I visited it back in 2014, it was grandios. But I would be more happy and excited if they brought back the orginal good from the 80s and early 90s instead of that declining crap they call food now.
You have one of a kind of taste bud to like them Powder nuggets 🤷🏻♂️ . Once upon of time, the was crispy on the outside tender on the inside real chicken breast.
I visited Chicago in 2002 (I was born there in '69 and moved to L.A. with my family in '79, but visited relatives somewhat sporadically over the years), and my cousins took me and my wife there. So I got to see the pre-2005 rebuild, and had no idea what happened to it since. I visited with my daughter and son in 2021, and thought of taking them to see it, but it wouldn't have been there--we didn't have time anyway, but sad to know it's gone.
I grew up in Gary, IN in the 80’s & 90’s. I loved the Rock N Roll McDonald’s. It was a part of Chicago childhood. I had no idea until now it was gone. The new megastore is garbage. Hurts to find out but I am so glad you make these videos.
You didn't mention the craziest thing about Rock & Roll McDonald's--they had pizza! I grew up in Arlington Heights and definitely went on at least one school trip to the Rock & Roll McDonald's, and I'll never forget how cool it was. Thanks for making this video!
I enjoyed seeing the Rock & Roll McDonald's also on my frequent trips into the city. I always went through the drive thru however and never parked to see the inside of the building. I lived at the Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights for seven years....1991 - 1997.
Yeah I stopped going inside once the automated order kiosks showed up and there were no longer people to easily interact with. Then once the order from the phone app was pushed more so than the drive thru window I was done. So sick of restaurants pushing the order by phone apps and downplaying more traditional order options. Not likely the trend will change but I feel like something important is being lost by automating the entre food delivery process in some restaurants.
I moved the original owners son out of her house and into an apartment. She lived in a huge mansion. She took me down into her basement and showed me all of the old McDonalds memorabilia that she stored away. It was awesome to see so much stuff that she saved. It was like walking around In a McDonald's museum. I have been to the R&R McDonald's a few times and it is sad to see what has happened to the place.
It was on 76th street a bit north of Southridge mall. Went there many times back in the late 90’s. They still had an MCD in that location last time I was there, but they got rid of all the special memorabilia etc years ago.
Last thanksgiving, my high school’s band performed in Chicago’s thanksgiving day parade. Having no where else to go for lunch, we ended up at the remodeled McDonald’s. We had NO clue of the rich and somewhat tragic history of the location! Super cool to learn about!
As a fast food and company historian, this was just incredible. I’d always wanted to visit this particular McDonald’s but, never made it to Chicago. Another fascinating video.
Ah yes always fun to see a bum sleeping in a booth while you eat, or get stank-eyed through the glass by dirty DoorDash bicyclists hanging out just outside
Dude, the original R&R McD's was awesome. Grew up 2 hours west, any trip into the city usually included a stop there, if only for a shake as we walked around. Obviously this was back in the late 80's/early 90's, I wouldn't walk around that town anymore.
I went to Rock n Roll McDonalds so many times as a kid I was frickin heartbroken when they got rid of it. There were so many different areas to eat in and the music would fit the era you’re sitting in. There was Superman phone booth in there and a dark area like you were sitting in a drive in. Miss that place!
I remember taking a field trip downtown and we got to stop at rock and roll McDonald’s, it felt like a different place. Was amazing. I work down the street from it now and man what a sad sight.
Thank you. I was wondering why Rock and Roll McDonalds was gone and replaced by that God-awful iPhone of a building. This is what we get when corporations think ESG isn't just a hedge fund gimmick and what customers want.
Westley Willis sang of it's fame. But his song was a commentary on obesity and junk food addiction. Rock on Chicago Rock over London. Toyota - let's go places.
It was right next to the hard rock cafe originally. She was a beautiful store. I worked for a sister store that was set to become a Rock and Roll store. I cried when I heard she was gone. She was the corporate flagship and still is.
Great video, a very fascinating study of corporate hubris & greed. They were on top of the world with that Rock n Roll restaurant but couldn’t keep it going & had to ruin a good thing. Sounds about right.
I grew up in Chicago and we visited this McDonald's a lot. Later in life I worked at McDonald's and soon had a few shifts at the classic red and white rock and roll McDonald's and I never had a chance to breathe. It was non stop but I loved that place so much. My wife and I had our first date there stamping out our I love yous on little metal coins which we still carry to this day.
We didn't have a fancy McDonald's but we had Burger King Castle in Meriden Connecticut. Building was shaped like a castle a had a large play room, huge arcade similar to Chuckie Cheese, a huge party room with singing creepy animatronics and more. Was awesome place as a child to frequent.
"The building was criticized for being stuck to the company's roots and profiting off nostalgia" those seem like things that would be good for the building?!
I worked at the original Rock-N-Roll McDonalds as a first asst. mgr. back in the 90s. It was one of the most exciting jobs ever! I met famous ppl like Mr.T, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Horace Grant, BJ Armstrong, Macaulay Culkin, and ABCs Dick Johnson. We sold souvenirs, made pizza, delivered orders. It was always busy. I wish it hadn't been torn down. I was a landmark. I didn't meet Wesley while working there. However, I did meet him while I was working at the Gold Coast "Kinko's". He used to come there to make copies of some of his lyrics. R. I. P.
In 2009 I visited Chicago with friends and seeing this McDonald's in person was a site to behold. We were walking around and all of a sudden this huge nostalgic McDonald's appeared. I couldn't believe my eyes. I took a number of photos with my digital camera.
While I've never been to that exact McDonald's, as a fan of historic architecture, I can understand the dismay of some people that these buildings are not being preserved. There are similar situations going on all over the country. In my hometown of Wichita, KS, there is currently a battle going on to get rid of one of the major buildings in our skyline....simply because it doesn't meet the current style and esthetic. I was very dismayed at the new public library downtown. It is simply a glass box, nothing nostalgic or interesting (unlike the previous location that was modeled after Frank Lloyd Wright style of architecture.).
Thank you for this video. I remember going through the drive thru at the Rock & Roll McDonalds when I lived there in the 90s. Very sad to see what happened to it and it's a huge loss for the upcoming generations.
I remember eating breakfast at this McDonald's on my first solo trip to Chicago. I sat on the second level and looked out over the city. It felt very special.
As a Chicago metro area resident, don't live in the city any more. I visited the R&R McDonalds a few times. It was pretty cool, but mostly the same greasy processed food. As a tourist trap and a flagship store it was a sucess. There are so many great, local fast food restaurants in that area, I mainly went when out of town friends wanted to go. The new place is so plain and sterile, now there is even less reason to go there.
I remember the Rock & Roll McDonalds pre-2005 version was the one I remember going to as a teen. Things to do in the 1990s as high schoolers, go to the Rock & Roll McDonalds.
I'm originally from Madison, WI just north of Chicago, yes we knew about it. Back then McDonalds at least in our area from Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago the managers could all establish a theme. Some were racing, aviation, firefighting, etc. Back then they were all fun to go too. I'm sorry they are all gone.
I worked near there on a couple of occasions. The smell was just horrible. As the place got bigger and more garrish, so did the customers. Fascinating on so many levels. Thanks. Edit: I lived with Wes for several years. Everyday was a WW live show. So many stories/memories.
Can you do a video on the former McDonald's HQ in Oak Brook? Pre 9/11, you could eat on the first floor of one of the office buildings and order off a Menu that included items available throughout the world at McDonald's...I went there in the mid 90s and believe Beer & Wine was also available. Keep up the great videos... especially love the Chicago stuff.
There used to be one in the Milwaukee area too.. They featured classic car shows every Wednesday. Just like this place, 10 years ago, it was destroyed and replaced with a typical "McCafe" styled McDonalds, a corporate decision.. to turn everything snobby.. because the new CEOs look down their noses at Great Americana stuff..
I live in that neighborhood and went to the Rock and Roll McDonald's frequently, it was a clean, pleasant place - preferred it to the Portillo's across the street. The reason it was changed is that it was almost always mostly empty - there were no lines, most of the seating areas upstairs were closed off most shifts for lack of customers. If there was a time that this was the busiest McDonald's in the nation, it was long, long past. Times change and the "Rock and Roll" theme is now passe' - neighborhoods change, too. This block gets much less foot traffic than it used to, it's now surrounded on all four sides by busy streets. The new building, while not exciting, is also a clean, pleasant place. They have greatly increased their drive through capacity which is what most people are interested in these days. People here whining about the demise of the Rock and Roll McDonald's had probably not visited it once in the last dozen years (if ever) and definitely have no insight into the declining revenue of this location. McDonald's succeeds by reinventing itself, not by capitulating to whiners who live in the past and contribute no revenue to the store.
So it was the busiest, largest and the highest money making McDonalds and they got rid of it to replace it with pretty much a cookie cutter? Wonder who the genius was behind that move.
the problem with being a Chicago resident and going there was that it was the most expensive location and still is out of all locations in the city. I understand the prices for tourists who visit Chicago and the prices there merely seemed identical to those of the city's airport prices. Im 37 but i remember visiting at least 7 times in my childhood but as i got older and visited even the newly rebuilt structure, the prices were still out ridiculous.
Anyone recall the Super Chevy cover of 1989 that featured Chicago's fastest street cars in the drive-thru of the original Rock-n-Roll McDonald's? Iconic times that will never be experienced again. Marty Bilecki's Chevelle was the lead car in the line. Marty has since passed and the car has drifted into obscurity. Thanks for featuring this location.
While attending McDonald's Hamburger U in 1988, we toured Rock and Roll McDonald's. It was a beautiful building. I'm sorry to hear that it's gone. Sad. Thanks for the video.
when i first moved to Chicago in 2016 one of my favorite things was to sit in a torn up booth on the second floor and watch the cold winter city from the big windows as i ate a double cheeseburger meal
been a WW fan forever but always thought rock n roll mcdonalds was like the big rock candy mountain and was not aware it was indeed here with us mortals! thx! rip WW and RnR McDs
Not being from the US, I didn’t know this was a thing. I grew up near a McDonalds here in the Netherlands that is still known for being a rock and roll McDonald’s… a town called Best has a McDonald’s still in a decor that really looks a lot like the original incarnation… (and even being modernized several times over the past…)
Great Content, I was there 10-15 years ago. There was no dollar menu, back when the dollar menu was a thing. I remember it being 3 times more $ than the McDonald's by my house.
Another great video.They had some locations for these elsewhere, not nearly as big. We had one where I lived in Maryland, remember going there quite a few times.
We had a rock n roll McDonald's here in Cuyahoga Falls Ohio. Built in the early 90s and remodeled 2015. Lost all of the Rock n Roll motif, classic car outside, etc.
They tear it down and rebuild it again in 2005, only to tear it down and rebuild it again 12 years later. Must be great having so much money to piss away like that. Meanwhile Elvis Presley and The Beatles (and other rock & roll acts) continue to be beloved and popular money-makers well into the 21st century; this past year there was a major documentary mini-series about The Beatles on Disney, and a feature length biopic of Elvis. The only thing missing from this video is: how's business at the new Mickey D's? Does it do less business? I'd love to hear that nobody goes in it, lol.
I worked there for a year in 1992. I don't recall a second story, but I do recall the outrageous conduct of guests in the drive-thru! Thank God we always had an off duty cop on hand!
I used to go to the Rock & Roll McDonald's when I was in Junior High. I was in band and we would go on field trips to The Symphony Center. After we would see a performance at the Symphony Center, we would go to the McDonald's for lunch.
MY wife and I went there on a date just before we were married and then anytime we were in the City we took our 3 kids there there. BTW there was a Rock N Roll McDonalds in Gurnee, Illinois on the outside loop drive of Gurnee Mills Mall. Nowhere near as big but some really cool stuff. It was kinda a hidden treasure, no hype you just found it and were like wow, didn't know this was here. Some more good info, thanks you always bring us back to when we were young. Thinks that had been forgotten come through and the memories rush in, keep it up!
Went with some friends to the first generation R&R McDonald's though it wasn't a specific trip more just driving around as a couple of guys in their 20s would do and stopped for some dinner. The "first" McDonald's was actually torn down not for the corporate change but mainly due to the the fact the Desplaines river is just to the east of the location and multiple flood events over the previous years had reached a point where McDonald's permanently closed the gates to the museum due to health concerns ( mold and structural issues) and finally demolished it. On a side note my grandfather was the general contractor on that first McDonald's and is represented in his trademark suit and hat on the job site in the movie The Founder but some Hollywood liberties were taken as grandpa never owned a pick up.
I wanted to go to the Rock and Roll McDonald's when i was young. I can't tell you how disappointed i was when it got taken down and got mad at my parents who never took me because they didn't want to pay for the parking
I quit the McDonald's fantasy when they tore down the corporate store in Oak Brook Shopping Center. They said the store cost too much to keep open, yet it was busy most of the time. Since then, the quality of the food and service has reached third world country status. RIP McDonalds.
In the late 50s we lived in Chicago. My dad worked for Reynolds Aluminum during the day, and in the evening he worked part time at the very first McDonald's in the Chicago area. I loved those real golden arches. They weren't just painted on a sign. I don't care about the rock & roll theme. I like the nostalgia of the first one.
The Mc Donalds corporation caved to the pressure of the owners of the buildings around the landmark place. They only tore it down because of that reason. The Building was not dangerous, it was no bigger than the surrounding buildings. It was nothing more that caving to the pressure of the owners of buildings around the place. I did get to visit the Mc Donalds once and loved it.
Back in 1991 I was doing some Chicago skyline photography work, I talked with the manager of the Rock n' Roll McDonald's at that time and they were looking at plans to put up a new McDonald's sign just like the one in Las Vegas with flashing lights to compete with the Hard Rock Café electric light sign across Clark street, they never went through with it.
Wow! Great video of a Chicago landmark I visited as kid. Then you bring Wesley Willis into it. I saw him live at Off The Alley in Homewood.He’s a legend that made his mark on Chicago history.
The McDonalds in my area used to have similar decor. A larger dinosaur dressed as Elvis was central in the seating area. It was beautiful and fun… they’ve since remodeled and it’s now just a hideous normal McDonald’s… haven’t eaten McDonald’s since the remodel
Around the corner was the Excalibur nightclub, big in the 80's and 90's. I heard Acid house music for the first time at the Dome Room, which was part of Excalibur. I remember going to that McDonald's a few times before the remodel. Ed Debevic's was in the same area.
Store 32, Des Plaines is Actually still there. It was renovated over the years. The museum building was actually a replica that kept gliding and suffered from low attendance over the years. The Volo museum tried to buy it and move it up to the museum, but sadly it didn't happen.
Wesley Willis, "Rock and Roll MacDonald's"song when you hear it can't help but sing the hook 😊, use to see him at a bar on Lincoln avenue, my friends and I would hang out at, forgot the name
These was such a great place to visit because it was an icon, it was unique. It was a destination. All rhe things mentioned in the vudeo abd the song. The corporate folks in Oak Brook had peas for brains. So set on rebranding it self they lost their souls along the way. History, heritage and nostalgia were abandoned. The Des Plaines McDonald's, store # 1 was also iconic . In the early 2000s I was often called upon to entertain colleagues who came in to Chicago from our worlwide offices. The top requests were the Sears Tower and Rock n Roll McDonald's.
As a kid, I went there a few times. It is a great location. A few years before it closed, after a wedding, I went there and grabbed some fries. That was the last time I went there. By that time, it was more of a hangout spot for the homeless than a tourist destination. I get why they shut it down.
I grew up in Kankakee, IL. Every time I was meeting with friends in the city, we'd always meet at the R&R McDonald's. Every 90s kid knew exactly where it was at.
