McDonald’s restaurants in Australia are about to go all fancy on us, upgrading the franchise’s image by offering table service and the option for customers to create their own gourmet burgers.
McDonald’s Castle Hill restaurant in Sydney is today the first in the world to introduce the “Customer Learning Lab” location, where customers can order the new gourmet burgers, or create their own by choosing from 19 ingredients via a digital “Create Your Taste” kiosk.
In another uncharacteristic move, McDonald’s is also introducing table service, allowing diners to take a load off while they wait for their meals to arrive in front of them, sitting triumphantly atop wooden serving trays, flanked by metal chip baskets. Presumably, they’ve made some adjustments to make their seating a little more inviting too.
According to The Daily Telegraph, McDonald’s CEO Andrew Gregory said the changes were made in accordance with customer feedback. “All of our innovations have been led by Australians. What we’re really doing here is just what our customers have asked us to do,” he said.
“An important part of these restaurants is that we take customers along the journey with us and get their feedback – we want to make sure Macca’s restaurants of the future are what Aussies ordered.”
McDonald’s plans to roll out further Customer Learning Lab restaurants around the country later this year plus another 10 throughout 2015. McDonald’s has its eye on other service changes for the next three years as well, including a mobile ordering app, home delivery and making the McCafe barista-made coffee available in the drive-through.
