The 14 craziest McDonald’s around the world

NOT all McDonald’s are born equal. Some are weird and wacky while others are super fancy pants. Check out some the craziest Macca’s around the world.

ON A recent road trip through New Mexico, I decided to stop in Roswell. I’ve always been curious about the UFO and alien conspiracy theories that made this tiny desert town famous. I figured that the only attraction worth visiting would be its kitschy International UFO Museum.

Turns out I was wrong. Something else out of this world captured my attention. And no, it wasn’t an extraterrestrial sighting. It was the local McDonald’s. It’s the only one in the world designed like a UFO.

This got me wondering: What other bizarre McDonald’s locations exist around the world? In its quest for global fast-food domination, McDonald’s has opened more than 34,000 restaurants in 119 countries. And yes, some reside in unexpected places.

Here are among the most curious. They serve up a special side of ambience, transforming an otherwise run-of-the-mill fast-food stop into a unique memory. It’ll super-size your fast-food experience.

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO

It’s certainly on-theme.

Would you like some fries with that UFO spotting? The Roswell, New Mexico, location looks like a spaceship.

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, CUBA

Want some barbed wire with those fries?

We wonder if Big Macs are used in interrogations? The US naval base known for its controversial detention camp housing alleged terrorists is also the location of a — you guessed it — McDonald’s.

The restaurant is only accessible to the base’s personnel and is the sole McDonald’s in Cuba.

BRAY, IRELAND

It’s almost a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it.

McDonald’s has a knack for transforming historic buildings into fast-food must-stops. The Bray Town Hall, a Tudor-style building dating back to the 19th century, has been home to a first-floor McDonald’s since 1997.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

A 24-hour McDeco?

Should we call the architectural style McDeco? This Art Deco McDonald’s was once a happening hotel built in the late 1930s.

Now it’s the location of a popular Macca’s, complete with a retro dining room and a neon facade that glows at night.

FREEPORT, MAINE

Maccas, colonial style.

It’s easy to miss this McDonald’s in New England — because it’s in a house. Reportedly once owned by a sea captain, the colonial home dating back to the 1850s now bears subtle golden arches in its windows.

Feast in a cozy dining room setting, complete with fireplace, befitting this charming Maine town. Another bonus: This spot is known to serve lobster rolls.

KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY

A chocolate sundae tastes way more abstract here.

Once upon a time, it was a bank dispensing money and loans. Today, this former financial institution is home to cheeseburgers and fries.

Visitors can visit this monumental McDonald’s — they just can’t enter through the original bank doors. (The entrance is on the side of the building.)

YANGSHUO, CHINA

Zen moment.

The fast-food chain appears to have inserted itself into an exotic watercolour painting in Yangshuo, a village in southern China. Those famous golden arches are surrounded by towering mountains, winding rivers and a neighbouring pagoda.

Go ahead, have some fries with your Zen moment.

SEDONA, ARIZONA

Where the Golden Arches are green.

McDonald’s au natural? Sedona’s zoning ordinances forced the company to build a restaurant that blended into the natural red-rock setting. That included trading its trademark bright yellow arches for a more natural hue, green.

NEW HYDE, NEW YORK

A fancy pants Maccas.

You’d expect a butler, not Ronald McDonald, to greet guests at this 19th-century Georgian mansion. Originally slated to be razed when McDonald’s purchased the property in 1985, it wound up being saved after local activist groups secured landmark status for the building.

McDonald’s worked around the parameters to preserve the mansion, which boasts a grand staircase and glassed-in veranda. Feel like an aristocrat while feasting on your Chicken McNuggets.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Where capitalism meets communism.

One of America’s icons of capitalism resides below the Museum of Communism in Prague. See the irony in this? After touring a museum about post-World War II Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, lighten the mood with a Happy Meal.

DALLAS, TEXAS

I want to go to there.

Good luck not stopping at this McDonald’s in Dallas if you’ve got kids in the back seat. Designed to look like a Happy Meal box, this location definitely plays on child psychology.

The building is also adorned with giant sculptures of Ronald McDonald, French fries, Cokes and Big Macs. Well played, McDonald’s, well played.

NEGEV DESERT, ISRAEL

The arches in the middle of an oasis.

On the surface, building a McDonald’s in the middle of a desert might seem like a terrible business move. But this fast-food oasis attracts hungry travellers passing through the arid landscape on their way to Israel’s southern resort towns.

Enjoy 100 per cent kosher beef burgers amid views of sand, sand and more sand.

BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA

You won’t find any sushi here.

The fast-food train — we mean chain — plays into Barstow’s legacy as a transportation hub for road and rail. A popular stop on America’s Historic Route 66, the Barstow Station McDonald’s is housed in refurbished passenger railcars.

LINDVALLEN, SWEDEN

Is it a ski lodge?

The first ski-through McDonald’s in the world, the “McSki” in Sweden’s resort of Lindvallen has been serving burgers, fries and drinks to hungry skiers since 1996. It’s certainly easier to burn off those calories while challenging the slopes.

This was reposted from The New York Post but was originally published on Yahoo Travel.