By Steve Palec Special to OnMilwaukee Published Oct 18, 2013 at 9:01 AM Photography: Andy Tarnoff

For the seventh straight year, October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com, presented by the restaurants of Potawatomi. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, delectable features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food, as well as the winners of our "Best of Dining 2013."

If the question is "would you like a McFlurrie or a McCafe Mango Pineapple Smoothie with that?" the answer may be yes. But it pales in comparison to the axiom that correctly assumes America wants fries instead. And while breakfast and burgers are the foundation of McDonald’s success, their domination is not held to those boundaries.

To prove it, here is a serious review of the entire McDonald's menu in three parts. We started with the meat of the order. Part two was breakfast. We conclude with chicken, fish, fries and salads. 

World Famous Fries: Their words, not mine. But it is very hard to argue with the addictive pleasure these sticks of goodness provide. In real life I do prefer a thicker potato-ier French fry, and crinkles make them even better. And a skin-on fry alongside a slab of ribs seem to go together like Crosby & Nash. Yet, the warmth and saltiness of these fries are in a class by themselves. And admit it, the two or three you find in the bottom of the bag are even better than all the rest (except the first one).
Serving size: 4.1 oz.
Calories:
380
Calories from fat:
170
Saturated fat:
2.5 g
Protein:
4 g

McChicken: This is like a "Jordan that can hit a layup but can’t dunk" or a "DeNiro that can tell a nice story but can’t act." This isn’t totally worthy of its McName. The chicken is OK (a little pepper, which never hurt nobody). But not much more than that. The lettuce seems obligatory. The bun is just there. Yet, many say it is their "go-to" menu item. At $1 it is a good value but not a good time. That is why, coupled with a trend toward healthy eating, McDonald's was probably forced to go to work on variations …
Serving size: 5.1 oz.
Calories: 360
Calories from fat:
140
Saturated fat:
3 g
Protein: 14 g

Premium Crispy Chicken Classic Sandwich: Now we are getting somewhere. This is the upgraded bun you see on some of the premium burgers. It’s good. Reminds me of a North Face jacket on a grade school kid. You could get by with a plain coat … but who’s to say you don’t deserve something nice. The crispy chicken makes it interesting, but could use a little kick.
Serving size: 7.5 oz.
Calories:
510
Calories from fat: 200
Saturated fat:
3.5 g
Protein:
24 g

Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich: Sure, it’s a lot better for you. But if you want grilled chicken I get the feeling you are just looking for something on the menu to nibble on because I dragged you to McDonald's.
Serving size: 7 oz.
Calories:
350
Calories from fat:
80
Saturated fat:
2 g
Protein: 28 g

Premium Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich: Get this instead of the Classic. It has bacon. Bacon has taste.
Serving size: 8.3 oz.
Calories: 510
Calories from fat: 180
Saturated fat:
7 g
Protein: 40 g

Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich: Premium Crispy Chicken Ranch BLT Sandwich. Premium Grilled Chicken Ranch BLT Sandwich. I lump these together because you can probably tell I am not a big fan of the chicken family of sandwiches. In a perfect world I choose a burger. And no one ever sufficiently answered Napoleon Dynamite’s legitimate questions regarding the size of chicken's talons. Nonetheless, I understand that this is a healthy alternative. Enjoy. There is nothing wrong with any of these sandwiches. The only suggestion I would offer would be if the sheet of lettuce isn’t there for aesthetics, have it offer a little more crispiness and taste than a rally towel at a Bucks game.
Serving Size: 8.8 oz.
Calories: 670
Calories from fat: 300
Saturated fat: 9 g 
Protein: 36 g

Southern Style Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Southern Style Chicken Biscuit:  In name, encouraging. In taste, still leaves something to be desired. Just a little more breading. When I think South I think spice. By the way, you want to get my attention with something Southern, how about a BBQ chicken sandwich?
Serving Size: 5.6 oz. / 5 oz.
Calories:
420 /410
Calories from fat:
170 / 180
Saturated fat:
3 g / 8 g
Protein:
21 g / 17 g

Hot ‘N Spicy McChicken: This is the one I didn’t mind (and one that doesn’t always show up on the menu board, but you can ask for it). It is a little too thin but they didn’t skimp on the spice. That is unusual since when it comes to spicy the idea of feeding masses means the default position is "just make a little spicy." Like convincing Sofia Vergara to go out salsa dancing and putting on a Herb Alpert record.
Serving size: 5.1 oz.
Calories: 360
Calories from fat: 
140
Saturated fat:
 3 g
Protein: 14 g

Filet-O-Fish: This is a classic. This is good eatin.’ On a rare occasion, the individual working the Cooker-O-Fish might throw you one that is a little over done. Or sometimes, they put the cheese on lopsided. But more often than not you are getting a nicely breaded filet with some of the best tartar sauce on the planet. Mayonnaise is mayonnaise and the other pickle things they throw in it are magic I don’t profess to understand. But McDonald’s tartar sauce is candy-like. And the bun might seem a little too simple when coupled with other foods, but for this it is perfectly pliable and complementary. If you are counting, it is a little high in sodium (I am guessing that is the sauce talking) but only 390 calories.
Serving size: 5 oz.
Calories: 390
Calories from fat: 
170
Saturated fat:
 4 g
Protein: 15 g

Premium McWrap Sweet Chili Chicken Crispy: This is a pretty nice alternative to both burgers and the chicken sandwiches that don’t move me. The chicken (crispy not grilled) makes its presence known and the salad like ingredients offer a good balance of crunchy freshness. Once again, the sauce is the driver. Plus it comes in a cool little cardboard holder that you easily remove the top from like a high school kid that finally perfects the unhooking of a bra and can’t wait to do it again.

While I stick to Kurtis Blow and The Sugarhill Gang, McDonald’s has almost as many wraps as there are rappers. I am not going to focus on the 13 other chicken McWrap variations.
Serving size: 8.4 oz.
Calories: 520
Calories from fat:
200
Saturated fat:
 4.5 g
Protein: 23 g

Mighty Wings: Now we’re talking. These were much anticipated and I am convinced that the chicken wing shortage we heard about on the news leading up to the Super Bowl earlier this year was caused by the mighty impact of McDonald’s wing testing. How did they do? Well, I like to think of wings as those little things dripping in flavors like BBQ or Buffalo that I can put in and out of my mouth like a key in a lock. And I don’t want fat or lots of breading on them. What McDonald’s has done is to create little miniature KFC drumsticks. They are excellent. But not your BW3 kind of wings. They are meaty and spicy and can stand on their own without sauce.

But once again McD nails the sauces (Chipotle Barbecue is hotter than you expect. Spicy Buffalo is really good. Hot Mustard and Creamy Ranch are nice. The Tangy Barbecue seems the same as the McRib sauce.) On the downside, the cups are too small for dipping and I am not looking to dip my wings. If I want to dip …
Serving size: 11.1 oz.
Calories: 960
Calories from fat:
570
Saturated fat:
 13 g
Protein: 60 g

Chicken McNuggets: I have no idea what these things actually are. And I don’t really care. Once again, they are a freeway to the saucy goodness of the aforementioned dips (I forgot to mention Sweet & Sour, Sweet Chili and Honey Mustard). I would be just as happy dipping Styrofoam into these sauces.
Serving size: 5.7 oz.
Calories: 470
Calories from fat:
270
Saturated fat:
 5 g
Protein: 22 g

Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken, Premium Southwest Salad with Crispy ChickenThese are both very, very good. In fact, while I usually like my chicken like my crème donuts – crispy – I don’t even mind grilled chicken on this salad. That is how good the rest of it is. The ingredients are fresh and refreshing and Paul Newman provides the excellent salad dressing. This is a great salad and my only complaint is they put a lime in it. Easy enough to discard but seems a shame not to stuff it into a Corona. The other nine salads are not as worthy. And there is also a side salad if you want to pretend you are at The Ritz Carlton.
Serving size: 12.3 oz. / 11.8 oz.
Calories: 450 / 290
Calories from fat:
190 / 70
Saturated fat:
 4.5 g / 2.5 g
Protein: 23 g / 27 g

That’s it. Everything I found at McDonald's.

I should mention I have seen people eating cookies, pies, shakes, cones and even apple slices. I didn’t save room for desert, thank you.

Steve Palec Special to OnMilwaukee
Steve Palec, the host of WKLH's "Rock and Roll Roots" wrote a letter to every radio station in town when he was a sophomore in high school. He offered to sweep floors.

Two responses came back, including one janitor position. Steve took the other: the opportunity to hang out at WUWM.

After that, he worked at WAUK, then WQFM, then WZUU, then back to WQFM ... and finally worked afternoons at WKLH for a little while.

"I gave up Eddie Money to earn money in 1986," says Steve, who eventually entered the world of commercial real estate.

"But 23 years ago WKLH offered me the chance to wake up early every Sunday morning," he says. "I mean every Sunday morning. I mean like 5:30 am. I mean no matter what I did on Saturday night. Live every Sunday morning. I love it."