Big Mac Superfan Keith Massey Reviews the Mac Jr.

Last week, January 20, McDonald's premiered the two new sizes of the Big Mac with a special promotion wherein 10,000 people received special edition bottle of Big Mac special sauce. Even though sadly I did not live anywhere near a restaurant where I could have gotten one, I still had to try one of the new sandwiches on the first day it was available. And I posted my review of the Grand Mac that day.

Today, I went back to experience the Mac Jr. My order included, of course, my typical order of large fries, which I ate on the way home. Those were a tad salty this time, but I finished them. At home I had the four piece nuggets with Sweet and Sour sauce. And then, I turned my attention to the main event.

The Mac Jr. is a Big Mac, but without the second patty and middle bun.

As is my custom, I got a side of extra Special Sauce for it, but I admit that it was not entirely necessary. By the nature of the proportions, it would have been fine with what Special Sauce it had. In other words, in the future, were I to get a Mac Jr. I would still order a side of extra Special Sauce but then save it for some other food item.

My verdict is simple. If you enjoy a Big Mac, you'll like a Mac Jr. just fine.

I mean, why wouldn't you? It's the same flavors, just a little less food. 

But the experience of having the supersized version and now the smaller version leaves me ultimately just all the more enamored with the regular, the original Big Mac. Afraid that having just a Mac Jr. might now be enough, I also got a regular, which I ate afterwards. 

It was like that feeling, after days away, of sleeping again in your own bed. The familiar flavors, in the familiar proportions, is a sublime experience.

In the final analysis, I will likely have a Grand Mac again from time to time, if I were at McDonald's and I were particularly hungry and it had been awhile since I had one.  There's not really an occasion in which I would get a Mac Jr. again simply because the regular is not so much bigger that I would opt merely to be snacking on Big Mac flavor.

 Okay, McDonald's, there's only one thing left. Give me yet one more reason to come into your restaurants regularly by making bottles of Special Sauce available for purchase there! Make it so. Make it soon...

Big Mac Superfan Keith Massey Reviews the Grand Mac

I consider myself a Big Mac Superfan on the grounds that:

1) I've made an entire video about the problem of getting a side of extra Special Sauce in Europe.

2) As a Latin teacher, I made a video in which I simultaneously eat a Big Mac and describe how you would say the iconic ingredient list in Latin.

3) I made a video in which I tested the hypothesis of whether you could successfully freeze and reheat a Big Mac (you can!).

I had read with great interest that McDonald's was test marketing a smaller and larger version of the Big Mac in various areas. And I read with enormous delight the news that on January 26 (today), these new sandwich options were available nationwide.

And so, I had to try one on the very first day possible.

I was deeply disappointed that I do not live anywhere near one of the participating restaurants that gave out bottles of Special Sauce today as a promotional for this rollout.

I am encouraged by words from the young man taking my order this afternoon, to the effect that their restaurant expects a shipment of bottles of Special Sauce next week. This may suggest that McDonald's is poised to offer Special Sauce for sale imminently.

And if that happens, just imagine the things you will be able to eat! Instead of ketchup and relish, a Big Mac hotdog! Instead of other dressing, a Big Mac salad! For a snack, I could be eating celery sticks, dipped in Mac Sauce!

Anyway, back to the Grand Mac. So, I ordered large fries, a four piece McNuggets, a Grand Mac, and a side of extra Special Sauce. 

I ate my fries on the drive home, then, at home, ate the nuggets. I then readied myself for the new Grand experience.

I put the extra Special Sauce on the bottom of the top bun. 

I have to say, I noticed immediately that the Grand Mac is a very different experience than a regular Big Mac. After years of eating and savoring a regular Big Mac, the Grand Mac was a very distinct set of textures and flavor ratios. In other words, it is not simply a bigger Big Mac. It's a sandwich in its own right. 

The larger beef patties gave one the sense that you were eating a hamburger such as you would get at a cookout, only with the flavors of a Big Mac infused within it, but a little less pronounced than a regular Big Mac.

Being from Wisconsin, I especially enjoyed the savory sensation and flavor of two slices of cheese, which certainly asserted themselves in every bite.

I ate my way around the bun, which is my eating style. And as I finished the circuit, I realized, I was still holding in my hands something the same size as a regular Big Mac. The eating of the middle was a continued new exploration of heartier meat portions and Mac flavors.

In conclusion, the Grand Mac is a sandwich I will definitely order again. It's big enough that I will likely in the future either get smaller fries or skip the nuggets when I get it. 

I will also still get the regular Big Mac again in the future, even though the Grand Mac is available. The familiar ratios and experience of a regular Big Mac will continue to have a special place in my heart and my stomach.

At some time in the near future I will order and review the Mac Jr., the smaller version of the Big Mac. But until then, today was a glorious day to be a McDonald's fan...

Enjoying a Big Mac--in Latin!

A Latin translation of the ingredients of a Big Mac

Two All-Beef Patties
     duo isicia solum bubulae

Special Sauce
     embamma speciale

Lettuce
     lactuca

Cheese
     caseus

Pickles
     salgama

Onions
     caepae

On a Sesame-Seed Bun
     in collyride cum seminibus sesami

Adventures in Romania: Part Two

I love a Big Mac. I'm not even going to apologize. I eat Paleo 99% of the time and I'm very happy with my weight. I occasionally splurge by going to MacDonalds. And when I do, I get a Big Mac. And the way I love my Big Mac is to have a whole bunch of extra Special Sauce on it. Over the years I've tried asking them to put extra Special Sauce on it. They never put on enough extra to meet just how much more I want. So I've taken to asking for a side of extra Special Sauce and add it myself.

The first time I asked for this in the United States, many years back, I remember the workers being a bit taken aback by my request.  But it has now been many years in the United States since I have seen anyone bat an eye at my request. They immediately nod and I get a little cup with extra Special Sauce served. Sometimes I pay extra (which I'm more than happy to do), sometimes I don't.

And so, today, in Bucharest, Romania, I decided I would stop in at the MacDonalds in the lower level of the Piata Unirii Mall. This is the place where I bowled my first 200 game. And as I approached the counter, I remembered that a few years back I had attempted to order a Big Mac according to my specifications and had failed. I had explained very clearly to the worker that I wanted a Big Mac and a side of extra Special Sauce in a little cup or something. She nodded and smiled and then told me that my Big Mac would be right up. It seemed to take a long time. And I was kinda in a hurry. She finally puts a Big Mac on a platter and pushes it toward me.

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"Um, I asked for a side of extra Special Sauce."

"We put extra Special Sauce on the Big Mac," she says, still smiling. 

I sighed and took the order, in too much of a hurry to make a point of this thing. And it was nowhere near the amount of Special Sauce I had wanted.

So I went there today with a singular plan. I was going to get a Big Mac with an extra side of Special Sauce. Or I was getting nothing at all.

I waited my turn to place my order. I stated that I would like a Big Mac, please. Not the value meal (I'm Paleo, I don't eat fries). And I said I would like, please, in a little cup or something, some extra Special Sauce.

The worker immediately turns and calls for the manager. I've gone off script, you understand.

A tall brute of a MacDonald's uniformed man approaches. She explains what I've requested. 

He tells me, "We can give you a Big Mac with extra Special Sauce on it."

I shake my head. "I'm asking, please, for a Big Mac, with the extra Special Sauce in a little cup or something." (Keep in mind, I've learned that the so-called Big Mac with extra sauce just isn't as much extra sauce as I want.)

"That's not on the menu," he says. "We can't do that."

"Why?" I ask simply. "I'm willing to pay. How much can I pay for extra Special Sauce in a little cup?"

"It's not on the menu," he repeats. "We have extra ketchup, extra Sweet and Sour sauce, but you can't get extra Special Sauce on the side."

"How much do two extra ketchups cost? I ask.

"Four lei," he answers. (Approximately one dollar and change.)

"I'll pay for two extra ketchups and you give me one extra Special Sauce?"

He shakes his head. "No! Don't you understand?" He's raising his voice at this point. "It's not on the menu. Ketchup is ketchup. Special Sauce is Special Sauce. You can't get extra Special Sauce."

I sighed. And I had decided in advance that I was not going to back down on this point. "That's unfortunate," I said to him. "I'm not ordering anything if I can't get extra Special Sauce."

He shrugs. He's done. I'm positive he thinks I'm as crazy as I know he's an idiot.

And I left without my Big Mac.

I found a wonderful place in the Lipscani neighborhood where I ate a Shwarma. And I'll look forward to eating a Big Mac, with a side of extra Special Sauce, when I get back to the United States. In fact, if I see one in the airport in Amsterdam on my way home, I'll order one there. I don't imagine they will think extra Special Sauce is a crisis serious enough to reject my order.