McRib’s return to Golden Arches McFails with fans
The McRib returned to the McDonald’s menu in December, but fans had mixed reviews.
January 11, 2021
After being pulled from McDonald’s menus all over the world in 1985, the McRib sandwich officially made a historic comeback on Dec. 2. However, despite the appealing visuals and me being a fan of barbeque sauce, I understand why the sandwich was pulled from menus in the first place.
After being pestered by advertisements while listening to music and watching TV, I decided to head to my local McDonald’s restaurant to see if the McRib deserved to be pulled off of menus, or if it was just released in the wrong era.
As I pulled up to Ronald McDonald’s Golden Arches, I was met with even more colorful posters displaying an appealing sandwich, which raised my hopes to an all-time high. Figuring that I really enjoyed barbeque sauce in general, I was expecting a new favorite in the fast-food chain’s menu, but sadly, I was let down completely.
Once I received my McRib meal in the infamous brown and yellow bag, stenches of pungent barbeque sauce escaped the unopened sandwich box, which made for an intolerable car ride home. Despite this first impression, I decided to not judge a book by its cover, and carry on with the historical return.
However, as I opened the box containing the main meal item, I was ambushed by an even stronger stench of barbeque, and something that looked nothing like the advertisements. To my disbelief, I opened a sandwich that seemed to have been taken over by a tsunami of brown sauce instead of what I had imagined: a sandwich that had the perfect amount of green pickles, white onions, and barbeque sauce, which complemented a tender pork patty, held between two soft rolls.
To add to this unpleasant introduction, when I first picked up the sandwich, my hands became covered in gooey sauce, due to the bottom roll becoming soggy and soaking up the main condiment, as if it were a sauce sponge. Despite the horrible introduction, I decided to carry on with the meal as I did not experience the food’s most important feature, taste.
Upon first bite, I was met with a gigantic burst of barbeque sauce followed by pickle tartness and fresh onions. Additionally, I felt pieces of soft roll and tender pork mingling in all areas of my mouth. However, although the first bite seemed hopeful, the sandwich slowly deteriorated with every bite that followed, due to the barbeque sauce shifting from the sandwich’s greatest leader, into its worst enemy. With every bite that followed the condiment seemed to get thicker, tangier, and overall unenjoyable. By the time I was done with the sandwich, it felt like I had consumed a whole bottle of barbeque sauce, as the taste still lingered in my mouth, even after drinking the refreshing Sprite that came with the meal.
Overall, my personal experience with the McRib was unpleasant, and I would not recommend it to others, unless you enjoy obnoxious amounts of barbeque sauce. However, despite my own failed experience, the McRib is not totally unsalvageable. If more chopped onions and pickles were added in the mix, and the amount of barbeque sauce was greatly reduced, the McRib would become an enjoyable sandwich, and I would occasionally order it. However, until that day happens, my rating of the McRib is a 1.5 out of 5 stars. I will be sticking with the classic McDonald’s favorites, Big Macs and Quarter Pounders.