We’ve been excited to try the menu at McDonald’s newest beverage-centric concept, CosMc’s, so we recently visited the first one to open, located in Bolingbrook, IL. We were surprised by the long line of cars waiting to get into the drive-thru, so we tried to go into the store. CosMc’s has been jammed packed since it opened in December 2023.
As we (and several others) learned, this is solely a drive-thru concept; you can’t go into the restaurant at all.
The wait is long! Luckily, we liked our beverages and snacks and weren’t too focused on time
So, we parked in a line of 50 or so cars and waited. Luckily, we found a few engaging security guards who told us that the lines have been long and slow since the restaurant opened up. The reason a security guard is needed is because the lot is poorly designed to handle such high volumes.
It took us about 45 minutes to get to the menu board to place our order and another 20 minutes to get the message to pull up to our corresponding window. The menu was fun and trendy and not for those looking for healthy foods.
The beverages we ordered: Tropical Spiceade, Turmeric Spiced Latte, Chai Frappe Burst, and Island Pick-Me-Up Punch, were all refreshing and delicious, but my favorite were the McPops, donut-like treats filled with Nutella that remind me of beignets.
I don’t know if it’s because we waited so long or because it’s not really an option, but we didn’t ask to customize any of our orders. At that point, we just hoped our orders would taste good enough and wanted to head out.
We were supposed to pickup at Window #1, but the parking space is so small we couldn’t position!!
We’d like to go back but will give the concept a bit of time to maximize its operational efficiencies first.
Julia Gallo-Torres is an experienced food journalist, market research consultant, and food industry subject matter expert.