Ever had a neopolitan milkshake from McDonald’s?
One where they layer the chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla flavors in the same cup, creating a thick, icy, slow-moving light-brown-swirls-with-pink-flecks taste sensation? Yeah, my friend Chad was a regular customer of those. Of course, when he was working at McDonald’s he got sick of the regular menu pretty quickly and started tinkering in the back like a mad scientist with his coworkers, developing exotic, unstable, and unpredictable meal creations with the ingredients on hand. Yes, there were failed attempts, like the Chicken McNugget Flurry, but sometimes they struck gold and created a new off-the-menu line extension. I guess this is fairly common, because there are reports of online McDonald’s employee communities, where insider recipes such as the McBrushetta and McPancakeBatterFunnelCakes are shared.
Now, my world opened up when I first realized with Chad that you could order off-the-menu at fast food restaurants. Since that time I’ve learned about a few other secret options around. Like for instance:
• Wendy’s – The Grand Slam. If the single, double, or triple hamburgers at Wendy’s just don’t cut it for you, just go all out and order the massive four-patty grand slam. Also known as the Classic Quadruple or The Meat Cube.
• McDonald’s – Fries with Big Mac Sauce. Lots of people put fries right on the burger, which I agree tastes delicious. But this technique allows you to switch things up a bit and put some of your burger’s best feature right on your fries. Try to ignore protests from your arteries, and just ask for that a little cup of Big Mac Sauce on the side for dipping.
• Starbucks – The Red Eye. A cup of coffee with a shot of espresso dumped in. Now, I’m not a huge coffee drinker, but apparently you can even upgrade this to two shots which is called a Black Eye. I presume upgrading to three shots is called a Jumpy, Unblinking Eye.
• Most Fish & Chip places – Batter Bits. I knew a girl who was all over these. She’d lean in and guiltily ask in a hushed whisper and the guy behind the counter would nod slowly and hand over a wet, greasy paper bag full of all the batter drippings that fell into the oil by accident. Yeah, this is the bottom of the barrel of off-the-menu stylings. It ain’t always pretty out there.
• In-N-Out Burger – Animal Style Hamburger. The well-known ‘secret menu‘ at In-N-Out features this heavenly gem — their regular burger patty cooked in mustard, then topped with extra pickles, extra spread, and grilled onions. Yessir, In-N-Out will whip anything up — including messy Animal Style Fries or even a 100×100 order (100 patties and 100 slices of dee-licious cheese.)
• Subway – The Pizza Sub. Apparently this one’s like sasquatch. There are scattered sightings everywhere and a few grainy videos that may have been tampered with. Another favorite from Subway, though not technically a menu item, is simply ‘the old cut’, where they dig a trench in your bread instead of just slicing it, leading to better cold cut and veggie distribution. Also known for causing The Wing Effect, where your bologna hangs out the sides of your sandwich for some tasty pre-nibbles.
• McDonald’s – Big Mac with Quarter Pounder patties. One last McDonald’s fixture — the ol’ bun-heavy Big Mac surgically altered to become a meat-heavy Big Mac with Quarter Pounder patties instead. Now you’re much less likely to get that dreaded All-Bun first bite.
• Starbucks – The Short Cup. Even though the smallest size on the Starbucks menu is a ‘Tall’, they do offer a secret ‘Short’ size behind the counter. Perfect for that between-coffee-breaks coffee.
Now, I’m only one man, so I’m sure there are hundreds of great off-the-menu gems that I’ve never heard of or know about. But that’s the beauty! There are all these little surprises just waiting to be discovered. What possible fast-food mouth love will we discover next?
Ordering off the menu at fast food restaurants is a great deal. Maybe you’re the loyal customer looking for that new taste. Maybe you have strict dietary restrictions so it’s either off-the-menu or no-menu-at-all. Or maybe you’re just a grumpy guy who makes flippant off-the-menu requests with a deep scowl and a foot-stomp.
But whatever the case, whatever your background, whatever your taste, I think we can all agree that it sure is nice getting a little something special for lunch now and then.
AWESOME!
You really want to wake up at starbucks or badass coffee, try a Blackwidow 6 shot of espresso in a 20 oz cup topped with coffee traditional drunk with out cream and sugar
my friends who used to work at wendy’s used to make the “farm buster”… the spicy chicken burger with a beef patty added and bacon. it’s SO good. chicken beef and pork!
This blog is Awesome!!!
I am not sure if it was already mentioned above but in my town McDonald’s serves a litte thing called a “McDizzle” which is a McChicken patty surrounded by two cheeseburger patties which are in turn surrounded by two buns. It is the most delicious concoction I have ever had the privilege to digest.
there’s something similar to that called a McGangbang where you have a McChicken inside a double cheeseburger. Google image search it for a pic.
this isn’t on the menu, so you have to put it together yourself, but it’s pretty good. …and off the dollar menu to boot.
For clarity, Subway’s “old cut” is technically named the “U-gouge.”
Cheesy Gordita Crunch From Taco Bell is the best fast food item in the world!!!
the Red Eye coffee drink is also known as a Shot in the Dark or a defibrillator.
a flavored au lait is a poor-mans latte and its just as delicious.
I currently work at an A & W’s and we make what we call a Breakfast 2×4 or a Regular 2×4. The breakfast 2×4 is 6 Eggs, 6 sausage patties and 4 pieces of bacon. The regular is 12 beef patties, 12 pieces of bacon and 12 slices of cheese. Beware, as the regular will run you up 20$ while the breakfast will run you up near 15$.
Nice post. “Red eye” is actually commonplace coffee-shop slang for coffee with a shot (at least, they use it at my local independent shop, which is very much anti-Starbucks). I’ve also heard it called a “voodoo”.
My mouth is watering…too bad I live out in bumblefrick…I need something to eat! =D
working at Bennigan’s we used to have chips, or you could make your own plate cuz you could ask for plain shrimp skewers, salmon, chicken, 6oz steak, whatever, and add your own sides they had a 10 item list of sides….
also pastas can be transformed by changing the sauce or dressing… or adding shrimps etc…
for employees we would just ask ( & pay ) for chicken, about 1.50 ( w/discount) and “Steal” guacamole, tortillas, buns, sauce, dressing, or whatever to build a meal
also, heating a sweet bun from a salad, with butter was a great starter when working the morning shift. add a free capuccino to that! mmHmm
My mum used to ask for batter bits at the chippy. A gross idea if you ask me!
I once asked for extra extra pickle at McDonalds and they filled a mini cup for me and that was the best burger ever! I adore that zing they have!
At a pizza place I asked if I could have a trip to the salad bar to get beetroot to go with my ice cream. Sure they said, you can have it for free if we can watch you eat it! It was inspirationally good!
I must be a vinegar fiend!
One surprisingly nice combanation, for the Australians out there, is Vegemite on pancakes. I thought it would be disgusting. It was surprisingly good. Puts you in mind of crumpets.
When I used to work at Subway, in about 2004-2006, we had the Pizza and the Chicken Pizziola subs. The Chicken Pizziola was actually REALLLLLY popular.
Whenever I go to Macca’s though, I love to order a hamburger, minus the patty with EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA x 20 pickles.
Its basically a whole lotta pickles with sauce and onions. DELICIOUS.
Ps. I don’t get the whole ‘classic cut’ thing everyones talking about though ? Maybe this was pre-2004 ? What exactly IS the ‘classic cut’ ?
Batter bits are probably as good as the cookie crumbs when you bake them in the oven.
My dad always gets the veggie burger at Wendy’s… which is, of course, a junior deluxe with no meat.
my dad would and still does order a malted at dairy queen, even though its not on the menu. its SUPER good.
ooh and i second the cheesy gordita crunch being the BEST thing in the world!!!! unless they don’t put in enough cheese between the pita and the hard shell and/or they burn it.. (That happened to me 2 days ago) :(
OMG…when my friend worked at McD’s, we came up with a 6-meat patty, 7 cheese slice, 8 bacon slice burger of death. we called it the Ronald B, which was some crazy acronym that we made but i cant remember. he actually made this burger, too.
instant heart attacks. awesome!
Starbucks:
Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino, with 2 pumps of Toffee Nut=Captain Crunch (soooo good)~
White Mocha with Java Chips, Whipped Creme and Chocolate swirls on top=The Datamation
2 pumps White Mocha and 2 pumps of Mocha=Tuxedo
The short cup is NO SECRET!
There is a cup smaller thats used for samples but they are not sold.
Um, to the lady who thinks ice caps from Tim Hortons are made with coffee… Um, what one do you go to??? Don’t you think the coffee would make it melt??????????? There is NO coffee in ice caps. Sorry.
jamba juice also has a secret menu. delicious! the best is white gummy bear.
also starbucks does drinks like marble mocha macciato which isnt on the menu- and some holiday drinks we have year round because we keep peppermint syrup year round.
Starbucks will make anything they have the ingredients for. If the Bartista denies you what you want, ask for a manager. They’ll get you what you want.
Oh totally.
Just so you know- Chipotle DOES do quesidillas.
Also, you can ask for plain white rice (no cilantro, lime, or salt) . You can also get some items, such as chopped jalapenos, cilantro, or diced onions, or limes because they’re prepped fresh every day.
At some Denny’s they’ll still let you do a taco salad, and the flavor shots are free so don’t be afraid to mix up your coffee or water (if you’re really that cheap).
There is also a morning mac at McD’s which is a Sausage mcmuffin in the style of a big mac i.e. two patty’s and extra english muffin slice and something like 4 slices of cheese…………. mmmmmmmm.
A cop fav
After reading all the comments, I see one was missed. Go to Burger King and mix 50% vanilla soft serve shake with 50% Coke flavored Icee.
Representin’ the BK
I love this blog!
Three shots of espresso in coffee is a Purple Eye. Tell it to the Starbucks employees, and they will always remember your drink! Another level of AWESOME!
mcdonald’s sweet and sour sauce : it’s not just for nuggets
double cheeseburger meal and about three packets of sweet and sour = a real good time
No mention yet of Domino’s Pizza.
My favorite pizza:
Deep dish crust, cover with red sauce & buffalo wing sauce. Top with mozzarella & chedar cheeses, hamburger, bacon and onion.
Call it the buffalo bacon cheeseburger
If there’s a Potbelly near you, they’ll make you a “Wrecking Ball” and charge you accordingly (It’s their Wreck sandwich with meatballs added). A friend of mine learned about it when he asked the order taker what he could get that had the most meat on it.
Hm…I wonder if they have Pizza subs at Subways in Canada?
;)
Just saw this post on ordering off the menu:
http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/33297.html
i used to work at subway and we mixed stuff up all the time, with great combos. best i found was the chicken/steak doublemeat footlong (one serving steak one serving chicken), it was just amazing. sometimes tough to order though, you have to explain they just need to ring it up as a steak doublemeat footlong, otherwise they freak out and dont know how to ring it in.
Starbucks
1. Cherry frappachino- Just the raspberry and blackcurrent with almond syrup in…yum!
2. Mint choc chip icecreamness- Cream based Java chip with peppermint syrup in. It tastes like melted mint choc icecream, nice but a bit wierd.
thats gay as hell!
As you said earlier, the Mcnugget Mcflurry doesn’t work, but try going to Carls Jr. and dipping the Chicken Stars in a Chocolate Milkshake!!! Yummy! I especially love the chicken with the whipped cream they use….
There used to be a third-rate sub & steak sandwich joint just off the University of Delaware campus. Beer was served on the premises, but the owner didn’t allow underage drinkers. However, he was usually willing to sell Beer Subs to young students. A Beer Sub was two or three cans of beer, end-to-end, wrapped up in deli paper and bagged. To the casual bystander, it looked just like a sub or steak to go. Beer always seemed to taste better when it came from a Beer Sub.
there is also something called a McGangBang that you can order at McDonalds which is two big mac patties with chicken in the middle. It has 3 buns and cheese and the works. Its actually really good
I work at Dunkin and we get bored and make stuff up all the time.
-Adding hash browns to any sandwich makes it taste better.
-People come in and ask for a ‘Superfruit’ coolatta but we’ve never had that, so we finally just started combining the orange, strawberry, grape and watermelon together and calling it Powerfruit.
-Grape and vanilla bean mixed together taste like bubblegum. Hugely popular.
Me and my friends are particularly fond of the McDonald’s Gangbang, or the McGangbang for short. Off the Dollar Menu you order one double cheeseburger and one Spicy McChicken sandwich. Sp;it the double cheeseburger between the two patties, and then put the entire Spicy McChicken sandwich inside the double cheeseburger. Optional: add Barbeque sauce. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.
A large chunk of drinks ordered and made at Starbucks are “off-menu.” They only have so much room on those 3 panel menus, plus all that seasonal promo crap. My favorite concoction when working there…equal parts strawberry puree and orange-mango Vivano mix with 2 packs of honey blended with ice. Absolutely addicting and like the only non-dairy outside of coffee and soy milk bevs.
I’m still rocking the barista job at a new independent shop and I do NOT miss that corporate hole one bit. Howie killed my inner child with Green Aprons and “back to basics” bullshit.
I used to work at Starbucks and we would make personalized whip creams like raspberry or chocolate…
I just started reading your blog, and I have to admit that it’s awesome.
I wanted to give you a small update for this particular post though. I work at an In-N-Out and we no longer serve anything larger than a 4×4. We can do extra meat/cheese patties on the side, but as a single burger itself, we’re no longer able to do anything more than 4 meat patties and 4 cheese slices. It’s a company-wide policy and has to do with the “Quality” you can see, and anything bigger than a 4×4 tends to look ‘sloppy’.
Keep up the great work on the blog though. It’s awesome ;)
IN-N-OUT has SERIOUSLY the BEST cheeseburgers ever! I eat there at least once a week.
Animal style fries baby.
God bless So cal.
:D
In-N-Out has the best off the menu. There are so many things you can get. My favorite is animal fries and Neapolitan shake. MMMMM