What is McDonald's testing?
McDonald鈥檚 says The Corner caf茅 that it opened in Australia last December is proving to be a successful incubator for new menu items but the company doesn鈥檛 intend to open another location. The concept鈥檚 new menu, launched October 22, moves even farther away from burgers and fries, which means some interesting food items could work their way onto McCaf茅 or McDonald鈥檚 menus there.
Although created under the McCaf茅 banner, The Corner offers far more than coffee, tea and sweets. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday the restaurant is open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closing time on the other days has been extended to 7 p.m. with the coming of spring and Daylight Savings Time in Australia. Breakfast service ends at 11 a.m. daily and the focus remains on breakfast and lunch foods.
McDonald鈥檚 declined to disclose sales for the concept but says The Corner is being the proving ground it was intended to be. 鈥淭he Corner is a one-off concept that allows our team to gauge real-time customer feedback on new products and concepts. Its aim is to help further enhance the offering at our McCaf茅s around the country,鈥� a spokesperson for McDonald鈥檚 Australia said in a statement sent to BurgerBusiness.com. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already seeing the benefit of this, and have started trialing some of The Corner鈥檚 most popular items, including single origin coffee, toasted sandwiches, and blueberry chia muffins in some other Australian McCaf茅s. Customers will start to see more examples of products from The Corner in our restaurants as we continue to test and evolve.鈥�
That makes sense because if it doesn鈥檛 serve as a pipeline of new menu ideas, it鈥檚 difficult to see why McDonald鈥檚 would operate this concept. But there are plenty of non-traditional items on The Corner鈥檚 extensive new menu that would make distinctive McCaf茅 additions.
Beverages include not only coffee (hot and iced), tea, hot chocolate, chai and tea (hot and iced) but also craft sodas ($5) [Note: all prices quoted here are in Australian dollars; currently 1 AUD = .71 USD] in flavors such as Lemon, Lime & Bitters and Cucumber & Mint. McCaf茅 standards鈥攎ilkshakes and smoothies鈥攔ound out the beverages.
New savory breakfast foods on the menu include Cheesy Scrambled Eggs & Crispy Bacon Roll ($8) and those same Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Toast with Bacon, Spinach & Tomato ($10). A new addition to the sweet breakfast options is Brioche Cinnamon Toast ($5). Open Toasts鈥攐pen-faced sandwiches鈥攁re offered for both breakfast and lunch. Among the morning versions is Avocado, Tomato & Ricotta ($8). A new lunch option is the Basil Chicken with Bruschetta Tomato & Parmesan ($8).
Toasties are popular pressed sandwiches and The Corner offers four at breakfast and four others for lunch. Morning versions include Ham, Cheese & Tomato ($6); lunch choices include Herb A茂oli Chicken ($8).
The Corner鈥檚 heartier food options rely on three main types: Moroccan Chicken, Chipotle Pulled Pork and Haloumi (a Mediterranean cheese). The chicken and pork can be had as Pressed Wraps ($10) or Flatbread Wraps ($11). Haloumi & Pumpkin is the additional Flatbread Wrap option. The pork, chicken and cheese reappear as the centerpieces of The Corner鈥檚 Grain Salad Boxes ($12). These include two-grain salads, slaw or baby spinach and choice of dressing. And the trio is back again as the min ingredient in three $12 Brown Rice & Greens bowls. The Moroccan Chicken is combined with bruschetta tomato, charred pumpkin and croutons with curry hummus dressing.
No McCaf茅 would be complete without sweets. The Corner has Sticky Date Pudding ($5), Double Chocolate Cake ($5) and Chocolate Macadamia Brownie ($5). Add ice cream with chocolate or caramel sauce for $2..
Gone from the new menu are a few heavier winter dishes such as the Protein Box meals: Lamb Tagine and Mash, and Beef and Red Wine Sauce and Mash. Mini Passionfruit Cheesecake and Mini Lemon Meringue Tart also are gone, but the company spokesperson says the menu will be continually changing.
