Macca's Invites Victorians To Create Their Own

Written by David Hagger on 22 December 2014.

Macca's is inviting Victorians to create their own. The World Loves Melbourne was invited out to Craigieburn North to a new store that had only been opened a few days to build our own burgers. My son and I often get our Macca's fix (as do many chefs I've spoken to around Melbourne) and being a burger afficiado I was keen to experience this revolutionary venture by Macca's based on consumer demand.

Prefer your burger with brioche, your onions caramelised or a double sauce combination? From December 15, Victorians have had their first chance to make all of their burger wishes come true, with a new concept from McDonald’s placing the burger building process in their hands. The Craigieburn North McDonald’s is the first in Victoria to offer a new customisable gourmet burger menu called ‘Create Your Taste’. Using digital kiosks, customers can build their own burgers from scratch, choosing from over 20 ingredients. Customers are also treated to table service, allowing them to sit down and enjoy a drink while they wait for their creation to be made fresh off the grill and brought to their table.

My son and I were chauffeured by Bill (above) from our eastern suburbs home out to the new Macca's in Craigieburn North.

Macca's are clever in engaging with current technology of the touch screen. The idea here is to customise your burger meal and create your own taste. For a start the price point is excellent at $8.95 for a customised burger, then you can add extras for a meal combo.

Make your order (we ordered 5 burgers), pay at the POS Terminal at the touch screen, and grab your Place Tracker and marker.

Here's the burger I created. First I chose a brioche bun, then I added a plethora of extras with the beef patty. It all worked. These burgers are more substantial than a Big Mac and I was impressed with the size. A 113g Angus Beef patty was substantial and the ingredients were particularly fresh and tasty. The advent of things like guacamole and different types of cheese was cool, as was caramelised onions and an assortment of sauces.

Presentation was excellent with the meal served on a board with fries in the basket.

Here are the Gourmet Ingredient options:

Buns

Bakery Bun

Brioche Bun

Bunless

Cheese

Natural Cheddar

Swiss

Colby Jack

Parmesan

McDonald’s Classic Cheese

Sauces

Ketchup

Mustard

BBQ

Big Mac

McChicken

Chipotle mayo

Chuncky tomato relise

Aioli

Herb Aioli

Tomato chilli jam

Dijonnaise

Salad Toppings

Whole leaf lettuce

Sliced tomato

Caramelised grilled onions

Beetroot

Long sliced pickles

Jalapeños

Premium Toppings

Rasher Bacon

Crispy Bacon

Egg

Guacamole

Crunchy tortilla strips

Grilled mushroom

Grilled pineapple

Following the Craigieburn North launch, the Create Your Taste gourmet burger and table service experience will be rolled out in all restaurants in Victoria by the end of May 2015. The rest of the country will see restaurants welcome the change from July 2015. Victoria was the natural choice for the statewide rollout of the new concept, according to Mahassen Haddad, McDonald’s Market Director for Victoria. “McDonald’s is innovating and changing to meet the needs of our customers. Victorians take their burgers, like their coffee, very seriously, so we knew it was time to start

letting people create the flavour combinations that suit them,” Haddad said. “We see plenty of patrons already customising their orders, either by requesting additional sauce or removing pickles. Create Your Taste takes this one step further, placing all of the control in our customer’s hands.”

The World Loves Melbourne also sampled the 3 Specialty Burgers. The Chipotle with Guacamole was excellent - tasty and fresh and the Mexican element welcome. This burger had some spice, but I wouldn't mind spicing it up a bit more with jalapenos.

Chipotle with Guacamole

Tortilla Strips

Guacamole

Tomato

Whole Lettuce Leaf

Red Onion

Chipotle Mayo

Colby Jack Cheese

Angus Beef Patty

Bakers Bun

My favourite Specialty Burger was the Homestyle Oz Burger. This was a more traditional burger but nuances of Tomato Chilli Jam and Herb aoli were rewarding flavours that impressed. It might be a small thing but having a Whole lettuce leaf of quality lettuce makes a difference for me.

Homestyle Oz Burger

Rasher Bacon

Tomato

Sliced Beetroot

Whole lettuce leaf

Herb aioli

Coon Cheese

Angus Beef Patty

Grilled Onions

Tomato Chilli Jam

Bakers Bun

Most burger places can be measured by their Cheeseburger and this Macca's Classic Chesseburger hits the spot. This is nothing like the quick fix staple of fast food joints, it's actually a substantial burger that's well balanced. I'm a fan of the Brioche bun with a cheeseburger! Check out the list of the ingredients below...

Classic Cheeseburger

Mustard

Pickle Slice

Rasher Bacon

Crispy bacon

Parmesan Cheese

Swiss Cheese

Angus Beef Patty

Grilled Onions

Chunky Tomato Sauce

Brioche Bun

The World Loves Melbourne was impressed with the modernity and design of the new Craigieburn store.

We noticed many departures from traditional McDonald's fare - such as the larger slices of pickles, the bun, the lettuce, and the list goes on... You can still get your Big Mac and other longstanding menu items if you want, but we believe Macca's will attract new tastes and customers through this initiative.

One thing I noticed was that I needed two hands to eat these burgers. As I mentioned, they are burgers of substance.

I found the fries easier to eat (more accessible) from the metal basket...

Create Your Taste is the first of many new initiatives that will be implemented around the country, with the aim of adapting the service and food experience McDonald’s offers its customers to suit the changing pace of their lives. Through new technology, customer service approaches and menu options, decisions about how McDonald’s will serve Australians in the future is being placed fully in the hands of customers.

Whether they want the iconic Big Mac and convenience McDonald’s is famous for, or a gourmet burger in a more relaxed dining environment, customers will have more options than ever before.

My son gave the initiative the thumbs up, and said he prefers the new burger offerings to the Big Mac that he loves. A fun time was had, and we journeyed home in the chauffeured car feeling rather full but happy.

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