This is for the McDonald's in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain.
First, I always hated McDonald's. Sorry. Worst Fast. Food. Ever. Now let me change that, I hate McDonalds in the USA, I Love this McDonald's in Barcelona, Spain.
First, the most important part: The Food.
It tastes Good!. As in, you can eat the (thicker than usual) patty alone, and it is tasty and flavorful!. When was the last time you had a Big Mac and said "Hmm, good, I will have another one"?. Good enough to the point of actually adding it to possible quick places to eat in a foreign country?.
Fries have this healthy taste to them (Olive Oil cooked, perhaps?. Try their deluxe fries instead of regulars, too). Their own local burger/sandwich, McIberica, blows any US based McD's hamburger out of the water. Tostadas (muffin based), are a welcome, healthier, change to the Sausage and Egg McMuffin (but, again, the Spanish variant of this last one is still tastier compared to its US counterpart).
Drinks are the usual fare, except that they also offer Beer, local mineral water, and Gaspacho (a cold, normally better during Summer, soup. It's indeed considered a drink there). Everything else looks almost normal McD's fare (some items I didn't know what they were or tried).
Next, the experience: Located in an old 1800s building in Barcelona's iconic Las Ramblas (closer to the port than the city center), the interior just screams modern, efficient technology and food service with European flair. It just screams "better" in everything that a Fast Food place should be. Efficient (okay, utilitarian too) while accommodating. Ordering is automated, but not in a sanitized, mechanical way. You order on a Kiosk, with better options than ordering by cashier, able to review and track your order from a screen. After you and your friends pick up your order, the place offers up to four floors, with open windows looking out to Las Ramblas (and ironically, to a KFC mirrored with almost the same set-up, to your left). Plenty of space to spread out in groups. Open until 02:00am.
Last, the Caveats: McNuggets. No. Compared to chicken eaten elsewhere in the city, just... no. Pancakes, meh. Donuts, generic. Warning: It gets busy. And loud (it's a metropolitan city after all). EU/$ exchange is minor quibble (think 75 US cents to the EU "dollar").
And the worst Caveat of them all: It will ruin your US McDonald's experience when you get back home forever. Ordered a Big Mac near LAX, had to throw it away because it had a faint industrial fluid taste to it, fries were like some kind of semi-edible fiber compound (ugh).
But, as for Las Ramblas' McDonald's, for a last moment "heck, let's just stop here quickly" food ordering decision, turned out to be a very good (food/location wise) decision. Yes, pencil it down as a viable emergency food stop in Barcelona. read more