‘Every McDonald’s is the worst McDonald’s in Arizona’

On Tuesday, we shared the news that the worst McDonald’s in the entire country is right here in the Valley. A recent study examined the Google rankings of McDonald’s locations, and found that a restaurant in Surprise is the absolute bottom of the barrel.

Compared to the national average of 3.41 stars, the restaurant on the northwest corner of 163rd Avenue and Pat Tillman Boulevard earned a whopping 1.55 stars.

One Google commenter wrote, “If I could give this location no stars, I would!”

Yikes. But when we shared the news, our readers were quick with questions and reviews of their own. One query started to build, asking: Are there any good McDonald’s locations in Arizona?

Troy asked:

Have they not been to the one on 7th Ave and Indian School?

Wirld said:

They didn’t check Pinetop.

Phil offered:

They must not have visited Chandler & Kyrene in Chandler.

Matthew asked:

Have they been to Blythe?

Tina’s guess was apparently right on the money:

I knew before I even opened the link.

Jason offered some insight into why he’d rank one location above another:

Have they checked the ice cream machine at the Baseline location near AZ Mills? I mean it was out of service for like 7 years…

James offered simply:

Wait… aren’t they all the worst?

Well, what makes a McDonald’s good or bad? When your flight is delayed and you land at an unfamiliar airport at 3 a.m. and the only thing open is the McDonald’s counter, the glow of those golden arches feels like a godsend. Or when you’re driving across the country and traffic lands you in Gallup, New Mexico, after dark, a cup of burnt coffee and a bathroom break at the local McDonald’s by the railroad tracks feels like winning the lottery. But where these meals actually good? Hard to say.

At its core, a global chain strives for consistency. It’s an essential part of the business model. Some McDonald’s are newer than others or have been renovated more recently. Frequently, the ice cream machines break. The staff’s level of care can differ. As can the wait times in the drive-thru. But can one McGriddle really be all that different than the next? Apparently so.

Maybe those golden arches are not always a sign of a happy meal to come. Especially in Surprise.

Do you have a favorite location? Or is one truly the worst and why? Let us know in the comments or at editorial@newtimes.com.