"It's not bad, but there are many wonderful, inexpensive places to lunch in Brussels. I just wouldn't put Exki anywhere near the top of the list."

Btilke, I agree that there are many fabulous, inexpensive places to eat in Brussels. But when it comes to 'fast' food, I still think that Exki is one of the best *chains* I've come across, at least in France and Belgium. I wouldn't know about the US, as I have only limited knowledge of that country (my post came in response to another poster's comment that someone should invent a cheap and healthy fast food chain)

To my knowledge there is certainly nothing like Exki in France, where McDonalds and Quick (I know it's Belgian, but it seems to be far more popular in France) are found on every urban street corner (there were 5 McDonalds and 3 Quick restaurants within walking distance of my husband's old flat in the 13th in Paris).

I often get lunch from Exki as there's one near my work, and I do think their food is good, tasty, always fresh, and I don't think it's particularly expensive for what you get. So, I think as these kinds of places go, they are doing a good job. And their desserts are better than at many more expensive restaurants!!

>To my knowledge there is certainly nothing like Exki in France, where McDonalds and Quick... are found on every urban street corner <

Many years ago, when Uncle Ira was much younger and McD hadn't arrived yet, he went to The American Drugstore and Le Burger in Paris.

At the AD he had a grilled cheese sandwich.

At LB he had a burger.

I can still remember just how bad they were.

If anything, McD has improved the quality of junk food.

Dukey, when were you in Salzburg? The reason I ask is that when we first visited in 1983, there actually was a Mc Ds, but the sign was "disguised" among the many other ornate signs along that famous shopping street. We only just happened to notice the tiny golden arches camouflaged therein.

It seems that some places are better at preserving their unique ambiance than others.

Duff Man says: On principle, almost everything should be banned; but we-- just as Lord Birkinhead says of the French in Chariots of Fire--"are an unpricipled lot."

Has no-one thought of health burgers, without all the additives etc? Sure it would work.

Or perhaps kids wouldn't find a quarter pounder without an eighth of a pound of sugar added less appetising?

I remember years ago seeing pics of Princess Diana leaving McD's with the 2 princes.

I can't quite figure out this need for some to insist on the rest of us having nannies.

I can remember a few years ago I ordered a sandwich from a small bakery in Paris and they put fries on it...just as bad as McDonalds. Does this mean we should also avoid all gelato? Forget it.

And I eat at McDonalds often and I am 5'7" and I weigh 114 lbs.

McDonald's salads with grilled chicken are tasty and filling and under 400 calories. A yogurt parfait makes a great breakfast or dessert and is 160 calories.

A MacDonald's cheeseburger is 300 calories and a small fry is 250 calories so even a hamburger craving doesn't have to cause calorie overload.

The problem isn't the restaurant but the inability of some people to stay away from Big Macs and large fries.

That last sentence should be 5'7"

"You can imagine a single mum with her brood being put off by a table with a cloth and cutlery."

- Well, of course, we all know that the Lower Orders eat off the floor, with their fingers, don't we?

"McDonald's coffee is better than Starbucks!"

- A very good example of damning with faint praise, if I may say so.

Congratulations PalenQ - In one thread you and your alter ego PalQ have:
1. rallied the anti-royalists
2. galvanized the pro-Americans
3. elicited the most outrageous statement ever posted on Fodors...
<<McDonald's coffee is better than Starbucks! McDonald's sanitation is the best in the world! The problem is that McDonald's food tastes so good that many people eat more than they should. If there was only a single McDonald's restaurant it would probably be awarded someones Five Star rating.>>
LOL

If people want to eat junk food, that's their business. I am partial to the odd burger myself. Everyone has a choice what they eat, and frankly you'd have to had been bought up on Mars not to have even the vaguest idea what constitutes a healthy/balanced diet and not to know that foods high in saturated fat shouldn't constitute every meal that passes your lips.

But - I am perplexed as to why so many people think they wouldn't be able to shelter from the cold/get a coffee/use the bathroom anywhere outside of the US if McDonalds didn't exist! Believe it or not, Europe is not the third world - we do have hot drinks and sanitation here too....... 8-)

Hmmm...I'm not sure that I'd take anything that Prince Charles says any more seriously than I did the spoken wisdom of Lady Di.

Let the market decide. If people don't want McD's, they won't eat there, and the place will wither away (not a bad thing, imho). But give them a little respect...it's their decision to make, not yours, mine, or the government's.

Mc Donalds are actually closing branches in Britain. This isn't because we've become a nation of gastronomes, it's mainly a fashion thing. McDonalds is seen as "chavvy" or "pikey" this means that mums with a few bob are taking their little dears to Gourmet Burger Kitchen or Blue Kangaroo to eat cheeseburgers.

Right, I said that a hard-up mum with children in tow might be a bit put off by a po-faced cafe with tablecloths and cutlery laid out.
That means that I assume that she and her brood eat off the kitchen lino when they get home.
I forget what sort of fallacy that is.
An Undistributed Middle, perhaps?

Poor people eat in McDonalds
People in McDonalds do not eat with cutlery
Therefore, poor people do not eat with cutlery.

BTW, we are so used to the Pragger Wagger, that we shrug our shoulders whenever he pontificates.

When ever I see him banging on about something in print I throw it in he wagger pagger bagger.

As far as I know, nobody is forced to eat at McDonald's. Charles who the H takes him seriously anyway, royalty is so irrelevant in this day and age it should be banned. For a man who hasn't worked a day in his life but lives extravagantly its Ok for him to suggest banning Mac's and putting 30 000 people out of work!!

QUESTION: Has anyone seen an overweight employee at a McDonald's restaurant?

The Hamburglar's got a bit of a bum on him.

If i remember correctly, a big supposition at my age, there was a fairly sophisticated boycott of McDonald's in the UK some years ago...and it went nowhere and the number of restaurants mushroomed.
McD's has lost their cache in the US among teens who largely disdain both working there and going there it seems - now gravitating to pricey coffeeshops.
Yet in Europe, especially on the Continent teens and young folk seem to flock to the Golden Arches...at least in Paris, Rome, etc.