McDonald’s (Sprinkle Road)
3900 S. Sprinkle RoadMy daughter is driving. How did this happen?
Well, she’s got her permit anyway. She still has over a year until she gets her actual license so we get to spend the next 14 months teaching her how to drive.
Obviously, she wants to drive everywhere right now. There are still something that make J a little nervous with her so I’m getting drafted to take her places.
She wanted to drive to Wings Event Center on Sunday. It would be the farthest she has driven on the highway since her highway drive with the driving instructor. I had to go to WEC on Sunday anyway for something so I volunteered to just take her.
The drive went fine and we got there about twenty minutes before she started skating. My plan was just to hang out in The Overlook but there was a card show using that space so I couldn’t sit up there and watch. I didn’t really want to drive all the way back home so I figured I’d just go get something to eat.
I didn’t feel like going very far so fast food won out. I hadn’t been to a McDonald’s in a pretty long time so I figured, why not?
I decided to just go to the McDonald’s on Sprinkle Road north of Covington Road in Kalamazoo’s Milwood Neighborhood. The restaurant has been in this spot for decades but about ten years ago, it went through the remodel to give it the boxy, boring, grey color scheme that most of the McDonalds now have. I did not realize it at the time but I actually blogged about this McDonald’s before the remodel back in 2010. The restaurant sits in a very commercial area with Wendy’s to one side, a hotel to the other and the Zeigler Motorsports complex with Trak Houz right across the street.
I will die on this hill. I will defend myself dying on this hill. The kiosk ordering system that fast food restaurants are going to is way better than talking to someone who is only half paying attention while trying to put your order in. This McDonald’s has four kiosks right as you walk in the door. I went to the nearest one and started putting in my order.
If you’re one of those people that still believing in being waited on hand and foot, there is a small order counter just past the kiosks. Don’t expect someone to be waiting there for your though.
I put in my order for a Bacon Double 1/4 Pounder with Cheese, a large fry, large Coke, and a 6 piece Chicken McNugget. I don’t know why I tacked on the nuggets but I really just like McDonald’s nuggies.
I had time to kill so I just decided to sit in the restaurant and eat. Eating in at McDonald’s was something that was always super special as a kid but it’s just not something people do anymore. The dining room is sort of bland and kind of spread out but thank God they got rid of those awful, uncomfortable plastic molded chairs from the red roof era. The furniture now is much more comfortable despite being somewhat utilitarian.
I started with the fries after I pulled everything out of the bag. You all know what McDonald’s fries are. They’ve been the best part of every meal for decades. They’re always crispy and a little salty. I can hate on them all I want but when it comes to fast food fries, they’re the most consistent and have been for a very long time.
I grabbed the sandwich next. The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has been my go-to McDonald’s order for well over 20 years. The 1/4 pound burgers are made from fresh patties and topped with American cheese. I didn’t realize adding bacon was still an option and I wouldn’t have realized that if I didn’t order from the kiosk. I’ve said this in the past, but the bacon really doesn’t add much to this sandwich. I tried it again thinking maybe I misremembered but nope, there’s barely any flavor added to the sandwich from the bacon. I will always like the saltiness of the burger patty and the Double Quarter Pounder will always be my McDonald’s comfort food.
While the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese is my adult McDonald’s comfort food, the Chicken McNuggets were my childhood comfort food. I still really like these nuggets and it’s not totally unheard of for me to hit a drive thru and grab twenty of them for a road trip meal. In another thing I learned from kiosk ordering, McDonald’s has a creamy Buffalo sauce to dip them in. I really like these nuggets without sauce but I was curious. The Buffalo sauce was fine but I only dipped maybe one in it. Like I said, I like the nuggets on their own. No sauce necessary.
McDonald’s is, and always has been, a comfort meal. It’s not the best food out there. It’s not even the best fast food out there. But I’m sure I’m not alone in having childhood memories that revolve around Chicken McNuggets and Astroturf covered play areas outside of the building. McDonald’s isn’t always my first choice but I also won’t say no when it’s asked for.
