Beez Neez now Chy Whella

McDonald's

Big Bear and Pepe Millard

Sat 9 Jul 2011 22:57

McDonald's New York City

At the last count there are over 354 McDonald's in New York City. The tours we have taken always seemed to pass "the largest in the world, America or New York" according to which of the 'Hop On, Hop Off' guide we were with at the time. The largest metropolitan McDonald's restaurant in America is at the centre of New York's tourism and entertainment district. "We are thrilled to be part of the buzz of Broadway & 42nd Street and to serve the community of New York City," said Irwin Kruger, owner/operator of the restaurant. "The restaurant is designed to be a natural fit with our famous Broadway neighbours, both in its architectural design and in the fun and excitement we'll provide for the thousands of New York residents and visitors who pass by each day."

The 17,500-square-foot McDonald's restaurant, housed in the landmark Candler building, features a full-length theatre marquee with 7,500 light bulbs, eighteen 42-inch plasma screens and twenty-seven 15-inch monitors to entertain customers. Interior designer Charles Morris Mount created a "backstage" ambiance for the restaurant's decor by exposing the building's original brickwork and using authentic theatrical lighting fixtures to illuminate the space in dramatic style. Seating for 691, we of course had to check it out, but we are still not sure why there is an odd number allowed in. After our night tour it seemed the right place to go for a smoothie and a snack.

Much can be written about this famous chain of eateries. I ate my first cheeseburger in Chatham High Street whilst still at school. People at the time thought eating with your fingers was quite ‘off’ and the idea being very American “would never catch on in the UK”. Little did they know. McDonald's restaurants are found in 119 countries and territories around the world and serve 58 million customers each day. McDonald's operates over 31,000 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 1.5 million people.

A rough estimate by the top ranked countries, but, these figures are changing all the time, 12,804 in the USA. 3,598 in Japan. 1,154 in Canada. 1,115 in the UK. 1,091 in Germany. 857 in France. 701 in Australia. 338 in Taiwan. 326 in China. 290 in Italy. 276 in Spain. 243 in South Korea. 235 in the Philippines. 227 in Sweden. 205 in the Netherlands. 205 in Mexico. 181 in Poland. 177 in Hong Kong. 149 in New Zealand. 148 in Austria. 139 in Malaysia. 133 in Turkey. 121 in Singapore. 119 in Switzerland. 99 in Denmark. 93 in Finland. 91 in Portugal. 88 in Thailand. 76 in Hungary. 75 in Indonesia. 64 in Belgium. 62 in Ireland. 60 in the Czech Republic, we went into one and were told there were 54 in Prague, all nicely disguised to look part of the structures around. 55 in Norway. 48 in Greece. 10 in Slovakia. 6 in Luxembourg. 3 in Iceland. 1 in Brunei. We have been in to one on Gozo and one on Malta itself. Interestingly, they opened in Trinidad and the locals thought the burgers were not up to much and it closed. The burgers we ate in Trini were solid meat patties with little or no ‘filler’.

The McDonald's headquarters complex, McDonald's Plaza, is located in Oak Brook, Illinois. It sits on the site of the former headquarters and stabling area of Paul Butler, the founder of Oak Brook. McDonald's moved into the Oak Brook facility from an office within the Chicago Loop in 1971.

McDonald's sells approximately 4.2 million hamburgers a day in the USA

The Big Mac, developed by Owner/Operator Jim Delligatti of Pittsburgh, was added to the national menu in 1968.

As Ray Kroc, McDonald's founder, once said, "We take the hamburger business more seriously than anyone else."