McDonald's: Here are the most unique restaurants in the world

With thousands of locations in more than 100 countries all over the world, McDonald’s is one of the largest fast-food franchises globally. Over time, the Golden Arches have appeared in some very interesting and unique locations.

With many an Instagram photo being shared of these cool spots, they have become attractions in their own right, with both locals and tourists flocking there to experience their favourite Big Macs and Happy Meals in some amazing settings. According to Love Food, here are the coolest McDonald’s restaurant in the world which any McDonald’s fans must try and visit.

Saint Lazare, Paris

In Paris’s Rue Saint Lazare, located between the city’s beautiful buildings, lies a McDonald’s with a façade unlike any other you have ever seen. This McDonald’s has a quaint brick and timber façade in the style of France’s Alsace region, complete with a sculpture of a 'beer king'. Vivre Paris haveshared that this historical monument once used to house a brewery. But post 1990s, it is now home to a very different kind of store inside its beautiful building, namely, a McDonald's.

With such unusual features, tourists regularly visit this location in droves, with many sharing Instagram posts about their find, further fuelling its fame.

Read also: McDonald's: Iran, Bermuda, North Korea...these countries have banned the fast food chain

Sedona, Arizona, USA

With McDonald’s franchises being opened in so many places, their restaurants have made the best of different urban building regulations. The McDonald’s restaurant in Sedona, Arizona is super cool because of the way it is blended in with the dry red-rocked landscape of the city. This is due to the city’s strict zoning ordinance, which also led to the fast-food restaurant having a turquoise arch here, instead of its signature Golden Arches, giving it a modern vibe.

Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas is home to some pretty bizarre McDonald’s restaurants.One of the most fun McDonald’s has got to be the one built right next to the Dallas Zoo, where the store has borrowed design inspiration from its location, and built giant elephants peeking from behind the restaurant, while there are sculptures of giraffes, lions and a chimpanzee with McDonald’s fries gracing the façade. This is the perfect place for any kid or adult to have the most apt Happy Meal and cheeseburgers on a zoo visit.

New Hyde Park, New York

In New Hyde Park, Long Island, you can eat your McDonald’s Big Mac in one of the most fancy McDonald’s restaurants in the world. The fast-food restaurant here is located in a beautiful building that once used to be a farmhouse, which then got converted into a Georgian mansion. This building in a landmark in the city, which considers it’s an important historical monument.

Downey, California, USA

The McDonald’s restaurant in Downey, California, has a full-on retro look straight from the 1950s. This is because it also happens to be the oldest operating McDonald restaurant in the world.This spot has been in business since 1953, when it was only just the third McDonald’s restaurant to open. It’s a major Instagram-worthy location now, along with being recognised in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. This is definitely one of the best places to experience what original McDonald's used to be like.

If you are interested in other McDonald’s restaurants that are bizarre and unique in equal measure, you can also view the McDonald’s restaurants in Roswell, New Mexico, which is built like an UFO, the McDonald’s at Tuapo, New Zealand where you can eat inside a former plane, or even the wondrously beautiful Art Deco McDonald’s in Porto, Portugal which has architectural features like ornate stained glass, high ceilings and gorgeous mirrors.

There is no shortage of unexpected and surprising McDonald’s locations in the world, which are as cool and unique as some of its international menu items.

Sources used:

Love Food: ‘The world's most unusual McDonald's restaurants’

Vivre Paris: ‘Saint-Lazare: one of the most unusual buildings in Paris’