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10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 04 May 2011 20:42
by StoreLiker2006
I get a kick out of watching the Travel Channel special that is 10 Most Unique McDonald's, in which they document 10 of the most unique McDonald's all around the world.

In order (store numbers where found):
10. 10207 Lakewood Blvd., Downey, CA (number #3 from 1953-96, #19956 from 1996)
9. 1560 Broadway, New York, NY (number #6971, originally opened 1982)
8. 13105 Montfort Dr., Dallas, TX (number #1755, originally opened 1971) (the building was expanded so as to resemble a Happy Meal box)
7. A closed "McDiner" at 201 East Lincoln Road, Kokomo, IN (not in Lafayette, IN per the program's narrator) (this was one of a few test stores where McD's tried to serve people more than just their usual fare)
6. 35 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, NC (number #1661, originally opened 1971) (in Biltmore Village)
5. A closed location in Pitea, Sweden (operated as McD's from 2002-07)
4. 50 MacDonald St., Moose Jaw, SK, Canada (the one whose Playplace expansion looks like a silo)
3. 1500 Atwater Ave., Montreal, QC, Canada (has a McCafe on the other side)
2. 6875 Sand Lake Rd., Orlando, FL (number #3896, originally opened 1976)
1. Rome, Italy (next to Piazza di Spagna aka "Spanish Steps")

Specifically, what I want to ask all of you here is whether or not our locations #8 and #2 were originally conventional McD's and only assumed their "unique" status since the '80s-'90s?

For all the non-USA McD's historians, what are the store #s for locations #1 and #3-5, chain-wide (not limited by country)?

~Ben

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 05 May 2011 20:46
by tesg
I'm going to throw one more into the mix.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hytam/355369573/

This store is in Juneau, Alaska. It opened in the mid-1980's. I've actually eaten there, and they had seating on both levels.

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 07 May 2011 11:41
by Dean
I saw the episode, and enjoyed it. Wow. All those light bulbs @ the NYC site!

I'll throw this site into the mix:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46066029@N04/4642883118/

The site is solely utilized for commercial filming. REALLY is in an odd spot. Thought it would've been placed closer to Los Angeles. Also, it is in an industrial park!

Not sure the 1984 date listed is accurate. Seems like it was built a few years prior to that.

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 07 May 2011 15:39
by StoreLiker2006
Dean wrote:I saw the episode, and enjoyed it. Wow. All those light bulbs @ the NYC site!

I'll throw this site into the mix:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46066029@N04/4642883118/

The site is solely utilized for commercial filming. REALLY is in an odd spot. Thought it would've been placed closer to Los Angeles. Also, it is in an industrial park!

Not sure the 1984 date listed is accurate. Seems like it was built a few years prior to that.
I corrected the year to 1982 (regarding the Times Square McD's), because 6971 is close to 7000, and it was in '82 that McD's opened its 7000th restaurant somewhere in Washington, DC (city of our national capital).

~Ben

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 07 May 2011 15:48
by Dean
StoreLiker2006 wrote:
Dean wrote:I saw the episode, and enjoyed it. Wow. All those light bulbs @ the NYC site!

I'll throw this site into the mix:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46066029@N04/4642883118/

The site is solely utilized for commercial filming. REALLY is in an odd spot. Thought it would've been placed closer to Los Angeles. Also, it is in an industrial park!

Not sure the 1984 date listed is accurate. Seems like it was built a few years prior to that.
I corrected the year to 1982 (regarding the Times Square McD's), because 6971 is close to 7000, and it was in '82 that McD's opened its 7000th restaurant somewhere in Washington, DC (city of our national capital).

~Ben
I meant the 1984 on the pix of the studio filming location (the caption on the pix states as such).

I would estimate the site was built in 80 or 81.

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 11 May 2011 01:35
by Brian Lutz
Another particularly odd McDonald's is the one in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minneapolis:

http://public.fotki.com/MNCapital/twinc ... 04ea7.html

There's also the one in Sedona Arizona, which, due to city regulations, is the only one in the world to be lacking the Golden Arches, opting instead for turquoise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sedon ... Arches.jpg

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 15 May 2011 01:45
by submariner
There's one in Missouri (if I recall) that spans OVER the interstate (40 or 44, I can't recall) we stopped there in 1995, at the time it was the largest in the world, even bigger than the (then-new) Moscow Mickey D's and before the Beijing store.

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 15 May 2011 01:51
by Super S
In the early 90s, I remember a unique McDonald's which was either in Toledo, Ohio or Detroit, Michigan. It actually looked more like a bank on the outside. I don't remember exactly where this was, but remember it was adjacent to a mall we stopped at on the way to the airport, and I was with my uncle who wanted to look at riding lawn mowers at a Montgomery Ward store in that mall. I did get a picture of it, however, as I type this I am using a borrowed computer and do not have a way to transfer pictures, but when I figure that out I will post the picture I took of it.

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 16 May 2011 07:38
by wnetmacman
submariner wrote:There's one in Missouri (if I recall) that spans OVER the interstate (40 or 44, I can't recall) we stopped there in 1995, at the time it was the largest in the world, even bigger than the (then-new) Moscow Mickey D's and before the Beijing store.
That's actually in Vinita, Oklahoma, over the Will Rogers Turnpike (which is I-44). It holds the official record for largest McDonalds. Others have challenged it, but this is still official.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's ... _Turnpike)

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 16 May 2011 23:41
by submariner
wnetmacman wrote:
submariner wrote:There's one in Missouri (if I recall) that spans OVER the interstate (40 or 44, I can't recall) we stopped there in 1995, at the time it was the largest in the world, even bigger than the (then-new) Moscow Mickey D's and before the Beijing store.
That's actually in Vinita, Oklahoma, over the Will Rogers Turnpike (which is I-44). It holds the official record for largest McDonalds. Others have challenged it, but this is still official.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's ... _Turnpike)
That's the one!

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 17 May 2011 19:29
by tesg
The interior shot answers the age-old question..."What if they converted an old Marina Safeway into a great big McDonald's?"

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 18 May 2011 20:25
by robdude
Super S wrote:In the early 90s, I remember a unique McDonald's which was either in Toledo, Ohio or Detroit, Michigan. It actually looked more like a bank on the outside. I don't remember exactly where this was, but remember it was adjacent to a mall we stopped at on the way to the airport, and I was with my uncle who wanted to look at riding lawn mowers at a Montgomery Ward store in that mall. I did get a picture of it, however, as I type this I am using a borrowed computer and do not have a way to transfer pictures, but when I figure that out I will post the picture I took of it.
Toledo, Ohio, on South Reynolds Road...pad site in front of a dead mall, Southwyck. It's also very close to the Ohio Turnpike entrance.

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 22 May 2011 01:17
by TenPoundHammer
We actually have a lot of oddball McDonald's in Michigan:

There's a 2 story McDonald's in East Lansing. From what I can tell, the dining room is on the upper level, and the kitchen on the lower one. Also, it has a green mansard to indicate its proximity to Michigan State University.

Until 1997, Mackinaw City had a storefront McDonald's that closed in the winter. From what I recall, it didn't have a mansard (I think it had blue and white trim), but the floor plan was pretty standard. For a few months it was a terrible pizza place that didn't spend a dime on renovating the old McDonald's building — they kept the drink fountains, ketchup dispenser and even the salad cooler from McDonald's! The site was originally a bar called the Dixie Saloon, and the old McDonald's has been torn down for a newer bar called the Dixie Saloon.

There was also the Mini Mac concept that they tried in a few places. It looks like the only one left is on Broadway in Bay City. This one has only a drive-thru and enclosed walkup counter, no indoor seating.

And then there's a very heavily Bavarian-designed one in Frankenmuth, cupolas and everything. It also has a very large playplace which is on the SIDE instead of the front.

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 00:56
by Super S
robdude wrote:
Super S wrote:In the early 90s, I remember a unique McDonald's which was either in Toledo, Ohio or Detroit, Michigan. It actually looked more like a bank on the outside. I don't remember exactly where this was, but remember it was adjacent to a mall we stopped at on the way to the airport, and I was with my uncle who wanted to look at riding lawn mowers at a Montgomery Ward store in that mall. I did get a picture of it, however, as I type this I am using a borrowed computer and do not have a way to transfer pictures, but when I figure that out I will post the picture I took of it.
Toledo, Ohio, on South Reynolds Road...pad site in front of a dead mall, Southwyck. It's also very close to the Ohio Turnpike entrance.
As promised, here is the picture of the McDonalds in question. Southwyck sounds about right as far as the location, anybody have a current picture?

Re: 10 Most Unique McDonald's

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 04:33
by Brian Lutz
Super S wrote:
robdude wrote:
Super S wrote:In the early 90s, I remember a unique McDonald's which was either in Toledo, Ohio or Detroit, Michigan. It actually looked more like a bank on the outside. I don't remember exactly where this was, but remember it was adjacent to a mall we stopped at on the way to the airport, and I was with my uncle who wanted to look at riding lawn mowers at a Montgomery Ward store in that mall. I did get a picture of it, however, as I type this I am using a borrowed computer and do not have a way to transfer pictures, but when I figure that out I will post the picture I took of it.
Toledo, Ohio, on South Reynolds Road...pad site in front of a dead mall, Southwyck. It's also very close to the Ohio Turnpike entrance.
As promised, here is the picture of the McDonalds in question. Southwyck sounds about right as far as the location, anybody have a current picture?
Based on the described site, it looks like it most likely got torn down and replaced with a more conventional McDonald's in the current design. The change seems to be fairly recent, as the Birds-eye photos on Bing Maps show it under construction.