which made a perfect landing pad for a broken heart. Seriously. Try watching your toddler's smile fade to tears when he can’t find the happy meal toy he’d been fantasizing about at the toy display case for the entire 20 minutes it took for the food to get there.

The ice cream we got after was noticeably AMAZING, even by McDonald’s standards; saving one star on the food score. It was super creamy, tasted like it was chock full of fresh vanilla, the fudge and caramel were both hot and seemingly fresh, and although the Grandma McFlurry wasn’t stirred to the bottom, the top half was really good. I ordered extra of both the caramel and the cookie crumble and am skeptical that they added it. Maybe they just cut the measured portions way down. Who knows.

All in all, I doubt I’ll go out of my way to go back. Pretty poor experience if you ask me. I don’t know what is happening to McDonald’s. I mean, not that they’ve always had the best quality or consistency, but this location really missed the mark. All this points to poor management. Oh. And we spent $70 overall for 5 people at lunch...

(03/13/2021) I wish They had option for zero stars. I walked into this McDonald’s on March 13 and ordered two fish filet meals, Afterwards I got two small caramel frappe’s which were made by Jason under the supervision of Mira the evening manager. These frappe’s were made around 4 PM And had way too much ice in them so much so that the time now is 7:26 PM and they are still full of ice (the frappes) But around 6 PM I made a phone call to the store and reported the issue, someone named Comfort told me that they would speak to the evening manager and told me to Walk in and they would resolve the issue. However I walked into the store around 7:20 PM and this gentleman Named Jason approached me at the cashier, I told him exactly what was going on and gave him the receipt, he listened and responded with an attitude saying “oh I will only give you two caramel frappes” Which I was fine with and once he bought them to me I took a sip out of this frappe and it was the same exact thing, then after serving me he went in the kitchen and started to mock my conversation with him which made me real upset and I asked Safa to speak to the manager, she went and told the manager that someone would like to speak to you as I heard her say all that to the manager. The manager responded who is it she (Safa) said I don’t know, then Jason told the manager what the issue is and the manager instead of trying to fix the issue instead she screamed from the kitchen and said “just give them hot chocolate instead if they can’t have ice”. So however someone by the name of Amantai approached me asked what was going on and I told him so he quickly made the frappes the way they were supposed to be. The moral of this review is that Mira and Jason need to be fired from this store. And Safa and Amantai need to run the show. All thanks 🙏 to Amantai and Safa thank you for your help! (03/27/2021) UPDATED REVIEW So I got a call from Suleima who is the Supervisor for a few of the McDonalds locations in the surrounding area, a couple of days after the first review who tried to gather all the details verbally and she tried compensate for the frustration and bad experience that we initially had. Long story made short, My brothers and I came back today and ordered everything we had ordered last time, and the GM, Mariella was very cooperative and happy to help with our requests. The reason for the Four stars and not the fifth, is that though everyone involved during the last times terrible experience was at the location today, not a single person besides the GM, apologized for the way they had reacted which would have been the professional way to get things handled. Otherwise, everything was made properly...

Dear McDonald's Customer Service,

I am writing to express my disappointment regarding a recent visit to one of your branches due to the behavior of one of your employees. I believe it is essential to bring this matter to your attention so that you can address the issue appropriately.

On May 17, 2023 at approximately 3:15pm, I visited your restaurant and encountered an employee who displayed an unacceptable level of rudeness and disrespect towards customers. Their behavior not only tarnished my experience but also left me feeling disheartened and frustrated.

During my visit, I approached the counter to place my order, and when I asked a simple question about the menu options, the employee responded with condescension and a dismissive attitude. Instead of providing the information I needed, they seemed annoyed and made me feel like a burden for asking a question. This kind of behavior is not only unprofessional but also goes against the customer service standards I expect from McDonald's.

As a long-time customer, I have always appreciated the friendly and efficient service provided by your staff members. This encounter, however, was a stark contrast to the positive experiences I have had in the past. It is disheartening to see such behavior from an employee who represents your brand.

I believe it is crucial for your management team to address this issue promptly and take appropriate corrective action. Rude behavior towards customers not only creates a negative atmosphere but can also deter customers from returning to your establishment. I hope you will investigate this matter thoroughly and provide the necessary training or counseling to ensure that all your employees uphold the values of excellent customer service.

I trust that you will take my feedback seriously and address the issue accordingly. I value McDonald's as a brand and hope that my next visit will be a positive one, restoring my faith in the quality of service I have come to expect.

Thank you for your attention to this...