Every generation gets the McDonald’s it deserves. And every so often, the ubiquitous fast food chain looks to reinvent invent itself for the times. There’s the McCafé coffee shop-style restaurant that launched down under in Australia in the 1990s and the Create Your Taste concept from a few years back designed the compete with Shake Shack. And there was that weird take on the Hamburglar, who looked like an amateur wrestler in a fedora.
The chain’s latest model is “Just For You,” which has rolled out at a number of international locations and is starting to trickle down to the U.S., including restaurants in California, Florida and New York, with San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, D.C. and Seattle getting their turn early next year. The key differentiator is a series of big touchscreen kiosks that let customers customize their orders, coupled with table service and Apple or Android Pay. The interiors have gotten a bit of a face lift, as well.
For those poor souls unable to experience it in person, good news, the company has released a video designed for Google cardboard devices that simulates what it would be like to order a hamburger in a new McDonald’s location surrounded by attractive and stylish people who smile all the time.
What a time to be alive.