A new restaurant has descended from celestial void focusing on bringing fun, unusual drinks and sweet treats to consumers. CosMc’s is a spinoff restaurant from McDonald’s with only one location in the world located on N Weber Rd in Bolingbrook. CosMc’s opened on Dec. 7, 2023 with nine other locations opening in Texas later this year.
CosMc’s is not a sit-down restaurant, instead being strictly a drive-through. After mentally preparing myself for an hours-long line, like I had seen in the news, I was pleasantly surprised to find CosMc’s was empty at 10:30 a.m on a Sunday. The entire ordering process took around five minutes with very friendly staff ready to help customers navigate the new format.
Unlike its sister location, CosMc’s ice cream machine was actually working, producing a chocolate ice cream cone. Unfortunately, the ice cream was severely misshapen, leaning heavily to one side, and needed to be eaten right away to save my car from a mess. The ice cream itself was nothing too special; it had a very faint chocolate taste but a rich creamy texture, and the cone was airy and lacked any flavor at all.
Since CosMc’s is a competitor to Starbucks, they sell a wide variety of drinks, shakes, teas, slushies, coffee brews and frappés. I tried three different types of cold drinks.
The first drink I ordered was the small Sour Cherry Energy Burst ($5.19). It is supposed to be a red slushie with golden tapioca pearls in it; however, by the time I got it a majority of the slush had melted, leaving a layer of cherry liquid with a glacier of ice floating on top. Perhaps since all the flavor is in the liquid, my first sip had an extremely sour cherry flavor which completely overwhelmed the sweet taste of the tapioca.
The next drink I tried was the small Churro Cold Brew Frappé ($4.99). The frappé was topped with whipped cream and cinnamon sugar sprinkles, but other than the sprinkles it looked like a typical drink. This was probably the most disappointing item; the drink tasted only like an exceptionally sweet coffee with a barely noticeable cinnamon aftertaste.
The final drink was my favorite, this being the small Citrus & Cream Shake ($3.19). On CosMc’s website, the shake has whipped cream and ribbons of orange sauce throughout it, but in actuality an orange hue is barely recognizable. Its exquisite taste made up for its lackluster presentation; the shake tastes exactly like the Dreamsicle pops I would have as a kid with a perfect blend of creamy vanilla and fruity orange flavor.
Though focusing on drinks, CosMc’s also serves a selection of sandwiches, cookies, pastries and snacks.
The first food item I ordered was the Creamy Avocado Tomatillo Sandwich ($4.99). Between two buns sat a fluffy omelet-style egg, melted white cheddar cheese, smoked applewood bacon and avocado sauce. It was quite a sizable sandwich compared to the typical McDonald’s style.
The avocado sauce was strong, covering everything else; the cheese and egg were soft and the bacon added heterogeneity with the crunchy texture, but the taste was nowhere to be seen.
I then tried the Blueberry Lemon Cookie ($2.99). Resembling a muffin with sugary crumbs on top along with small blueberries poking through the crust, the outside was crispy while the inside was soft and chewy. This was a plain cookie with the lemon flavor being barely noticeable, leaving most of the flavor to come from the tart blueberries.
The last item ordered was the Mixed Bag McPops ($3.79). Inside the bag was one Cookie Butter McPop, one Hazelnut McPop and one Apple Cinnamon McPop. All McPops were little dough balls with a decently sized dollop of cream or sauce in its core and a lot of powdered sugar or crystallized sugar on top.
The Cookie Butter McPop was by far the best one; it reminded me of freshly baked cookies when they are still soft and chewy. The Hazelnut McPop left a lot to be desired with absolutely no hazelnut flavor and only the starchy taste present in all McPop doughs.
The Apple Cinnamon McPop was different with crystallized sugar on top and a darker exterior. The sauce looks like applesauce and quite frankly tastes like applesauce too.
And with that, my tasting journey came to an end. A common theme with CosMc’s food is the imbalance of flavor in its drink and food items with either not enough or too much. The only item I would get again would be the Citrus and Cream Shake because of how balanced in flavor it was.
Regardless, I would still recommend a visit to CosMc’s. There are many wacky, unusual menu items not found anywhere else, and it should be of note that most drink items can be highly customizable, with the customer having the ability to mix and match different flavors and toppings. Even with this opportunity to have near infinite drinks, I see CosMc’s getting business from being a one-time attraction rather than a restaurant consumers would return to.
Rob • Mar 18, 2024 at 1:57 pm
Seemingly most people agree with you final assessment. I have driven by numerous times in the past few weeks, always during the lunch hours, and haven’t seen many cars in the drive through. To those people who waited in 3+ hour-long lines during the initial weekend, where are you?