McDonald's in Concord

“I only get coffee here because McDonald's food is manufactured garbage filled with preservatives. I actually like Big Mac's but haven't had one in 20 years because I won't eat these nutritionally poor meals anymore. That out of the way, I'm not a snob to not want stuff here if it's good and not going to shorten my life span. The black coffee is really good here and cheaper than Starbucks or most other places. The service people are kind and wonderful and the place is clean. Everything is great about this place but the food but if you don't know this about McDonald's by now there is no helping you. I get coffee here like 3 times a week and love it.“

“Let’s be honest. McDonald’s is not where you go to experience culinary enlightenment. You don’t walk in thinking, “Tonight, we dine” and walk up in the joint wearing your finest evening wear, dressed to impress from your fresh cut down to your polished shoes. You go because it’s there. Because it’s fast. Because at some point in your life you accepted that choices were made and led you to this lowly state of affairs.

Lunch? Absolutely not. Dinner? I respect myself too much. But breakfast? Breakfast is the one time McDonald’s and I have a healthy understanding. Well, healthy probably isn't the operative word, but I'm going to enjoy that sausage egg and cheese McMuffin more than I would a bowl of cereal or a Pop-Tart. That $5 breakfast meal deal is basically financial therapy. It’s inflation proof. It’s recession resistant. It’s the only place left where five dollars still feels like five dollars, aside from your mom trying to make a living on the corner of Loudon and Ford Eddy, but I digress.

Now, the food is fine. It’s McDonald’s breakfast. It does what it needs to do. It stabilizes you. It’s edible. It exists. It tames the hangry. That’s not why this location gets five stars.

This location gets five stars because of Amber. AMBER. Say her name. She deserves the recognition.

Amber is the most pleasant human being you will ever encounter at 6:14 a.m. on a Tuesday when the sky is gray and your will to live is questionable at best. She doesn’t just say “Good morning.” She means it. She sounds like she woke up excited to see you specifically. I’m convinced she could improve national morale if given a microphone.

You pull up to the drive-thru prepared for indifference. Instead, you get warmth. You get kindness. You get what feels like genuine human joy… at McDonald’s. It’s disorienting. In the best way.

Amber deserves a raise. A significant one. She is single-handedly carrying the emotional well-being of my morning commute and doubtlessly countless others. Wake up feeling down, dreary, depressed, emotionally unstable, and likely to cause yourself, others, and society in general serious emotional or bodily harm? Make. This. Stop. She'll calm your nerves better than any cigarette or prescription medication with a slightly healthier alternative.

A promotion? No. Absolutely not. I'm sorry, Amber, I truly am, but I need you where and when you are. She probably has the skill set to run the entire corporation. Hell, she'd be a better President of the United States by a order of magnitude best measured in lightyears, BUT if she becomes CEO of McDonald's or President of the United States, or some abstract Breakfast Goddess worshipped by pagans, she’s not at the drive-thru window anymore, and that is not a world I want to live in!

And I need her at that window. We all need her at that window. The world is dark enough. Let the woman remain where she does her best work: handing you a McMuffin and restoring your faith in humanity while beaming like the glorious ray of morning sunshine she is.

McDonald’s breakfast is acceptable. The $5 deal is a win. But Amber? Amber is the main event.

If fast food had a Hall of Fame, she’d already have a plaque right next to Wendy, Colonel Sanders, and that creepy Burger King guy, but none of them are worthy to tie her shoes.“

“Great service, I went in and asked for an ice cream cone, waited four or five minutes, and someone then asked me if I was waiting for something. Well, I was waiting for my ice cream cone. She then asked how long I was waiting for, and then asked if I wanted another cone, I took it with pleasure. I then saw a man struggling with the E-Kiosk and I said “alright let me get you something”. then we ended up eating something together, and I gave him the extra cone I had. Overall great service, burger was sloppy had only one bun (they made me a new one that was better), one thing I didn’t like was the wait for one ice cream cone. Shoutout to the guy I ate with named Steve.

Wheelchair accessibility: many tables were wheelchair accessible. no stairs. ramp for going inside. accessible bathrooms. E-Kiosk is tall but has nav buttons within reach of customer.“