4 Patties, 103 Minutes, and 97 Yuan: Opening Day at Beijing's 'Create Your Taste' McDonald's

In April 1992, McDonald's opened its largest restaurant in the world, at the corner of Chang'an Jie and Wangfujing. That location lasted only a few years, before the construction of what is now Oriental Plaza began.

But last weekend, McDonald's chose its south Wangfujing location -- merely a 100 meters from the site of that earlier behemoth -- to debut the first McDonald's Next store in China outside of Hong Kong, which opened January 10. Fast Food Watch was there to record the proceedings and give it a try.

In the face of declining sales, McDonald's decided it needws something more to super size its revenue. What has arrived in Wangfujing is not the full Next concept, but instead a showcase for Create Your Taste (CYT), a DIY style burger ordering system which allows the customer to order a burger with an almost infinitely customizable combination of bread, cheese, number of patties, sauces, vegetable toppings... and even relatively oddball items such as nacho chips and guacamole.

Arriving at 4.38pm, your correspondent clearly was not the only person who had heard about the new opening.

Business was brisk. Along with CYT, the outlet features an expanded McCafe line-up, mostly with more food options. A counter in the back also allows patrons to order directly from the classic McDonald's menu.

Here are the CYT ground rules: base cost is RMB 42 (we'll come back to that later on). Only beef patties are currently available (no chicken or veggie), but they are juicier and thicker than what comes on the average McD's burger, and the customer may layer on as many as she or he likes for RMB 12 each. One of three styles of buns and three styles of cheeses are also included in the base price.

Eight sauces are available, for RMB 2 each, except guacamole, which is RMB 8. Four kinds of vegetables can be added for RMB 3 each, and nine other toppings, including three different types of bacon, extra cheese, egg, mushrooms, and tortilla chips, are RMB 4 each, except for the special bacon, which is RMB 8. Bread is limited to one slice on top and one on the bottom; no inter-slicing, a la the Big Mac, is possible. Regular menu items may also be ordered at this time.

Upon arrival, the line for CYT stretched around the ground floor service area, which was already full of people munching on their own creations. One patron had chosen seven patties for his creation. Seven. It was a monster. Needless to say, it was selfies and social media all around.

It took about 15 minutes to reach the head of the line near the entrance. That's the entrance that faced out on to Wangfujing, where the sun was setting and -14C degree temperatures were heading even lower, and the wind blew in every time the door opened, which it did about every five seconds. At this point, McDonald's managerial staff informed us that the computer system that runs the human-sized, iPad-like touchscreens that facilitate CYT ordering had crashed, and that we would be waiting about 30 minutes while it was restarted.

We were served hong zao tea (wow, very sweet) and coffee while waiting, and 30 minutes quickly came and went. Another 10 minutes, we were told. The young woman in front of me, who was alone and was actually jumping up and down with excitement at one point, bailed at the 50-minute mark. Her loss: almost an hour to the moment that the system first went down, the barrier dropped and once again, ordering commenced.

The ordering system is available in both Chinese and English. CYT must be selected from a larger menu -- these touchscreens are also being trialed by McDonald's to help get rid of counter staff, some of whom are now making USD 15 per hour in cities like Seattle. First, choose bread, or as McDonald's says, "Get Bready." They offered a buttered roll (the classic McDonald's bun), European-style bread (which I selected), or lettuce leaf. That's right you carbo-phobes, you can now order a McDonald's hamburger with lettuce as the handle or wrap.

Then, choose cheese. There's yellow American, white American, or mozzarella. Duh, I chose mozzarella. For number of patties, I chose four for the simple reason that it sounds ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as seven. From the choices of lettuce, tomato, Mexican hot chilies, and onion, I added only chilies. For sauce, I went with garlic salad cream and special hot sauce, and topped it with special bacon and a fried egg.

Once the order is complete and verified, make payment using cash (which requires a trip to the main counter), swipe a local bank card, or use Alipay or WeChat Wallet. My total, including the set meal add-ons (RMB 7 extra) of french fries -- which come served in a miniature fryer basket -- and a medium drink, was RMB 97. I was given a large disc that would flash when my order was ready, and was told I could sit anywhere in the restaurant and that a server would bring it to me when it was ready.

I only waited about eight minutes before my order arrived, served on a cutting board, and which came with both dry napkins and a wet napkin. The server also brought me five free McNuggets as a way of apologizing for the long wait.

Good thing it came with those napkins because four of these patties, along wtih two sauces, made for quite a mess. Actually, in order to fit the burger in my mouth it was necessary to remove two of the patties.

So at a fast-food restaurant that has spent the better part of century pioneering and perfecting the concept of fast food, I began eating an hour and 43 minutes after arriving.

How was it? It was an excellent combination, if I as its creator say so myself. The sauces were solid -- they were properly spicy, as were the hot chilies. The patties are definitely a superior quality of beef than is normally served, and the so-called European bread was actually like bread, and not like the packing material that normally holds McDonald's burgers together.

But it's still a McDonald's hamburger. The egg was clearly the egg from the Egg McMuffin. There was nothing special about the special bacon, and it was too undercooked for my taste.

Here's the biggest problem: it cost RMB 97. Even excluding the set meal fries and drink, for that price, you could have almost two of Slow Boat Brewing's the Beijinger 2015 Burger Cup-winning Fryburgers (RMB 55), or one of The Local's Dry Rub Avocado Burgers (RMB 75), with enough leftover for a taxi ride home a reasonable distance from Sanlitun. Or, frankly, at least one of any of the burgers that finished the Burger Cup's top 10.

While amusing for an afternoon, the point of eating at McDonald's is the price and the speed. Even if I had not ordered the set meal and two patties that I ultimately removed, that would only have brought the price down to RMB 66, and there are some really good burgers in Beijing available for that much or less. Of course the ordering and delivery time will come down as both McDonald's customers and staff, but will the price? It seems unlikely that will change, given the additional labor and cost involved. Considering the CYT base cost of RMB 42, it would be a better option to head to any of Beijing's top burger purveyors and have it your way there.

McDonald's Create Your Taste
Open 24 hours. 281 Wangfujing St Ares & Crafts Emporium (Dongdan 3rd Alley), 281 Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District (6512 0499)
东城区王府井大街281号

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Email: stevenschwankert@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Steven Schwankert/the Beijinger