Most would probably argue that McDonald's, the iconic American fast-food chain, is known for its menu, and not its decor. But Katrinka from Baltimore, Maryland, recently tweeted a few pics of a restaurant in Freeport, Maine, that has become popular because of the opposite.
"It looks like a funeral home outside and a retirement home inside," the Twitter user wrote. Her tweet instantly went viral and people started responding to it with other weird McDonald's locations. From a decommissioned airplane to an old bank building, or to even no-longer-existing but nevertheless fascinating constructions, it would definitely be interesting to order a burger in one of these joints!
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Don't get why the authorities allowed the defacing of that historic building with that hideous sign.
Wow. I absolutely hate McDonald's, but I would go in here just to take a look.
Wow! What beautiful architecture! The first floor is smaller than the higher floors. What's in place to help it support the weight of the building? And the symmetry! Divide it vertically. One window on the right and another on the left, and in the middle put a torqued figure. The next floor has two small, square-ish windows and a taller window of the same width wedged in between. The diagonal support beams can be on the outside, to touch it up a little. For the last floor, triangular roofs are boring, as are rectangular ones... let's combine them and put a trapezoidal one there. Absolutely stunning.
On my bucket list! McDonald's has so many regional specialties that it's actually a goal of mine. I want to travel and eat all the local food- and one fast food meal!
The McDonald's that got Katrinka's attention actually has a pretty nice story behind it. When the fast-food chain was looking to expand to the town of Freeport, they ran into a problem: the Freeport building design restrictions were strict, and the authorities wanted the fast-food giant to maintain the area's aesthetic. To put it simply: no golden arches.
So, McDonald's chose the Gore House that was built by a wealthy local merchant, William Gore, around 1850. At first, the town couldn't decide whether to allow this, but ultimately gave the go-ahead, and it opened in December of 1984. The restaurant retained its style, which the Freeport Historical Society describes as "a mix of Greek Revival and Italianate architecture."
One could walk in and think that this was just another local posh tavern similar to the one across the street. But this restaurant doesn't offer fine steak and craft beer; only Big Macs and Coca-Cola.
They got nice lightings inside. Who would have thought McDonald would have chandelier?
It looks like those paper town cardboard toys. Where you have to fold and assemble it.
This no longer exists. It was torn down in 2008. It was in Alconbury.
oh yeeaaahhh!! my cousin lives right by it! she took me there one time and we went inside, and it is very....[no word found]
I am in Houston,Texas and their is a McDonalds that looks like a post office
The villa of Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek, for a period of about a month.
The picture on the left is in it's own little cave at the foot of the stairs. It was pretty cramped but it was the most popular table.
There's one that looks like this in Oshkosh, WI, and I know of a few others around the MN/WI/IL part of the midwest.
Oh my God! I made myself so sick eating there! Hadn't eaten anything but DFAC food for 8 months and went overboard. But it was SOOOOO worth it on my way back for R&R.
Note: this post originally had 78 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I visited one in Taiwan that was so small they only had the counter and fountain drink machine on the main level. The kitchen was above it and everything was sent down on this conveyor belt system that they hooked the bags to. You could fit maybe 3 customers inside including the 1 worker at the counter.
I love how some of the interiors are very interesting and classy looking for a fast-food chain. The outside and inside are not disappointing.
One near me only has one arch. 58d8a9a7b3...065htm.jpg 
mcdonalds-...78b941.jpg 
The McDonald's, up by the Polynesian Cultural Center, on 'Oahu, Hawai'i, is beautiful!
The Antigua, Guatemala one is awesome - https://www.google.com/search?q=antigua+mcdonalds&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS821US821&sxsrf=ALeKk035d43F7Pi0BKKZ4BKFuwsUmvfsrg:1589211613124&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjd-7DNkqzpAhUFoZ4KHWa6Dx0Q_AUoAXoECBMQAw&biw=1920&bih=937#imgrc=rtkf3eU-ihffLM
We had a rockin McDonald's in the '90's. It was 50's burger joint. Even had a '50's car in it and a huge fake Elvis and and records hanging down. Juke boxes on the tables and shiny things everywhere you looked. Colors were purple and silver. They had to change it back to match normal McDonald's I heard. But it was called Rockin' McDonald's.
I can't be the only one who checked out Google Maps for every single one. haha Good idea
Such beautiful architecture to sell dhitburgers! It's almost like drinking the best champagne out of an old plimsoll that had been worn by someone with. Athletes Foot!
I didn't know there were so many Interesting Maccas, these are great fun.
The funniest ones are those that look like Medieval taverns for travellers, because that's pretty much McDonalds' today.
Now IAM Hungry! And I don't have a car to go get drive thru or a phone I can answer to open my building door if I ordered! FWP!
Who are the architects for many of these buildings? Their work here is amazing! What else have they designed?
I once went into a McD's with my family when I was around 5, and I still distinctly remember the marble floors, quilted-looking (velvet I think?) red booths, with dark-colored wood, big, marble pillars in the middle of the building, chandeliers in every booth, and the entire place was just a really tight squeeze because of all the fanciness. Unfortunately, I don't remember where it was, but it was on our way to the Oklahoma City area, from the Dallas area. I think it was also in the middle of nowhere/a small town. Would be great if someone knows the place, or at least maybe knows it. Also, the waiters I think had tuxes, or at least ties.
It's nice to have the pictures from before they were mostly torn down and replaced with their standard new template
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So do McDonald's in other countries have the same negative connotations that they do in America? Here in the southern United States, it's cheap fast food for when you need a quick easy meal.
I might be a special kind of nerd but I'm more interested in the grammar of the headline. I had never before considered the proper way to pluralize a business name that ends in a possessive apostrophe s, such as McDonald's. I think there best way would be to rewrite the sentence to avoid the situation - e.g., "McDonald's locations." If there is, for whatever reason, no way to avoid it, then I think how it is written in the headline would be the best solution. I assume online publications are not worried about adding an additional word here and there, so I think the first option would be the preferred approach for this headline - "McDonald's locations"
You could just ask their PR department. I’m sure they’d have a recommendation for you: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/contact-us.html
Load More Replies...
I would assume most of the "fancy" ones do not because those are usually the result of local building regulations and those cities/towns that have such regulations would probably also prohibit drive-throughs
Load More Replies... I bet youtubers can do a lot of 24-hours in mcdonalds videos with these ones! they're so cool!
I visited one in Taiwan that was so small they only had the counter and fountain drink machine on the main level. The kitchen was above it and everything was sent down on this conveyor belt system that they hooked the bags to. You could fit maybe 3 customers inside including the 1 worker at the counter.
I love how some of the interiors are very interesting and classy looking for a fast-food chain. The outside and inside are not disappointing.
One near me only has one arch. 58d8a9a7b3...065htm.jpg mcdonalds-...78b941.jpg
The McDonald's, up by the Polynesian Cultural Center, on 'Oahu, Hawai'i, is beautiful!
The Antigua, Guatemala one is awesome - https://www.google.com/search?q=antigua+mcdonalds&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS821US821&sxsrf=ALeKk035d43F7Pi0BKKZ4BKFuwsUmvfsrg:1589211613124&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjd-7DNkqzpAhUFoZ4KHWa6Dx0Q_AUoAXoECBMQAw&biw=1920&bih=937#imgrc=rtkf3eU-ihffLM
We had a rockin McDonald's in the '90's. It was 50's burger joint. Even had a '50's car in it and a huge fake Elvis and and records hanging down. Juke boxes on the tables and shiny things everywhere you looked. Colors were purple and silver. They had to change it back to match normal McDonald's I heard. But it was called Rockin' McDonald's.
I can't be the only one who checked out Google Maps for every single one. haha Good idea
Such beautiful architecture to sell dhitburgers! It's almost like drinking the best champagne out of an old plimsoll that had been worn by someone with. Athletes Foot!
I didn't know there were so many Interesting Maccas, these are great fun.
The funniest ones are those that look like Medieval taverns for travellers, because that's pretty much McDonalds' today.
Now IAM Hungry! And I don't have a car to go get drive thru or a phone I can answer to open my building door if I ordered! FWP!
Who are the architects for many of these buildings? Their work here is amazing! What else have they designed?
I once went into a McD's with my family when I was around 5, and I still distinctly remember the marble floors, quilted-looking (velvet I think?) red booths, with dark-colored wood, big, marble pillars in the middle of the building, chandeliers in every booth, and the entire place was just a really tight squeeze because of all the fanciness. Unfortunately, I don't remember where it was, but it was on our way to the Oklahoma City area, from the Dallas area. I think it was also in the middle of nowhere/a small town. Would be great if someone knows the place, or at least maybe knows it. Also, the waiters I think had tuxes, or at least ties.
It's nice to have the pictures from before they were mostly torn down and replaced with their standard new template
Load More Replies... So do McDonald's in other countries have the same negative connotations that they do in America? Here in the southern United States, it's cheap fast food for when you need a quick easy meal.
I might be a special kind of nerd but I'm more interested in the grammar of the headline. I had never before considered the proper way to pluralize a business name that ends in a possessive apostrophe s, such as McDonald's. I think there best way would be to rewrite the sentence to avoid the situation - e.g., "McDonald's locations." If there is, for whatever reason, no way to avoid it, then I think how it is written in the headline would be the best solution. I assume online publications are not worried about adding an additional word here and there, so I think the first option would be the preferred approach for this headline - "McDonald's locations"
You could just ask their PR department. I’m sure they’d have a recommendation for you: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/contact-us.html
Load More Replies... I would assume most of the "fancy" ones do not because those are usually the result of local building regulations and those cities/towns that have such regulations would probably also prohibit drive-throughs
Load More Replies... I bet youtubers can do a lot of 24-hours in mcdonalds videos with these ones! they're so cool!
