What Was Eating In McDonald’s Like In The ’70s?

By the 1970s, McDonald’s was already a thriving fast-food company in its third decade of existence; however, the first McDonald’s outlet was opened in 1940 by Richard and Maurice as a barbeque restaurant. The first franchise outlet in Des Plaines, Illinois, followed about fifteen years later, thanks to businessman Ray Kroc. Kroc was also responsible for creating McDonald’s System, Inc., which would become the McDonald’s Corporation of today.

With time passing and the advent of technology, eating at Mcdonald’s now is quite different from what it used to be. There were no high-tech cash registers, drive-thrus were a new invention, and the menu options and dining style were quite unlike what we have today. People also got married and celebrated birthdays at McDonald’s back then. Here is what it was like eating in McDonald’s in the ’70s.

Employees took orders by hand and passed them to the kitchen

Unlike today, where you can order your meal online and select how you want it delivered or wait your turn in line and order, ordering back then was different. The employees did not have cash registers, and there were no smartphones, so your order was taken by hand and submitted to the kitchen for preparation.

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Customers could also watch their meals being made through a large window that lets them see the kitchen. The meals were served on plastic trays, and the customer would carry the platter to the dining room table to dig in. Families would often play cards and chit-chat while eating, too.

McDonald’s introduced their drive-thru in the mid-70s

Other fast-food chains like In-N-Out Burger had drive-thrus before McDonald’s. It was not until 1975 when a franchisee in Sierra Vista, Arizona, bypassed an Army regulation that prevented military members from entering local businesses in fatigues.

This Arizona franchisee pulled down a wall in his outlet’s kitchen and installed a drive-thru window to serve the worn-out soldiers who had to remain in their vehicles.

McDonald’s was a spot for special occasions

’70s kids got to celebrate their birthdays at McDonald’s, and thanks to the PlayPlace introduced in 1971, families could bring their kids to play in colorful climbing structures, jungle gyms, and slides and have a good meal on a budget.

The PlayPlace was a timely move by the business, as the ’70s were a period of financial insecurity, high inflation, and the Vietnam War. Aside from birthdays, weddings were not unusual in McDonald’s in the ’70s.

The ‘70s menu

The McDonald’s menu was kept simple through the ’60s, comprising burgers, cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, and the essential fast-food classics. The Filet-O-Fish sandwich was introduced to the national menu in 1965, followed by the famous Big Mac in 1968. By the ’70s, the Big Mac became the signature meal of the fast food chain.

The signature Quarter Pounder and Quarter Pounder with cheese were also introduced in 1973, and by the end of the decade, Happy Meals joined the menu options. McDonald’s also began serving breakfast in the ’70s with the advent of the Egg McMuffin, which widened its customer base.