Posted on 07/28/2019 1:29:08 AM PDT by NorseViking
The USSR got its first McDonald's in January 1990. On a recent trip to Russia, I visited the fast-food restaurant in Moscow. I found that the Moscow location of the fast-food restaurant was a step up from its counterparts in the US. The ordering process was streamlined, the food tasted fresher and more flavorful, and the space was cleaner.
On January 31, 1990, more than 30,000 people waited in line in the cold for hours to eat at the very first McDonald's in the USSR.
Now, the American fast-food chain has at least 650 locations throughout the country. McDonald's is thriving in Russia, with the number of restaurants growing 6% last year, as compared to the global average of 1.5%, The Wall Street Journal reported. And most of the restaurants in Russia cook with ingredients that are sourced from local Russian suppliers, according to the Journal.
On a recent trip to Russia, I ate at the first McDonald's to open in Moscow, and it was a step up from the locations I've visited in the US.
Here's what it was like.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
You should see it today...especially the younger generations go crazy for it. All of the American fast food is super popular right now, with KFC being the champion. I’m pretty much every mall food court in Russia you will see substantial lines at KFC, McD’s and BK.
Very true. Or just acting loud and obnoxious and then if you say anything they start shouting that you’re a racist.
Russians have every skill to be wildly successful... from their space programs to McDonalds... In a better world our countries would be friends...
Walk into an average US McDonald’s, and observe their staff. Then walk into a Chick-fil-a and observe.
You are right on target for the way it is here. Most McD’s here you have to order by number. Clerk no habla Engrish. True even in less diverse neighborhoods.
LOL. Have you listened to The Dollop podcast on Harlan Sanders? Pretty funny. (The Dollop is an American History podcast hosted by two guys whose language is terrible and couldn’t be more left in a lot of ways..but I enjoy the stories. The funniest one recently was on Mince Pies. Wells Fargo was pretty good, too).
Will have to check out:)
“They are all immaculately clean -...”
The MacDonald brothers started the restaurant based upon cleanliness and fast. The burgers originally were bun, meat, ketchup, mustard, and two pickles, that’s all. The only real product they sold that they put a lot of effort into was the fries. I worked for them in the late 1960’s while in college as a part time job and was indoctrinated into their system: if you don’t have anything to do, clean something. If everything is cleaned, clean it again. Seems the foreign countries have taken the original theory to heart. It sold by marketing, not by product. “Cheese on twelve and twelve?” On a fast day, you heard that continually. If you worked there, you knew what that meant.
rwood
the Porn Bekoh is Hobnhka!
Back in 1972-1973 my wife and I worked at the McD’s at Eastwood Mall in Birmingham AL while we were in college. At the time that was the busiest McD’s in the country.
We were one of the first to have a playground, one of the first to do the Ronald McDonald birthday parties, and one of 4 test locations for the Quarter Pounder before it was rolled out chain-wide in 1973.
In fact, I helped develop the mechanical timer box that was used to time the cooking of the patties. Then when they decided the timings were off, I got paid to modify all the boxes for the new settings.
My wife and I had the perfect job at McD’s. Coming in at 11, I ran the grill and my wife did buns. Then at 2pm we hung up our aprons and walked out the door. No cleaning, no mopping. Just make burgers as fast as we could and leave.
We were really fast and worked so well together that corporate guys would stop to watch us work.
The photos are worth thousands of words missing from the article.
And why no photos of the USA Mickey D’s?
Something to hide?
Circa 1975, a friend said I had to see this!
And off we went to lunch on a weekday at noon,Mickey D’s, Schaumberg, Il
Many lines a mile long!
But moving at a fast walk?
Clerks with portable cash registers and you pick it up that quick!
A nice crowd, no fights that I noticed?
Irradiated milk?
My sister lived in Europe for many years.
One year she sent a 10Kg chocolate bar and liters of irradiated cream.
The note on the front had said, do not open until Christmas, but Christmas was lost in transit.
So we placed it in the closet until she arrived in June.
She ask how we liked the gift?
Then said it should be fine!!!
The cream was fantastic, the chocolate had some dry edges.
I was hired by a franchise so we never saw any corporate suits. I did about everything they had from shakes, to grill, to front counter, to calling shots. But the pay was never going to get any college grads as just as soon as they got someone in there that appeared intelligent, they sent them to hamburger college and taught them the way and tried to get them into a franchise as soon as possible. They were growing fast at that time and needed managers/owners they could use to increase company profits. I turned them down as I had different aspirations with my life rather than just getting by selling burgers or herding those that did.
I quit them when they had a problem with my class schedule, which they originally said they’d work around, and the owner ran after me as I was exiting the building and fell and hurt his leg. I got another job across the street at KFC and they had no problem with my schedule. I told the McD owner I had the other job and he told me as he “followed” me out that he was going to call them and ruin my job. Sounds like I took a step up, doesn’t it.
rwood
“The McDonalds in my town is spotless, efficient, and comfortable. “
Same here. Same in all surrounding towns. I never have any problem even after thousands of meals.
My first overseas assignment was to Augsburg, West Germany in 1980.
I was SHOCKED, I say SHOCKED to see that they sold beer on tap in McDonalds over there.
What more could an 18yo troop want? :)
Oh, and I distinctly remember the first Western fastfood restaurant to open in East Germany after the Wall fell.
Burger King took advantage and drove a mobile kitchen to the Dresden train station to open shop.
Psst. Wanna own a Russian McDonalds I know a Franchise guy.
All milk and milk products here are pasteurized unlike most other countries.
Sounds like we had a lot of the same experiences. We were also a franchise, but kind of a showcase for the chain so we always had corporate guys coming through.
Corporate also offered my wife and I a franchise store pretty much for free. But we turned it down since I wanted to stay with engineering. And I guess it worked out because 6 years later I was working on the Shuttle at JSC in Houston.
Back in 1967 before I was married, I worked at the first KFC in north Alabama, and got to meet the Colonel when he was still showing up at every grand opening.
KFC is a delicacy in Japan, too. As in, they bring it for Christmas!
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-kfc-became-a-christmas-tradition-in-japan-2016-12
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