McDonald’s

Crappy McDonald’s that’s utter chaos at the registers, but they give out free balloons to children upstairs. Also, they have the «bad» bacon for breakfast. Americans, you know what I mean.

I’m a vegetarian so rarely go to McDonalds but this particular one has quite a few veggie options for me to choose from. Helpful friendly staff, (especially Joseph!) and always plenty of seating.

Total pants. I had to go in here to keep my mates’ (picky eating) son happy. He had Chicken McMechanicallyrecoveredMcNuggets, Fries & some water. This place was as busy as hell with tourists — why go half way across the world & then eat here? Amazing! Awful smells & junk food. Remember, McCustomers, rubbish in = rubbish out.

Hmmmm well, this branch has up days and down days. On the down days it is dirty, melly, impossible to sit in and really, worrying about the hygene of the food. These days often happen when ‘m there during the day on the weekend so volume and lack of staff may contribute to that. I must admit to having avoided it a bit of late.
Good days, however, are fantastic. When you can get food quickly and a seat there was a time when you could get the internet cheaply as well. When they keep the place clean it is a fantastic place to enjoy a quick lunch where you can also watch the traffic in the middle of Oxford flow past the window.
So a middle of the road review — has good and bad days.

Most Maccy’s are just your average burger shop. Not this one. Being in Oxford, it, like the students has to go all elite — that means it comes fully equipped with wifi and computers, so all those clever people at Oxford can grab a burger and work at the same time.
In all seriousness, it is a very nice Maccy’s, with friendly competent staff and plenty of seating upstairs. Everytime I have been it has been clean and pleasant.

I doubt anyone reading this has not experienced Mcdonalds before, but they vary a surprising amount between areas. The Cornmarket Street branch is trying to be sophisticated: it knows it’s a cut above kebab vans, but it has a long way to go to reach Starbucks. Neveretheless, you do see people doing academic work and having business lunches in here and they particularly advertise the breakfasts and coffees. Sophisticated it ain’t, but it’s a little less patronising than some branches.
Service is quick once you’re at the front of the queue; it definitely lives up to its fast food reputation. That said, you can end up waiting a long time to get to the front if it’s busy.
The atmosphere is the same as in most MaccyDs: loud, quite crowded and not exactly homely. This branch is pretty clean, but that comes at the cost of having people frequently mopping around you.
In case you’re not familiar with Mcdonalds nowadays, they’ve tried to go healthy, so alongside the usual Big Macs and (now unsalted) fries, you can now get wraps, salads and fruit. It’s hardly going to improve your health, but at least they’re making a step in the right direction, showing the health content of their food and at least providing an alternative for reluctant customers or cheap food addicts.