This Website Means You’ll Always Be Able to Find a McFlurry

McFlurries were my favorite treat as a kid. There was nothing better than the thick vanilla ice cream, heavily sprinkled with Oreo bits, served with a big, fun spoon that helped you whip the McFlurry into a decadent milkshake. But the fun spoon disappeared, and seemingly so did the creamy concoction. Unlike other fan-favorites like the Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait and iconic fried apple pies, McDonald’s never actually discontinued McFlurries (though they’ve received an unwelcome makeover throughout the years), but they’re seemingly never available. Every attempt to get one over the past 20 years been futile, with the leading fast-food chain always claiming its ice cream machine is broken.

Thankfully, if you’re craving a McFlurry and don’t want to make the trek to McDonald’s only to be disappointed, there’s a solution. Back in 2020, software engineer Rashig Zahid launched McBroken, a site that displays a map of McDonald’s locations near you, showing which have working ice cream machines and which are out of service. Zahid came up with this ingenious idea after going to a McDonald’s in Berlin and being disappointed that he couldn’t order a McSundae. “There must be something that can be done about this,”  he thought, as he told The Verge. 

To make this website, he monitored the McDonald’s mobile app, adding McDonald’s frozen treats to his cart at different locations and checking whether they were shown as available. He ultimately found a way to create a bot that would automatically add a McSundae from every McDonald’s location to the cart every 30 minutes, tracking the response. If the bot adds the ice cream, a green dot would appear on the McBroken site next to the location; if not, a red dot would appear. 

Since then, McBroken has been thriving. Hilariously, Wendy’s partnered with McBroken in 2024, trolling its competition by showing up to locations where McFlurries weren’t available and setting up a Frosty truck to hand out their own dessert. Wendy’s also put banner ads on McBroken’s site, reminding that when you can’t get a McFlurry, Frosties are just as nostalgic and delicious—and typically available!