23rd and Penn McDonalds

[Plutonic Panda]

So are they going to include any additional landscaping? It would be nice to see a parking spot or two replaced with some nice flowers, trees, or perhaps a patio. . . doubt that's going to happen though.

[GaryOKC6]

I met with the ownership group this morning. This is only the third McDonalds of this concept in America. They will be opening this weekend if all goes as planned.

[jpeaceokc]

From Metro:

This is about as McUgly as it gets. I live in Gatewood and go by this thing every day and it gets uglier every time I see it. I hope some graffitti artists tag that giant blank brown cinder block wall with something urban interesting.

Every year NW 23rd gets more and more like NW Expressway, which I also drive every day going to work. More strip malls set back from the street with the parking in front. It would be nice to see some new development beauty between Classen and Penn, but don't hold your breath.

[onthestrip]

As far as McDonald's go, I can't complain really. And there was no use of eifs, which is good. All in all, it's still just a McDonald's.

[SoonerDave]

LOL

Years ago when I was working there, we joked that we would never come out with a steak sandwich, because they would call it a McSteak. They did and they did and it was. We had to add beef flavoring seasoning to it to give it any taste at all (unlike the burgers that are just seasoned with good old salt).

yes, they have discontinued the Angus burgers. They were part of the premium line and had a premium price tag to go along with it (I honestly couldn't tell any difference in quality so the value for the money wasn't there for me). Supposedly it was a price point based decision and they are going to replace it with different versions of the Quarter Pounder. Although they did that over the years with various lettuce & tomato ones ... remember the McDLT? Didn't have the Quarter Pounder "brand" attached but they used the same hamburger patty and bun. One reason why it failed was they still had the warming bins at the time at the cold side didn't remain cold for very long. Now that they have the humidity controlled staging cabinets, maybe that won't be an issue any more.

The Angus burgers, at least at their inception a few years ago, were among the best offering McD's had. I'm not sure they were as successful controlling their consistency, however. I bought one at a Norman McD's and it was fantastic, but the same one at an OKC McD's was...meh. The key problem I had with them was that the meat, while a generally better quality than most McD's burgers, was unyieldingly dry. They were good, but I'm not surprised at the price-point decision McD's made. They were awfully pricey.

McD's did, about 30 years ago, have something called a "Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich" which was served on a nice, long, toasted bun with grilled onions (yes, actual grilled onions) and was offered with a barbecue sauce. It was *great*, and was introduced about the same time as Chicken McNuggets. Unfortunately, the latter won the day, and the beefsteak san disappeared. Pity. It was a really good sandwich.

The McDLT was really great, too, and keeping the lettuce and tomatoes cold was a novel approach. I've *never* understood why its taken McD's so many decades to come up with a burger sporting lettuce and tomatoes (besides the McDLT)!! The quarter pounder options now available seemed like a no-brainer years ago, but they never did it.

All that said, however, I had a chance over vacation to try what I think was called a Carl's Super Bacon Burger, and oh, man, it was FANTASTIC. I don't eat too many hamburgers anymore, but the flavors on that thing were tremendous for a fast-food burger. Toasted bun, crisp bacon, fresh vegetables,broiled meat (rather than pan or cooktop fried) plenty of ketchup\mustard\etc. It was really delicious, and on balance better than most of what McD's offers these days (no offense).

[zookeeper]

The McDLT was really great, too, and keeping the lettuce and tomatoes cold was a novel approach. I've *never* understood why its taken McD's so many decades to come up with a burger sporting lettuce and tomatoes (besides the McDLT)!! The quarter pounder options now available seemed like a no-brainer years ago, but they never did it.

Remember the McDonald's Homestyle Burger? It was just a nice big patty with tomato, lettuce, yellow mustard and cheese if desired. I bought them a lot in the middle 90's when they were actually on the menu, but have ordered them ever since with only a blip here and there. Most all stores have someone that knows what I call the "Homestyle old-fashioned burger" and fix it just right. They were better with the angus beef.

Here's a commercial for the Homestyle from the mid 90's.

[zookeeper]

Here's another Homestyle commercial.

[Larry OKC]

The Homestyle Burger came out while I was working there...(IIRC it was marketed as the Texas Homestyle here) was still the same 1/4 lb burger patty that they use on the Quarter Pounders, McDLTs...the difference was the condiments...with the Homestyle it was LOTS of mustard, lettuce, tomato and red onions (rather than the slivered white onions on the Quarter Pounder). We didn't have the smaller Homestyle in this market. It sold pretty well but would have probably done better here if they had dropped the Texas part...

I dont remember a chopped beefsteak sandwich so it might have been a limited test market thing that we didn't have at the time in Florida when the Chicken McNuggets came out. We did have the McSteak when I worked for them here in the late 80s/early 90s. It didn't last long at all

Re: Carl's Jr...Hardees (which Carl's owns) used to have charbroiled burgers. Then the weekend before my first day they switched over to the flat top grill (and had clamshells that you lowered over the patties to cook both sides at the same time...essentially an industrial/commercial version of what would become the George Forman home grill. Then at some point they converted the Hardees here in OKC to Carls. A few years ago when we were in the Kansa City area, we ate at a Carl's/Hardees and ALL of their hamburgers were Angus

Things I miss at McDonald's: the corn dog nuggets, salads with iceberg lettuce instead of the "weeds" they use now and the Orange shake that they used to have during the summer months.

[GaryOKC6]

The Homestyle Burger came out while I was working there...(IIRC it was marketed as the Texas Homestyle here) was still the same 1/4 lb burger patty that they use on the Quarter Pounders, McDLTs...the difference was the condiments...with the Homestyle it was LOTS of mustard, lettuce, tomato and red onions (rather than the slivered white onions on the Quarter Pounder). We didn't have the smaller Homestyle in this market. It sold pretty well but would have probably done better here if they had dropped the Texas part...

I dont remember a chopped beefsteak sandwich so it might have been a limited test market thing that we didn't have at the time in Florida when the Chicken McNuggets came out. We did have the McSteak when I worked for them here in the late 80s/early 90s. It didn't last long at all

Re: Carl's Jr...Hardees (which Carl's owns) used to have charbroiled burgers. Then the weekend before my first day they switched over to the flat top grill (and had clamshells that you lowered over the patties to cook both sides at the same time...essentially an industrial/commercial version of what would become the George Forman home grill. Then at some point they converted the Hardees here in OKC to Carls. A few years ago when we were in the Kansa City area, we ate at a Carl's/Hardees and ALL of their hamburgers were Angus

Things I miss at McDonald's: the corn dog nuggets, salads with iceberg lettuce instead of the "weeds" they use now and the Orange shake that they used to have during the summer months.

Man, I do't remember any of those items on the menu. i guess I have tunnel vision. I always get the same thing every time.

[SoonerDave]

The Homestyle Burger came out while I was working there...(IIRC it was marketed as the Texas Homestyle here) was still the same 1/4 lb burger patty that they use on the Quarter Pounders, McDLTs...the difference was the condiments...with the Homestyle it was LOTS of mustard, lettuce, tomato and red onions (rather than the slivered white onions on the Quarter Pounder). We didn't have the smaller Homestyle in this market. It sold pretty well but would have probably done better here if they had dropped the Texas part...

I dont remember a chopped beefsteak sandwich so it might have been a limited test market thing that we didn't have at the time in Florida when the Chicken McNuggets came out. We did have the McSteak when I worked for them here in the late 80s/early 90s. It didn't last long at all

Re: Carl's Jr...Hardees (which Carl's owns) used to have charbroiled burgers. Then the weekend before my first day they switched over to the flat top grill (and had clamshells that you lowered over the patties to cook both sides at the same time...essentially an industrial/commercial version of what would become the George Forman home grill. Then at some point they converted the Hardees here in OKC to Carls. A few years ago when we were in the Kansa City area, we ate at a Carl's/Hardees and ALL of their hamburgers were Angus

Things I miss at McDonald's: the corn dog nuggets, salads with iceberg lettuce instead of the "weeds" they use now and the Orange shake that they used to have during the summer months.

Interesting info. The Hardees in Georgia where I had my burger made 'em with a broiler, not a flat top, so I'm wondering if that's a franchisee option?? Dunno. The Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich was in California in 1981 as part of a test along with McNuggets, and a letter I wrote to McD's at the time was very frank in saying the beefsteak failed. Pity. It took a couple of years before McNuggets made it to OKC.

I've never seen corndog nuggets here in OKC McD's, or the orange shake. Always amazed to hear/see about things at McD's that I've never heard/seen...McPizza comes to mind.

Silly trivia: Not too many people are aware of the fact that the very first McDonald's Drive Through in the entire world. was right here in OKC, at the McD's on S. Penn just south of 59th. You had a lifesize Ronald McDonald statue with a speaker in his pocket, standing in front of a golden arches menu. Once you gave your order, you drove around the building in front of a slew of the ol McDonaldLand characters like Mayor McCheese and the Hamburglar, and picked up your order. I don't remember the exact date, but it was years before my parents splitting up (how's that for a benchmark?), so I'm guessing it was around the 1973ish timeframe, plus or minus a year or so.

[GaryOKC6]

they are having thier VIP party tonight from 5:00-8:00pm. i am planning to go by there and check it out. My 5 year old has been watching this go up brick by brick. she get a happy meal once a week and she is looking forward to the playland although it is a small playland.

[Dubya61]

When we lived in Europe, I would get the "Big and Tasty". Coming back to the states, I saw it on the menu and got one. Completely different. I can see why it never caught on with the U.S. crowd.

[Larry OKC]

Corndog McNuggets were available here in OKC when I worked for them in the late 80s/early 90s. Heard of but never saw the McPizza (one article I read was they were having problems with the drive-thru windows not being big enough to get a pizza box thru it without tilting and all the topping sliding off...LOL)

What was the Big & Tasty like in Europe that made it different from in the U.S.?

Saw over at Newsok.com, that they are starting crosswalk construction at the intersection. Don't know what it is going to involve but things might be snarled up. When I went by there wednesday, they still didn't have the drive-thru menu boards installed but that may have changed.

[Dubya61]

What was the Big & Tasty like in Europe that made it different from in the U.S.?

It was bigger and tastier [/sarcasm]
Actually, it was only slightly bigger, but had a different kind of cheese on it and different condiments.

From Wikipedia:

The Big N' Tasty consists of a seasoned quarter-pound (4 oz, 113.4 g) beef patty with ketchup, mayonnaise, slivered onions, two dill pickle slices, leaf lettuce, and one tomato slice on a sesame seed bun.
The Big Tasty configuration is somewhat different, consisting of a third-pound (150 g) beef patty, 5-inch sesame seed bun, square-cut lettuce, two tomato slices, sliced onions, three slices of Emmental cheese, and Big Tasty sauce (which has a smoke flavor)

[CuatrodeMayo]

All lit up

[zookeeper]

CM...I don't know why it made the pic so small on your post. I'm taking the liberty of posting it full size from Imgur. Hope that's ok. If not, alert mmm or Pete and my apologies.

[Dustin]

CM...I don't know why it made the pic so small on your post. I'm taking the liberty of posting it full size from Imgur. Hope that's ok. If not, alert mmm or Pete and my apologies.

When you click on the image, it gets bigger

[soonerguru]

Doesn't appear to be open yet.

[HOT ROD]

I think it looks fine. But yeah, they could have done something with the blank wall space; maybe a mural paying homage to the area or city.

[GaryOKC6]

Doesn't appear to be open yet.

They officially open this week. June 27th. I must say that this new concept is state of the art with things like LED menues. A dumb waiter moves food from downstairs to the counter on the second floor allowing you to order upstairs as well.The view from upstairs is pretty cool. You can see the State Capitol Dome. They also have a tall climbing stricture for the kids.

[Larry OKC]

The thing that seems to be missing from the example pic at the top of the thread is the lack of a large red panel anywhere???

Drove by last night and still blocked off, drive-thru menu boards still weren't installed and the City has that intersection totally mucked up with the crosswalk redo. DOn't know when the City plans on having the work done but maybe they should have done it while the building was still under construction rather than during its opening?

[catch22]

The thing that seems to be missing from the example pic at the top of the thread is the lack of a large red panel anywhere???

Drove by last night and still blocked off, drive-thru menu boards still weren't installed and the City has that intersection totally mucked up with the crosswalk redo. DOn't know when the City plans on having the work done but maybe they should have done it while the building was still under construction rather than during its opening?

You're giving Public Works dept WAY too much. They can't coordinate Project 180 with other high profile projects, much less the foresight to coordinate a relatively small McDonald's and street construction.

[soonerguru]

The thing that seems to be missing from the example pic at the top of the thread is the lack of a large red panel anywhere???

Drove by last night and still blocked off, drive-thru menu boards still weren't installed and the City has that intersection totally mucked up with the crosswalk redo. DOn't know when the City plans on having the work done but maybe they should have done it while the building was still under construction rather than during its opening?

Agree. The final build isn't nearly as attractive as the one posted at the top of the thread.

[Teo9969]

While I agree the other looks better, it's still a nice looking McDonalds...Are we actually complaining?

Seriously though...kudos to McDonald's for always keeping their buildings looking "fresh". It seems a waste of money to me, but then, there's a lot of people getting work from constant updating and surely McDs can afford to disburse money throughout the economy. Almost makes me want to eat at a McDonald's

...Almost...

[Plutonic Panda]

If they would redo the parking lot and add more landscaping, that would help a lot!!!!! Also, I wish they would've built a new sign.