Chain to spend $168 million to upgrade state restaurants
Your local McDonald’s will soon take on a new look as the franchisees of the world’s biggest fast-food chain invest $6 billion over the next couple of years to modernize most of America’s Golden Arches, including $168 million of upgrades in Tennessee and $170 million of improvements in Georgia.
The restaurant changes, which already are underway at a number of McDonald’s in Tennessee, include touchscreen kiosks, updated dining rooms, table service, designated parking spots for mobile orders, an expanded McCafe counter, and new digital menu boards.
McDonald’s says the kiosks “empower guests to browse the menu, find options and tailor their meal just the way they want.” Dining rooms will feature “globally and locally inspired decor.” The exteriors also are being spruced up while remodeled counters allow for new table service that offers guests the opportunity to relax while their food is being made.
McDonald’s plans to make the improvements at all 240 of its restaurants in Tennessee and its 340 restaurants in Georgia during the rest of 2018 and in 2019.
Among the 10 McDonald’s restaurants in the Chattanooga market, the first to undergo the upgrade is the McDonald’s at the Northtowne Center in Hixson at 5440 Highway 153.
During the renovation, McDonald’s has operated only its drive-through window at the Hixson eatery. The remodeling is expected to be completed next week.
McDonald’s spokeswoman Judy Le said installing kiosks “doesn’t mean taking away jobs” for McDonald’s associates.
“McDonald’s will always have an important human element within the restaurants since that is what brings the service experience to life,” she said. “We anticipate that restaurants will train and hire new restaurant hospitality employees over the next few years.”
The changes being made at McDonald’s aren’t limited to the front of the house. They’re happening in the kitchen as well.
In the spring, McDonald’s started serving fresh beef on their Quarter Pounders, which are cooked right when ordered. The chain is now also using fresh-cracked eggs on McMuffins, chicken without antibiotics, important to human medicine, sustainable fish in Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and buns with no high-fructose corn syrup.
The moves come as the company celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac. As with many of its popular and long-lasting menu items, the idea for the Big Mac came from a franchisee.
In 1967, Michael James “Jim” Delligatti lobbied the company to let him test the burger at his Pittsburgh restaurants. Later, he acknowledged the Big Mac’s similarity to a popular sandwich sold by the Big Boy chain.
“This wasn’t like discovering the light bulb. The bulb was already there. All I did was screw it in the socket,” Delligatti said, according to “Behind the Arches.”
The Big Mac was added to the national menu in 1968. Other ideas from franchisees that hit the big time include the Filet-O-Fish, Egg McMuffin, Apple Pie (once deep-fried but now baked), and the Shamrock Shake.
“The company has benefited from the ingenuity of its small business men,” wrote Ray Kroc, who transformed McDonald’s into a global franchise, in his book, “Grinding It Out.”
“McDonald’s will always have an important human element within the restaurants since that is what brings the service experience to life.”
– JUDY LE, MCDONALD’S SPOKESWOMAN