Photos of the Most Unique McDonald’s Restaurants in the World

The location also features a vintage McDonald’s sign with the fast-food brand’s old mascot.

Speedee, a chef with a hamburger for a head, appeared on the original McDonald’s signs alongside the brand’s logo of two interlocking golden arches.

Some signs also advertised the low price of McDonald’s hamburgers — just 15 cents at the time.

This McDonald’s restaurant in Hangzhou, China, is located inside a 90-year-old villa that once housed a former Taiwanese leader.

Before being converted into a McDonald’s and McCafe restaurant, the building was known as a cultural relic that was the residence of politician Chiang Ching-kuo for one month during the 1940s. 

The restaurant has been called “the most controversial McDonald’s outlet in the world.”

Many locals objected to the restaurant opening inside the historic building, calling it a prime example of Western commercialism invading Chinese culture.

However, the restaurant has become somewhat of a tourist attraction since it opened in 2015, welcoming visitors from all over the world.

This McDonald’s restaurant in Taupo, New Zealand, is located inside a decommissioned plane.

Named one of the “world’s coolest McDonald’s” according to a sign outside the restaurant, customers can enjoy everything from a classic Big Mac to Chicken McNuggets and McCafe beverages inside the plane.

There’s even airplane-style seating where customers can sit and enjoy their food.

Visitors to this unique McDonald’s restaurant can also view the D3 plane’s cockpit.

This McDonald’s restaurant in Clifton Hill, Melbourne, Australia, is designed in the art-deco style of the 1920s and ’30s.

The building was originally the United Kingdom Hotel and was designed by architect James Hastie Wardrop.

Constructed between 1937 and 1938, this restaurant has been called one of the most beautiful McDonald’s buildings in the world.

Built in 1983, the Rock-N-Roll McDonald’s in Chicago, Illinois, was known nationwide for its themed decor.

Filled with music and pop-culture memorabilia, the restaurant spanned two floors and was a replica of Ray Kroc’s first McDonald’s.

The decor was quintessentially ’80s, but in 2017, the fast-food giant decided the location would be fully renovated and modernized.

After the restaurant was partially demolished and modernized, the memorabilia once housed in the restaurant went into the franchise owner’s personal collection, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Another iconic McDonald’s restaurant that has closed for good is, surprisingly, the chain’s Times Square location.

Known for its giant marquee featuring thousands of light bulbs, the restaurant — perhaps surprisingly — closed in 2020 not as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but rather as part of McDonald’s regular review of its restaurant portfolio, according to a spokesperson.

This McDonald’s in Sedona, Arizona, is the only one in the world with turquoise arches.

The restaurant, which was built in May 1993, is located in one of Arizona’s most beautiful cities; it’s known for its awe-inspiring red-rock mountains, canyon walls, and pine forests. 

The building has to adhere to Sedona’s strict guidelines on building design and signage.

While the bright-yellow color of a majority of McDonald’s signs might work in other parts of the country, the turquoise color chosen by the Sedona, Arizona, location blends much better with the surrounding landscape.

Sedona also has strict restrictions on how tall buildings and signage can be, which is why the famous arches are placed lower than at most other McDonald’s restaurants.

A now-closed McDonald’s in Houston, Texas, was space-themed to pay homage to the nearby NASA space center.

On top of the large McDonald’s restaurant, which also had a play place, was a statue of a NASA astronaut holding a container of fries.

The theme continued inside the restaurant.

Ronald McDonald and the rest of the “McDonaldland” characters lined the walls wearing space suits and posing against a starry background.

The world’s first floating McDonald’s restaurant opened in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1980.

Moored slightly south of the Gateway Arch on the Mississippi River, this McDonald’s was the very first McDonald’s to be opened on a riverboat.

It was open for 20 years before closing in 2000.

The McDonald’s restaurant in Freeport, Maine, looks much more like a house than a standard fast-food franchise.

Some McDonald’s locations attempt to blend in with the local buildings and are designed more sympathetically. 

This McDonald’s location, however, was actually built inside a preexisting, 150-year-old colonial mansion. Located in Freeport, a small seaside town in Maine, the building was converted into the town’s only McDonald’s in 1984.

Referred to as the “flying saucer McDonald’s,” this unique fast-food restaurant in Roswell, New Mexico, is truly out of this world.

Inspired by the extraterrestrial history of Roswell, the interior of the spaceship holds a play place, which is also space-themed.

A McDonald’s in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is similarly grandiose — though it at one point had cartoonish fry sculptures on the front of the building.

The building almost resembles the White House.

However, past its columns and grand facade, customers can still enjoy McDonald’s favorites like the Big Mac or Brazilian menu items like the McCrispy Chicken Legend and the Cheddar McMelt.

This McDonald’s restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina, was renovated to fit with the local guidelines from the nearby Biltmore Estate.

Resembling a ski lodge, the restaurant fits in perfectly in the mountain town. However, inside is grander than perhaps any outside viewer could expect.

The restaurant features red-oak tables, a self-playing baby grand piano, wrought-iron railings, and a fireplace.

The interior is also decorated with wallpaper, pieces of art, and hanging chandeliers.