@jst07: People have a right to make their own decisions and should be smart enough not to do a "swing by" on an hourly basis.

I had the double hamburger, it was OK but I missed the cheese. I'm just not sure it's worth the other 29 cents.

And I think the idea is that most people who will get the burger will buy a drink, even the cheapass dollar drink. The goal is to get them coming in to sell them on something else.

All the anecdotal tales of intestinal woes after eating at McD's may be telling.

@MrBill38:

Yes! Whataburger is great!

At least the BK Jr whopper tastes somewhat like a real hamburger. I wish we had WhatABurger here in Indiana. Have them in Arizona and they are good. Also, El Pollo Loco would be great.

Well, inflation can't be helped and the price was fair while it lasted. Maybe McDonald's can do a "$2 Tuesdays" thingy like they used to do where you got two cheeseburgers for $2.

I've always wondered why the double cheeseburger was $1 when a single cheeseburger was $.99. I get them on occasion. If they go up 20 or 30 cents, no biggie.

Anyways, the story is that the Fed. is looking to offset increases in entitlement spending in programs such as Medicare and Medicaid particularly given increasing obesity rates, which are contributing to higher healthcare costs generally.

So - eat up while you can!

What killed me is it was usually the folks who drove up in expensive cars that would order water and then pour soda. My boss had a theory that it was how they could afford their car.

I wish we had them here in Florida.

I could use a Jumbo Jack about now.

Bozeman, MT for all who are interested. :)

Oh well, I rarely ever eat "McDogfood" (that's what my mom calls them) anyways.

On a somewhat related note, Carl's Jr. just raised the Spicy Chicken from 99 cents to $1.29.

Oh, and the Jack In The Box Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger is the best dollar burger still around, imo.

McDonald's has to pay more for beef

WHAT? They use actual BEEF? I thought it was a mixture of horse meat & plastic in those burgers.

@EE: Order a cup of water and then refill with soda. Much cheaper.

@michaelleung: I'd like to shrink Evil Clown down to cockroach size, the better to fit under my rapidly lowering shoe.

Crunch!

@Imaginary_Friend:
Massive food poisoning in Feb 1988 from a McRib sandwich. Haven't darkened Evil Clown's door since.

I passed the 20-year mark last February not partaking of Evil Clown's menu.

That redheaded sonofabitch pedophile will get another dime from me when he pries it from my cold, dead fingers.

He'll have to stand in line to try.

Glad this is happening...last thing we all need is cheap fast food!

@Bearcat44: YES! El Pollo Loco. You're probably sick of it out there but I absolutely love that place. Have you ever been to Burgerville? I went in Oregon and Washington, but I hear there are some in Northern California

I'm gettin' fat while it's cheap to help me last through the lean decades ahead. =/

All I like is the fries, anyway.

Damn you, Consumerist. I've managed to steer clear of McDonalds burgers for over a decade, but just reading the phrase "Double Cheeseburger" has me salivating like Pavlov's dogs.

If they got rid of the dollar menu at McDs (the 1.39 menu in canada btw), I think I would just stop eating there.

The day finally came last week when they stopped doing Doubles for $1 in Austin last week. Hungover as hell, I journeyed to the McDonald's in search of instant relief, and was blindsided by the $1 Double being replaced by a single. :(

They can just get rid of the bun and give you a plastic glove (that they aren't wearing anyway!) to hold onto the "meat" patties.

I work with people who eat at McD's pretty much everyday If not there then some other sort of fast food. Pretty much all of them are obese also! This is TMI,but you don't want to follow them in the bathroom either. That stuff is terrible for you!

I'll admit I eat there MAYBE once or twice a year,but only when I'm sick of everything else.

Oh man, the double cheeseburgers are about the only thing I'll eat at McDonald's. What next? Wendy's axes the 99 cent Junior Bacon Cheeseburger? They tried that, and I don't think it went over too well.

@Methusalah: The real cost shouldn't include labor...you will pay the labor regardless of how many burgers you sell (at least in the short term).

@jst07:
You can get them @ 2am?? Here in Columbus, specifically near Ohio State campus, they stop serving the double cheeseburger @ 11pm.

Did anyone else notice there's a sub-thread going on here -- several people have now confirmed that McDonald's has made them physically ill after eating there. Hmmm...

@HogwartsAlum: Yes, I like the McD's happy meal also mainly because the happy meal content is the equivalent of a full 1950's adult meal plus you get a free (chinese slave labor assembled) toy...

@ludwigk:

It could be a combination of both. I'm sure the quality has gone downhill.

But your tastebuds CAN change or be recalibrated. I gave up eating processed food. Eating stuff like Doritos or Oreos or a Big Mac is is big disappointment now. Everything tastes WAY too salty or sweet, whereas it used to taste delicious. Not to be gross, but I can tell if something has artificial flavoring because it repeats on me if it does. I was burping "flame-broiled" for a whole afternoon after eating a Whopper.

McDonalds makes me ill now, but I used to enjoy the occasional Big Mac. I just wish they would actually use beef on their burgers instead of that cardboard substitute.

Beyond the whole sick to the stomach thing, which is a pretty good reason not to eat there, I have given up on McDonalds because they won't sell a breakfast value meal with a small drink. You have to buy a large drink. Bite me, McD's.

I swear we were the last place on earth to get the $1 Doubles. McD's in small towns in the middle of nowhere had them before we did. I'm sure the jerk franchisee from our town would be more than happy to jack them up to $1.99 or more.

My local McD's (Queens, NY) has pretty much nothing on the dollar menu anymore. I think you can get 2 apple pies for $1, and maybe one or two other random things. No sandwiches at all. Can they do that?

Then again, McD's makes me physically sick.

I love the little plastic cheeseburgers that come in the Happy Meal. They still have little tiny chopped onions on them, which I love. The Happy Meal is exactly the right amount of food for me, so nothing goes to waste. If I can't go home for lunch I sometimes go to McD's and get a Happy Meal. I won't miss the cheap Double Cheeseburger because I never could eat the whole thing, so I stopped getting it.

And if I don't like the toy, I give it to my coworker for her little girl. :)

I dont' go to McD's much anymore lately, since I've been trying to eat more healthy food.

Any idea how many calories are in a double cheeseburger? Just curious. I know that fast food places in NYC have had to start posting this info.

well, according to the Economist, Norway is the most overvalued in terms of fast food parity...

[www.economist.com]

Pretty neat graphic, huh?

@sean77: No, its just that the mark up on "soy" burgers is quite a bit more then regular ground beef. Not to mention the higher cost of some of the other ingredients that go into the soy burgers. Soy is commonly used to "stretch" ground beef in order to decrease the over all cost of the gb.

You see it a lot in those microwave burittos that you get at like 5 for a $1. When I was a vegitarian I'd get those all the time because even the ground beef ones didn't have any actual meat in them. Just textured soy protein.

@ludwigk: I hate that too. The Arbys around here had their Beef and Cheddar combo on sale but since I didn't want the fries or coke I'd just get the sandwhich. Every time they'd point out that the meal was cheaper and every time I'd point out that if I didn't eat the fries or coke it was just a waste for everyone. They'd usually give me the employee discount to even it out.

That way they still have the double burger on the menu, but get an extra 20¢-30¢ for the cheese.

Don't worry, I'll do my part for the economy the next time I'm back in the States. I'm going to be stocking up on everything!

@ludwigk: But don't you have In-N-Out in CA? I don't remember the name, but last time I was in LA there was this damn good Mexican fast food restaurant that had chicken only

We kind of stopped eating fast food for a few years, then, after moving to california, and some really long work days and being too tired to think of anything better to eat, we went to Wendy's a few times. The stuff was unbearable. I really don't think I've changed that much in terms of my taste preferences, I think the Wendy's here is just awful.

@BurntToast: I hear you! It has nothing to do with value when you get just the cheeseburger. Not only do I love the ratio of flavor, but how it feels when you hold it, etc.

Yeah, I have problem... I'm aware of it and dealing with it.

I understand completely. However, I always found the single cheeseburger to be very dry. Too much bun, not enough stuff in the bun.

Love the McChicken, I would be sad too if that got dropped.

Most of the time when I go to McDonalds I get three cheeseburgers. Then my friends make fun of me because I should just get double cheeseburgers because they are technically cheaper.

I don't because the cheeseburger is this right ratio of meat, cheese, bun, and sauce. The double cheeseburgers throw the ratio and taste off for me.

Okay, that last paragraph alone merits people making fun of me now. :(

There was something in NYC about limiting dollar menu items because they couldn't afford to offer unlimited $1 items and pay the rent.

Seems like the $1 menu will soon grow to the $2 dollar menu.

(In the interest of health (?) I got a diet coke)

I'll miss it if they drop the McChicken though. I love grabbing one of those when I was on my way home from volleyball.

But then, for about 6 weeks during the summer, I had the "Mulan meal" which was something like a small drink, fries, and 4 nuggets for a ridiculously low price (no toy). I'd supplement with another 4x nuggets for $1, and its was still getting lunch for like $3.18 per day.

@SexCpotatoes: meh wendy's burgers suck, they're just as flimsy as the ones at Mickey D's. I go to Wendy's for the spicy chicken, McD's for the filet o fish/nuggets and BK/Krystal et al for the burgers

...I've since taken it as a really bad sign and stopped eating McD's

Call me old fashioned, but I still long for the days when once a week, Hamburgers were 29 cents, and cheeseburgers 39 cents. Maybe I'm a pig, but a day's meals (2 for breakfast 2 for lunch 3 for dinner) NOT homecooked for barely 3 bucks was awesome.

I just ate fast food (BK) for the first time in about two years. My God, I feel disgusting. That crap is not food. This message brought to you by Not Really Relevant Productions.

ingredients
===========
ground chuck from butcher: $1.19/lb. or $4.76/4 lbs.
best rolls in the world: $2.49 for 8
pepperjack cheese: $4.49/10 oz. (1.25 oz. for each burger
vidalia onion: ~70¢ (only need about 1/4 of it)
garlic: ~50¢ (only need 2 or 3 cloves)

don't tell anyone, but the secret is to chop the garlic & onions up really, really fine & mix it into the ground beef before cooking - makes the burgers explode with flavor!

And that's at consumer prices -- I'm assuming McD's sources their stuff for less. Surely someone must give them a bulk discount....

To my eternal surprise, i actually got a call from the manager of that location (broadway, just south of 8th street FYI) on my cell phone offering a free lunch as a compensation. i was shocked. i thanked her, but never collected on my lunch. the call was more than enough.

Oh, and also I live about a mile up the road (up-wind) of two of the plants where all of those wonderful smells and tastes are created. The funny thing is that, driving by, you always smell the same thing--sort of a vaguely sweetish tutti-frutti aroma.

Well said. The taste of a sandwich is largely predicated on the condiments, anyway. My wife and I switched over to Gardenburgers, and pile on some lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard, onion, and pickle and I can't tell the difference.

it's the best way to get rid of the munchies

I can get burger patties at $4 a pound.
Veggie burger patties are more than double that.

I hate McDonald's. The food is crap. It tastes like crap. It's crap for your body. I don't eat there, and I last time I had McDonald's must have been ten years ago.

Or, I would gladly pay you today for a hamburger on Tuesday.

i think they stopped putting crack in their food - i don't crave it at all like i used to.

@Methusalah: Hah! Ilove this one:

" Do you use old cows to make the meat in your burgers?
McDonald's is committed to serving safe, high-quality beef everywhere we do business. Every McDonald's beef supplier - both locally and globally - must meet our stringent standards for food safety, quality, animal welfare and social accountability that go far beyond government requirements. Our beef suppliers are monitored and audited on a regular basis to ensure they follow our rigorous standards.
June 2008 "

Notice how they never really answered the question.

I'm not aware of McDonald's suffering any major financial suffering...they're just going to adjust their strategy to increase their profit margins. In turn, I'll maintain my strategy of avoiding their pseudo-food (most of the time, no one is perfect). ;-)

For $1 the BK Junior Whopper is the best deal around, IMO. Lettuce and tomato on it, too. Can't beat that for a buck.

I think in the "calories, carbs and protein per dollar" ratio chart, the McDonalds double cheesesburger is a great value. I get one now and then when I need some food and am low on cash.

Plus they taste good.

I'd gladly pay you Tuesday, for a double cheeseburger today.

What the hell does beef have to to with a McDonalds' cheeseburger?

[cep.mcdonalds.com]

I'd rather cook my own hamburgers anyway...but I can't make one at home for that cheap.

That said, even $2 for one sounds cheap to me now compared to paying around $17 for a value meal here in Norway (ok, I'll admit to visiting Burger King a couple of times here, but never McDonald's!)

I still remember those TV spots with Cedric the Entertainer, hawking $1 Big 'n Tasty burgers. Those rocked!

Does Wendy's still have a 99 cent value menu?

The must be making a killing on the side dishes and drinks.

@jst07: Well I'm glad you were here to tell us what we do and don't need.

@Imaginary_Friend: I guess they figured that they would start at a loss but eventually profit from so many people ordering the dollar cheeseburger. It's all about volume I guess...Hopefully

I'm with you, for the most I have given up all fast food, though occasionally I must give into my temptation for reconstituted chicken.

I will really miss this option if they axe it. This was my secret weapon against hunger, when almost completely broke.

My guess will be the Dollar menu dissapears, and the DBL CHZ goes to $1.50. I think they will move to a VALUE MENU format like TacoBell/Wendy's with varying price points. (Which would suck)

Best. Deal. Ever.

@ScubaSteveKzoo: less chicken, too.