McDonald's is keeping its new value meal on the menu through August. After trying it, it's clear why the chain is keeping it around.
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Fast-food chains across the country are pulling out all the stops to retain customers as food prices increase. Many chains, including McDonald's, have implemented value meals that cost around $5.
Originally, McDonald's meal was only supposed to stick around for a month, from the end of June through July. However, according to an internal memo seen by CNN, McDonald's is keeping the value meal at 93% of its American locations through August.
I recently tried the $5 Meal Deal and understand why the chain is keeping it around.
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If I ordered these items separately at my local McDonald's in New York, it would cost $3.39 for the McDouble, $2.59 for the McNuggets, $2.79 for the fries, and $1.49 for the Diet Coke, which would come out to $10.26 before tax.
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A McDouble is a hamburger with two patties. It comes with cheese, ketchup, pickles, and onions. The McDonald's website says it should also include mustard, but I didn't taste any or see any.
My biggest issue with the burger was that I thought it was bone-dry. After taking a few bites, I needed to chug my soda.
But even though I didn't love my McDouble, I'm not writing the meal off. I could always get a McChicken as part of the deal instead or try a different location's McDouble burger.
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The $5 Meal Deal comes with four Chicken McNuggets.
My typical McDonald's order is a medium 10-piece McNugget meal, so I was happy to snack on a few. Even though these ended up not being my favorite nuggets when I compared $5 meal deals from McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King — Wendy's has the best nuggets in my opinion — McNuggets are a safe bet.
They have a good texture, the breaded coating isn't too salty or thick, and the nuggets aren't dense at all. These are classic for a reason.
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As this photo shows, McDonald's fries were the thinnest of the three chains I tried.
They were also the saltiest, which is the key to tasty french fries, and had the best texture. I thought Wendy's and Burger King's fries were too dense and almost soggy, while McDonald's fries were the perfect amount of crispy.
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As you can see, the McDonald's and Wendy's sodas — 21 ounces and 20 ounces, respectively — are significantly larger than the 16-ounce drink offered by Burger King, and all three meals are the same price.
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In the memo, McDonald's executives wrote that the meal is "meeting the objective of driving guests back to our restaurants."
As Business Insider reported using Placer.ai data, which keeps track of foot traffic at restaurants, there were 8% more visitors to McDonald's on the day the meal deal was introduced back in June — and it was the busiest Tuesday of the year to that point.
That record was broken the following week.
After getting a good amount of food at a considerably lower price, I can see why people are loving the deal. I even predict that the meal will stay on the menu beyond August, if people keep flocking to the chain in search of a cheap meal.
