Categories: Food & RestaurantsShopping & Retail

5 big changes coming to McDonald’s in 2018

Theo Thimou | February 1st, 2018

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According to 24/7 Wall Street, almost half of America eats McDonald’s in a given month.

But there are big changes coming to how you order food, the kind of food and beverages you can order and even how that food gets to you!

This is what’s new at McDonald’s…

The dollar menu is back in a different format

After a four-year absence, the dollar menu is back at McDonald’s!

The revamp of the popular menu beloved by “dollar menunaires” everywhere features three price points — $1, $2 and $3.

Soft drinks and cheeseburgers are available at the $1 tier. Next up are small McCafe drinks and bacon McDoubles for $2. Topping out the offerings are Happy Meals and triple cheeseburgers for $3.

Your local restaurant may be getting a remodel

According to a recent investor conference call, McDonald’s will use a big part of its saving from the new lower corporate tax to give 4,000 of its stores a facelift.

The remodeling will expand the presence of self-ordering kiosks as the chain angles for new developments in delivery and digital ordering.

Also on tap are another 1,000 stores slated to open in 2018.

Fresh beef will be on the menu everywhere

McDonald’s as a chain has never been about fresh beef — their patties have always been frozen.

But starting in May, fresh beef on all Quarter Pounders will roll out across the country!

The iconic restaurant began testing fresh beef in 2016 and expanded that test to between 2,000 and 3,000 stores in 2017.

Mickey Ds wants to deliver

Still on the horizon is an ambitious delivery plan for McDonald’s.

“In McDonald’s top five markets (U.S., France, the U.K., Germany and Canada) nearly 75% of the population lives within three miles of a McDonald’s,” the company noted last year in an official press release.

“No other food company in the world has this reach and ability to be this convenient to so many customers through delivery. Currently, McDonald’s is experimenting with different delivery models including partnering with third parties for ordering and fulfillment throughout the world.”

The drive-thru experience is getting a refresh

This is the company that practically invented the drive-thru in the 1970s! But a new age demands a new approach — the introduction of curbside pickup. That effort began in 2017 and will continue in 2018.

“By enabling mobile order and pay through the McDonald’s app, customers can personalize their order while skipping the drive-thru line and instead choosing curbside delivery,” according to a company press release.

“If customers choose the drive-thru, they will simply read the already placed order code to the crew and their mobile order will be ready for pickup at the window. These more efficient enhancements will speed up the process and allow more customers to pass through our drive-thrus.”