Proper Fast Food

Since I started on the subject of fast food, I thought I´d follow up with our local hamburger chain, Max, which started its first restaurant in Gällivare in 1968. They are so good that MacDonald´s have had serious problems trying to establish themselves in the area, and at present I think there is only one MacDonald´s, in the outskirts of town, near a motel and an industrial area.

Max is family-owned, has been early with environmental thinking, and now you can see on the menu how much carbondioxide everything you order releases, and some of what you pay for your food goes to re-forrestation and such. Lately, they have expanded and have restaurants all over Scandinavia.

On April 1, they announced that they were quitting potatoe fries, and of course everyone thought that was an April Fool´s joke. It was, and it wasn´t, as they have changed the recipe for their fries, and I suppose the timing of the announcement was a ploy to get some extra attention. The new fries are called Crispy Fries, are made from unpealed potatoes and seasoned with seasalt, and now that I have tried them, I must say: they are the best fries I have tasted. Excellent flavour, excellent texture.

Also, they have a new express system, where you order and pay through a terminal at the entrance. After a few minutes your number comes up at a special counter, and I kid you not, from the moment we opened the door to enter, to the moment we left, it didn´t pass 15 minutes. Of course, we did order an old standard, the Max Original burger meal. I´m not usually in favour of quick eating, but when you have somewhere to be, like a concert, or in this case, a basketball game, quick is good.

Max also keep their tables very clean and the people who work there are always cheerful. They used to give you a free coffee after your meal, but I understand they don´t any more. Anyway, the coffee is ecological and very good. I honestly can´t say, patriotism aside, that I have ever been to a better hamburger place.