McDonald's Once Considered Serving Alcohol In One Special Location
You've just been struck by a sudden craving for McDonald's. You want a big Quarter Pounder and a side of piping hot crispy fries. Before you go and put on your jacket to head out the door, don't you think that Quarter Pounder would go well with a tall frosty glass of beer? Wouldn't it be great to wash down those salty fries with a freshly cracked cold one? Unfortunately, as far as you're aware, McDonald's has never served any sort of alcoholic beverage in its restaurants — at least here in the United States.
As Thrillist tells us, there are a few McDonald's around the world that serve beer with a side of fries, mainly in European locations like Germany, France, and Greece. Yet despite being the Golden Arches' home country, American locations have naught a drop of beer or wine to be found. Some have speculated that the reason behind this has more to do with the bureaucratic process of a fast-food restaurant trying to get a liquor license in the first place. Why go through red tape and appeals when you already have a good business model even without having to sell alcohol?
But, once upon a time, one McDonald's location actually came very close to being the first American McDonald's to sell alcohol on the premises — thanks to a "special exception."
A California McDonald's almost sold beer in 1983
It's 1983 and the resort town of Mammoth Lakes, California is getting a new addition in the form of a McDonald's. While this McDonald's looked just like any other ordinary McDonald's you'd see at that time, there was going to be one major difference: This McDonald's would soon serve liquor.
According to UPI, the Mammoth Lakes McDonald's had requested a "special exception" in order to serve alcoholic spirits, citing the town's mostly adult population and the tourist-friendly atmosphere of the resort as reasons that it could serve alcohol. After all, in a town that was mostly adults and tourists, McDonald's could stand to bring in much more revenue by selling beer and cheeseburgers or wine and French fries. In fact, McDonald's vice president Richard Starmann even admitted that, at the time, the company was honestly considering granting the Mammoth Lakes location its request.
But, oddly enough, the franchisee of this particular McDonald's, Whitey Andres, suddenly withdrew his request to serve alcoholic beverages, citing a rather vague explanation of wanting to be "consistent with the interest of the community." There was some pushback against the company selling alcohol, as some residents feared that it would undercut McDonald's public image of being a clean and wholesome restaurant, while others feared the idea of teenage employees selling liquor to customers.
Unfortunately, the Mammoth Lakes McDonald's closed for good in 2016 after 31 years of business (via Sierra Wave).
Other fast-food restaurants have sold alcohol before
The Mammoth Lakes McDonald's short-lived attempt to sell alcohol may have been a sign that the Golden Arches were better off selling Big Macs and McNuggets than Guinness or Yuengling. However, other fast-food companies have found better luck in selling alcohol to the public.
Taco Bell, for example, has set up what it calls its "cantinas," restaurants that are equipped not just with an open kitchen and a custom menu, but a selection of beer, sangria, and alcoholic slushies. It's certainly fitting for the cantina-themed nature of the restaurants, and with 30 locations as of 2020 (via CNBC), it seems that Taco Bell has found some modest success in selling tacos and booze.
Even Burger King has seemingly found better luck in the alcohol business than its chief rival. According to New York Eater, as of 2017, a few select Burger King locations in New York City have been known to sell beer, and some United Kingdom locations even began selling alcohol as early as 2015.
Ultimately, it doesn't look like McDonald's will be serving up McShots in McDonald's-branded shot glasses any time soon. Of course, McDonald's still has plenty of famous menu items to keep bringing in the profit, so it can at least drink a fountain soda to that.