McROME – fast food, Italian style
Who would ever want to go to a Mcdonald’s when in Rome? Right. So, to spare you the experience, i have done it for all of us. Buon appetito!
Same shit different name. French fries are called patatine fritte, ‘small fried potatoes’, regardless of the size of the helping.
A glass of soda, to a European, is a glass of soda. An American would consider this dinky paper cup of Coke way too small. (And in Italy you pay for refills, by the way).
Plastic chairs? Plastic tables? Oh, no. not in Rome. Finely upholstered furniture is a must. And how about a little artwork on the walls?
Ok, the furniture is of very good quality. But this is Mcdonald’s. so the stools are bolted to the floor.
Why make a Mcdonald’s so fancy? To attract a crowd older than the penniless teenagers who tend to hang out in these places all day while purchasing nearly nothing.
Everyone loves a burger. Occasionally, in Rome sometimes you still spot someone eating their Big Mac with knife and fork, but they are becoming increasingly rare.
University students appreciate the possibility to hold round tables and to grab a cheap bite to eat. Several sandwiches sell for one euro.
In civilized countries, restaurants are not allowed to sell toys. In Italy they still are (even though they are disguised as gifts), thus attracting little children to their hideous meals.
The occasional professional will slip in through the door and sit quietly at a corner to enjoy the a/c and make use of the provided wifi.
Another lure: free daily papers in fancy arsty stands on the walls for public use.
No way chicken nuggets and strawberry milkshakes will attract a huge crowd of fine-palated Italians. A fine display of great pastries, on the other hand…
No proprer Italian meal can end without a caffe’. This Mcdonald’s has a real coffee bar, and an espresso costs 80 cents of an euro. Normally served in ceramic cups, some people prefer theirs ‘al vetro’, in a small glass.
Imagine this. You have to open a restaurant in Rome that sells mostly food that people in Italy are not particularly attracted to for cultural reasons. And not in the city center, where you can at least count on the steady stream of torusits looking for something familiar to stuff down their gobs. What do you do?
As the above photo story shows, they have chosen to work on the environment. Comfy seats, spotless cleansiness, wifi, free papers, a decent coffee.
I normally steer clear of Mcdonaldses. Last time i was in one, they had plastic furniture and disgruntled zitty staff. So when i saw this one in true Italian style, i felt i had to share it with the rest of the world.
Pictures shot from the hip in the Mcdonald’s on Rome’s Viale dei Prati Fiscali.
Alessandro Ciapanna
19 Responses to “McROME – fast food, Italian style”
As McDonald’s go, and like you I shun them, it doesn’t look all that bad. I will put it down to Italian style.
my thoughts, exactly.
thanks, calvin 🙂
The espresso is a nice touch! 🙂
Great images.
it does give a kick, in the best sense of the word
thank you 🙂
This is the best looking McDonald’s I’ve ever seen. In the US, they are designed to be uncomfortable so people will not stay too long, taking up valuable table space.
i was surprised to see this, as well.
not guaranteed it will last, though – i’ve seen many a fine mcdonald’s (if there be such a thing) pack it up and close down. thanks 🙂
I love this series and the french fry photo is great!
thank you 🙂
Yuck, but nice shots, as usual. Shooting from the hip – that would explain how you got these shots without intruding? I’m still not good at that!
i normally don’t worry about intruding, but when shooting on private property, keeping a low profile can help avoid headaches
thanks, ann 😉
i seriously wanted to eat at Mcdonalds when I was in Rome, there was this one near the pantheon… but i eat it all the time in Dubai so i opted not to. Love that your photos are just about everyday life, which makes it good for conversation. 🙂
thank you very much.
the mcdonald’s in front of the pantheon has gone out of business. i am quite proud to say that italy may be the only place where mcdonald’s restaurants actually fold… 😉
Great Post…love the photos. It is interesting to see how McDonalds adapts. In Lebanon and India I noticed that there were some items on the menu that had been adapted to local taste. I suppose it’s natural to adapt not only for taste, but for style as well, in Italy!
thank you 🙂
here they adapt the menu by adding a lot of fresh salads with mediterranean ingredients such as olives and mozzarella. anyhow, even by italian standards, this particular mcdonald’s really is very spiffy.
In one of McDonald counter in my city, they also provide coffee, which I like to stop by, because their coffee is good haha :)) (but only to stop by for the coffee, since it’s near my uni, and the price is affordable :p)
thank you, muthe. just out of curiosity, which city are you writing from?
🙂
Bandung, West Java, Indonesia 😀
Oh, also, they adapt the menu too here, they provide rice (because we’re Indonesian, cannot be separated from rice). I think it’s only in Indonesia the fast food restaurant such as KFC, McDonald serve rice. When I went to Malaysia, there’s no rice at all (which is not a problem to me, but a real big problem for my brother :p)
they have to. adapt or go home.
about all of us being different: it’s the way it should be, just as every finger on a hand is different, unique, essential.
thank you 🙂