Visiting One of the Last Remaining Retro McDonald's Before it Closes For Good 

The new McDonald's building's look like boring corporate cubes

You describing how fast food restaurants used to be these fun. Happy unique places into boring bland boxes is literally the summer of our entire childhood to adulthoods as Millennials

The 80's music in the background really adds to it!

Back in the 1970s and 1980s... McDonald's food just tasted BETTER. They had the original cherry and apple pies, the carbonated fountain drinks in the waxed paper cups were crisper, they had 3 ice cream sundae flavors (chocolate, strawberry, and caramel), they had chocolate DIPPED ice cream cones, the French fries were just about perfection... and everything was still RESONABLY priced for its time.

As a teenager in the 80's, my friends and I would always hang out at the local McDonald's eating cheap burgers, fries, and milkshakes while doing homework and talking about girls, sports, music, and movies....fantastic memories. You're right, it was a magical place back then. Alas! 😢

I remember when McDonald's had a smoking section with tiny tin ashtrays.

Going into a old mcdonald recording with a old digital camera is very old school nostalgic 😂😂😂

When I was a kid. I used to always check payphone for change.

Thanks for documenting all this. These videos will be even more special 20 years from now.

I was born in 1991 and I'm glad as a little kid I got to enjoy the version of McDonalds I miss the retro look , thanks man for taking me back in time. 👍👍👍

What genius thought of making everything a grey box? I hate the new buildings, I hate the prices, I'm sad my kids don't know what I once felt, I'm sadder that they don't even know what they are missing...

Closing these beautiful retro McDonald’s down to build them new crappy gray boxes should be criminal. Absolute shame.

That's the style McDonald's I remember in the 70's up through the 90's. I worked at a McDonald's in 1993.

Wow, it's definitely sad to see it close down. Such a nostalgic design. Add the payphone, and it's 1993 again! 😂

That’s such a classic building and a McDonald’s with character. It was fun and architecture and use of space is unfortunately, very under appreciated. The payphone really brings me back.

Hi Ray. Man this took me back to very early 80's. You could tell by the floor. I miss the things that used to be. McDonald's was a treat back in the day. That garbage can with ashtray was a great. Once people wanted to get "healthier" by not smoking or eating foods that had little to no grease in it was a wrap. Wish I could go back to that simpler way of life. This was a nostalgic walk back into time video for me. Thank you Ray for that and for sharing

Wow, a payphone and a trash can equipped with the ashtray option? It's like I'm looking at the relics of an ancient civilization!

I actually love the green on the roof instead of the red

McDonald's was just such an integral part of my childhood growing up in the 70's and 80's. We went all the time. I had one of my birthday parties there. Thanks for the nostalgia. I don't eat that stuff anymore so haven't set foot in one of their restaurants in years.

My kids, ages 26 and 30, loved going there as kids , most of them had play lands with ball pits . They loved the happy meals too , which weren’t around when I was a kid in the late 60s. Nowadays, my husband and I prefer Wendy’s for fast food burgers and salads. McDonald’s has a very limited menu now .

I haven't ate Mcdonald's in years but this definitely gives me nostalgic vibes

The local taco bell here kept their 90s style until 2017 and then they changed it and made it bland. I was so sad. It used to be so nostalgic and fun to go there. Now it's ugly. The thing is they kept all their old furniture and seemingly just painted over the fun colors lol. I guess I should be grateful I had it so long until they remodeled, but it's still a bummer.

I grew up near the first McDonalds in Canada on No.3 Rd, in Richmond BC. We are talking rows of tables with fixed swivel chairs, or booths. Out front was the kid's playground (with hamburgler and all the team) and the giant illuminated M on the street front. Kid's parties were held in the front part of the restaurant, blocked off from the rest of the store and was always busy. They got their own space. Yes, the terracotta colored roof tiles and the aforementioned all added to the taste and vibe to eating there. That location also had these circular stepping stones you could cut through from the street to the parking lot, much like an enchanted pathway to the burgers, fries and strawberry shakes awaiting you. All gone and remodeled in 2017. Now, it's just a boring cube, as you mentioned. What don't they quite understand today?

I so miss McDonald’s.

The playplaces were a refuge for my kiddos on long car trips

Cool nostalgia trip. The nostalgia for 80’s and 90’s is off the charts. I guess us older millenials and Gen Xrs are getting old. It really was a care freer time. Something young people and kids these days are missing.

Another reason why McD's is going to the more generic grey box style building is for resale value. A generic looking grey box is easier to turn into something else if the restaurant fails. A building that looks like a McDonalds will always be a McDonalds, even if it becomes something else.

Im 40 so im old enough to have experienced McDonald's with the old metal play places and just the magic like you said. I even had a birthday party there which alot of kids did back then. The memes are right and McDonald's from back then is an excited child McDonalds now is a depressed adult. Thanks for sharing the video. It was nice to see they arent all the grey boxes.

They had free wifi , and a TV in the new one by me. They got rid of it because people would order a coffee, and then make them selves comfortable like it was their own living room, and would stay all day. 😅

That’s what is known as a “double mansard sloping roof” Although I remember them (although from Canada-Greater Toronto Area) having a brown/beige roof originally, sometime in the late 90s they turned red mostly. The one on Queen Street/Torbram Road in Brampton is a strange mix of the old roof and the dull new style, it’s hard to describe. I miss the days when fast food stores were instantly identifiable by architectural features.

Before I ran across the video I honestly didn't realize that this style of McDonald's restaurant was going away. I did check and it appears to me that at least the McDonald's in my hometown of Crossett, AR is still the old-school style. I knew if anywhere could be counted on to be behind the times, it would be Crossett lol. We got our McDonald's in 1984 when I was 10 years old, and we thought it was pure heaven.

Thanks for taking me back. I love your vids

I live next to the first Ray Kroc McDonald's that they tore down when I was in high school, but what's more is that it was right next to a beautifully gross 70s mansard roof McD's with a small replica of the first restaurant in a glass case. As of two years ago, that's a grey box now too.

At 2:57, though Ronald has been mostly phased out of advertising since the mid-2010s, he actually has continued to appear each year in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade riding in the clown shoe car under a balloon of his likeness.

I love this!! Such a blast from the past! It’s truly unfortunate this one is closing. I really wish they’d keep at least a few for historic reasons.

great stuff man, really enjoyed this little time capsule!

The one at Paramus Rt 17 still had an old red roof. It closed temporarily just this year. The other drive thru location in Rt 4 became a Krispy Kreme.

Your description of McDonalds getting rebranded is spot on. Who wants to order a salad or healthy food from there…LOL😂…Whats next a “healthy burger”…😂

Great video, I really liked all the photos at the end. That painting of the Ronald McDonald clown shoes was pretty creepy! The mirror in the featured location was also really cool, glad you documented it!

Thanks Ray, i just had my 54th birthday and for a few min you made me feel 10 again

Remember when McDonalds had play grounds ? Then the tv lawyers got involved and the lawsuits started ,now they give your kid a toy and tell them to go watch TV

Very familiar with this location. Really sad to hear about it's unfortunate fate. From here on out it's just going to be these corporate misery drab chic type of deal places. No imagination, no sign of life, zilch. I weep for myself as well as my fellow Millennials 😢At least we have a lot of good memories associated with how these places used to be so I'm grateful for that. I can't say that's going to be something the generations after us will say. Anywhoser, thanks for taking us along and for all of the cool photos! Have you ever been to the one in Parsippany on 46?

I think this place is awesome and I love the Saint Patrick's vibe🥳

This was great. Thanks.

Cool video. I love the green roof.

I don’t know why I haven’t discovered your channel yet ! Keep it up!

I miss these McDonald's. If I were to open a franchise today I would totally bring back the iconic roofs. Also, they had a room for birthday parties & I thought that was a big deal. I loved going to a birthday party at McDonald's ❤

Their food was amazing back in the 1980’s. It’s terrible now. 😢 Also, who could forget the McDonalds play place?

I LOVED the McDonald's from the 1970s and 1980s. I saw a gal that was in front of me and she dropped her car keys. I picked them up and handed them to her. We said a few words. I wound up taking her to the Jr Sr Prom when she was a junior and I was a senior that year. 😊❤

There's an old school McDonalds still standing on 17 north of the Paramus Park mall! The new River St Hackensack McDonalds doesn't have a play/ball room and Hackensack Burger King took down it's play/ball room. I used to love to play in those ball room as a kid in the 1990's/early 2000's!

I grew up with a few classic mcds like these! Each was different inside in its own way but each was fun and most had a play place!

It just isn't the same anymore. I remember when they had a smoking section with the tin ashtrays. The hash brown was big and it wasn't $3. You could SuperSize a Big Mac meal and get change back now its $20. McDonald's has forgotten where it came from.

So many Summers spent in an Old Micky D's with my Grandma and her Sisters, watching them fill up ashtray after ashtray! Good Times.

My grandfather used to take us to a McDonald’s when I was a kid that actually had an old-time looking car booths that was made from very hard solid plastic that you sit inside of it was fantastic. It was gone long time ago. That mirror before they close they auctioned off someone would want that for their house.

Happy memories… getting tears in my eyes.

My local burger kind looks exactly like your abandoned burger king. It's trying to hang on as best as it can. It does business, but the mall owner has been fighting residents and the city to demolish the entire mall to build condos. The burger king is not in the mall (is a standalone) but would be demolished for condos when the landowner gets the approval for his condos.

There's multiple fully functional retro McDonald's in Puerto Rico even with the outside playground. They look stuck in time in a cool way.

I liked the 1960’s style McDonald’s with the two arches that appeared to hold up the roof and had large windows that allowed customers to see the kitchen and all the workers. The last new McDonald’s I went to once reminded me of a prison visitor center where family and friends came to visit their incarcerated family members. There was no front counter where you place your order and no beverage bar. You walk in front door to multiple self-service order kiosks. There is a small pick-up window into the kitchen area where you pick up your order. The dining room looked like a prison day room.

I work in the commercial building industry and have worked on a few new McDonald's and a few renovations of the old mansard roof style McDonald's. Pretty much all modern restaurants I have seen have a similar design now: a box with a flat roof. When we remodel a McDonald's we cut off most of the mansard roof and extend the walls up to make it look like a modern box building. It is interesting to see that most new restaurants, regardless of brand, all have very similar structures.

I have 3 of those trash cans with the built in ashtray. Exact same style and look. I didn’t buy them, they were at our house in the garage when we moved in. Not sure what the previous owners had them for, didn’t even look used. We use two for storage and one for trash.

Use to love McDonald’s when a kid of course. Now I can’t eat it. Food always cold. Always. Great find Ray!! 😊😊😊

Heres my favorite McDonalds memory My Foster Parents Daughter was taking care of me while the Foster Parents were staying near the child that was in the hospital her name was Vicky (Idont know how she spells it this was what i am going with) she said U have no School tomorrow do u? I said No She then said Guess what? I reply What? She said U and Elissa (Vickys Daughter) are going to work with me because nobody will be here to take care of u I looked Confused saying But Mommy said Im to little to get a job She said No I meant Tomorrow I Deliver NewsPapers U guys are coming with me So the next day Me and Elissa are sitting on the floor of the van ( no seats due to it being a delivery van it was just an everyday van familys use only no seats except for the driver) we were playing and laughing like kids do and LunchTime came Vicky buys two Happymeals for us kids and a regular meal for herself after eating me and Elissa took a nap on the floor I dont remember much after that until I get woken up because we were done and went home We had taken Vickys car to get to the place the van was at and went back at the end of the day to get the car and go home u cant buy memories like that They can destroy the building but they cant destroy the memories built into a kids brain

Maybe they should keep the old one too ~ an historical building that people enjoy! I hope you go for lunch at the new one and enjoy the new place also! 💚

When you showed the exterior with the mini Golden Arches under the windows, I swear can smell the surroundings like I did when I was a kid. I also remember Burger King with the brown roof and the words 'Home of the Whopper' (phrase is probably still used today come to think of it) underneath the Burger King wordmark. I always assumed (coming from a Canadian) that the McDonald's with the ground mounted arches were restaurants built in the late 1960's or early 1970's on the fringe of the city. I knew of at least two like that when I lived in Ottawa. Surprisingly, those are still operating in the same locations but the buildings have been replaced with the current, boring box of a restaurant.

Great video time capsule

Love you old school Macer’s!! Bring back memories for 2 bro??!!

So beautiful, sad it has to change...

Miss the old McDonalds. It was fun to have birthday party’s and play in the play area.

I wish more McDonald's restaurants can look like this again

So much more inviting than "cookie cutter/rip you off" McDonald's that's we have now. They've lost the fun value aspect. Feels corporate and cold now.

MCD was awesome in the 90s as I was young. There are no playgrounds anymore at the current MCD locations in my area unfortunately. The retro look is gone and I noticed not as many families congregating to eat there today like I used to see in the 90s. It’s not like it used to be. MCD was awesome as a kid. New MCD buildings look more bland, boring and sterile. You’re right Ray, they’re now less alluring and inviting. Bring back the retro look, bring back the food offerings of the past and the MCD characters too. Loved the salad offerings they once had. My dad especially loved the salads, muffins, apple pies, & their milk shakes were good too. Now they hardly have milk shakes available when I wanted one. Miss the MCD characters for the kids. I don’t ever go inside of a MCD anymore. Just drive thru now. Thanks again Ray for bringing back nostalgia.

When I was a kid, we had a sit-down McDonald’s restaurant in our shopping mall. It was not a food court, but a large interior space, almost as big as The Gap. (In fact I think it was next door to The Gap) The McDonald’s was a totally themed environment with a forest with McDonaldLand characters (you sat on little stumps or fry guys and ate at large stumps) and a McDonaldLand Mayor McCheese, Grimace, and Hamburgler seating section

There is one in Canton Ny. The only one that I know of that didn't have a drive thru. It's also supposed to be demolished in the coming months

We have a few in West Virginia that haven't been transformed into grey shoeboxes. (Ours still have red roofs though instead of green) Still have a couple of old-school Burger Kings that haven't been redone too

Here in Australia our 90s McDonald's had the exact floor tiles as were in the Burger King you showed. And they all had the cream booth seats and swivel chairs with pistachio green accents. Interestingly, the Mansard roof wasn't associated with the McDonald's I remember, but the Pizza Huts. Some of the buildings still exist to this day (though none of them Pizza Huts).

Glad I was able to experience this in my early days

We can never go back...

Mc Donalds was indeed a fun place to go to as a kid , Happymeal , a toy , it was a place where you wanted to celebrate your birthday etc 🎉

There is definitely one of these old style McD’s still in operation in the Bronx on Williamsbridge Road. The outside has the red roof, and the inside is retro style with Speedee theming and a mural of the first McDs.

Circa 2003 I was smoking cigarettes and doing homework at 6am in a BK like that!

I still remember when McDonald’s had pizza for a little while. That and all of the different things you could get like the Muppets characters dressed up like hockey players. Or the pogs that we still have from Batman Forever I think. It was the third Batman movie and you got pogs with certain meals. I remember when my little sister got Lego sets in her happy meals and she had a hard time putting them together. I asked if I could take a look at them and she said yes and I had them together in just a few minutes but even the instructions were kind of hard to make out.

@ 2:20 I have never seen a Coke freestyle machine at a McDonalds and all the McDonalds up here in MN WI Iowa etc. or at least everyone I've been to, all still use that machine just a taller version that has the ice built in either that or we have a couple that won't let you refill your sodas yourself and you have to ask an employee to do it. has been . But I see the Coke freestyle machine at many other places especially BK.

Damn that old BK takes me back to high-school days ❤ and I'm in my 40's ✌

A McDonalds in NYC near Wall St, WTC area, had a baby grand piano on the balcony people would play. It was very nice. I worked in the area in the eighties and nineties. I believe it was removed around 2014. So even after 9/11 it continued.

When my family moved to FairLawn NJ in the late 60's the one on rt4 Broadway was all tile outside red and white with the golden arches going over the building and built in tile bench's outside ! The one on 17 in Paramus just closed for reno probably also gong to be gray box as you call it ! Ever since I saw the move "The Founder" and saw what Ray Kroc did to the McDonald brothers it has me turned off about going there also it's not the best for you as you mentioned ! It's a great movie to see how they formulated the fast food chain process but they were not treated fairly by Kroc.

I don't mind the new style. Just sad to see the passing of time. They have to try and remain relevant, and compete with new competition like Chipotle. Chick-fil-A has kind-of taken over the playland restaurant concept. One thing I admired about the old McDonalds locations of the 70s and 80s was how they were themed for their geography. I remember a location in Nashville like this one, but it had pictures of country music stars. I don't see that now.

This one looks a bit more like the 90’s version, but I could be wrong. I recall the 80’s McDonald’s being darker and more home-like, better furnishings.

😂 The lot and location looks like the one they used for Mac & Me, I just expect everyone to be dancing.

I kind of missed the older style of McDonald’s that I grew up in going to when I was little. The McDonald’s that I went to that I liked was remodeled the inside of the restaurant last month inside. It was rebuilt a few years ago. The old school one was torn down. Even watching it rebuilt in a new modern building. There was another McDonald’s in the same town was remodeled inside.

Trying to polish a turd is the perfect way to put it. Just like KFC. Can’t actually write out Kentucky FRIED Chicken. Modernizing the furniture and using initials always makes the food more nutritious. 👌

There is a retro style McDonald's in San Antonio at the corner of Blanco and Fresno. Don't know if it was remodeled after I moved away last year, though.

There is one like this with the red roof on parmer and metric in austin texas its mcdonalds corporation franchise too! You gotta love the restaurants operated by mcdonalds itself!

Very cool video. Interesting content. … Subbed 👍

This takes me bak too 70s and 80s 😊 miss those mcdonalds

Great video

Biggest buzz kills are seeing the old mcdonalds exterior but renovated interiors.

I miss the Retro McDonald's. I love them as a kid.

The McDonaldsby my Grandpa's house in Toledo OH in the early 70' had a pirate ship with built-in seating. that location eventually burned to the ground

It was mysterious, I only got to go maybe once a month. Rip

Where i am, we still have some retro looking restaurants. Ive never seen a green roof mcdonalds. Ive never seen that garbage can with an ashtray. You shouldve seen if payphone worked. You must be from nj area. Thats great. Thanks.