It’s not a commonplace thing to visit a sanctum sanctorum – McDonald’s fast-food restaurant. Almost every one of us visits it at least a few times a months, and some of us even more often; but have they ever thought of how all these burgers are made? Want to find out? You are welcomed inside.
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Near the staff entrance we were met by the director of a restaurant on Baumanskaya station, Aleksander Ostroukhov, and he lead us to his room (a tiny one, to tell you the truth) right away. Then we were asked to put on boot covers and special caps (they look almost like shower caps.) Feels strange, but you can make an effort.
At first we were walking around different shops and inspecting products.
The thing which really surprises you is that all products used for cooking in McDonald’s are usual products that you can find in every Russian grocery store. Formerly all products were made by a special McCenter, but now Russia’s McDonald’s have a line of suppliers. For instance, milk is a usual Parmalat one (can be found almost in every shop in Russia and CIS.)
These are buns we’ve got here. They are the same in all corners of the world, but different for various sandwhiches. Buns’ common standard allows working miracles – these buns could be made either in Ukraine, Russia or Finland.
Punch cards.
Service area of McDonald’s turned out to be much smaller than anyone could ever imagine. On this shot you can see the kitchen stuff for McBreakfasts, it is being fetched only for 3 hours a day – from 7 till 10 am.
Sometimes the restaurants are visited by bloodthirsty vampires. Joking. Just strawberry topping.
And this is kitchen! Usually it is divided onto two zones. One is for cooking popular sandwiches (like BigMacs, Cheeseburgers or Big’n’Tasties) and the other one for not so popular ones (Fillet-o-Fish or ChickenBurgers.)
Now Alexander is going to reveal a secret of how to cook a sandwich from McDonald’s. Let it be Royal De Luxe.
You must take a beef cutlet and put it in a press-oven.
While the cutlet is being cooked we are supposed to make everything else. So, you get a bun and put it into a toasting oven. Bun is supposed to be a bit sweet to get proper browned.
Then some mustard goes in.
And after it you must add ketchup.
Then onion and pickles. By the way, pickles are delivered to a McDonald’s restaurants already sliced.
A bit of lettuce on all of that.
And some mayo as a final titbit.
Tomatoes. Just usual tomatoes like the ones you buy at a market.
Cheese. Usual cheese, Hochland brand which is quite popular in Russia. It can be either Cheddar or Emmental.
Now it’s high time for the cutlet to get involved.
Closing the box and turning it upside down.
That’s all. The burger is ready.
Alas, but freshly prepared sandwich is not a long-liver, its keeping time is something about 10 minutes. Then it either eaten by a client or thrown away.
This oven is called ‘chickens cabinet.’ Cooked nuggets and chicken cutlets are kept in here. Their keeping time is 20 minutes.
Coffee of McDonald’s. Just usual Paulig. Not so bad, actually.
Special bun troubleshooting tool. Want to measure your bun?
And some standalone shots:
Story and photos via macos
I am hungry now. Save first for later.
My mother told me not to go there and I don’t break my Russian traditions
Hungriest!
Ever do I seek the elusive flexures of prodigious hamburgers.
Mmm… I could go for some Village potatoes right now.
Actually Big Mac is still a Big Mac in Russia. But instead of quarter pounder they call it royal (just like the rest of europe), and the reason being is cause they use metric system, and pound is an english measure of mass. Did not you see “Pulp fiction”? Come on man!
No regional specific food? In some countries KFC and McDonald create orders specifically tailored toward regional tastes.
there’s “village potatoes” on the third pic from the end – as far as i remember it isn’t served anywhere else
There’s also ‘village potatoes’ in McDonald’s Spain
I liked KFC better in the Ikea.But I did have my pic taken in front of Mcdonalds because the name was in Russian.
Didn’t know you had Paulig in Russia, that’s cool.
Venäläiset ei juo kovin paljon kahvia, paitsi kahviloissa ja rafloissa, tee on enemmänkin niiden juttu. Yleensä itse tehty kahvi on jotain Nescafen pikakahvia. Markettien perus-ei-pikakahveissa Paulig vetelee melkein monopolia, olisikohan sitten kahviloidenkin peruskahvi pääosin Pauligia. Espressopohjaiset on varmaan jostain Italiasta.
Once you let that foot in, the rest follows… Mc Donalds is all over the world! How they do that? Wouldnt surprise me if we found one on Mars…
Is there an russian alternative to this diabetes-animal-torture-food? Hamburgers are originally russian aren´t they?
Mara-
No, hamburgers were first made in Hamburg, Germany, hence the name “hamburger”.
Quality of MacDonalds (cleanliness, friendly personnel, taste of the food) is better than anywhere else in the world.
I wouldn’t eat in any of those poison ridden holes of restaurants.
Meh. I can see the facination with western pop culture but this should be modified to offer regional delecacies. For example, here in Canada, in season, they have lobster sandwiches on the menu, they are unloading the things 100 metres from the McDonald’s anyway.
But only on the East coast.
And in Quebec they have poutine on the menu.
Russia should have unique items for tourism at least, for cultural integrity at most.
disgusting…
What’s disgusting about it? The place looks clean, the bun and veg look fresh. You might not like the place, but it’s certainly not disgusting.
Why do they use an italian brand of milk? Don’t they have their own?
Recently in the news:
U.S. McNuggets contain a petroleum-based chemical called tertiary butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) and dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent used in Silly Putty.
Fast food will give you cancer, diabetes, organ failure in the long run.
Have any of you ever seen the picture of the chicken mcnugget, and its a chickens head?
nasty!
Much healthier fast food than in England,Ireland,America…everything is ready here and is extremely fat and not natural… I LOVE EASTERN EUROPE!!!
i love that Mak Dak… i have been there a few times completly trashed.. its nice to see that they dont have any rats
There are no fat people in Russia!
I have tears in my eyes, its the best fuqn thing englishrussia ever did post
I could go for a Big Mac or three right now, but it’s late.
that was my first job & haven’t eaten there since. funny how all the tools look exactly the same as what we used way back then. still that is not food, that is ‘manufactured food-like product’
Bulls*it, Thats definitely not what I got in my hamburger, that thing was nothing like they show here… What a ripoff… I’m never eating at McDonalds ever again!
That “Parmalat” milk is Italian, made in Parma, and absolutely the BEST milk. It’s quite pricy, but it’s worth it!
Parmalat has a strong presence in Russia. This exact milk was most likely produced at Parmalat factory in Belgorod, Russia.
Interesting pictures, looks a bit different than what we have in the US but not that much different. We don’t have the ‘royal’ or anything like it. I’d LOVE to try some of the village potatoes, we have something similar I imagine here, but not in mcdonalds, although they’re called home fries here.
Other than the meat, which always looks questionable, that burger looks way better than what we get in the US
“Almost every one of us visits it at least a few times a months”
Seriously? I’m revolted. Just what is your target audience that this becomes a true statement?
i havent seen any borscht there when i life in Moscow.. but in the morning they have the MakBlini… and this disgusting mak fresh.. yuk … any we also have Beer in Mx donalds in austria…. and of course red bull.
Whats the 2 extra drinks they get next to diet coke????
looks like Sweet and Unsweetened Lipton Tea
mcdonalds suck so big. the images here doesnt realy tell the truth. in real life you will see pretty images in the macd shop too.. but when you get your lump of fat on a dry bun covered in sleazy ketchup and some brown letuche you know you are in macd land..
long live the american embassy .. damn its a stinker
I worked in an American McDonald’s when I was younger and this one is very much like it. I wish we had potato wedges here in the US, those look tasty. It’s a shame we don’t have much in the way of Russian food here in the US, I would love to taste some of your foods too!
Don’t forget to spit on it…
HAHHAH!
In all sincerity, I found that to be quite fascinating.
Excellent post. Very interesting!
Interesting post.
How increadibly cheap everything is done.
I stopped eating in MC when I concluded their quality/price ratio went off.
Their food is tasteless, ugly and overpriced.
I can’t stand thinking about top MC executives and owners, earning millions by selling this garbage to people.
Only good thing I admit – Mcdonald’s coffee. (but just becasue in a city you can’t buy a cup of good coffee elsvere without paying even more).
If compared to ANY.. literally any real restaurant MC(and its clones) suck big-time.
I whether choose a “slow-food” establishment or eat at home.
hmm it’s not that bad, i thought there would be rats running around and like nasty food. it’s not healthy but better than i expected i guess
They would like you to think that is how it is done.. I however have worked there and thus will never eat there again. First i worked on the grill. they didnt even ask if i had a food handlers permit. Second when the timer goes off to throw away the food it is not thrown away. it is actually reset until the food is as dry as it could ever be and actually extremely gross. Now for the final thing. NEVER eat the grilled chicken. When you open the box to pull one of those puppies out to serve a horrible stench greets you making you want to throw up. So avoid micky ds and go somewhere they actually follow the guidelines
goddamn. SO MUCH MAYO
I thought this story was well done..great job!
What makes me laugh is people saying they will never eat at McDonald’s.Do you think they really care that you won’t buy maybe one or two burgers a year?They sell close to 20 billion of them yearly!Anyone writing that must truly feel they are important and a multi-billion dollar world wide entity will go into bankruptcy all because of you?!…Get over your selves!
One last comment I am not sure how old some people’s computers may be but, I would like to tell you about a great application built into most PCs..It is called spell check you might want to try it out so that you don’t look like an illiterate fool, while having a childish online tantrum…WTF is lettuche?…dolt!
In at least one European country with the metric system the bigger hamburger is called a quarterpounder.
I live in California, and this looks very much like the McD’s about 1 km from where I live. To the other poster from US, it’s a Quarter-Pounder in the US, and McRoyal in the rest of the world (since they are metric and have no daily reference for “pounds”). I’ve been eating McDonalds 1-3 times per day for 30 years, and at age 62-years am still very healthy, so it can’t be all that bad for you. Hmmm. Time for lunch. Off to McDonalds, with print-out of article. The people working there will probably enjoy seeing how similar things are on the other side of the world.
Actually, one small difference. CO2 is delivered to McDonalds here by big tank trucks. There is a place on the side of each building where a hose attaches to fill a large tank in the basement.
Paulig from Finland
Merrell Gardena Thong Womens Sandal – This sandal is still a flipflop style but because it has a stylish white design and a slight heel it is dressier than your normal day wear sandal.
That burger looks fairly unappetizing. Thanks for sharing though.
iS BEING GOOD POST
Interesting! Everything but the salad and cheese comes in frozen by the look of it… though you’d expect as much.
But still – “a few times a month”?! Either you need to learn to cook or there’s a serious lack of decent non-McD takeaways in your area. That kind of intake isn’t good for you (or your tastebuds…)
McDonald’s Russia has seasoned potato wedges? That’s like the opposite of KFC China, where they only have regular generic fries. Weird.
(BTW, the KFC’s in the U.S. only serve potato wedges as fries. And just regular fries at McD.)
“Almost every one of us visits it at least a few times a month”
Not in my world. I am 50 living in USA and I have only had there artificial food about 5 times in my life.
i love McDonalds~
“Almost every one of us visits it at least a few times a months, and some of us even more often”
I don’t believe that, or at least I hope it’s not true.
It is. You don’t get _fast_ food with traditional russian service even if you need it.
This is truly disgusting. I know what you’re thinking – “no it’s not, it’s just food.” Well you’re wrong. Do you know how many preservatives are in the “meat” on your sandwich??? Do an experiment for me- buy a meal from McDonalds and save it for a few months. Check back on it, you won’t be able to tell if you bought it 10 minutes ago or 10 weeks ago. GROSS!
This posting made me hungry. It always seem that McDonald’s abroad is better than in America.
If you think McDonalds looks bad, eat there with pleasure once realizing the fast food industry has some of the toughest self-made regulations in regards to the meat it serves due to the threat of severe lawsuits it would face if tainted beef made it to the consumer. Ever since the Jack in the Box fiasco in the early 90s where a handful of people got killed by E. Coli, what makes it to you in a bag sadly is probably more sanitary than what our abhorrent USDA regulation agency stamps OK as it makes its way down towards grocery store shelves. Reagan’s deregulatory ghost strikes again…
Bardzo interesujący punkt widzenia autora. Świetne teksty i oryginalna szata graficzna. Stronka warta uwagi.
wth potato wedges at mcdonalds? and here we don’t have buns with sesame seeds x.x
Hey, I work at McDonald’s in Spain and it’s funny because everything is the same, LOL
Like it. I was almost similar here in the Philippines.Zoobic Safari Experience I milk fed a tiger.
It actually looks tasty compared to Swedish McD
Disgusting white trash food for people who don’t know better. And that’s a lot of people.
Great post, thanks
hey i want o show u that the pic with the tomato …has its bun green :O
On that internet site was presented a lot of articles. All of published information are truthful.
I work on a Mcdonald’s too, but in México. and it’s exactly the same. i guess it wouldn’t be that hard to work in there. we even use the same boxes for the burgers, of course in spanish
To all Russians, I am sorry that McDonald’s invaded your country. We did not mean to send this cruel and unusual punishment to your country. But I wish to warn you that the ultimate conquest is on its way over, Wal-Mart. Run while you can and save yourselves!
A lot better than Malaysia
Village potatoes, just like many…MANY McDonald’s “worldwide” stuff was born here, in Guatemala. They are called McPatatas, we created the McCoffes, the happy meal was an idea of the former general manager Mrs. Cofiño because back on teh 70′s kids didnt like McDonald’s food, so she added a toy to the menu and that is how it was created.
Reminds me of my working at mcdonalds days ^^,. cooking was the most awesome thing to do , but nooooooooo i was a girl . i had to help all the people who think its a 5 * restraunt.
Its a Quarter-Pounder in Mexico too, although we use the metric system here.
i’d like to know why is the hamburger’s keeping time 10 minutes?
i sometimes take them home and eat them after its keeping time’s done…
am i gonna get sick or something? :S
PORQUE MIERDA SE VEN TAN FEAS ESTAS HUAAS