Last December, McDonald’s spinoff Cosmc’s opened its first location in Bolingbrook, Illinois, about 45 minutes southwest of Chicago. Although there are plans to open ten more locations this year, the Chicago-area location is the lone one in the country.

Located next to a previously existing McDonald’s, this Cosmc’s is a drive-thru only restaurant. It features a lot of beverages, but an otherwise limited menu, with several items already available at McDonald’s. There are several energy slushy options, a couple new breakfast sandwiches and a few sides, like pretzel bites.

For the first couple weeks, the lines had wait times of more than four hours. With the opening hype gone, my podcast partner Tommy Else and I went for the experience. While I rarely eat at McDonald’s, I wanted to see why there was so much buzz.

With four drive-thru lanes, our wait was only a couple minutes; plus a couple more after ordering. I ordered the creamy avocado tomatillo sandwich and Tommy got a spicy queso sandwich. We also had pretzel bites.

I gave it a pretty good review, slightly higher than Tommy. On a side-note, another friend went there earlier and gave it a great review.

I did enjoy my sandwich, but I enjoy most of McDonald’s egg sandwiches. Still, I don’t go there, because I usually eat healthier. Tommy felt his spicy sandwich lacked spice.

The pretzel bites were good, but it’s hard to screw up pretzel bites. I wasn’t happy with the dipping sauce options, ketchup being among them. Who dips pretzel bites in ketchup?

Early reports show Cosmc’s had twice the traffic as a typical McDonald’s. It’s too soon to tell if that is the curiousity factor or if it will last. My takeaway is Cosmc’s was good, but I don’t know why the items weren’t just incorporated into the McDonald’s menu. If I was in the area, I might go for a pomegranate hibiscus slush, but I wouldn’t make a special trip.