One of the great conveniences of fast food is that you can often find it 24 hours a day. While not every restaurant is open that long, the big chains like McDonald’s usually have locations that can cater to burger and fries cravings at all hours. That said, you have to be aware that the service may not be exactly the same in the morning hours. In some places, often after midnight, you’ll need to bring cash if you plan to get a Big Mac.
McDonald’s locations rely on a number of computer systems to keep things running smoothly, and locations that never close still need time to perform system resets. Just like your telephone or modem, nothing can work without interruption forever. During resets, updates are installed and financial amounts for the day are finalized. According to one Redditor, McDonald’s may have up to 20 different computers that need a reset to ensure they continue to work reliably.
As electronic payment systems are no longer available, debit and credit cards cannot be accepted. But old school money will still work well. In fact, this is the time when the employees remove the cash drawers and do a cash count for the day. It is typically done late at night or in the early hours of the morning, before the McDonald’s breakfast crowd gets there, as customer traffic is the lightest at that time.
Read more: 8 Things To Avoid Ordering At McDonald’s
Don’t be rash, just bring cash
Hands holding some US $100 bills – Alive Color Stock/Shutterstock
There is no set time for this system reset to occur at McDonald’s. Some sources say midnight, others say 2 am, and some report as late as 4 am Sometimes the drive thru can still accept electronic payments while the inside registers are limited to cash (or vice versa). This is because the drive-thru and front of house may be running on different systems and one will take longer to update than the other. Some payment systems in McDonald’s can be quite old and take longer to do a full reset.
The reset may only last for 20 to 30 minutes, although some sources say up to 45 minutes. Twenty minutes may not be an outrageous wait, but if it’s late at night and all you want is a tasty McDonald’s burger, it’s probably more time than you’re willing to spend waiting around.
Having to pay in cash can be a serious inconvenience if you are not prepared for it. According to DepositAccounts, 66% of people surveyed do not always carry cash, and 61% of people used cash less than five times a month. If you’re not thinking about it, odds are you won’t have money on you when you hit that McDonald’s for a late night craving. However, now that you know, maybe you can stash a few bucks in your wallet and consult our ultimate ranking of McDonald’s menu items before heading to the drive-thru.
Want more food knowledge? Sign up to our free newsletter where we’re helping thousands of foodies, just like you, become culinary masters, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google.
Read the original article about the Tasting Table.