I've been to McDonalds in several Asian countries and Australia. Every one was better and included pretty much the complete US menu plus local additions. I think the most underwhelming were the Philippines, but even there they added fried chicken and rice to the US menu. Hell, even Hawaii has a teriyaki burger and taro pie.
They also have cooler toys overseas. Japan had an exclusive Gundam vinyl figure painted black and gold and Australia had a knockoff Lego set a few years ago for example. This year they had some commemorative glasses with artwork featuring Happy Meal toys from the 1970s-1990s for sale. Some countries got real glass, others got plastic- the US got plastic.
It's weird that the US version of a restaurant that is often seen as a symbol of the country itself is easily the worst.
It's important to understand McDonald's in the US isn't a restaurant company—It's a real estate company. 95% of all McDonald's locations in US are franchise-owned. As long as franchisees pay their rent and royalties, corporate doesn't really give a shit, so franchise owners will cut corners to pad their own margins. McDonald's Corporate is somewhat aware of this, which is why restaurants get remodeled semi-regularly to clean up years of caked-on filth from lack of maintenance.
That's true, McDonalds the corporation gets their money selling everything to the franchisees.
If I'm not mistaken, the franchisees have to buy all the food and support equipment from corporate though, so the shitty quality of the food is all on them.
One thing I've always noticed is that the lettuce at the US McDonalds has a funny taste. It's been the same taste for at least 20 years and is the same at every one I've ever eaten at.
I've been to McDonalds in several Asian countries and Australia. Every one was better and included pretty much the complete US menu plus local additions. I think the most underwhelming were the Philippines, but even there they added fried chicken and rice to the US menu. Hell, even Hawaii has a teriyaki burger and taro pie.
They also have cooler toys overseas. Japan had an exclusive Gundam vinyl figure painted black and gold and Australia had a knockoff Lego set a few years ago for example. This year they had some commemorative glasses with artwork featuring Happy Meal toys from the 1970s-1990s for sale. Some countries got real glass, others got plastic- the US got plastic.
It's weird that the US version of a restaurant that is often seen as a symbol of the country itself is easily the worst.
It's important to understand McDonald's in the US isn't a restaurant company—It's a real estate company. 95% of all McDonald's locations in US are franchise-owned. As long as franchisees pay their rent and royalties, corporate doesn't really give a shit, so franchise owners will cut corners to pad their own margins. McDonald's Corporate is somewhat aware of this, which is why restaurants get remodeled semi-regularly to clean up years of caked-on filth from lack of maintenance.
That's true, McDonalds the corporation gets their money selling everything to the franchisees.
If I'm not mistaken, the franchisees have to buy all the food and support equipment from corporate though, so the shitty quality of the food is all on them.
One thing I've always noticed is that the lettuce at the US McDonalds has a funny taste. It's been the same taste for at least 20 years and is the same at every one I've ever eaten at.