November 02, 2005

McRib 05- The Farewell Tour Because everything The Simpsons do eventually comes true.
  • Ye gods! I thought it was already long gone! My last one was in Luxembourg, 1997. Good gawd almighty, do I miss me a McRib...
  • That girls dirty fingers scare me in a "ripped through the toilet paper" kind of way. ugh
  • I wish there was a way people could loudly proclaim they were witting idiots in service of corporate America. Y'know, a better way.
  • [ my posting of this article does not constitute any endorsement of the products contained herein. ]
  • If wanting a McRib makes me a witting idiot, well then, as God as my witness, I am that idiot! Every now and then I think of going vegetarian. But the whole pig-meat family keeps pulling me back in. Pork chops, bacon, and the whole reconstituted pork family, with McRibs as their king. The flesh is weak. For piggy flesh.
  • I, too, thought the McRib was long gone years ago. I never much cared for it then, and even less so now that I'm more wary of how much saturated and trans fats I consume.
  • you can't see me right now, but if you could you'd see tears.
  • . Actually the McRib reappears periodically with no real rhyme or reason. It's like whale watching... there a miraculous surfacing for a brief moment in time and then it's gone. And it doesn't come to all McDonald's at once. Just turns up in specifical geographic areas. I think it primarily may be a southern thing, because I don't think I've seen them in NYC. My sister calls me from Tennessee to taunt me when they return. I was visiting last year, while they were back. It was a sweet, savory reunion.
  • I read Argh's comment, opened the site in question, and concluded that he wins.
  • Play With Your FoodKnowledge You Can't Live Without: Every year McDonald's purchases 250,000,000 pounds of pork. OK, in that context that's just gross, and that ensures I won't be trying it.
  • Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it! SIMPSONS DID IT!! Bless, you South Park. Now if only Family Guy would admit it..
  • I love me some BBBQ sauce, but I'm not going to try a McRib. Is it an actual portion of ribs, or meat molded to appear in the shape of a rib? Please excuse my McIgnorance of this particular product.
  • One of the McRib Haikus:  Your sauce splat on me My new shirt sauce defiled  Love it does so hurt Kinda kinky too.
  • I haven't had a McRib in years. They're the only reason I'd go to a McDonalds, but there's normally no big campaign to publicize their appearance in my neck of the woods. The pickles they add aren't great, but the meat and sauce will get you past a BBQ longing if you don't live anywhere there's real BBQ. So, yeah, I'll go get one, maybe two, if they haven't "new and improved" the sauce.
  • Oh, it's a lovely chunky of pasty "meat", lovingly molded into a semi-recognizable shape and then doused with ungodly amounts of red, all so that we humans don't have to deal with the unsettling truth that what we are eating is, in fact, space-smegma.
  • According to an old friend of mine who worked many summers at McDonald's, the McRib returns when pork prices are extremely low in geographic regions. I learned that and the Big Mac Secret Sauce comes from fifty gallon drums of Thousand Island dressing.
  • I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in a good 10 years, and I'm quite proud of it.
  • It's Soylent Green. Dyed red. But it tastes OK.
  • space-smegma Yeah, NICK!!
  • MonkeyFilter: Please excuse my McIgnorance Jeez GramMa how'd you miss that one?
  • There is nothing like pressed pork product covered in BBQ sauce. It's nasty, but in that boxed macaroni nostalgia kid food kind of way. I'm so going out to get one.
  • McRIBS ARE BACK IN CANADA. I have tasted the ribs of God. Again.
  • We need to introduce some of you people to this thing called "food."
  • It's over an hour later, and I still have little BBQ burps. Tastes as good coming up as it does going down...
  • you're talking to someone from the nation that brought the world poutine, MCT... you'll just have to make sure Jack is brought up better than that :)
  • Poutine (done right) is an ugly messy pile of delicious.
  • Monkeyfilter: An ugly messy pile of delicious.
  • The McRib is a disgusting abomination, and anyone who celebrates its arrival is sorely misguided and possibly in need of therapy. Shamrock Shakes, now there's a fast-food related event worth celebrating. I have yet to locate a Shamrock Shake-dispensing McDonalds in my current location* but that doesn't keep me off the hunt. * I have tried every McDonalds in Skagit County, and time is running out... I'll be in Seattle on Saturday, though. The McDonalds just north of U Village sells them. I will have my Shamrock Shake, or I will die trying.** ** Of heart disease, most likely.
  • I had a Shamrock Shake once as a kid. Let's just say it didn't taste at all like I expected it to, and not in a good way.
  • maybe it didn't have enough Leprechaun syrup on it, Lara?
  • I gave in to temptation, and went for another McRib for lunch today. So that's two days in a row. And I didn't have breakfast this morning, nor dinner last night, so that's two meals in a row, actually. My stomach isn't very happy with me right now. But I can't say it was the wrong choice.
  • did you supersize it, Capt?
  • Capt, obviously your stomach needs to LEARN WHO'S BOSS.
  • Pepto cures everything... and it's almost the same color at the McRib, so you're all good.
  • Pour it in a paper cup, and you have a strawberry shake!
  • As I said repeatedly on small-market US radio, when I was a young turk disk jockey, and the McRib was being introduced for the first time, and I was in hog country (Iowa)... it hadn't a chance with that name, but would have bee a franchise player if they had called it... The Big Pig. I was right then. I am right now.
  • They have Shamrock Shakes at the McDs near my home, but I won't be getting one because they don't make their shakes with ice cream anymore, so what's the point. However, I just today located an A&W near work, so all is well. No Shamrock Shakes, but root beer and onion rings!
  • Success! I have tracked down the wily Shamrock Shake. It tasted like mint and chemicals, and I felt sick for at least an hour afterwards. I'm totally getting another one tomorrow. Koko, you know you want it. Real ice cream or not, it's still shamrock-flavored!
  • I think the shamrock shakes became available in Ireland in the late 90s/early 00s. Before then, they were one of the things that made America the promised land.
  • I may have to retract my previous statement re: second Shamrock Shake. It's been a full 24 hours, and I am still not feeling right. There is gurgling where gurgling should not be present, and an overall feeling of queasiness. Curse my recent trend towards healthy eating. This wouldn't be happening if I ate fewer vegetables and more Hot Pockets.
  • mechagrue is feeling a little green around the gills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry! I do hope you feel better soon
  • I had a Shamrock Shake. Once. I took mint-flavored Mylanta. Once.
  • Deconstructing McRib vintage 2005 anyways...
  • However, I just today located an A&W near work, so all is well. What? I thought the Peg was A&W central? During the long, lean years when A&W was out of style, the Peg had a whole cluster of them still... They're sprouting up like mushrooms here, not the least of which A&W ingredients most closely resemble actual food, yet still has an exceptionally-high grease quotient. As for teaching my stomach who's boss, you'd have thought that it would have heard the news from my liver, but I guess I'll have to start crackin' skulls down there, drowning out my stomach's objections in ersatz-BBQ sauce.
  • And this weekend, Mother Renault and I happened to be in the Pittsburgh IKEA (long story), and there, there they have pizza pockets in the caf by the exit, so it doesn't always have to be the two hot dogs and a pop combo for two-fifty. Go figure.
  • I thought the Peg was A&W central? It is indeed - however they're not so numerous that there'd be one within walking distance; I only recently acquired an automobile, and have therefore expanded my lunching possibilities. p.s. it's the grease that makes it good, as any fule no.
  • I only recently acquired an automobile, and have therefore expanded my lunching possibilities. Aaah, a nooner in the backset perhaps?! McRib is back in the Homeland as well, and in limited locations can be acquired as 10-piece McRiblets
  • *starts looking for wide-gauge straw for McRiblet inhalation*
  • Ah, I LOVED McRib back in the day, all of it - the pressed pork rib-like thing, the sauce and the pickle. Hadn't had one for many years till they showed up here in my little backwater not long ago. I couldnt't eat the whole thing because it was sooooo cloyingly sweet - even the pickle. I blame the changing taste preferences of old age, and I'd love to have one that tastes like it did way back then, but I can't even eat Mars Bars anymore. So, beware those of you who are aging boomers. The time is at hand!
  • I had a stoner friend in college who used to eat a McRib practically every day, and would always say "chowmp!" like the guy in the commercial. She was very annoying.
  • I retain a very fond memory of Jack In The Box tacos circa 1976. They had an adequate amount of grease, tastefully preserved by the foil wrapper they were served in; had an accompanying hot sauce that did its unmentionable,horrific job; and came with lettuce and "tomato" wilted and pulverized to the point of unidentifiability. I usually ordered three at a time.
  • A few years earlier than that, I was into the tacos, but when we'd go to Jack in the Box, my daughter would only eat a "canine burger" - the meat patty and nothing else. We tried to get her the same thing at McDonalds, but they wouldn't serve it because the patties and buns had to come out even. I'd tell them to throw the excess buns away, but they wouldn't.
  • Monkeyfilter: an adequate amount of grease, tastefully preserved by the foil wrapper
  • MonkeyFilter: the patties and buns have to come out even
  • MonkeyFilter: I'd tell them to throw the excess buns away, but they wouldn't
  • MonkeyFilter: I was into the tacos
  • *has a strange craving for gorditas*
  • Monkeyfilter: the meat patty and nothing else It's a tagline goldmine!
  • Monkeyfilter: It's a tagline goldmine!
  • That settles it. I'm out door, on a quest to obtain a bunless McRib!
  • One can purchase McLobsters here. Honestly.
  • Sadly, they have yet to perfect the McGooeyduck here.
  • 7 Things You Didn't Know About the McRib Obviously, all true...
  • I can't imagine a planet on which a McGeoduck would sell well.
  • MonkeyFilter: chowmp!
  • After doing some research, I found that McRibs are being sold in the greater Chicago area. I will be in the greater Chicago area this June for a conference. I now literally have a note on my calendar for June 19th which says, "Find McD - eat McRib!!!" LOOK WHAT YOU PEOPLE HAVE DONE TO ME.
  • Get 'yer free* "Southern Style" chicken sandwich today! *with purchase of any medium or large drink
  • I don't know how it would be as a breakfast item per se, but it definitely has post-club or morning-after possibilities...
  • Oh, you see, they are marketing it as a breakfast item in the morning (served ala biscuit), and a lunch/dinner item after 10:00 am (served ala bun). The sheer mad genius!!
  • I heard a rumor a year or two ago that they were going to go to all-day breakfast. It was the best rumor I ever heard, and my sadness over never seeing that materialize cannot adequately be expressed using mere spoken words.
  • Oh man. The mornings you need a McD's brekkie are precisely those where you can't get there by ten.
  • How many arguments I have seen over the difference in time by minutes?? The desperate customer in need of an egg mcmuffin NOW!
  • My understanding, which is probably like fifth-hand, is that their computers are designed to rollover to the lunch menu at precisely that moment, and there's no going back.
  • I was in line once, very near the cutoff time, and the customer in front of me was apparently friends with the cashier. They chatted past the expiry time, and I was told I couldn't order breakfast. I called the manager out and made quite a scene (for normally level-headed me), but still didn't get breakfast. That particular McD's has forever since been on "the list".
  • Fascist bastards.
  • So... fastards?
  • Follow-up report: I just returned from my business trip to Chicago. Per the note I added to my calendar three months ago, I stopped by TWO McDonaldses. Neither of them offered the McRib. I was both disappointed and relieved. The southern-style chicken sandwich is to Chick-Fil-A what the McDonalds latte' is to Starbucks. Which is to say, about a 75% approximation. It's okay but the spices aren't quite right, and the breading is all wrong. Chick-Fil-A is the only thing I miss from the year I spent in Atlanta. The nearest Chick-Fil-A is 1200 miles away in Provo, UT.
  • Hmm, I guess I'll go get some Chik-Fil-A for lunch. Sounds good, thanks, mechagrue!
  • I'll never understand why Sixbucks is considered the gold standard for coffee.
  • Because they've bought out all their competitors?
  • Their espresso drinks aren't bad, really. Far from the best I've had, but serviceable. Their drip coffee tastes anusy.
  • We won't ask what you're using for comparison on the last one.
  • Kopi Luwak perhaps?
  • You know, I have to confess that since I've started roasting my own coffee, I've been tempted. My supplier doesn't offer it, though. Really I just want to buy a Flip camera so I can slip a cup of it to hbs unawares and make the best Folgers Crystals commercial parody EVER.
  • Ya know, originally I actually typed "McDonalds latte is to a real latte from the coffee house of your choice." I wanted to avoid the inevitable "Starbucks sucks, it tastes burnt and crushes everything in its path" derail. Then I thought, "Nah, that is too wordy. Just make it "McDonalds latte is to Starbucks latte." It has more punch that way. And surely no one will bash Starbucks, given that the contextual opponent here is MCDONALDS forfucksake." I was wrong. Everyone who just bashed Starbucks is given the following assignment: drink two lattes, one from each company. Tell us which one you prefer. Extra credit assignment: compare/contrast the corporate behavior and policies of both companies. Declare which company is preferable. Chop chop! *claps hands*
  • Wish I'd had one to wash down those Chick-Fil-A nuggets I had for lunch yesterday, mechagrue. Mmm mmm!
  • I can't afford the Starbucks latte. Plus I refuse to patronize any place that calls their servers baristas and can't follow a simple small/medium/large sizing standard.
  • So rocket, you're going on record as preferring the McDonald's latte in that equation? That's certainly the sentiment they're attempting to leverage with their new "Un-Snobby Coffee" ad campaign. I have to say, I've tried a McDonald's latte, and I didn't think it was very good. It was watery, and I rather suspect you only get one shot of espresso even in a large. But to each his own! MCT is taunting me with delicious chicken sandwiches. :-(
  • I'd take neither. I'll stick with Tim Horton's.
  • mechagrue, all I can say is curse you for making me crave Chick-Fil-A! I'm left to settle for the McCrappy wanna-be until I can find my way down South.
  • And have you tried Chick-Fil-A's breakfast chicken biscuit? Get it in a combo with some hash browns and a delicious orange juice! Such a wonderful way to start your day!
  • The McDonalds Chick-Fil-A breakfast sandwich is very, very dry. Dry enough to make a person cough. Which, with a mouthful of biscuit crumbs, is an unfortunate event, believe you me.
  • Pictures please.
  • I had to do a quickie brekkie before coming back from my road trip to Montreal, and the restaurant (a small, independent place) had a bunch of dinner combos, one of which was two pogos, a giant bowl of poutine, and a root beer float. Seven fifty. You have to admire that kind of commitment to cholesterol.
  • Clearly, I am not acquainted with the finer side of Canadian culinary treasures. Pogos?
  • Corn dogs. But better, because they're named Pogos.
  • Les pogos gratinés avec bacon émietté. Lookit that grease shine!
  • Jesus, Cap'n, I wouldn't want to pass that through your colon.
  • My, my... sounds like just what's needed after a night of enjoying a healthy round of drinks! I assume the root beer float washes all of the cheese down?
  • Damn but you people know fine dining, don't you?
  • This thread is where it's at. McRibs... Chick-fil-A... Pogos... *takes a melted lard shot* Who's got the next round??
  • I think those bacon-and-cheese Pogos actually look kinda tempting... though I wouldn't need three. Maybe like a half or something. What to garnish it with? Normally a Pogo calls for mustard, but that would throw off the cheese... But that combo -- those were just plain pogos. The poutine was monstrous, though. I suppose it had to do with its location, around Ste. Catherine east. With so many La Belle Provinces and imitators around, you have to go big or go home. Home being Vietnam, where these guys running the independent place came from. See, most of us from the West wouldn't even think of adding a root beer float to that combo, just a plain Coke to wash it all down. Without that fast-food canon to tie them down, these guys just went for the excess, and came up with something glorious. And deadly.
  • The nice thing about living in Canada is that when you have left over pogos but have no room remaining in your refrigerator, you can usually find room for 'em in your beer refrigerator.
  • Yes, the beer fridge, duly decorated in colours, is the centrepiece of any home.
  • And if there's no room in your beer refrigerator, it's usually cold enough outside to stick 'em in a snowbank just outside the door.
  • Hey, our beer fridge was just plain white. Is it 'cause we lived just south of the border?
  • A white beer fridge? Underneath the colours? Oh, nononononononono... Underneath the appliqués, beer fridges are all Avocado, Golden-Wheat (or possibly Goldenrod), or brown. Beige, if you're really pushing it.
  • Did I say 'brown'? I meant 'Chestnut Stallion'.
  • Ours was one of those old rounded dealies from the 50s, with a keg inside and a tap built into the front. Does that count?
  • Depends -- did it have any vintage Molson Stock Ale stuck in the back?
  • Can we get the title tag changed to "Coronary Arteries 08 - The Farewell Tour"? Last night our local Fox affiliate aired the Ribwich episode of the Simpsons (linked in the OP). All I could think was, "OMG JUST LIKE ON MONKEYFILTER!"
  • Underneath the appliqués, beer fridges are all Avocado, Golden-Wheat (or possibly Goldenrod) ... Harvest Gold, I think. But what was the reddish-brown colour called?
  • For a limited time only: Hydrox Cookies! Kellogg Company, inspired by emails, message board postings, phone messages and petition signatures from people like you, is bringing Hydrox® cookies back for a limited time in honor of the cookie's 100th anniversary. Uhh, too bad the cookie died in 1999, so it's not really the "100 Year" anniversary per se.
  • I had a Tuxedo cat once, whose nuckname was Hydrox.
  • Nickname, that is. Her nuckname was Floyd.
  • I would think her nuckname would be Curly. Nuck nuck nuck!
  • What's in a nuckname anyhow? Nuttin I suppose...
  • Hot saucy love, baby!