If you're in Dallas, we're afraid you missed your opportunity to test McDonald's fancy new straw.
The good news: You're not really missing anything.
When McDonald's brought back the Shamrock Shake this year and introduced its new brother, the Chocolate Shamrock Shake (a mix of chocolate and mint), they also introduced the STRAW. No, I'm not shouting. STRAW is an acronym for "Suction Tube for Reverse Axial Withdrawal".
Yeah, I agree. It's kind of stupid.
McDonald's says they brought in real-life aerospace engineers to work with their own innovators to create the fish hook-shaped straw, which has multiple holes so you can... drink your shake better?
They even created a video, which, thankfully, acknowledges that this thing is "spectacularly unnecessary."
They made only 2,000 of these things, and they sent one to us.
Our verdict: Meh.
Look, I love the Shamrock Shake. I've already had, let's say, more than three of them this season, and it's not yet March. The Chocolate Shamrock Shake is also pretty good, though I think I prefer the pure mint flavor of the original.
Thing is, the STRAW just functions like a straw. I even stuck an OG straw in the same cup so I could test one suction device right after the other. Both delivered a delicious shake flavor to my mouth, but I did not feel as if the STRAW was any sort of revelation. The design is supposed to let you suck up both chocolate and mint flavors at the same time, but the shake was already blended, so you didn't need a fancy tool to do that.
Which is why I'm sincere when I say to you: It's OK that you missed it.
A select few McDonald's locations around the country received STRAWs to give away on Feb. 24, including five in Texas and one in Dallas (the 4439 Lemmon Ave. location), according to Food Beast. Those limited supplies are now gone.
One McDonald's in Pennsylvania will get STRAWs on March 1. It is absolutely not worth a road trip.
