November 12, Saturday around 3:30pm my family and I decide it would be fun to visit our local McDonald’s on 2340 E. Tropicana store number 3168. This is the closest one to our house, it is conveniently a 5 minute drive, only a few blocks away. It’s never been the best McDonald’s I’ve been to, I have yet to experience fresh chicken nuggets from them, but chicken is OK eaten cold anyway right? (sarcasm is seeping)
What truly brought us to McDonald’s today and the past couple of days is the temporary return of the ever so loved McRib sandwich, with its savory sauce, pickles, onions, tasty and convenient to eat meat inside a warm bun……a McRib bun, the nice bun that cushions the meat evenly and creates the ideal look of the McRib sandwich that looks so tasty on TV and on the billboards. When the Mcrib that is served to you looks like this, it makes you want to cry in disappointment, such a shame and what a waste. And to think a little common courtesy would’ve actually avoided the heartache.
Here’s what went wrong. If they knew they were going to serve a customer ordering a McRib sandwich on a cheeseburger/hamburger bun couldn’t they have at least told the customer before selling the sandwich to the customer that they wouldn’t be getting a ‘real’ McRib sandwich per-say, that they would have to substitute the bun. A little forewarning would be appreciated instead of an unappealing mystery surprise in the sandwich box.

the 2 saddest looking McRib sandwiches

Another thing, this McDonald’s restaurant was never the cleanest McDonald’s in the area in fact its one of the dirtiest, from the un-mopped or dirt streaked floors from using a dirty mop at an attempt to clean to old ketchup stains under the tables and chairs, to the outside eating area where no one is sitting but there are empty trays not even stacked together just hanging around randomly. I get it, it’s fast food, maybe it does get dirty as fast as they keep cleaning it. But answering back to a customer is another thing. As my husband and I were waiting for our order an older man went to the counter and spoke to one of the supervisors, his name was Roger. The man complained their bathroom was filthy beyond reason and it was a health hazard and they could be closed down by the health department for it. Now I have no intention in justifying that or taking a peek in the men’s bathroom, but I did out of curiosity look into the female bathroom and it was dirty as well. The sinks were dirty with gunk, the bathroom trash bins were overflowing, there was trash inside the stalls all over the floor and I didn’t even try to look any further than that. Because I knew in my heart if I had to use the bathroom, I’d rather hold it in or drive back home, nor would I ever let my children use that bathroom or even touch the bathroom door, it’s plain gross. But honestly I don’t think I would even be writing about this part if it wasn’t for the way this old man was treated by the supposedly ‘smiling faces’ of McDonald’s. “Just because it’s dirty now doesn’t mean we don’t keep our bathrooms clean.” Is what Roger told him. This, and the poor man could say no more but walk away and take his tray to a table and eat his food. How sad it felt to witness that! And none of the other supervisors stepped up to alleviate the situation.

To put the icing on the cake, I thought about taking the McRibs back and maybe asking for a different sandwich but from listening to what the employees behind the counter were talking about and the attitude that was given to the poor old man, it convinced me, complaining might just get my food spit on. Here’s the scenario that gave me this negative vibe: 2 guys in supervisor shirts and 1 woman in the same type of supervisor shirt huddled in one side of the front counter, by the fry machine talking loud enough for everyone else to hear they were complaining about not caring about having fries out or not and its not his problem, and in the gibberish and slang a couple of profanity words come out. The rest of the white shirt supervisors laughing and agreeing like nothing is wrong, like they didn’t do anything wrong and aren’t doing anything wrong. Profanity in McDonald’s where they sell happy meals for children….everything about this store is unsettling to me. From the stale nuggets (which by the way I did order 2 chicken nugget happy meals and the nuggets were stale as expected every time I come here, but I wasn’t complaining about that, I’m writing this venting about the things that added to a less favorable experience at Mcdonald’s), to the disrespecting of an elderly who had every right to complain, why couldn’t they just apologize, isn’t it your job to keep the customer happy or give him some type of peace of mind instead of attacking him with a negative remark? Being a past employee for McDonald’s the last thing I do want to do is talk bad about this place, but this restaurant needs to get checked. The surprisingly deformed McRib sandwiches to the overall filth of this place……needless to say, I’d rather go to Burger King on Warm Springs and Eastern. I kid you not and I promise if you go to the drive thru, they have an exceptional crew, the food is always fresh and they may not be the most cheerful people in the world to deal with but the lobby and bathroom is always clean. The same goes for the KFC on Tropicana and Mcleod in the Walmart and Goodwill shopping center, yes the employees behind the counter get a little loud but no one is cursing, the chicken is always fresh and the bathrooms and lobby is very clean. I am actually very impressed with this KFC their floors are always very clean and you can call me out on this one if I’m wrong but I know I’m not. Don’t waste your money on McDonald’s for this kind of service when there are alternatives for fast food in the area, or if you must have a McRib there’s another McDonald’s on Eastern and Russel in the McCarrean shopping center, I do eat there often and it’s 100 times better than McDonald’s on 2340 E.Tropicana Las Vegas, NV 89121, telephone number 702-451-6272, store number 3168.