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Please don't be insulted but if I'm in a different part of the country ready to explore their cuisine, McD's is probably the last place I'd go.

I'd opt for something sold at a quick stop type place, especially if a handful of locals bought a bunch of it while I was waiting on line to pay. That's how I discovered boiled peanuts.

McD's biscuits and gravy shouldn't be that bad. Their biscuits are probably one of the best for the price. How do they do on the gravy? I must have missed it when I was traveling through TX.

I aaaalways try local cuisine holes in the wall whereever I travel. I eat at a local (whereever I am living at the time) McDonald's once in a span of a decade, but when I go somewhere far, I like to check out their menu to see if they have anything different. Most times, it's the same, so I walk out.

I recall San Francisco McD has/had chow mein. It's been a while since I've returned to SF to see if they still have it. :P

Hawaii, has:
- saimin (lunch+)
a dish created in Hawaii, sort of like ramen, but with a fish-based broth, char siu, kamaboko, and green onions on top. It's been on the McD menu for at least 25 years, if not longer.
- Portuguese sausage with eggs and rice (breakfast)
- Spam with eggs and rice (breakfast)
- Portuguese sausage + Spam with eggs and rice (breakfast)
- fruit punch
- Kona coffee (in the past) - coffee was never advertised as "Kona coffee" since it's the indigenous coffee. It was switched out some time in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

It devastated me when I went to a McD in SF in the 4th grade (late 1970s) and tried to order fruit punch, and they didn't have it. I learned not to assume from that experience, and that Hawaii is very different from the mainland (it was really obvious in my previous trips to Japan, so I never assumed). Each year we would vacation somewhere on the mainland, I would read the contents of menus carefully. =)

In Japan, I've tried:
- pizza (it's what you'd expect)
- curry rice
It's awesome because it's exactly what S&B/House curry rice tastes like. It's served to you in a heated pouch that you open at the table, so I wouldn't be surprised if S&B or House actually makes it. =)

In my experience, BK, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, et al aren't as adventurous. I'm sure when saimin first came out at McD in Hawaii, that was a BIIIIG step for McD!

Visited a McD's in Oslo because we saw a sign in the window for a McLaks sandwich. "Laks" is the Norwegian word for salmon, and you can see where the word "lox" comes from; the two pronunciations are pretty much identical. It was okay; nothing great.

I understand for a brief while they piloted a version of the St. Louis bar snack called toasted ravioli, which is actually breaded and deep-fried. Not one of my personal faves even here where it originated, and I would be deeply wary of corporate T-ravs.

In France you can get a McCroque.

Wish we had them here. I think grilled cheese-based sandwiches should be more popular in fast food.

I've never seen biscuits and gravy here, but if I did, I'd eat it. I love biscuits and gravy, and McDonald's biscuits and sausage are very acceptable to me.

And in New York you can get bagels, or at least at a few of them.

But some of these weird items, I think, are simply test-marketing. Like the Mcdonald's pizzas that were around. I also encountered a hot dog here and there. And the controversial KFC grilled chicken. And probably the Wendy's breakfast.

The Dairy Queen in North Minneapolis has grits. Being a Minnesotan, I was a bit surprised.

McD's in Singapore has had rice cake rolls for their burgers and Thai chicken spice burgers. I haven't tried either--I haven't eaten a fast food burger in something like 20 years. The Subway at our school makes these things called "Pizza Subs" which are awesome and not available in the USA.

I think the chains in Philly have to be the most basic; they don't serve any regional faves like scrapple or what not.

The best places for regional cuisine around here are the mom & pop places, and the occasional vendor cart. Cheesesteaks, soft pretzels (I prefer mine hot), scrapple and egg sandwiches....divine.

Many years ago I was driving to California from the east coast and stopped in New Mexico one evening for dinner. I don't remember exactly what the dish was called but the main meat ingredient was rattlesnake. It was sort of a casserole with vegetables in a dark sauce. Close to a stew. It was delicious. No, it didn't taste like chicken and yes the rattle was removed.

In Memphis you can get a country ham or spicy chicken biscuit at McDonald's. Biscuits and gravy used to be available, and may still be though I haven't had that hankering lately. The chicken biscuit holds up well against Chick Fil-A's.

I traveled in Europe with a hypoglycemic friend. We had to eat every 3-4 hours, and ended up at McDonald's fairly often because the bathrooms were free and clean. Plus, you can get an idea of the exchange rate by comparing McDonald's items to ones back home (probably a bigger deal before the Euro).

One of my favorite European McDonald's treats is beer. After that, the McItalia I had in Paris was good (with "motzarella" cheese and tomato sauce). The McKroket in Amsterdam is frightful but oddly compelling. In Austria, there was something called a McFarmer that may have been made out of pork.

Years later, I had a very tasty mcchicken big mac in Beirut.

I have never actually seen it, but I understand they have Bean Day (pintos) each week at Dairy Queen's in small towns in East Texas. I ate at a college hangout/hamburger place once in Kilgore, TX (again East Texas) and while you were waiting for your food they had a Bean Pot (pintos) and hush puppies you could help yourself to.

renzata, they have hot dogs in London too, or they did a few years ago when I was there. They were a huge hit, but I never tried one, never went to Mickey D's at all while in the UK

this is not exactly a fast food thing... but when I travel to California or Texas I always bring back with me some Lime Flavored Lay's potato chips. I have never seen them anywhere else in the States and certainly not in PR and they are AWESOMELY ADDCITIVE!!!!!!