Month: October 2009

Restaurant Oct 29, 2009 The Waffle 2 Comments Every year, McDonald’s comes back with its Monopoly contest. And every year, I basically do not play.  But after a hard day’s work on Jean-Claude Rocheleau’s campaign and after dropping by my friend’s to catch the remainder of the hockey game, I knew this could be a special night. I dropped by the McDonald’s location on Sherbrooke West, near the Big “O” and ordered a Big Mac Trio. With my food, I got two game pieces. The goal of McDonald’s Monopoly is to find a rare game piece that will give you the opportunity to  win big, and then to find the not-so-rare partner(s) of said rare piece. The complete rules are here. Did I get lucky? Well, kind of. My first pieces gave me instant prizes, along with properties. I won a Small Barq’s Root Beer, value $1,39; beating the 1…

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Restaurant Oct 28, 2009 The Waffle 1 Comment I came down to Hochelaga today to help Jean-Claude Rocheleau‘s team to plan and execute the final stretch of the by-election campaign. After a briefing on where things were at – and things are looking pretty good – I had a lunch meeting with the campaign director.  Location? Two steps from the HQ: The New Casa de la Pizza. And what is the specialty of the New Casa de la Pizza?  Why, Pizza! The place was not very busy, and since it is fairly big, we had no trouble to pick a quiet corner. A tv was showing the highlights from yesterday’s hockey games. Before we started discussing further the strategy and the communication plan for the reminder of the campaign, we peered at the menu.  The campaign manager picked the classic pizza-ceasar combo. Me, I had no choice but to go with the Spéciale…

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General Oct 27, 2009 The Waffle No Comments Since I pointed out the US’ McFarthest point earlier, I think it is only appropriate to raise this. McDonald’s has franchises in 119 countries in the world… but not for long.  In fact, McDonald’s is already writing off one country before it officially shuts down. Because after Midnight this coming Saturday, Icelanders will no longer able to enjoy a Big Mac under Reykjavik’s Midnight Sun. Iceland’s economy is in deep, deep trouble.  The low value of the Krona, tariffs on agricultural product imports and high commodity prices has brought the demise of the burger giant in Iceland. A Big Mac is now sold for 650 Kronur in Iceland. (5,55 C$ at today’s exchange rate). Although it is the not the most expensive Big Mac in the world, the current owners of the franchise didn’t see any future in the chain. And McDonald’s does…

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Restaurant Oct 26, 2009 The Waffle No Comments Civilization is an interesting concept.  Being far from it is even more interesting.  Stephen Von Worley, an american blogger and photographer, decided to find out how far from it you could be.  How deep in America can you be. You know, where the buffalo roamed. Or, more to the point, what is the McFarthest Spot in America. As you can see below, McDonald’s got the territory covered very well, with 13,381 outlets. Von Worley studied, mapped out (Download a bigger, wallpaper-ready version of the map), and found that between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley, you would be 107 miles away by helicopter or 145 miles by car from an outlet that could put an end to your Big Mac craving. It is quite unlikely that I’ll ever move there. But perhaps Phillip and Tina Sherman should. As for Canada,…

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General, Restaurant Oct 23, 2009 The Waffle No Comments During a campaign, breakfast rallies are interesting events.  Some people are barely awake.  Everybody is sitting down.  Some are eating, most are sipping coffee.  And it was the case again at the Resto-Deli Jimmy on Hochelaga Boulevard in Montreal.  Jean-Claude Rochelau was hosting NDP Leader Jack Layton, ahead of the November 11th by-election. Owner Jimmy Stefrimitos was on site, happy to see the NDP Leader visit his establishment.  The staff, who’ve seen weirder stuff, kept serving, squeezing by the tables, the chairs and the orange balloons. I ordered the workers’ breakfast special: 2 eggs (scrambled), beans, home fries, french toast, pancake, sausage, bacon, ham for $5.  Quite a deal. As far as greasy spoons go, this was half decent.  The french toast and the pancake were a bit soggy, the eggs a bit dry, the beans a bit boring.  But the…

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