Lunch: Do you guys remember when McDonald's brought out the Arch Deluxe, "the burger with the grown-up taste"? Well I soo wish they would bring that one back

smurfco

smurfco

Meatus McPrepuce

Arch Deluxe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

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This misunderstood sandwich was a victim only of being way ahead of its time. Now you can go to Wendy's and get some crap like a pretzel bun brioche steakhouse mushroom burger or an asiago chicken bacon ranch club and nobody bats an eye. But the Arch Deluxe was even better than those and it failed.

I remember when it came out, my friends and I would eat them all the time. They were so good. I remember we would say it was the burger with the grown-up taste, and then someone would say no - it's the burger made from thrown-up paste! Then they would press their mouth onto mine and push the chewed up Arch Deluxe into my mouth like a mama bird feeding her baby. We would pass the sandwich back and forth among the group like this until it was mostly just spit, then we'd order another one and repeat the whole process.

Anyways do you remember this sandwich as fondly as I do??? Sound off in the comments below!!!
 
Back when my fast food addiction was raging in the 80s, the "special" burger at McD's was the McDLT. And I ate a ton of those suckers.

I don't remember ever trying and Arch Deluxe but I could be persuaded to. :letseat:
 
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@smurfco As I remember it, the failure was the choice made in styrofoam packaging moreso than any issue with the sandwich itself.


I don't have a ton of choices for places to get food from at the office, so when I don't bring in food from home or leftovers, McDonalds is one of my few nearby choices, so I try to make the best of it. If you download the app and order ahead, you can almost always knock $3 to $4 off the price of a full meal. Every day there are deals that can be applied... like buy one get one with choice of Quarter Pounder, Big Mac, or Nuggets... or one of the most common is 30% off any purchase of 5$ or more.

A tip I've learned is if you are ordering a sandwich is after you add it to your cart, choose "customize", and in the list of ingredients if you choose "no salt" then they have to get you a fresh bun and a fresh burger and not sprinkle additional salt on it while cooking it. You will get a hot fresh burger every single time. :baimun:
 
I remember. I also remember when Burger King tried offering table service…including a special menu featuring stuff like popcorn shrimp. I also remember Wendy’s offering a salad bar and a taco bar and a pasta bar.
 
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Being not too far from Chicago, I've seen individual locations offer things like McDonalds Chicken Wings.... Pizza... limited time specialty items at Taco Bell that sometimes end up with a variant on the regular menu nation wide.

Post pandemic it seems that more and more places are embracing the online ordering apps, separate lines, pickup stands in the restaurant, etc.... the only thing I really miss from pre-pandemic is the late night drive throughs. At least around here I often have to check my google map after a gig to see which Taco Bells are open past 11 or 12.

And I do miss the "Breakfast Burrito Wars" from a few years ago.... McDonalds had this excellent burrito that had potatoes, eggs, grilled onions and peppers, and choice of sausage or bacon. A few of the places around me would let me sub the "steak and cheese" meat and foooooook that was a good fast food burrito. :baimun:
 
baimun said:
@smurfco As I remember it, the failure was the choice made in styrofoam packaging moreso than any issue with the sandwich itself.


I don't have a ton of choices for places to get food from at the office, so when I don't bring in food from home or leftovers, McDonalds is one of my few nearby choices, so I try to make the best of it. If you download the app and order ahead, you can almost always knock $3 to $4 off the price of a full meal. Every day there are deals that can be applied... like buy one get one with choice of Quarter Pounder, Big Mac, or Nuggets... or one of the most common is 30% off any purchase of 5$ or more.

A tip I've learned is if you are ordering a sandwich is after you add it to your cart, choose "customize", and in the list of ingredients if you choose "no salt" then they have to get you a fresh bun and a fresh burger and not sprinkle additional salt on it while cooking it. You will get a hot fresh burger every single time. :baimun:
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I think the failure was more caused by completely misreading their market research that told them people wanted more sophisticated burgers at McDonalds. Maybe some people did, and it's the same type of people who have time to participate in focus groups, but that's not why most people go to McDonalds. The packaging probably didn't help either!
 
THOUGHT STARTER: Would John Lennon still be alive if Mark David Chapman knew that 16 years later McDonalds would come up with this fabulous sandwich, and he wouldn't be able to enjoy it from jail?
 
smurfco said:
THOUGHT STARTER: Would John Lennon still be alive if Mark David Chapman knew that 16 years later McDonalds would come up with this fabulous sandwich, and he wouldn't be able to enjoy it from jail?
Click to expand...

Would Hinckley have tried harder if Jodie Foster came to him in a dream and explained the wonders of the Taco Bell Cantina Chicken Menu to him? And if so, maybe we should do a time heist and assemble the greatest fast food novelties of all time to Endgame the shit outta Ronald Reagan and prevent him from unleashing Jason Voorhees on the horny teens of the 1980s.
 
I don't think I ever had an arch deluxe. I frankly can't imagine fast food surpassing the pinnacle set by Arby's 5 for $5 roast beef sandwiches, nor can I imagine how I managed to house 5 roast beef sandwiches in my 1/2 lunch break. Those were simpler times.
 
Remember when Jack in the Crack killed all those customers. Good times.

Or were they called Monterey Jacks then?
 
I don't remember the Arch Deluxe. I don't remember a lot of things. Pepperidge Farm remembers.
 
I remember when McDonald’s offered breakfast all day. And, they used to offer a grilled chicken sandwich. I don’t like their burgers because the beef patties have an odd texture when I chew them, almost like they contain paper. My favorite items are, Egg McMuffin, Filet of Fish and French Fries.

I have a long list of burger places that I put ahead of McDonald’s for cheeseburgers. The only fast food, burger joint I consider worse is Whataburger, stale buns, spoiled lettuce, low quality food.

At least the McDonald’s in my small town has never served me food that should have been thrown in the trash. The Whataburger just opened a couple months ago and is already gaining a rep as the worst burger joint in town. I tried them three times and it sucked each time. But, they are open 24 hours if I get a craving for a trashy cheeseburger in the middle of the night. Never! They’re dead to me.
 
I remember the Arch. Never tried it though.
McDonald’s was never the place for me until they started serving breakfast.
There were very few menu items that I’d eat as made. I always had to ask for subtractions or substitutions.
I the 70s, they really didn’t like doing that. So, I just didn’t go.
 
smurfco said:
THOUGHT STARTER: Would John Lennon still be alive if Mark David Chapman knew that 16 years later McDonalds would come up with this fabulous sandwich, and he wouldn't be able to enjoy it from jail?
Click to expand...

Instead of shooting him, he would have stabbed Lennon with a knife....

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:helper:
 
smurfco said:
I think the failure was more caused by completely misreading their market research that told them people wanted more sophisticated burgers at McDonalds. Maybe some people did, and it's the same type of people who have time to participate in focus groups, but that's not why most people go to McDonalds. The packaging probably didn't help either!
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People that wanted it just went to Burger King and got a Whopper because it was and still is better, and available still.
 
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