A Hamburger Today- aht.seriouseats.com

Man, I remember when a Big Mac was 75 cents. Ouch. I still think it's over priced like all Mickey D's sandwiches are. Special sauce -- Russian Dressing HA!

Well done April 1st post.

it's actually French Dressing and it's a pretty tasty french fry dip.

Hopefully you weren't completely joking. Fast food burgers are a convenient guilty pleasure once in a while (though a Whopper is better than a Big Mac). And who can afford to regularly spend $15 plus on a "foodie" burger. I actually thought this was a serious, albeit somewhat tongue-in-cheek review until you wrote that the bun resembles a byzantine basilica.

I haven't had a McDonalds burger in a really long time. I prefer BK for my fast food fix. The McD fries really are good, though, as long as you eat them while they're hot.

You know, I totally fell for it... for a generation that grew up with McDonalds everywhere, it was a "treat" part of my childhood when we were allowed to go. And I really related to the part of the first memory of "graduating" to a Big Mac.

Granted now as a "foodie", we've experienced far better burgers, there is something about a Big Mac or Whopper that brings us back to the easy days of childhood... it's more the nostalgia of enjoying the food than enjoying it for the high quality... it's like reliving an experience again.

Sadly, after reading your post, I do now crave a Big Mac and was thinking about stopping into McD's for dinner... I haven't had a Big Mac in years!

@ChicagoKid PLEASE don't do that! You will be horribly disappointed. Some things a best left as memories. I only ate a couple of bites of the Big Mac and that was enough. It was awful. There are so many better options out there.

@Lorenzo Yes of course there are. But so what? Does that mean they are any good? McDonald's produce the lowest common denominator hamburger. And I assure you it is we, of the hamburger renaissance, who are smiling in between bites of glorious fresh ground beef burgers made by people who are treated as such and not as cogs in some machine.

I love good food, I am obsessed with restaurants and dining in general and try a lot of the "good" places.. black label burgers, BLT, Stand, BRGR, etc etc. I am even more into other type of restaurants and read blogs all the time.. a "foodie" if you must use the term. But hell, I go to McDonalds about once every 2-3 months. I like it. I hate myself afterwords for a 3k calorie meal. But I like it. It is something a lot of us grew up with and I will not say that it is better in our nostalgic memories than in reality, simply because I have developed a "sophisticated", ie snobby, palate. The fries are awesome and the burger has a very unique taste that sometimes you just crave. I do have to say though, I usually opt for a 2 cheeseburger meal or a QP chz. I have never been a fan of lettuce on my burger.

Burger enthusiast here. But, I fell hard for this joke review. I initially found the imagery a bit droll ("Byzantine basilica," "tasty mess") but brushed it aside, thinking Nick was some novelist manqué. Agreed with everything though. If it weren't for the reveal at the end, I would have gone on thinking that even AHT loves McDonald's burgers. After being fooled, feel kind of sad that this glowing review was fake. Going to rethink my direction in life and question my burger sensibilities now.

I love Big Macs.

@lorenzo; for me it's not so much a burger renaissance so much as it was a decision to save money and get healthy by preparing food that I used to buy, as often as possible, and along the way discovering that even with my (initial) limited skills in the kitchen, most things that I cooked myself were better than the average offerings of the restaurants around here.

Obviously there are some special items that are best prepared in a great little restaurant, but a Big Mac ain't one of 'em!

I'm a much better cook than I was when I started, and while I have fond Big Mac memories, I also know that the last time I snuck a Big Mac for lunch (some years ago) I wondered why I ever ate the things in the first place. It's not the flavour so much as the upset stomach afterwards.

Good April Fools!

I love good food, whether it comes from a fast food restaurant, street cart, or a JGV restaurant (who by the way is working on a concept integrating fine cooking with fast food). So Big Macs are a yes for me, and I have no problem attesting to their deliciousness. You can call it a guilty pleasure, a bad idea, or poor taste buds. But as much as I enjoy eating an Entenmann's chocolate cupcake (which is a better version of the Hostess cupcake) or a 10-course tasting meal at Momofuku Ko (with wonderful flavor combinations and strong attention to detail), I can also be satisfied eating a McDonald's Big Mac.

@phauxtoe I agree. I think it has something to do with McD's getting sued a few years back by vegetarians when they found out that the fries were partially cooked in beef fat at the factory prior to delivery to the local McD's who then completed the cooking process in vegetable oil. Too me, they just never have tasted as good since.

I totally believed it until the very end. I was thinking, "wow, here's a guy that knows about food and really liked eating a Big Mac." I almost wanted to eat one too. Did you really work for the Muppet Show though? That would be awesome!

Whew. Glad that was a joke. I thought the Brit had lost his marbles...

Oh btw, I also went to McDonalds a day after watching Super Size Me, it put the craving in me even tho I almost puked watching the film!

Ouch, harsh, guys. I mean, I like good, real food as much as the next person, but man, sometimes a sister just wants a Big Mac. I was kind of excited to see this review, as it looked like a step back from pretension, maybe even a justification of a guilty pleasure. But alack.
Ah well. The day I get to be such a "foodie" that I can't enjoy the occasional Big Mac is the day I hope to die.

i kind of wish i had eaten big macs as a kid, because i had my first [and only] one a year or two ago and didnt like it... so i feel no attachment or nostalgia to the thing. i mean, wtf, NO cheese on the top layer? i want a peice of waxy, melty orange cheese atop each one of my burgers! my fixation with gooey cheese [be it weird, faux cheese] is pretty much the only reason to eat McDs. double cheese/double QP ftw!

"McDonald’s does their best to keep the produce they use as local as possible,"

What a pure piece of genius satire!

Yes, but all that aside, who among us cannot still sing the jingle "Two all beef patties, special sauce, pickles, lettuce, cheese, onions on a sesame seed bun"?

Too me the Big Mac is garbage.

I had a qrt pounder about a month ago and before that years, they seem smaller to me, does anyone think that they got smaller?

McDonald's used to be much better when the burgers would come hot off the grill. These days, they're pre-cooked and are passed through some sort of conveyor belt unit to heat up, much the same as with Burger King, although at the Burger King near me, they throw the pre-cooked burgers in the microwave..yeeech!!!
The moronic, politically correct times that we now live in, which resulted in McDonald's once-great-tasting fries being cooked in vegetable oil, makes me long for the good old days. The removal of trans-fats (and who knows what else?) at the behest of our busy-body government has resulted in blander-tasting food.

You know, I fell for it itoo. I never saw the "wonderment" in the Big Mac, I was always a double cheeseburger or QP fan. I loved the fries as a kid, and used to love BK's until they changed the texture. As an adult, I take my kids when they ask to go every now and then, mostly not. I always suggest a healtier alternative. I found myself once in the drive thru having ordered chicken nuggets for the boy, awaiting a QP the wait was exciting, as I remembered how great the burger tasted once. After getting the order, the fries were cold, and the burger somehow lost something. I think I will try it again today and then hit the treadmil tonight to run off the 2k ingested.....................well, maybe I won't!!

When the menu consisted of a hamburger, cheeseburger, double burger, double cheeseburger, filet-o-fish and fries, I was working at MacDonalds during summer vacation from high school when the Big Mac was introduced in 1968. [ yeah I'm an old guy ] It was instantly my #2 favorite burger the other from a oneonly drive-in ( the Burger Q ) that charbroiled their 1/2lb burger ( one 1/2lb patty ), but I digress. But now the flat-top grills are gone replaced by microwaves due to the food-bourne bacteria hysteria ( and rightly so due to questionable safety of processed foods ) . The burgers are no longer grilled with salt and pepper and sprinkled with dehydrated onions that re-hydrated during cooking and gave the patties a nice browned/searwd crust on both sides and the cheese melted on the patties while still on the grill. At the same time the buns were placed on the grill to toast and a bit of hamburger grease would get on the face of the bun to add to the toasted flavor only a griddle can produce. Then when assembled care was actually taken as strict guide lines had to be followed, even the pickles had to be spread out (3) with edges just touching not in a pile off to the side half off the burger , the lettuce and sauce also had to be properly placed and in the correct amounts. This all lead to a tasty burger at a very cheap 49 cents.
So these pre-cooked microwaved abominations they now try to pass off are simply horrible and almost nauseating to the point I almost hurled after eating one ( only a few bites ) awhile back on a powerdrive road trip. Should have gone to Taco Bell for a value taco and value bean burrito about a buck-fity with alot of the fire hotsauce they're survival food in small quanitities.

I am 52 years old and I have NEVER eaten a Big Mac, not once-I don't think I missed out on anything, either!!!Summerlin

The unappetizing photo's of a modern-day 's Big Mac, posted above, which looked like it was sitting on the counter for a couple of days with it's grayish-colored meat and insipid bun, is a far cry from what "shipwreck" described in his post. I worked the grill in McDonald's when I was in high school in the mid-1970's and can affirm his well-written description of the burger-making process back in those days.

I will only eat the filet o fish, the burgers are nasty.