McDonald's outlet at Taunton Deane Southbound, strategically situated towards the back of the amenity building next to WHSmith & near the toilets. McDonald's is located here as Roadchef understands it's their most popular brand, meaning customers would have to pass all the other facilities (such as Fresh Food Cafe, Cornish Bakery and Chozen Noodle) before reaching this, giving the less-popular food units a chance of trade. McD's is popular at Roadchef sites as it's such a recognisable brand, & customers are guaranteed consistency with the food. A 2022 study found that McDonald's is the most popular food brand on the motorway. It's a fairly small McDonalds, with no seating of its own, so customers wanting a sit-down meal will have to use the communal seating area opposite. Unlike some Roadchef's, there are no plans to add a McDonalds drive thru at Taunton Deane South. McDonald's has traded at Taunton Deane South since roughly 2013 & replaced "The Burger Company", Roadchef's own-brand, temporary fast food offer. The Burger Company replaced Wimpy in 2007 and was used as a cheap interim between the closure of Wimpy and the expensive, time consuming opening of McDonald's. Roadchef picked a purposefully dull name as it was a short-term brand, but many thought it was a dig at Burger King. Wimpy opened in 1996 & used to be a very popular fast food option of Roadchef's. Wimpy was joined with "Dr Beak's Chicken", a peculiarly named sister brand of Wimpy's. Dr Beak's later became "Wimpy Chicken". This McDonalds has a large skylight above it, which makes the unit look brighter. McDonald's at Taunton Deane South doesn't remain open 24 hours a day. When McDonald's is closed overnight, customers can only use the scaled-down facilities in the WHSmith store. Roadchef are very quick to point out that McDonalds keep their motorway prices the same as their other restaurants, meaning McDonalds is much better value for money than Burger King or KFC on the motorway. This means Roadchef stands out more as an operator, as Moto and Welcome Break both use KFC and Burger King only, which both inflate their motorway prices rapidly. McDonald's also caters for every time of day, providing McCafe & breakfast items in the morning, as well as lunch/dinner meals in the afternoon. Shortly after opening, this McDonalds was refurbished to include self-service machines (out of shot), as part of their refurbishment project entitled "forever young". These machines are useful at speeding up the process of getting food/drink and have since been used by Burger King, KFC and Subway. McDonald's highlights just how much motorway services have changed since the 60s and 70s. Back then, having a car was seen as a luxury, making motorway services more luxurious & glamorous with buffet restaurants & sit-down dining. By the 1980s, these restaurants became out of fashion & were slowly replaced by fast food units. Today, motorway services are a large array of franchises with takeaway coffee shops & food outlets, with no consideration for quality or image. Motorists now much prefer familiarity, with food they can eat quickly before continuing with their journey. Despite how busy Taunton Deane Southbound was just 3 days before Christmas, McDonald's was surprisingly quiet during my visit. It wasn't empty, but a lot quieter than you'd expect. There were more customers out of shot, but the lack of custom was likely due to the time of day. McDonald's is signposted from the M5 South so customers are aware of its presence at the site. McDonald's is also heavily advertised around Taunton Deane South, suggesting Roadchef deeply value their brand partnership with them.

Photo taken on 22/12/2023 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Taunton Deane, McDonald's, M5, Roadchef