A couple of weeks ago McDonald's announced that the fast food chain would be introducing table service at their stores in an attempt to better serve customers. The new service is designed to cut down on the lines of people at the counter who have ordered, and at least in theory get a customer their order quicker. The end result being that the staff can serve more customers which should boost revenue. Earlier this year McDonald's announced they would start serving breakfast all day. This change in service was instituted as the restaurant chain which once dominated the fast food business has faced increased competition over the last several years and declining revenue.
When I think about McDonald's and what they offer customers, two words often come to mind. The first word is fast.. McDonald's has developed a model that allows them to deliver a product to their customer in scant seconds. Henry Ford would be amazed how McDonald's adapted the assembly line to food service and restaurants. The second word that crosses my mind is cheap..... Long ago McDonald's knew the key to dominance was economy of scale; What the burger chain has not been able to maintain is quality. Bear in mind McDonald's has never had a reputation for fine dining, but in the past the quality, and taste of the food was significantly better.
The current menu offerings at least from my perspective, have so little flavor that I can't say the food tastes good or bad. For the most part its just warm with too much salt, and no seasoning at all. In fact I avoid dining there at all if another option is available to me. When I am forced to order food from the Golden Arches, the order ends up being a salad ( even McDonald's usually gets a salad right) . It is my opinion that McDonald's would do well to not concentrate on things like table service, or even delivery as they have done in some geographic areas, and worry more about providing an inexpensive , tasty meal quickly. Emulating local restaurants , and smaller chains will ultimately lead them down the primrose path.