Inside The Fanciest Fast Food Restaurants In The World

How would you react if you walked into a Burger King and suddenly found yourself inside a grand palace? What about stepping into a Pizza Hut and being welcomed by a robot waiter, or grabbing a Big Mac in a restaurant that looks like it’s about to fly off into space? As weird as they sound, these crazy fast-food joints are all real places you can dine in! Let's step inside some of the fanciest fast-food restaurants in the world!

McDonald's Next

If you ever visit Hong Kong’s Admiralty Shopping Center, you’d be forgiven for thinking this restaurant inside was a fancy upmarket diner. With rows and rows of lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, and other vibrant veggies, it looks like a health retreat. But you'd be surprised to know that it's a McDonald’s!

McDonald's Next | Hong Kong Vlog #03 by Blue Sky Snapshots

This sleekly styled establishment is part of China’s pus to turn the Golden Arches into a healthier, classier eatery called “McDonald’s Next”. Featuring polished concrete floors and an open kitchen, where diners can watch as their food’s prepared, there really is an air of sophistication here! Or maybe that’s just the smell of the premium ingredients, because its menu is also completely different to that of its Western brother!

As well as all the salad options, hungry diners can pick up an expensive sounding Cheesy Champignon Angus Burger for 35 Hong Kong dollars, that’s just $4.50! Plus, almost everything can be customized to your liking, with all kinds of different cheeses, buns, and drinks to choose from as well.

But if that doesn’t sate your appetite, why not order something from their cheese drink selection! It’s cream cheese combined with all your favorite beverages, from milkshakes to coffee. They even offer to add tapioca balls to the mix as well!

Even though this is a healthier McDonald’s, it still isn’t exactly healthy because they also have a delicious dessert section. To top it all off, your order is brought to your table with a set of shiny silverware. Yes, you too could be tucking into your fries like royalty!

The Most Elegant Burger King, Buenos Aires

On the coastal city of Buenos Aires there once sat a palace fit for a king; a Burger King, that is. From the outside, you can tell this was no ordinary fast-food joint. A fancy balcony ran along the top of the sign, with strangely intricate stone archways adorning the walls.

But inside is where the true grandeur of this place shone. Here, carved pillars and towering ceilings arch up towards a magnificent stained glass centerpiece, with each adjoining room decorated with a spectacular series of motifs. You would never believe this was a fast-food restaurant until you spotted the bright red Burger King counter!

But even kings fall. Despite reigning since 1989, the burger joint recently shut down. Its successor? A trendy modern bookstore, which is arguably a more suitable use for all that fancy architecture! The beautiful building was originally constructed about 140 years ago as a palatial house for a very rich family. While the top floor was used for living, the ground floor hosted the famous Café de Gérard.

Several decades later in 1989, Burger King arrived in Argentina and snapped the palace up straight away. Instead of tearing out all the amazing features, they just renovated most of the original décor before reopening it as a fancy branch of their fast-food empire. That’s one way to show up McDonalds! And, although the café is long gone, a bookstore feels like a step in the right direction for a place with such a cultural history! You could say the building has started a new chapter.

The Bank Starbucks, Amsterdam

In the middle of Amsterdam there’s a Starbucks where you can drink your $6 latte underground in a steel vault, all while watching a poetry reading. This Starbucks, called “The Bank”, is designed to be more of an experience than just a stop to get your morning caffeine fix. Parts of the space were built nestled inside a real historic bank vault, only rather than saving your money, this bank is designed to spend it!

After walking through the doors and descending the fancy wooden staircase, you’ll find a huge, 57-ft coffee bar that’s viewable from wherever you sit in the café. The space was inspired by a theatre type theme, where the baristas as the actors, the bar is their stage, and all the customers are the audience. But there’s other entertainment too, with the massive 4500 sq. ft space hosting live bands, poetry readings and much more. Well, this is one bank that’s very high interest!

Fuel Station McDonald's by Giorgi Khmaladze

On the coast of Georgia, just north of Turkey, a beautiful glass building stands proudly overlooking the beach. Is it, maybe, a swanky car show room, or a ground-breaking art gallery? Nope, it’s a McDonald’s!

It turns out city officials wanted a dining space and a gas station in this area but didn’t want buildings that would detract from the beautiful beach. Luckily for them, they hired the architect Giorgi Khmaladze. He suggested combining both buildings into one project to save on space, but surely, it’d never work and still look good, would it?

Well, amazingly, Khmaladze figured out a way for both the McDonald’s and the gas station to co-exist in the same building, without ever being visible to one another. He did this by creating a canopy on one side which hangs over the garage, shielding it completely from view.

Then, on the opposite side, he designed the more glamorous McDonald’s entrance. If you enter through this side, you can climb a staircase to the first floor to find an outside seating area. This outdoor zone is surrounded by a grassy, upturned terrace which ingeniously shields its visitors from any glimpse of the gas station below!

And Khmaladze’s hard work paid off, as the design won an award in 2014 for Best Commercial Building. While the price of the project has never been made public, it must have cost an absolute fortune, because an ordinary McDonald’s constructed nearby cost a whopping €3.4 million to build. That’s more than $4 million today! Just think of all the McNuggets you could buy with that money!

Burger King Sauna

This next restaurant takes the term “food sweats” to a whole new level. Located in Helsinki, Finland, this Burger King joint houses a sauna that seats up to 15, presumably insane, people. Whoppers, fries, and drinks are brought in and served as you try not to melt, and there’s even a 48-inch TV to keep everyone entertained!

What’s more, the sauna even has the classy Burger King towels that you can use to wipe your hands and dry off with afterwards. The entire experience was designed by Burger King as a truly unique and attention-grabbing marketing stunt, but that doesn’t make it any less of a real restaurant!

If you actually want to use the sauna, it’s gonna cost you about 300 euros, that’s about $360 give or take! However, but by cranking up the heating, ordering a whopper, and turning on the TV, you can re-create the exact same sweaty experience at home for a fraction of the price!

Pizza Hut Robot

If you take a trip to the 128-story tall Shanghai Tower in China, you’ll find something strange hidden in the basement. But it’s not a monster, it’s PH Plus, an upmarket Pizza Hut restaurant that’s unique to the country! And it doesn’t just look classy, it’s also staffed by a talking robot called Casper. This adorable mechanical server greets you, gives you a table number, and then guides you to your seat.

Pizza Hut's Futuristic Robot Waiters by Shanghai Expat

Although Casper doesn’t take food orders yet, there’s a giant, iPad-like table to do that on instead, which you can visually customize your pizza on! Amazingly, robots and tech like these are being used more and more in similar restaurants, with some Pizza Huts in Japan now playing host to a humanoid android called Pepper!

Pepper The Robot Lands A Job At Pizza Hut: Bottom Line | CNBC by CNBC

Not only does it interact with the customers, but it can also read facial expressions. Supposedly, Pepper can judge your mood and offer add-on products depending on how it thinks you’re feeling. This all sounds a bit too much like the start of Skynet to me. Before we know it, an army of pizza-loving robots will be trying to take over the world, one slice at a time!

Pyramids Pizza Hut

Admittedly, this restaurant in Giza, Egypt, isn’t as fancy as some of the other’s we’ve learned about. But if you see pizza as one of the wonders of the modern world, then you’ll love it. Because here, you can sit and chow down on a cheesy pizza while gawping at this incredible view of the Pyramids of Giza!

These dominating structures were built some 4500 years ago as tombs for Ancient Egyptian emperors, who believed they’d become gods in the afterlife. They were a humble bunch, those emperors! Today though, this modern Pizza Hut sits less than a mile away, offering a phenomenal feast for your belly and your eyes!

Art Deco McDonald’s

Perched on a road split in Melbourne, Australia, there’s a McDonalds with a bit of a twist, or curve! Built back in 1938, this brilliant building was crafted in the art deco style, a classic design that was all the rage at the time. Originally designed as a hotel, it operated in the area for more than 50 years until 1988, when McDonald's saw McPotential in its one-of-a-kind design. So they snapped the building up and renovated it!

And while the outside was left looking like a timeless retro-dream come true, the inside was made disappointingly modern. The counter is just a standard array of glass cabinets, menu’s, and registers. And while its red leather stools kind of remind you of that old, authentic 1950’s diner feel, it doesn’t really match up to its exterior. You might prefer to get your order to go!

McDonald’s Pavilion At PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics

Up next, let’s take a look at a McDonalds that’s much cooler than any others, literally! Over in South Korea, this amazing restaurant was set up to serve the PyeongChang Winter Olympics back in 2018! The whole thing was made to look like a value meal for giants, with the burger on the left, fries in the middle, and a drink to the right!

Although, it wasn’t quite so impressive on the inside. The daring dome of the burger had a pretty basic set up, but people still queued for a chance to eat, and get warm, inside the biggest burger in the world! While the menu was limited to keep customers from waiting, they made no secret of the fact they had plenty of hot coffee available!

But visitors didn’t just come for the coffee. Thanks to the eye-catching design, more than 81,000 Olympic tourists and athletes visited the restaurant in just 10 days! Whether it was to take photos, grab a bite to eat, or just warm up a bit, the tasty looking design saw McDonald’s take home the gold!

K-Pro KFC

Over in Shanghai, this KFC branch called “K-Pro” offers fried chicken lovers a healthier, classier way to satisfy their finger-lickin’ appetite. Gone are the plastic chairs and bright colors of your standard fried chicken joint, and in their place are sleek, cushioned seats with mood lighting.

I Went To A Super Fancy KFC | BuzzFeed by BuzzFeedVideo

Here you can browse the sumptuous salad bar, order black truffle chicken wings, and even sip down on freshly squeezed dragon fruit juice! Not only that, but a waiter will deliver it to your table with silverware and all! And somehow, it’s not even that expensive, for 16 renminbi, which is just $2.50, you can get two fried chicken wings with a black truffle topping. But if you spend a little more, you can snag yourself a truffle steak panini for around $7.50. Sounds healthy and delicious.

Alien McDonald's In Roswell

Imagine driving through Roswell, New Mexico, when suddenly you come across an UFO on the side of the road. Have aliens finally landed? And are they working for McDonald’s? Before all the conspiracy nuts start reaching for their tin hats, this interstellar eatery is only shaped like a UFO!

The restaurant was inspired by the infamous Roswell Incident back in 1947, when a mysterious object suddenly crashed out of the sky! Scientists claim it was just a weather balloon, but people at the time blamed aliens, and this is reflected both outside and inside the wacky building.

As you walk past a rocket-riding Ronald McDonald and through the doors of the not-so-flying saucer, you’ll see a model of an alien standing by the counter. Then, if you keep going, you’ll find a space-themed play area, too. I’ve never wanted to be a kid again so badly! Sadly, the menu isn’t any different from a normal McDonald’s, but who said aliens don’t love cheeseburgers?

I Visit The Spaceship McDonald's In Roswell New Mexico! by Sets, Streets & Eats

Traditional Japanese Starbucks

You might be thinking that the words traditional, Japanese, and Starbucks don’t belong in the same sentence. Well, in this case, wrong. This Starbucks in Kyoto, Japan, is built inside an authentic, traditional Japanese house! Here you can sip your coffee and learn a little about the culture and history of Kyoto.

When you go inside, you’ll have a choice of Western-style seats, or traditional tatami cushions set on the floor. Though if you choose the latter option, make sure you take off your shoes first! And after you sit down, you can enjoy a fresh coffee, or a more traditional tea, while looking at the beautiful rock gardens outside. It’s all so zen!

It took an entire decade to take this project from concept to reality, because most old Japanese buildings are too small to be used as coffee shops. But, in 2017, the most peaceful Starbucks in the world finally opened its doors to the public. So, if you didn’t have a reason to visit Kyoto before, now you definitely do!

Glass McDonald’s, Rotterdam

At first glance, this stunning glass pavilion nestled in the heart of Rotterdam looks like some sort of art installation. It isn’t until you clock the big golden arches perched on its top that you realize this is actually a McDonalds!

With gorgeous glass walls showcasing a spectacular spiral staircase, this building must be the pride of Rotterdam! But it wasn’t always this way, because back in 2015 it actually looked like this!

That garish design made it stand out from all the other building’s like a sore thumb! The local council were ready to demolish it after it brought shame to the city by being voted “the ugliest building in Rotterdam”. But Ronald and Co still had a lease on the site for another 40 years, so they decided to build something in its place that the council would never want to knock down.

And the inside was designed to be equally sleek! After ordering your food on the ground floor, you can choose to sit on the long leather sofas on the first floor, complete with an unimpeded view of the city. It’s the perfect restaurant for anyone who loves people watching! What an amazing McTransformation.

World's Largest KFC, Azerbaijan

Talking of transformations, this huge KFC on the coast of Azerbaijan sits in an old railway station and looks more like a palace than it does a fried chicken joint. Built almost a hundred years ago, the station had slowly fallen into a state of disrepair until KFC decided to pump a finger-lickin’ €3 million into its renovation back in 2012. That’s more than $3.6 million today!

The interior has tall, patterned ceilings that are supported by ornate white and gold beams, with stylish modern art lining the walls in clever contrast to the more traditional features. Vibrant KFC-red lights hang and illuminate the space too, and it’s a very big space, allowing up to 300 customers to enjoy their chicken across two floors!

But that’s not all, when the building first reopened back in 2012, a crowd of people gathered to watch the opening ceremony. And boy, does the Colonel know how to put on a party!

YouTube Video by Unknown

Beautiful Starbucks In Dubai

On the western coast of Dubai, the towering, ornately decorated Ibn Battuta mall is a stunning sight to behold. It’s the largest themed shopping mall in the world, with every last inch of its 5.6 million square ft of floor space decorated exquisitely.

So, it might not come as a surprise that this place is home to, what is often called, the most beautiful Starbucks in the world. After walking through the double doors of the mall you’ll need to head over to a Persian-themed area. Here, you’ll see magnificent mosaics covering the walls in a classic Persian style that somehow manages to compliment the glowing Starbucks sign!

Huge lanterns hang from the dizzyingly tall, domed ceilings, casting a soft glow that makes the place feel more like an enchanted palace than a coffee shop. Surreal as it seems, the menu boasts a pretty standard array of Starbucks items. Although, with scenery that spectacular, you'd doubt any customer here gets their order to go!

Domino's Plans Pizza On The Moon

This next fast-food restaurant is really out of this world. Though only a concept at the moment, this artist’s rendering of a moon-based Domino’s pizzeria is 100% real. That’s right, Domino’s Japanese arm have spent time making actual, legitimate plans on how they would go about creating an intergalactic pizza restaurant.

The kitchen in that restaurant is relatively normal, and the dining area is fairly standard too, though it does have a lovely view of Earth. But there are also plans for a moon-bike room, so pizza can be delivered piping hot to anybody who isn’t 239,000 miles away on Earth. And if, somehow, you are chilling on the moon when this plan takes off, Domino’s will have you covered.

The base’s design is so expansive that they’ve even included a games room, because the moon is probably pretty boring once you’ve explored the first hundred or so craters. As whacky as it sounds, Domino’s has insisted that its plans for an interplanetary base are serious, though it’ll be a very long time before it becomes a reality.

For a start, the project will cost an astronomic approximate of $21.74 billion to build. Considering nobody lives on the moon, they wouldn’t be making that money back any time soon! Unless they’re relying on pizza hungry astronauts and aliens.

Douglas DC-3 Airplane McDonald's, Taupo

Even if you have never been excited to eat airline food, if you visited this McDonald’s in Taupo, New Zealand, maybe you will be. That’s because this decommissioned Douglas DC3 passenger plane has been used as part of the restaurant for the last 30 years!

You can order a Big Mac from next-door, climb the stairs, and sit down right inside the body of the aircraft, which has been completely renovated to accommodate tables and chairs. You can even take a look inside the cockpit!

Inside Macdonalds plane taupo. Mcdonald restraunt by exploring taupo

But just how did a 65 ft long plane become part of a fast-food franchise? Well, the site was originally a car dealership run by the town’s very eccentric Mayor. He bought the plane for just $20,000 back in 1985 to use as an office, of all things! But when the dealership’s location was bought out by McDonald’s in 1990, the plane came as part of the package.

The plane seats 20 diners and is a big tourist attraction for the area. It was even crowned the coolest McDonald’s in the world back in 2013. That’s certainly one way to ensure your franchise takes off!

McDonald's Sky Kitchen

This McDonald’s in Sydney International Airport looks like something that’s been plucked straight out of the future.

Dubbed the McDonald's Sky Kitchen, this big yellow restaurant was designed with the kitchen floating above the counter to save floor space in the passenger lounge! But with their counter on the ground, how does their service system work?

Well, staff on the bottom floor take the orders, then send the instructions upstairs where the food is prepared. After it’s cooked, the workers up top then attach the bags to this crazy conveyor system, which quickly delivers them to the staff below. Finally, the food is handed to the customer, who can watch the whole process while they wait thanks to those snazzy glass walls!

Mountain McDonald’s

Nestled in a tranquil fishing village among the Karst Mountains in Yangshuo, China, sits a reminder that wherever you are, there’s no escaping the clownish clutches of Ronald McDonald. Yes, even these iconic mountains now watch over one of the fast-food giant’s many restaurants. Though some people view the Golden Arches as a yellow stain on the land, others love being able to sit and munch fries while admiring the spectacular views around them.

However, the food this place serves is even more insane than its location! Check out these black and white burgers, each hiding a mushy filling of mashed potato.

And if you think that sounds weird, it’s nothing on the Spam and Oreo burger that was released across China in 2020.

Yes, that’s Spam, Oreo biscuit, and mayonnaise all sandwiched together in a classic McDonald’s bun for only 13 yuan, or about $2! No matter how good the view is, it could never distract you from that monstrosity.

I hope you were amazed at the fanciest fast food restaurants in the world! Thanks for reading.