Read what Grand Forks' 'Olive Garden' critic thinks of McDonald's
She won the hearts and stomachs of America with her genuine review of Olive Garden. Now 88-year-old food critic Marilyn Hagerty has turned her attention to McDonald's.
The Grand Forks Herald writer is in the headlines again after her latest piece reviewed each of the four McDonald's restaurants in the city.
The North Dakotan's winning, unpretentious take on food is evident once more, describing the coffee she had at the South Washington Street location as "strong and not too hot," and said "you know you have eaten" after polishing off a sausage egg McMuffin.
A coffee at the East Grand Forks restaurant was "worthy," and Hagerty indulged in her "secret sin" – a Big Mac – at the restaurant near Columbia Mall.
She found her final stop at the Gateway Drive franchise to be the "newest and most attractive" McDonald's eatery in town.
Each Hagerty review is now treated like an event, with People Magazine among the many publications that have already picked up on her latest musings.
Hagerty's 2012 review of the new Olive Garden in Grand Forks launched her as a culinary celebrity, the Star Tribune reports, becoming a judge on Top Chef and releasing an anthology of her columns that included a foreword written by celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain (pictured with Hagerty above.)
The Grand Forks Herald has an archive of Hagerty's reviews, which includes plenty of columns on local independent restaurants, as well as chains including Red Lobster, Denny's and Buffalo Wild Wings.
