New McDonald'ses too ugly to eat in

[GCrites]

Am I the only one who thinks some of these new McDonald's buildings are too ugly to buy food from? Ones that look like this:



I eat a lot of fast food since I don't spend much time at home and it seems you have to eat 8 cubic feet of unevenly cooked microwave food at work in order to barely reach the 500 calories necessary to keep you going the rest of the day. So, for me, having to reject certain McDonald's locations for being too ugly is a big deal. I actually don't mind the way they look on the inside; I just can't seem to bring myself to point my car in the direction of them.

[Road Hog]

Take away the arch signage over the roof line and it looks no different from a bank branch.

[1995hoo]

I like the use of "McDonald'ses." It sounds like something Gollum would say. I'm picturing him slinking around complaining about "nasty little McDonald'ses, spoiling nice fish. Give it to us raw and wriggling. You keep nasty chips."

[DTComposer]

I find it a bit generic, but it's a far cry better than the red sloped-roof style that places you firmly in 1977.

The plus side of this design is that the building could much more easily be re-purposed for another tenant if need be.

[GCrites]

Ha they probably are a lot more Not Fooling Anybody-proof.

[Pete from Boston]

With apologies to Dave Berg–the building's ugly?  Have you seen the food?

[corco]

I have found a near zero correlation between outdoor aesthetics and food quality. If anything, the nicer a building is on the outside, the more generic food is on the inside.

[jakeroot]

I think the new Mcdonalds look fantastic. What's to hate about it? It follows modern-day architecture. They couldn't do the sloped roof forever.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

I think the new Mcdonalds look fantastic. What's to hate about it? It follows modern-day architecture. They couldn't do the sloped roof forever.

Well, that's just it - modern-day design (not just architecture, but virtually everything, especially vehicles) is downright hideous.  That said, I avoid McDonalds not because of what their new buildings look like, but rather because I don't like the food.

[jakeroot]

I think the new Mcdonalds look fantastic. What's to hate about it? It follows modern-day architecture. They couldn't do the sloped roof forever.

Well, that's just it - modern-day design (not just architecture, but virtually everything, especially vehicles) is downright hideous.  That said, I avoid McDonalds not because of what their new buildings look like, but rather because I don't like the food.

Okay, so let's forget the architecture, and focus solely on the food. We can both agree that, around the time Super-Size Me came out, McDonalds was at a low, right? The whole super-size option was the pinnacle of McDonalds' "eat as much as you can" phase.

If anything, McDonalds needed to shake its old image. What's a better way of going about doing that than changing the whole design of your restaurant to seem "airier" or "lighter"? Something more in line with pop-culture, yeah? They can keep the same food but at least give the illusion of health and well-being. That's smart business in a liberal society.

[Pete from Boston]

Perhaps McDonald's is trying to appear health-conscious by repelling people who might be tempted to eat there. 

[Brian556]

That building looks fine to me

[Brian556]

Quote from pete from boston:

Perhaps McDonald's is trying to appear health-conscious by repelling people who might be tempted to eat there. 

If they really wanted to keep our the people that want to eat there, they should narrow the doorway slightly.

[DandyDan]

If I were inclined to ever go back to McDonald's again (I haven't been to one in 11 years), I'd have to prefer the one in the picture over the one with a sloped roof.  That said, if you are basing your food choices on the architecture of the building you buy it in, something's not adding up.

[jakeroot]

If I were inclined to ever go back to McDonald's again (I haven't been to one in 11 years), I'd have to prefer the one in the picture over the one with a sloped roof.  That said, if you are basing your food choices on the architecture of the building you buy it in, something's not adding up.

It seems illogical, but it's the 'inviting' factor. They want to make people look at it and say "oh this place looks nice". If I'm in a town in the middle of nowhere, and the McDonalds looks like this, I would be inclined to go. Only because it looks like a nice, warm, clean place. You don't have to take any chances with any other restaurant, because you can count on a good experience right here and now.

Then again, if your personal experiences with McDonalds are less than pleasant, you might be more inclined to visit an independent restaurant.

[Stephane Dumas]

Here some unusual architectural details used in some McDonalds here in Quebec when they're jouxted to a gas station.
This one in a rest area along with an Esso gas station on A-55 at Richmond http://goo.gl/maps/BGCQY

At Trois-Rivières on Jean XXIII Blvd along a Irving gas station http://goo.gl/maps/7ObHD

On PQ-220 in Sherbrooke along with a Petro-Canada station http://goo.gl/maps/TnX7X

On TCH-117 at Malartic along with a Ultramar gas station http://goo.gl/maps/kF2VI

Abd here on McDonalds in downtown Trois-Rivieres integrated to the fabric of the area http://goo.gl/maps/pjuau

McDonalds isn't alone, there's Burger King and Subway jouxted to a Petro-Canada station on Patriotes Road(PQ-133) http://goo.gl/maps/qAtwL

[roadman]

I find it a bit generic, but it's a far cry better than the red sloped-roof style that places you firmly in 1977.

The plus side of this design is that the building could much more easily be re-purposed for another tenant if need be.

There have only been a handful relatively small percentage of McDonalds' (as compared to the total number of restaurants in the chain) that have been closed and not re-opened on or close to the original site.  In nearly all those cases, the closure was due to other than not making adequate profits or similar financial reasons (IIRC, in a couple of cases, a mass shooting occurred at or near the Mickey's, which was then demolished and the land then turned into a memorial park for the victims).  And, in all the cases I am aware of, the building was demolished and not re-purposed.

Trivia note - The very first McDonalds that closed due to an utter lack of profitability was in Central Square, Lynn (MA).  It was part of the less than successful Union Street walkway project that was completed in the late 1970s.  Inspired by the 1976 Downtown Crossing project in Boston, the project involved closing off Union Street, which was one of the main shopping districts in Lynn.  Closing off the street only accelerated the closing of most of the businesses.  In the case of the Mickeys', most people chose not to eat there because of issues with transients who would order a cup of coffee and sit there most of the day.

A few years after Union Street was closed off to traffic, it was re-opened.  Didn't help the downtown economic picture one bit.

[spooky]

I find it a bit generic, but it's a far cry better than the red sloped-roof style that places you firmly in 1977.

The plus side of this design is that the building could much more easily be re-purposed for another tenant if need be.

There have only been a handful of McDonalds' that have been closed and not re-opened on or close to the original site.  In nearly all those cases, the closure was due to other than financial reasons (IIRC, in a couple of cases, a mass shooting occured at or near the Mickey's, which was then demolished and the land then turned into a memorial park for the victims).  And, in all the cases I am aware of, the building was demolished and not re-purposed.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6181162,-71.4580388,3a,46y,266.05h,90.03t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sx3ubDRFOemfLbkyeDJBUYg!2e0!6m1!1e1

From my hometown of North Kingstown, RI. As you can see in this Sept 2012 GSV image, the mansard roof was reconstructed so that the building was not obviously a former McD's.

Rumor has it McD's closed at this location because they were going to require an extensive septic/sewer upgrade. They did not re-open a new location in North Kingstown.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9119187,-71.3623523,3a,84.4y,297.54h,83.87t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sCOpFiclFK6H70DOEZmCmLw!2e0!6m1!1e1

Attleboro, MA. Once again the roof was changed, but I believe the building was mostly left the same. The restaurant maintains a takeout counter on the left side that is pretty close to the McD's configuration. The dining room on the right side is completely reconfigured, and features sit-down service...and pretty good food to boot!

This McD's was replaced with a new location slightly north on US 1.

[txstateends]

A lot of the remodels end up looking like or similar to the OP's picture.  One past Dallas-area franchisee actually had wood accents and mini-chandeliers in the interiors of some of his restaurants.

One of the more wacky remodels, this location in north Dallas off I-635
south side of the building: http://goo.gl/maps/UY5Yy
north side of the building: http://goo.gl/maps/9Rzmc
has, yes, the play area looking like a happy meal box, a spinning McD's sign, yellow arches holding up the canopy over where the car orders in the drive-thru, inlaid lights blinking down the drive-thru lane, tacked-on McDonaldland characters on the side of the building, black marble sinks and accents in the bathrooms, >sigh<, I could go on.  I used to work down the street from this McD's and people would come to my store asking me where the happy meal McDonald's was.  I got that a lot.

It actually replaced a very very dated slope-roof location that was largely white/light blue/beige; a kitchen fire closed the location, and within weeks, demolition was on and the rebuild became what the Google Street View shows.

[PHLBOS]

Are there any McDonalds' that still have the building in the original look & shape? 

Back in the mid-80s, there was one along MA 38 near I-495 in Lowell that still featured the old retro 50's look (red & white tile with arches on each side of the building).  It currently no longer sports that look.

[spooky]

I've seen retro rebuilds that have the arches on each side of the building, but I can't imagine there are any left that still have it from the 50s.

[Laura]

I really like the sloped roof buildings. They remind me of the appearance of a train station.

This may seem silly, but I miss the play places that were in the buildings back in the 90's. Not that I can use them now, but I've found them very useful on a rainy day hanging out with young mom friends at Chik-fil-a. My friend and I can have a good long conversation to ourselves while the kids play. My guess as to why they got rid of them was because they "lured" children into wanting/eating fast food. Also, now that we're starting to get more health-conscientious as a society, people are avoid fast food when they can.

ETA: The McDonalds just off of I-95 exit 77 A in Edgewood, MD caught on fire about 10-15 years ago and was never replaced. My guess is because there are two other McDonalds locations close by - one off of exit 77 B (which is more difficult to access from 95 but is near all of the big box stores) and off of Route 40 in Edgewood. The burned down Mickey Dees was replaced with a small strip shopping center.

iPhone

[DaBigE]

My guess as to why they got rid of them was because they "lured" children into wanting/eating fast food.

They're also a huge liability and a nightmare to keep clean.

[jakeroot]

My guess as to why they got rid of them was because they "lured" children into wanting/eating fast food.

They're also a huge liability and a nightmare to keep clean.

That may be true, but that doesn't stop many of my local fast food franchises from having them. Three or four of the closest McDonalds have jungle gyms and so does the Burger King. The Burger King jungle gym was amazing when I was a kid. It was like 4 stories tall (look on the right of the photo...ignore the apparent premise of the photo):



And here's a location in Williamsburg, VA that opened in 2009...with a jungle gym!

[GCrites]

McD's has also refocused it's efforts on selling coffee, selling food to people who are eating alone and on retirees that lost their local diner-type spots due to the decreasing profitability of sit-down restaurants without liquor licenses.