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Vintage Photos Show What It Was Like to Eat at McDonald’s in the 1980s

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2025-11-26T14:37:09.750Z

The first McDonald’s franchise opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955.
Chicken nuggets were introduced to the menu in 1983.
Motorhead and President Ronald Reagan were photographed eating at McDonald’s in the 1980s.

By the 1980s, McDonald’s had already become a well-established fast-food chain with an well-known menu and distinctive branding.

Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald’s franchise location in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955. That year, he also founded McDonald’s System, Inc., which would become the McDonald’s Corporation we know today. 

By 1958, McDonald’s had sold 100 million burgers, and the restaurants had taken on a signature design style that prominently featured the chain’s iconic “golden arches.”

The 1980s were a major period of growth for McDonald’s.

By 1989, systemwide sales had reached $17.3 billion, The Deseret News reported, citing McDonald’s. Sales outside the US grew from $900 million in 1979 to $5.3 billion in 1989.

Today, McDonald’s has more than 38,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, according to the company. It made $25.92 billion in revenue in the 2024 fiscal year, and continues to look for ways to grow.

Photos show what it was like to eat at McDonald’s in the 1980s — while some aspects of eating there have remained the same, some feel iconically ’80s.

By the 1980s, only a few McDonald’s retained the original restaurant design from the ’50s and ’60s.

McDonald's restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1980.

A McDonald’s restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1980, had the signature golden arches.

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Architect Stanley Meston designed the original look for McDonald’s restaurants, which featured a red-and-white color scheme. When the McDonald brothers first saw the design for their new restaurant, they were concerned that the roof was too flat.

Meston recommended adding the now-iconic golden arches to the building’s roof to create a more dimensional look.

A location in Downey, California, is the oldest still-operating restaurant featuring the original red-and-white design.

While some restaurants continued to feature the golden arches, others looked more modern.

The exterior of a branch of a McDonald's in London in 1985

The exterior of a branch of a McDonald’s in London in 1985 looks like some locations today.

Harry Dempster/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

This London restaurant, pictured in 1985, looks remarkably similar to urban McDonald’s restaurants of today. 

Some restaurants were built into eye-catching locations, like these colonial-looking buildings.

McDonald's restaurant is seen from outside where people eat outdoors at picnic tables in August 1985

People ate outside McDonald’s in August 1985.

Steve Liss/Getty Images

This outdoor courtyard, with its wooden tables and benches, looks quite different from most McDonald’s seating areas now, though some McDonald’s locations are still housed in historic buildings.

This Sydney restaurant featured a large skylight and modern seating.

A McDonald's restaurant in Sydney, Australia, circa 1986.

A McDonald’s restaurant in Sydney, Australia, circa 1986.

Stuart William MacGladrie/Fairfax Media/Getty Images

The first McDonald’s in Australia opened in 1971 and the number of locations in the country grew significantly throughout the 1980s. The company’s 900th location in the world opened in Sydney in 1986.

There are still surprising, unique McDonald’s restaurants around.

Employees wore striped bowling-style shirts and hats.

An employee puts orders onto a conveyer belt which delivers food to the drive-in section of the McDonalds restaurant in 1984.

In 1984, an employee put orders onto a conveyor belt that delivered food to the drive-in section of the McDonald’s restaurant.

Alan Gilbert Purcell/Fairfax Media/Getty Images

Today, employees often wear T-shirts that reflect the chain’s most popular and current promotions.

Celebrities like British metal band Motorhead were spotted taking photos at McDonald’s.

British metal band Motorhead at a McDonald's restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, August 5, 1983.

British metal band Motorhead at a McDonald’s restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, in 1983.

Paul Natkin/Getty Images

For McDonald’s customers in the 1980s, the restaurant was a symbol of America, which translated into the chain’s advertising campaigns. 

In honor of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, McDonald’s introduced the slogan “If the US wins, you win.” With every purchase, McDonald’s customers received a scratch-off ticket that revealed a certain sporting category.

The New York Times reported that if a US Olympian won gold in that category, they could exchange the ticket for a free Big Mac. A silver earned you free french fries, and a bronze medal won customers a free Coke.

Even President Ronald Reagan was photographed chowing down on a McDonald’s burger.

President Ronald Reagan takes a bite of a Big Mac, as Charles Patterson chats with him during a brief campaign stop in 1984

President Ronald Reagan enjoyed a Big Mac during a brief campaign stop in 1984.

Bettmann/Getty Images

The Tuscaloosa News reported that customers were caught off guard when Reagan made an unplanned stop at an Alabama McDonald’s restaurant in 1984.

“The President of the United States ordered a Big Mac, a large order of fries and sweet tea, proffered a $20 bill from his right front pant pocket, got his $17.54 in change, and looked around for a place to enjoy his meal,” a reporter on the scene later wrote in 2006. 

When asked about the last time he had eaten at McDonald’s, Reagan replied that it was before he “got this job.”

“But I kind of miss it sometimes,” he continued. “I figured as long as I had the opportunity, I might as well take advantage of it and stop.”



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