If you go to a restaurant right before they close, chances are high that the staff won’t be too thrilled to serve you.
There’s a lot of discourse online about whether it’s okay to visit a store just before they shut their doors. While it’s technically allowed, many claim that doing so is bad manners.
The reason, these people say, is that closing a store involves a lot of extra work. Employees generally want to get this work done as fast as possible so they can get home—and by visiting them just before their closing time, you’re preventing them from going through these critical steps, thus delaying their final departure time.
Customers and stores alike have developed their own ways of handling this sort of situation. For example, some will advertise that their “last sale” occurs before their actual closing time. Others will find unorthodox solutions, such as what TikTok user Kae (@kae_doll) experienced after a late-night trip to McDonald’s.
What Strange Request Did This McDonald’s Customer Make?
In a video with over 2.3 million views, Kae shows herself sitting in the front seat of a car outside of a McDonald’s location.
“They don’t wanna make no fish fillet, and they wanna go home,” she explains. “So, I told them, f— it, give me the fish fillets. I’m gonna cook it at home.”
In her hands, she has a McDonald’s box. Inside is a stack of frozen Filet-O-Fish patties.
“I love me a fish fillet. Like, I don’t give a f—,” she continues.
In the text overlaying the video, she summarizes, “POV : McDonald’s didn’t want to cook anymore fish filets late night so you paid for some frozen patties.”
Can You Buy Frozen Food From McDonald’s?
In a follow-up video, Kae says she was able to cook the Filet-O-Fish patties at home by deep frying them. She claims that the restaurant also provided fries, buns, and tartar sauce “for the inconvenience.”
But can you really just buy frozen ingredients from McDonald’s?
The answer is, generally speaking, no. While chains like McDonald’s occasionally sell their own branded products outside of the store, such as coffee, they do not allow customers to purchase frozen versions of their products from stores.
McDonald’s does not appear to have officially confirmed this policy. That said, many users on Reddit, including current and former employees, say that the sale of frozen items like fish filets or McNuggets goes against corporate policy.
“No. They will only sell you retail items in their retail state. For obvious liability reasons,” wrote a user.
It’s likely that the location visited by Kae simply ignored the rules in this specific instance.
What Can One Do To Make McDonald’s Items At Home?
If one is craving McDonald’s but doesn’t have an open location nearby, they can either beg their local, closing restaurant to bend the rules and give them frozen patties—or they can remake the items themselves.
The internet is full of recipes for common McDonald’s meals. For example, a YouTuber detailed how one can easily make McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets at home. Another detailed how a home cook could make their own Big Mac for less money.
However, if you don’t want to put in the time to make all these meals, you might just need to wait until your local McDonald’s opens up again—or find another place to eat.
@kae_doll yall want one? #fyp #fy #mcdonalds #food #foodtiktok
Commenters Share Their Thoughts
In the comments section, many users were uncomfortable seeing an uncooked Filet-O-Fish patty.
“I love filet o fish but I could’ve went my entire life without seeing what they look like uncooked,” said a user.
“I will never eat a fish fillet again after seeing it,” added another.
Others simply noted that the store was likely not supposed to sell Kae the patties.
“Oh that store don’t gaf,” joked a commenter.
“I know corporate is FURIOUS lmfaoooo,” shared a second.
BroBible reached out to McDonald’s via email and Kae via TikTok and Instagram direct message.