Fried in boiling grease... sued when one burned somebody, just like their coffee. Or so the rumour goes. Probably a victim of the anti-fried food mania that swept through the business (baked = healthier - yeah, right).

The second franchised McDonalds (after Des Plaines) was located near the corner of Blackstone and Shields avenue in Fresno, about a mile from my family home (many memories of 15-cent hamburgers) .....

The building has been razed and rebuilt twice, once in the '70s, and again in the '90s in the "retro" style

http://www.media.mcdonalds.com/secur...tory/timeline/

Well it wasn't a fried apple pie that I had in Thailand. It was green and yummy. Possibly Taro?

Other recent foreign McDonalds finds:
McGreek in Madrid 6 months ago and a vanilla Malt in Mexico last month. Both were yummy!

After eating local foods for 4-5 days straight you sometimes need a cheeseburger & Coke to get your stomach back in line.

Keba

OH so true, after 15 days in China and Hong Kong being hosted at many multi-course dinners feasting on sharkfin soup, lobster sashimi and barbecued eel I was DYING for a quarter-pounder and large fries. I felt like such a heathen but ahhhh such yummy grease. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

I'm surprised I never noticed this thread before...

I've seen the teal arches in Sedona... though it matches the town, they should have stuck w/ their brand color!! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

Moscow McD's-- they really do have great fries.

Just went to one in Mijas, Spain (Andalucia).. and had a McRib sandwich... I don't think I have had one of those in 20 years (in southern CA)!

I don't think Belize has one yet (at least it didn't when I was there).

I often crave McD's the most in an airport in a foreign country. Would love a simple burger and small fries, and not one of those mayo-filled long bagette sandwiches.

I've been to McDonalds in every continent except Africa (the closest McDonalds I have gotten to near Africa is a Maltese McDonalds) and Antartica. Time to go somewhere in Africa. Any MR ideas to a McDonalds there? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

The first thing I always do whenever I return to Japan is hit the McD's in NRT. The teriyaki burger is very tasty. (Also, I'm somewhat starving after the flight.) They've also got great regional food during Christmas (McCroquette and some specialized soups). The service is always great because there's usually 10 people ready to help the 3-4 people in line and breakfasts can be ordered any time of day.

After that, it's out of my system. Great Japanese food from then on!

Pay for ketchup in Romania as well

Red bean pies in China (ewwwwwwwwww!)

McWings in China are spicy and good.

Why is it that McD can have Coke, Sprite, and Orange on tap but not Diet Coke?!?!? I don't understand.

New McFish nuggets in HK.

What a putrid little thread. The coolest McD has to be the one in Fenwick Pier in HK. Have a "burger" while checking out the fine harbor view! Personally, I have a soft spot for Popeye's Fried Chicken. Mercifully, one just opened at HKG, to complement the KFC in ICN.

Tell you a little secret.. by the time they are digested your body doesn't care where its protein, carbs and fat come from. :-)

Was always amazed that McDs in London had only white-meat chicken nuggets. Before they went to all white-meat in the U.S. it seemed that new stores where all white for a few weeks after opening.

Don't know why I notice these things.

I normally avoid McD's if at all possible, but the 2 branches in Chisinau, Moldova presented the ONLY sanitary way to have lunch when I visited, small wooden stalls selling dodgy kebabs notwithstanding.

McD's in London have a joint venture with the Easy group to install a load of internet cafes into their branches. Internet surfing with the smell of grease in the air!

The clean toilets are always a winner when away - apart from in Tallinn where you have to pay to use them.

I'm amazed I've not seen this thread before and have little to add:

i) McDonalds USA - will they please export the Breakfast Burrito to the rest of planet Earth.

ii) McDonalds Suva (Fiji) "We don't serve the Quarter Pounder" (apparently they have to import all of their beef).

iii) McDonalds in Warsaw. Unbelievably inexpensive by McDonalds standards. Also, interesting to watch tea obsessed Poles dunking McTeabags.

iv) McDonalds in Akihabara (Tokyo). I didn't notice any real differences here other than to observe that the only FAT Japanese person I'd seen all day was eating in a McDonalds.

v) McDonalds in North Sweden or lack thereof (the last branch closed because the locals preferred Max).

Its been a few years but the McD's in Davao, Mindanao served ketchup made from bananas, not tomatos http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...thumbsdown.gif. In fact, if you ordered a sausage pizza at the Insular Hotel you got sliced hotdogs on a cheese-like bed that covered banana ketchup (blech). Before I went back I threw in a few packs of tomato ketchup as part of my travel kit.

------------------
Kevin

McDonalds has been back in LLA and UME for a few years now. I believe LLA and UME are the only two places in the world where McDonalds had to close due to locals preffered something else.

Definitely surprising in the variations I've seen around the world:

Would suggest JAPAN if you want a good chance of trying some of the wackier McD creations from the labs. They seem willing to test-market just about anything in terms of sandwiches there. Also tried their (very lame) clam chowder. I do like the Qoo white grape soda, though; wish they'd bring that to the U.S.

Grossest thing I ever tried at a McDonald's was the McCroquet in HOLLAND. It tasted like a glue sandwich and I think was modeled after FEBO places.

In Malaysia it's the McEgg Muffin, which is the Egg McMuffin stripped of the Canadian bacon (which I'm sure is called something else in other parts of the world; call it the ham disc). IMO it's just not the same. But the Malaysian Big Breakfast with tea works out to around $1.60 U.S., a nice bargain especially with the ringgit fixed to the dollar. Malaysia also had a green-goop sundae (not sure what they called it) for some time a few years ago.

SINGAPORE has the "real" Egg McMuffin but also this awful stuff called SingaPorridge on the breakfast menu.

Don't remember much unusual about the HONG KONG menu, but McDonald's is wildly popular there because it seems like every other sit down place in the whole city is twice the cost.

The PHILIPPINES is, I believe, the only country where McDonald's isn't #1 in its category. A bruising war with Jollibee has created some real bargains. They also have the wrapped rice scoops as sides.

Pretty lame in THAILAND: No breakfast, no quarter pounder with cheese, but ice cream cones are only about 17 cents. Supply issues probably make things tough; Wendy's couldn't hack it in that market and pulled out. And Burger King food has a freezer taste they'd never get away with in the U.S.

They were on a big patriotic kick in AUSTRALIA, with placemats explaining how the beef and other ingredients came from Australia. The french fries with Tasman potatoes did taste pretty good.

Finally, a salute to SRI LANKA, CAMBODIA, LAOS, VIETNAM, the MARSHALL ISLANDS, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Maluku and Papua provinces of Indonesia, all of which have not been invaded yet by the golden arches.

[This message has been edited by RustyC (edited Jan 04, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by RustyC (edited Jan 04, 2004).]