What I Thought of It

McDonald’s, Shepard Crossing
109-522 130 Ave SE
Calgary AB  T2Z 0G4
Phone: 403 221 7599

This McDonald’s restaurant is just a bit inside the 130th Avenue SE area, across the street from Safeway and close to Home Depot.

This McDonald’s looks quite fancy. It has a fireplace, leather chairs, and nice booths. There is a PlayPlace for kids housed in a separate room.

They did make one big mistake with this McDonald’s. There is almost no room between the entrance and the counter, so at lunch time the line backs up all the way outside. McDonald’s should have planned for more space to contain the lunch crowd.

Staff here does not appear to be the smartest, which leads to longer waits than you’d expect at McDonald’s. Lucky for us, the food quality does not suffer.

Last thoughts: This McDonald’s has good food and an almost classy ambience. However, do I really want to wait in that line? I think that will depend on what time I get there.

Food ++++
Service +++
Ambiance ++++
Washrooms +++

McDonald’s, Horizon
2740 32 Ave NE (see map)
Calgary AB  T1Y 2S2
Phone: 403 291 0256

It’s been a while since the last McDonald’s review on this site.

Lunch on a Sunday afternoon brought us to the golden arches. The McDonald’s on 32nd Avenue NE was on our way. It was not overly busy - there was only a group of 6 people in front of us.

A crowd of this size wanting to order food should not pose a challenge for McDonald’s, but this McDonald’s was different. I counted 7 staff members all trying to serve the group of 6, and collectively it took them more than 5 minutes to do so. Then it was our turn. We had a simple order - aside for one side salad to substitute for fries - yet they had to re-inquire 4 times what dressing we wanted. Our choice of dressing was not available at the front counter, so they had to get it from the back.

The Horizon McDonald’s has an older diner look, with darker colors but lots of seating. There is a family seating area, where kids can sit with McDonald’s characters, try the gaming consoles, or play with (very few) blocks at a LEGO table.

Washrooms are a funny thing at this McDonald’s restaurant. In the men’s washroom everything is low. The toilets, the sink, the mirror…they must have expected a lot of young (or really short) customers.

Last thoughts: This McDonald’s is not that great. Service is slow and impersonal. The food is okay, but that’s what you’d expect from any McDonald’s. I think I’ll take a pass on this Horizon location next time.

Food ++++
Service +++
Ambiance +++
Washrooms +++

Find McDonald’s Horizon on the map.

McDonald’s, Glenmore Landing
1600 90 Ave SW (see map)
Calgary AB  T2V 5A8
Phone: 403 258 3311

At lunch time I found myself in a part of the city I’d never been to before. When I spotted the twin golden arches they looked foreign but familiar at the same time, so I settled on McDonald’s for lunch.

The McDonald’s at Glenmore Landing is either new or recently made-over. It had fresh decor and lots of seating, with the more modern and increasingly more common leather seats. It’s too bad that they only had a few four-person tables. These larger tables have more room for reading the paper while doing lunch.

My server was extremely friendly and eager to get everything done as quickly as possible.

The food was prepared well up to McDonald’s standards.

Last thoughts: I don’t know when I’ll be on this side of town again, but if it happens to be around lunch time then this McDonald’s in SW Calgary is a great option. The people are nice, the food is good, and the ambiance is quite pleasant.

Food ++++
Service ++++
Ambiance ++++
Washrooms ++++

Find McDonald’s, Glenmore Landing on the map.

McDonald’s, Deerfoot Meadows
1400 - 33 Heritage Meadows Way SE
Calgary AB  T2H 3B8
Phone: 403 663 4395

The Deerfoot Meadows McDonald’s has a great location: easy access from Deerfoot Trail, close to IKEA, and close to many other retail outlets. This McDonald’s restaurant is not very big but has a fresh and pleasant atmosphere.

I visited this McDonald’s for a late lunch around 3 pm on a Wednesday. There were a few people in the dining area but nobody in line. When I approached the counter the person behind it was sweeping the floor, but he set aside his broom to take my order and get my food. I wonder if he should have washed his hands before touching the food, but I thought no more about it.

My lunch was a fish burger combo. After finding a clean table (most of them were dirty), I got a little surprise in my Filet-O-Fish box. As you might know, the Filet-O-Fish burger comes with half a piece of cheese. Mine did, but it was ON TOP of the bun, not in between the two pieces of bread. Because I’m not the biggest cheese-lover, I got it off the bun and ate the burger without the cheese. Nonetheless, putting the cheese outside the sandwich? The restaurant was dead and yet they were too distracted to make the sandwich properly?

After my meal I wanted a free refill, so I went to the order counter and waited. At first nobody seemed to notice, then a lady came forward. She got busy making herself the biggest iced coffee I have ever seen. When she was done serving herself, she was kind enough to call out to someone else that there were customers waiting.

Last thoughts: This McDonald’s in Deerfoot Meadows will be low on my list of places to re-visit. The food was not bad, but for a slow time of day this place was a complete mess. I think I’ll go somewhere else next time, maybe to FatBurger across the parking lot.

Food ++
Service ++
Ambiance ++++
Washrooms +++
Tidiness ++

McDonald’s, Okotoks
600 Big Rock Lane
Okotoks AB  T0L 1T0
Phone: 403 938 3050

McDonald’s in Okotoks is easy to find. First of all, you can’t miss the BIG golden arches in front, and secondly, it’s right on the main road that runs through the city of Okotoks.

This McDonald’s Restaurant has a PlayPlace that also offers some big-kid entertainment. Lucky for hungry customers unaccompanied by kids, the PlayPlace is in a separate room that holds in all the noise.

Going to a McDonald’s with a PlayPlace can be a mistake for people like me who want a quick lunch. If you go there on a day when kids are not in school, then you better be prepared to wait and wait and wait to be served.

The Okotoks McDonald’s probably employs the slowest cooks, of all the McDonald’s I’ve visited.

But let’s back-track a bit.

Ambiance-wise, this McDonald’s has fresh decor and just enough seating (probably not enough when it’s busy).

I ordered a Filet-O-Fish combo, which was fresh and tasted like it should at every McDonald’s.

Last thoughts: There is no reason I won’t return to the McDonald’s in Okotoks, although I might stay away when it’s a school holiday.

Food ++++
Service +++
Ambiance +++
Washrooms +++

McDonald’s, High River
1201 - 16 St SE (see map)
High River AB  T1V 1L2
Phone: 403 652 2054

Another day, another McDonald’s. Work today brought me to High River, and when you don’t have much time to spare for lunch, nothing is quicker than McDonald’s.

The McDonald’s in High River has a PlayPlace for kids, with some cool playthings and a big slide. Luckily for us adults who prefer to eat without hearing the kids play, the PlayPlace is in a separate room where the parents can also sit down to eat.

Ambiance-wise, this McDonald’s is not so great. The tables are cheap-looking and the decor is kind of boring. The space is poorly allocated. For instance, the floor area for customers to line up was needlessly huge.

Our server was not very friendly, but our food was served quickly, even quicker than McDonald’s standards and during the lunch rush to boot.

The food was as you’d expect from McDonald’s: good and up to expectations.

Last thoughts: McDonald’s in High River is not bad, but also not as I would have hoped. In particular, the decor is far from inviting. The food was good, but that may not be enough to make me go back to this McDonald’s.

Food ++++
Service +++
Ambiance ++

Find McDonald’s High River on the map

McDonald’s, Sunridge Way
2665 Sunridge Way NE
Calgary AB T1Y 7K7
Phone: 403 663 6300

The McDonald’s on Sunridge Way NE is just next to Barlow Trail and has great access from there as well. Of course that means it can get really busy at this McDonald’s restaurant.

I was there just before the lunch rush, but I still found a pretty full restaurant and many customers with kids enjoying Happy Meals.

Ordering took a while, probably because there were only a couple of cash registers, but my food was ready quickly. My fish burger was up to McDonald’s standards, so I had no complaints there.

The ambiance was nice, though not the typical McDonald’s atmosphere. It felt more like a lunch place where people go for a quick lunch break.

Last thoughts: This McDonald’s is in a great location, and the food is also great, so it will stay on my list of places to go when hunger pangs hit.

Food ++++
Service +++
Ambiance ++++
Washrooms +++

McDonald’s, Revelstoke
1880 Trans-Canada Highway (see map)
Revelstoke BC
Phone: 250 837 6230

I was feeling peckish around 9:30 pm and decided to get something quick at McDonald’s in Revelstoke. This McDonald’s is right next to Highway 1, making it a great stop for hungry travellers.

It was not particularly busy, with the dining room about a third full. Some of the counter staff even had time to entertain friends. I ordered a Filet-O-Fish, which landed on my tray within seconds – lightning fast, even for McDonald’s.

Finding a table was not a problem; finding a clean one was impossible. I took the least dirty one and started to eat my burger. I guess going there at the end of the day was not the best idea. The batter of my fish was stale, like it had been sitting out too long, and it was some steps below what I’ve come to expect from a McDonald’s fish burger.

On going to dispose of my garbage, I found the bins so full that I had to stack my trash on top. Like the trash bins and dining tables, the washrooms had been neglected for a long while. They were dirty and littered with toilet paper.

Last thoughts: The McDonald’s in Revelstoke falls far short of the usual standards. The staff, though friendly, seem to be too distracted by their friends to keep the place in order. All this discourages even a McDonald’s regular like me from returning to this location. The next time I’m in Revelstoke I will give my business to the A&W next door.

Food ++
Service +++
Ambiance +++
Cleanliness ++
Washrooms ++

Find McDonald’s in Revelstoke on the map