The double golden arches are an American icon. It's hard not to meet a person who hasn't had a taste of the iconic thin and one-note
McDonald's hamburger. Now operating it's 71st year what is it about the child obesity-causing restaurant that makes Americans love it so much?
Dick and Mac McDonald opened the first McDonald's BBQ restaurant in California in 1940. It was your typical American drive-in at the time featuring a large menu and car-hop service. In 1948, they closed their restaurant for alterations, re-opening it as a self-service drive-in, reduced the menu to just 9 items, and introduced the 15 cent, 80% bun hamburger.
In 1954 52 year-old multimixer salesman Ray Kroc made a trip out west hoping to sell the McDonald brothers more mixers, and fell in love with their operation. He learned the brothers were looking for a nationwide franchising agent. Ray Kroc then decided to make his future in hamburgers, and in 1955, opened the second McDonald's location in Illinois. This location was the first to feature the ever-now famous double golden arches, and red & white tiled walls. In just a decade, McDonald's would expand to over 700 locations through the US alone.
Operating now in 118 countries around the world McDonald's is no longer just an American icon, but an international one. The menus reflect the country they are located in, and there is enough sub-par food to please every undeveloped palate out there. But lets get to the classics.
