Poll of the Day > Is this tacky? Going to a non-U.S. country just to mainly eat at McDonald's?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I admit when I went to the Philippines when I was younger, I mainly ate at American-styled fast food restaurants such as McDonald's (but I also had some Filipino cuisine as well). When I visited Canada and Mexico I also ate at the McDonald's there (but in Mexico I also tasted tacos from a food truck, so I did get the local flavor.)

It essentially boils down to "this is familiar and predictable so I don't have to think about finding something I'll like." It definitely wastes the opportunity to try more local cuisine options, but if you're treating food more as a maintenance task than something you specifically try to enjoy and therefore aren't overly concerned about getting to try local cuisine, that's not an opportunity you really need to worry about wasting.

Is it "tacky"? Probably, given that caring about food is considered to be the "cultured" mindset, but that's largely arbitrary. It's your trip. All you need to worry about is making sure you enjoy it overall.

adjl posted...

It essentially boils down to "this is familiar and predictable so I don't have to think about finding something I'll like." It definitely wastes the opportunity to try more local cuisine options, but if you're treating food more as a maintenance task than something you specifically try to enjoy and therefore aren't overly concerned about getting to try local cuisine, that's not an opportunity you really need to worry about wasting.

Is it "tacky"? Probably, given that caring about food is considered to be the "cultured" mindset, but that's largely arbitrary. It's your trip. All you need to worry about is making sure you enjoy it overall.

Ah, good points. Thanks for the input!

Its just a bad idea, you can have that food at home.

However, Mcdonalds in Japan is apparently pretty cool and worth trying

Done it a couple times myself, though it was at one in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and I was living south of Detroit both times

The wording of your question is a little bit awkward.

"Is this tacky? Going to a non-U.S. country just to mainly eat at McDonald's?" kind of implies the sole reason why you're going to the country is to eat in their McDonalds. Which would be kind of weird.

...but what you actually seem to be asking is, if you go to another country for other reasons, is it wrong to just go to American-style places to eat rather than forcing yourself to eat the local cuisine? To which I'd say "Absolutely not." There's nothing wrong with preferring what you're used to.

People can say "Oh, you should experiment!" or "You should try new things!", but if you're not comfortable doing that, or if you just don't like the most common ingredients in local cuisine (ie, being expected to go to a sushi place when you don't like seafood, or having problems eating spicy food in a country famous for having really spicy food), there's absolutely no reason why you should force yourself to suffer just because of other people's expectations.

If you go to a country and have tons of fun experiencing all of their cultural, historical, and natural wonders, but wind up eating nothing but Corn Flakes while you're there, you still had a fantastic time and have made tons of fun and interesting memories. Who cares what you ate?

If anything, NOT eating the local cuisine might be the better option anyway - because if your stomach isn't up for dealing with it, you might wind up just shitting yourself for most of your vacation. At which point your inability to stand up to the peer pressure and expectations of other people has actively made your time and memories worse.

Obviously some people will love trying new foods, and may thoroughly enjoy trying local foods and experimenting with new things. But not everyone is going to enjoy that, so not everyone should feel like they're somehow obligated to do that.

If people want to judge you for what you ate, fuck 'em. They're assholes anyway.

Maybe it is, but I admit I'd probably go once, just to note any difference.

So I'll say no, because McDonald's is different in every country.
When you were in Canada I bet you noticed the fries suck. Just as an example.

I've give you shit over it, but a light amount of it.

I mean, if your sole goal is to take a long vacation and only eat at mcdonalds, yes that's a little weird (unless youre doing like a checklist type of thing where you eat a mcdonalds in every country in the world or something like that, which you arent doing here)

however, if youre taking a long vacation in a foreign country and use one meal on mcdonalds just to see what it's like, no that's not tacky at all. i had to try the mcdonalds in japan and it was definitely worth the attempt (even though IMO it really wasnt THAT different and if i did it again i'd probably save the meal for something else)

No its baller

I don't think "tacky" is the right word. If you ONLY choose to eat at McDonald's, maybe I'd go so far as to call it willfully ignorant, but depending on the country, even McDonald's could have a local flair as American chains are often catered towards local demographics, and likely better quality in general. I dated someone from Hong Kong who said they had Taro buns there (although maybe it was just a limited time thing), and I would absolutely want to try that. I don't believe there is anything wrong with eating there in a foreign country. But you really would be doing a disservice by not at least trying something local. Even the pickiest of eaters should have some options.

Also, Canada doesn't count. It's basically just the United States with bagged milk. I can even get Tim Horton's here!

Eat whatever you want.

Personally trying restaurants (even though I'm a pretty picky eater) is one of my favorite parts of vacation, but I rarely go out of country.

Good points everyone! Thanks for the input!

I really enjoy trying new foods/meals so for me not doing this is akin to traveling to a foreign country only to stay in your hotel resort the whole time.

But I wouldn't call it tacky, people are just not adventurous eaters and those people are gonna have a harder time trying and (more importantly) enjoying new things.

If I knew you in real life though I'd definitely give you shit for it, but online you should just ignore people like me and go your pace.

Id love to check out the difference between American fast food and the same chains in other locations, but I think it would be a waste to mainly eat there. Not saying you should force yourself to try balut or dinuguan or something exotic but Im sure you could find some fried rice and egg or some grilled meat. If you find you hate the local flavors by all means return to the American style food, but it seems like it would be pretty restricting to go find the nearest McDonalds instead of just trying the local grilled chicken.

I tried McDonalds in Rome, just out of curiosity - it was significantly better.

The truly shameful thing is that late into the slightly too long trip (during the off-season, having accidentally missed the main dinner window for restaurants), I had Burger King in Venice.

It's your vacation.

No shame I'd say. While I'm more adventerous than you, there have been times where I simply don't feel like eating my entire bowl of chicken hearts and I'd rather go to McDonald's. I thought you might've meant specifically touring countries to try their McDonald's. Which might be interesting enough.

I think so, mostly because I believe you should try and live as the locals do when traveling to really expand your own worldview. Are there dudes in Germany or Thailand or wherever that chow down on McDonald's all the time? I'm sure there are. But trying to get the "mean/average experience" of life in a foreign country can't really be done if you don't step out of your comfort zone or away from familiarity.

I know there is a lot of joking to this. But serious, I took this on holiday back in 2007.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/53d9e9eb.jpg
And my parents had it, because obviously we had to try a local McDonalds menu item.
I hate lobster, and was pretty sure fast food lobster was not going to improve my opinion of it. But I still took a photo of the menu item.

I didn't know what to eat when I went to Malaysia, so I stuck with what I knew.. Pizza Hut, McDonalds (they had a McPrawn) and 7-Eleven hot dogs

Fast food chains vary massively by country, so it can be fun to compare. That said, you dont need to avoid the local cuisine for every meal to do that.

The one that Ive found changes the most depending on the country is KFC. I genuinely have no idea how they even survive in Japan.

Glob posted...

Fast food chains vary massively by country, so it can be fun to compare. That said, you dont need to avoid the local cuisine for every meal to do that.

The one that Ive found changes the most depending on the country is KFC. I genuinely have no idea how they even survive in Japan.

Go there around Christmas time and you'll find out.

nesspoojeff posted...

Go there around Christmas time and you'll find out.

I have. Its shit. The most depressing Christmas meal Ive ever eaten, and nowhere near as popular as the internet would have you believe.

fast food in other countries is different. Even if the staff don't make as much money, the stores are staffed well enough to stay clean and provide excellent service. Food quality is a lot better too.

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Why are people mentioning Canada? There is no "Canadian" fast food joints. The closest would be Tim Horton's, but they're ass and you should never go there. Their food is shit and the coffee is terrible. They're also responsible for all the trash on the side of the road since people can't stop throwing their fucking coffee cups out instead of putting them in the garbage.

The chain is also owned by a Brazilian company, so it's not even Canadian. It hasn't been in decades.

KingInBlack posted...

Why are people mentioning Canada? There is no "Canadian" fast food joints. The closest would be Tim Horton's, but they're ass and you should never go there. Their food is shit and the coffee is terrible. They're also responsible for all the trash on the side of the road since people can't stop throwing their fucking coffee cups out instead of putting them in the garbage.

The chain is also owned by a Brazilian company, so it's not even Canadian. It hasn't been in decades.

Eh?
New York fries? Mary Brown's, technically A&W, Tacotime, pizza hotline. The list goes on. Canada has tons of them.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/aw/heres-why-aw-tastes-better-in-canada-than-it-does

captpackrat posted...

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I would be all over that egg cheeseburger

KingInBlack posted...

Why are people mentioning Canada? There is no "Canadian" fast food joints. The closest would be Tim Horton's, but they're ass and you should never go there. Their food is shit and the coffee is terrible. They're also responsible for all the trash on the side of the road since people can't stop throwing their fucking coffee cups out instead of putting them in the garbage.

The chain is also owned by a Brazilian company, so it's not even Canadian. It hasn't been in decades.

They've not just Canadian, there's multiple stores in the US.

SinisterSlay posted...

Eh?
New York fries? Mary Brown's, technically A&W, Tacotime, pizza hotline. The list goes on. Canada has tons of them.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/aw/heres-why-aw-tastes-better-in-canada-than-it-does

If the company was founded in Canada then it makes it Canadian.

KingInBlack posted...

Why are people mentioning Canada? There is no "Canadian" fast food joints. The closest would be Tim Horton's, but they're ass and you should never go there. Their food is shit and the coffee is terrible. They're also responsible for all the trash on the side of the road since people can't stop throwing their fucking coffee cups out instead of putting them in the garbage.

The chain is also owned by a Brazilian company, so it's not even Canadian. It hasn't been in decades.

People like to say that Timmie's went downhill after the sale, but it was always pretty garbo. At least the dark-roast coffee tastes like coffee as opposed to the water that they usually serve. IDK if you're in Ontario or something, but I can't really name a 'main' culprit when it comes to roadside litter. It used to be McDonald's but to be honest, I don't see much fast food garbage on the side of roads/highways these days.

The 1st time I went to Europe I made sure to eat at McDonalds for lunch almost every day because I didnt know much about the local cuisine.

Also ate breakfast at Burger King a few times in Australia. It was pretty good.

Occupy_This posted...

The 1st time I went to Europe I made sure to eat at McDonalds for lunch almost every day because I didnt know much about the local cuisine.

Also ate breakfast at Burger King a few times in Australia. It was pretty good.

Burger King in Australia isn't Burger King. They had to legally go by Hungry Jack's there.

Occupy_This posted...

The 1st time I went to Europe I made sure to eat at McDonalds for lunch almost every day because I didnt know much about the local cuisine.

Also ate breakfast at Burger King a few times in Australia. It was pretty good.

Don't they call it Hungry Jacks in Australia because someone else already made a chain of restaurants called Burger King in Australia?

Revelation34 posted...

Burger King in Australia isn't Burger King. They had to legally go by Hungry Jack's there.

It had the bk logo sign so I just figured it was Burger King. Had the same menu as them.

SinisterSlay posted...

technically A&W,

As a Canadian, it used to be that A&W was my go-to for fast food burgers that were a bit on the pricier side, but were dramatically better than other fast food options. Now, other fast food options cost the same amount as A&W always has, are still lower-quality, and A&W's prices haven't really changed. It's kind of a no-brainer where to go when I want fast food now, assuming an A&W is handy.

If that's all you eat, I think that is a wasted opportunity. However, if you're going to be abroad for a while, it's very common to eat something familiar every now and then. Especially if you're in a place where the foreign food may upset your stomach. I've lived in Costa Rica and Colombia for a time and Subway was my perfect comfort meal at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dM_TwpgpWc

captpackrat posted...

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I love that the meals are called "sets". Id def try an eggburger set with a Pineapple Melon McFloat.

ultra_magnus13 posted...

Id def try an eggburger set with a Pineapple Melon McFloat.

If you have a Jack-in-the-Box near you, they will happily make you a Jumbo Jack with an egg on it. In fact, JitB will make you anything you want as long as they have the ingredients.

Id try the teriyaki burger and the egg cheeseburger for sure. Probably the shrimp filet too.

While I get the novelty of wanting to try some of the things McD's (and similar restaurants) only offer in other regions, most of them aren't exactly hard to make at home. Like if you want an egg on a cheeseburger, just fry an egg and put it on a cheeseburger (if you specifically want that shape, you can buy silicone rings that will achieve it, or use a microwave poacher, but you can also just fold up the egg with a spatula as it fries). If you want a teriyaki burger, just add teriyaki sauce to your burger. In many cases, you could just get the burger from McD's and add a couple things to it at home to get roughly the same experience, even if you don't feel like making the burger from scratch.

My conundrum with that would be, I'd still have to get the McDonald's version, to see how it compares to my own.

What makes McDs special in that regard, though? McDonalds' teriyaki sauce recipe is just one of thousands that you could try, depending on which restaurant you go to, which brand of pre-made sauce you buy, or how you prepare it from scratch. Why would McD's be so worth trying that you'd count that as a worthwhile effort to try local Japanese cuisine?

Because I saw captpackrat's post. =P

adjl posted...

What makes McDs special in that regard, though? McDonalds' teriyaki sauce recipe is just one of thousands that you could try, depending on which restaurant you go to, which brand of pre-made sauce you buy, or how you prepare it from scratch. Why would McD's be so worth trying that you'd count that as a worthwhile effort to try local Japanese cuisine?

Because it is more than just the food. It's the branding, the experience, the social and cultural aspect of it.

SinisterSlay posted...

So I'll say no, because McDonald's is different in every country.
When you were in Canada I bet you noticed the fries suck. Just as an example.

You can go down the main road and the next mcdonalds will not taste like the last one further up that road here lol.

GanglyKhan posted...

Because it is more than just the food. It's the branding, the experience, the social and cultural aspect of it.

Going because of branding is weird. The only reason to go would be because of the exclusive food and drinks.