Meeting My Arch Nemesis: Italian McDonald's

Ignore the fact that this is actually about relationships

Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned.
I broke one of my cardinal rules of traveling: don't eat at a chain restaurant.
I also broke of of my guiding principles in life: don't eat at a fast food chain unless there are no better options.
I ate at a McDonalds in Rome.

Before you call me a sellout and rightfully question my decision-making, let me just say that I did this purely for the experience. I've heard McDonald's is different around the world and it looked radically different than any McDonald's I'd ever seen before.

"What do you mean by that?" you may ask. I mean it looks like this inside:

And there's a balcony:

So with curiosity and some encouragement from a slightly less than sober roommate, I decided to go and document my experiences. I went twice; once with my roommates during dinner and again a few weeks later during lunch.

Keep in mind it's been about 4 years since I've been in McDonald's for any reason other than to use the bathroom and it's been even longer since I've ordered anything from one, so my comparisons are based on old memories.

If it weren't for the Italian, could you tell the difference?

Once you get inside, the counter looks familiar and ordering works the same way it does in the US. The menu is sprawled out on signs behind the cashiers. They had the typical fare: burgers, fries, milkshakes, sodas, chicken nuggets, etc. The only item I saw that was different was beer. Yeah, they sell beer at Italian McDonalds.

McDonald's is surprisingly pricey in Italy. A standard burger or a meal costs €7-8. That's still not super expensive, but I feel like it definitely costs more abroad. Normally I can get a killer panino or plate of pasta €6-7 max, so that's also what I'm used to. Since I wanted to spend as little as possible while committing this foodie sin, I opted for the value menu.

I ordered a McBeer because I felt like I had to just to say I did. I also ordered a chickenburger off the value menu, and I got an order of fries when I went back during lunch because I wanted to experience a "complete" meal.

The chickenburger & beer

The Chickenburger is a chicken patty with mustard on a bun. Its stripped-down nature is the price you pay for, well, not paying the full price. The first thing I tasted while biting into this thing was the cheap, dry, almost papery bun. It felt like the bun was pushing the definition of "bread" a little because I'm pretty sure actual bread shouldn't taste like paper. The patty tasted like one of McDonald's chicken nuggets, just thinner and wider. I'm not entirely sure it's purely chicken, but it tasted vaguely like chicken between the blandness. It was one of those things where you end up tasting the texture more than the flavor. Then you got to the mustard, which was a gross, greenish sort of thing. You could tell they were aiming for a mustard-like flavor, even if they didn't meet their goal. It added a new flavor, but I'm not sure that's a good thing. It tasted about how I remember it tasting in America and reminded me why I never go to McDonald's. I thought the food might be different in Europe, but I guess standardization is key for big corporations. Overall, it was bland, cheap, and a little gross-- about how I view fast food in general.


The fries were a surprise. On a french fry scale of "basically just crispy, fried potato" to "potato wedges," these fries were definitely more towards the "basically just crispy, fried potato" end. There was not a ton of potato inside, but they were pretty crispy and tasted kind of potato-y. They were a bit bland, but they definitely got better when I put some salt on them. I could tell they were low quality and not exactly made with fresh ingredients, but they were decent and tasted about like the ones I've had in the US. Granted, it was about 1:45 and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast when I had these, so my hunger may have exaggerated my feelings towards them a little, but I've had worse fries.

I was severely disappointed that the beer wasn't called a McBeer or a McBrew. It was a can of Birra Moretti, which is one of the cheap, standard Italian brands. The first thing I noticed was the lack of carbonation. Like, it was there, but only barely. I'm not a huge carbonation fan, but it still felt a little wrong. The beer was watery and lacked a little in flavor, especially with the aftertaste, but it was still pretty drinkable. However, before my 21st birthday in March, I had never had a beer, so maybe I haven't tried enough of them for my standards to be too high yet. Still, I thought it was decent. It was one of the better parts of the experience and I can now definitively say I've had a beer at McDonald's, even if it was a letdown that it wasn't called a McBeer.

When we first came for dinner, the restaurant was not that busy, but by the time we left, around 8:30-8:45, the restaurant had filled in quite a bit. Italians eat late, so this isn't too much of a surprise. During dinner, there were several families with small kids, 3-4 couples, two pairs of friends, a couple groups of young, hipster-esque guys, and one man sitting by himself.  During lunch, there were 7 or 8 people sitting alone who looked like they were out on lunch breaks, two moms with young kids, a couple groups of young friends, and a few couples. Interestingly, most of the customers were relatively young, and no one looked, at least from simple observation, like they were poor, disheveled, or obese, which are three things you expect to see at an American McDonald's.

The atmosphere was the best part of Italian McDonald's. The restaurant has several large bar-like tables plus a few small two-person tables and a good amount of booths.. There's also a nice outside area with a few tables, an umbrella, and a space heater. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go up on the balcony. It was closed when I went for dinner and when I started walking up the stairs during lunch, the door was locked and an employee shot me a look of, "sorry, man." It had been raining earlier in the day, so maybe that was why it was closed. The way it was designed, it seemed like more people ate the food there than took it home.

The restaurant is really bright and colorful inside and had an olive green/brown/white theme that splashed the walls, tables, and chairs. It felt more like I was in a Panera than a McDonald's and it gave it a fun, almost artsy and upscale vibe to it. Both times, I sat at a long bar-like table in the center of the restaurant that had a power strip for people to plug phones and laptops into. There was EDM playing in the background during dinner and then standard radio songs during lunch. It seems like McDonald's here puts effort into creating a bit of an atmosphere.

Italian McDonald's is basically an American McDonald's plus beer and minus the despair, obesity, and poverty. Overall, it was the worst meal I've had in Rome, though Rome sets an extremely high standard. If you must go, get the beer and fries, but steer clear of the main courses. I hope this is the last time I order food at McDonald's for a long, long time.

Ok, you made it through the fast food. As a reward, here's a picture of a delicious plate of pasta with parmesan and cream sauce:

From Il Pastaio di Roma, one of the places you should go in Rome