New Delhi: McDonald's has quietly transformed one of its McCafe outlets in Sydney, Australia, into a restaurant called "The Corner" with a new menu and new service style.
The Corner looks more like a modern cafe, devoid of patent McDonald's branding, with dishes including chipotle pulled pork, brown rice salad, and balsamic strawberry soda, making you feel like sitting in a hipster café.
The global fast food giant - best known for cheeseburgers and Happy Meals – calls the restaurant a “Customer learning lab” as it undergoes a $1 billion remodeling. It also serves as a test run for new menu items which may then start being sold in other stores. It is the only one of its kind in Australia.
The fast food chain is also planning to add 10 more such chains for early 2015, where McDonald's can experiment with new dishes.
The menu at the Corner changes daily, but is built around a base of salads and brown rice. Consumers can customize the menu by adding ingredients like Morroccan roast chicken breast and a range of sauces including chutneys and chimichurri.
The café also serves McCafe menu items such as coffees, desserts and pastries, besides smoothies and craft sodas. Other items on the menu include breakfast bacon egg roll, avocado and feta on sourdough.
Moreover, there is also an option where customers can create their own burger from a self-service digital device, choosing from a range of breads, cheeses and sauces, which is delivered to the table on a wooden board, with chips in a basket.
But look a little closer at the black name sign over the door and a visitor will see “McCafe, established 2014” scrawled in small type. Though from the front it is hard to predict that the café is actually a restaurant run by McDonald's, with closer scrutiny you can see McDonald's branding with a tiny “McCafe” logo in small font on the takeaway bags.
Though it may look like a decent attempt by McDonald's Corp. to change its image from being a typical fast food chain to offer healthier food choices and more sophisticated service, experts say McDonald's is seriously worried about tough competition from so-called fast-casual chains. McDonald's is Australia's most popular fast-food restaurant, or Quick Service Restaurant (QSR), followed by Subway and KFC.
