(A collection of 8 European McDonald's reviews - spread across several years - #6)
In the Porto area, several shopping centers are fairly impressive. The biggest ones on rail are Norte Shopping near Sete Bicas and Alameda near the football stadium. Norte Shopping is almost overwhelming, but still worth visiting, and Alameda has a nicely done oval fountain that sends its jets spraying upward through the height of the atrium. Usually, I'm not staying near either of these shopping centers, so I won't be eating there.
However, I have stayed near Arrabida Shopping in Vila Nova de Gaia (Porto) and this is a shopping center that I really like, probably because I've known it the longest and know the buses that cross the scenic Arrabida Bridge and careen down the avenues toward the Metro at Casa da Musica.
The top floor has a food court and features a McDonald's. There are other American chains that I don't much care for as well as European chains for things like Italian food. One experience told me to pass on those. While they're not bad, they're not that interesting, either, and miss the mark on authentic eats from other lands.
Arrabida Shopping is unique and, in one way, sort of quirky. On the first floor is a Continente on steroids as well as the entrance to the 24-hour care unit of an attached hospital. The shopping center's interior is on the "skinny" side so the atria appear to be noticeably vertical.
So, if staying near Arrabida Shopping, I will get my Big Mac fix here and probably no more than once. The store is basically a counter and that's because the seating area in the food court is shared by all the merchants. The seating area has an excellent vibe with all the sloped curved beams and inset clerestory windows up above.
The food is the same you get in North America and Europe, albeit more nicely priced than the same items in Italy. The service is a blend of perfunctory and courteous.
You will get a very nice place to eat. If you push beyond the interior food court seating area, there is an exterior terrace looking eastward from the shopping center over the Rio Douro toward the center of this historically rich city. This McDonald's is already at 4 stars, but the physical plant and atmosphere up on the top floor of Arrabida Shopping takes this one to a high 4 stars. read more