Foodie Friday: McDonald’s Create Your Taste in Tampa Bay

Last week I had the privilege of trying out a brand new concept at the Wesley Chapel McDonald’s called Create Your Taste.  Basically they’ve gone all “Jetsons” on us. It’s a pretty neat initiative that is only available at 20 locations nationwide.  The Wesley Chapel location happens to be the only location in entire state of Florida.  Lucky us!

McDonald’s Create Your Taste is basically like build-a-burger.  You get to choose from an array of fresh toppings and options to create the sandwich of your dreams.  How cool is that?  I created my specialty burger  and named it the OD Special Burger and my teen eating machine created the Jay-o-nater.  We don’t frequent Mickey D’s the way we used to at all.  Every now and then I have a taste for it but I really tend to try not to eat too much fast food and limit our intake of processed foods.   That being said, when I heard about this new feature I was drawn to the notion of using technology to make ordering efficient and willing to give it a try in the name of a new foodie experience.

Cool Technology

The restaurant has 5 jumbo touch screen kiosk where you can step right up and swipe and touch to your heart’s content until you have created your masterpiece.

Toppings Galore

The toppings to choose from are green leaf lettuce, fresh sliced tomato (no pre-cut stuff), crinkle cut pickles, fresh red onions, caramelized grilled onions, chili lime tortilla strips, fresh all natural guacamole without preservatives, sliced jalapenos, and grilled mushrooms.  I suggested salsa, sour cream, and fried egg as other topping options I would love to see offered as well.

Cheese Please

The cheese choices are american cheese, natural sharp white cheddar, and natural pepper jack.

So Meaty

Currently the  meat choices are only an all beef hamburger but in a couple of weeks chicken will also be an option.  I asked if a veggie burger or turkey burger were on the horizons but that hasn’t been revealed in the plans.   That would be a huge step forward if one of those were added as a healthy alternative.   Additionally you can add thick cut applewood smoked bacon for a slight upcharge.  You can also select to get double meat for additional charge.  All of the other toppings are included in the price.

I’m not a huge fan of McDonald’s burgers normally.  Something about the texture and the taste just doesn’t appeal to me and I don’t eat beef that often.  As the manager was giving us a tour, he was explaining how the burgers are normally prepared versus what is done for the Create Your Taste burgers.  They normally press the burgers on a teflon griddle which leaves them flat and no longer juicy.   With the Create Your Taste burgers, they sear them on a non teflon surface and use a handheld press to apply 30lbs of pressure for 30 seconds.  This let’s the burger still have some girth to it and it doesn’t press out all of the natural juices. The end result is a burger that actually tastes like real meat.

Get Saucy

You have your choice of the traditional condiments, but you can also choose Mac Sauce (fan favorite), the new sweet BBQ sauce (much better than their traditional BBQ sauce, spicy mayonnaise, and the creamy garlic sauce.

To Bun or Not to Bun

The  bun choices are a buttered and toasted artisan roll or ciabatta bread.  You can even choose no bread at all and opt for a lettuce wrap style sandwich.

Taste Test

My OD Special was beef, white cheddar, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, green leaf lettuce, guacamole, tortilla chips, and the sweet BBQ sauce.  It actually tastes good.  I would tell you if I wasn’t pleased.  I was skeptical that it wouldn’t be much different from what you normally get but this was good.  In the words of the teenager “Wow, it tastes like a real restaurant burger.”  I don’t think he meant to throw shade at the rest of McDonald’s menu, but that was his honest reaction.   All of the fresh toppings make such a difference and the other technique used to prepare the burger made a huge difference as well.  That buttered and toasted artisan roll is to die for!

 

You can’t just roll through the drive thru to get this new experience.   This is only available inside of the restaurant but you can get it to-go.  This McDonald’s is nicely furnished inside so if you choose to sit down it will be a pleasant experience.   After you place your order on the kiosk, you can pay by card at the kiosk or you can go to the register to pay with cash.  You are given a table pager with a locator so they will know exactly where to find you.   Once your creation is ready in about 10 minutes, they will deliver it to your table.

The kiosk will also allow you to place other orders, not just the Create Your Taste.  If you’re not feeling very creative, they also have pre-built burgers to choose from using the Create Your Taste ingredients.

It’s a neat experience and worth a try.  I told the manager if they get them to do a create your own breakfast version they may never get rid of me.  I do love me some McDonald’s breakfast. (in my most southern accent)

If you find yourself in the Wesley Chapel area go visit Store 7530 and tell them Outdoorsy Diva sent you! It’s not far off of I-75 at 27643 St Highway 54 W Wesley Chapel, FL 33543. 

**Fun Fact: I debunked a myth I have long held to be true.  I never believed McDonald’s used real eggs; I thought they used those powder eggs or liquid eggs, or frozen eggs.  Any egg but the one you crack open. However, I saw the cases and cases of real chicken eggs in their shells in the refrigerator during my tour.  Whether this has always been the case, I cannot say. So there you have it.

Disclosure: We were invited to come try out the new Create Your Taste experience in exchange for sharing my experience with my readers.  Full Disclosure is here.

Lauren G. , Outdoorsy Diva™

“Adventure is a lifestyle!”