If you go to a McDonald's drive through or order take-away, it's customary to get a couple of packets of ketchup. That's not the case in several McDonald's stores in Manhattan where they are charging customers for extra ketchup.
A report by DNAinfo found that 35 McDonald's south of Central Park were charging customers who asked for extra ketchup in addition to the two packets given; outer-borough restaurants in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx were not found to charge extra for ketchup.
"We want to control condiment cost," one manager said, who has implemented a ketchup fee since 2011.
A spokeswoman for McDonald's notes that all 300 McDonald's franchises in New York City are run by private owners, and they are allowed to give out condiments however they like. The spokeswoman noted that they are allowed to give them out as individual packets or have dispensers and charge for extra condiments as needed.
"We want to control condiment cost," said Rocio Vazquez, manager of a McDonald's at East 14th Street and First Avenue in the East Village, who has been implementing a ketchup fee since 2011.
At Vazquez's restaurant, customers get anywhere from one to four packets of ketchup with their meals, depending on the size of the orders. They have to pay an additional quarter per handful of extra packets.
