I don't think "counting taps" is the point here. Virtually all UX research ever indicates that any friction added to interactions usually means losing customers at the margin. Maybe customers don't cancel the current transaction, but some of them are still going elsewhere next time because they don't want to deal with whatever friction you've inserted.

Counting dollars, my local McD's used to be the cheapest option, and their salads were quite good.

They're no longer the cheapest option, and the salads are no longer available. There's something going wrong there. I can get cheaper, healthier, better food at e.g. my local Subway, and many other places.

It is still reasonably fast (although not super-fast). Unique to my location, the service is excellent.

subway is falling into the same greedflation trap. a simple sandwich can run $10 - $12 these days with no add-ons or sides. better to pay $15 for something local and actually quality