Let's All Gawk At The Fancy McDonald's On TikTok
A McDonald's in Freeport, Maine is gaining renewed attention thanks to a viral TikTok video.
A two-part TikTok sensation is grabbing attention by showing us what we love the most: a McDonald's housed in a building that doesn't look like your average McDonald's.
"Check out this McDonald's," says TikTok user @evileasterbunny. "It doesn't look like a McDonalds, but it is."
@evileasterbunny #freeport #maine #mainelife #northeast #newenglad #weirdmcdonalds #mcdonalds #imlovingit #imnotlovingit #mcfries #mcnuggets #frieswiththat #historicsite #hungryformore #burferking #wendys #fastfood #strangesituation #awkwardeats
It's true. Other than the golden arches on a small sign out front, this unassuming home of Quarter Pounders and Happy Meals looks like what it actually is: a historic home, albeit one with stickers advertising McDonald's products on its windows. The McDonald's is housed in the Gore House, built in 1850 and converted to a McDonald's in 1984.
Why is there a McDonald’s inside an old house?
"Freeport, Maine doesn't allow any big box stores in their town," says @evileasterbunny, "so what you end up with is old houses that get turned into McDonald's and other things. Crazy!"
The first TikTok video of the two-part series was posted on Monday. It's garnered close to 300,000 views and comments from people desperate to see the inside. User @evileasterbunny didn't disappoint; yesterday, part two took us inside the fancy McDonald's.
The surprising thing, which I guess shouldn't be that surprising, is how McDonald's-like it is inside. Part two starts with a shot of a beautiful garden with picnic tables. It looks kind of serene in a way that comes close to defying McDonald's vibes. I can imagine eating some sort of fancy sandwich there. But the second the camera pans to a trash can, which is the unmistakably concrete-and-pebbles McDonald's kind, we're thrust into a world that is absolutely, unmistakably McDonald's, and all I'm thinking about is eating a Big Mac.
Inside, the seating areas are spaced out in what seems like multiple rooms (you know, like a house). The interior is overall characterized by things that are very McDonald's: kiosks for ordering, an open kitchen, a drink station. The walls are adorned with murals depicting historic scenes in a weird, digitally rendered, stick-on wallpaper kind of way. And then in one of the various seating areas, there's a fireplace with some green candles on its mantel, which feel kind of like someone said, "Uh oh, a mantle—better put something fancy on it, even though this is a McDonald's."
This latest TikTok series isn't the first time the Freeport, Maine McDonald's has gotten attention, nor is it the first oddly shaped McDonald's to garner intrigue. A McDonald's in Long Island is inside a mansion, and a Twitter account dedicated to nonstandard McDonald's has over 159,000 followers. Last year, Nonstandard McDonald's founder Max Krieger told The Takeout why he thinks McDonald's that don't look like the rest are so alluring: access.
"You don't have to pay for an entry ticket, you don't have to book your visit in advance," he said at the time. "You just walk in and there's a dinosaur statue with a guitar and sunglasses. There's a Cadillac hanging from the ceiling" Or, in this case, a fireplace with fancy candles on top of its mantel.