How McDonald's Appeared in the USSR

The opening of the first McDonald's restaurant in the USSR on January 31, 1990 – in Moscow, on Pushkin Square – went down in the history of the country. A country that would cease to exist a year later.

Vladimir Snegirev, a journalist for Rossiyskaya Gazeta, recalls how 30 years ago a kilometer-long line of people wanting to eat a hamburger and "get to know what capitalism is" formed at a restaurant on Pushkin Square. This is how Snegirev describes that "standing" in his book "As the Cards Fall. From the Pole of Cold to Hot Spots."

There he also talks about the head of the international restaurant corporation George Cohon. Snegirev calls him "a hellish mixture of enterprise, charm, energy and friendliness."

– When Kokhon came to the Kremlin to meet with Politburo member Alexander Yakovlev, he offered to crack a walnut he had brought as a gift to the official. He hit the nut with his fist, the shell cracked and a condom fell out. Apparently, Alexander Nikolaevich liked the joke, because the restaurant was soon opened, – says Snegirev.

George showed him the restaurant, and then they argued. Vladimir insisted that the place would be trashed in a year. George disagreed. A year later, Snegirev, who lost the argument, brought Kokhon a case of vodka.

Later, Vladimir Snegirev came on business trips to Toronto, where the company’s office is located, more than once:

– I remember arriving late. I checked into the hotel opposite the office well past midnight. I looked and saw the lights on in the office. I asked George later what was going on. He told me that we were discussing new ideas with colleagues, had a great time, and had been sitting around late… This shows that the people who worked there were always creative. It wasn't just a conveyor belt.

He calls one of his best publications in Pravda (Vladimir Snegirev worked there at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s) the article "Hero of Capitalist Labor" – about Kokhon and his corporation. It was also hung in a frame in a prominent place in the company's office in Toronto.

They took the risk of competing with overseas fast food restaurants in the mid-1990s. Several establishments called "Russian Bistro" appeared in Moscow. The project with a recognizable logo – a brave soldier (like those in Parisian restaurants in 1813 who shouted for quick service) – was supported by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

Actress Natalya Andreychenko, who returned from America in 1997, immediately visited the "Russian Bistro" on Tverskaya. She liked the mushroom and potato pies so much that she declared: "For this alone, Luzhkov should have a monument erected to him in his lifetime."

And they did put it up – the work of Zurab Tsereteli. True, not with pies – with a broom.

But kulebyakas and rasstegais, pirozhki, shchi and navaras from the conveyor belt eventually could not withstand the competition with hamburgers. Not so quickly, but the history of the "Russian Bistro" ended.

If before the 1917 revolution in Russia the most popular place to grab a bite to eat in the city was a tavern or teahouse, then after the 1991 revolution it was burger joints that gained popularity.

Sometimes officials come up with ideas to ban or restrict the use of the word "burger" and its derivatives (but not burgers themselves yet). The option "cutlet in bread" is suggested…

…The history of McDonald's restaurants in Russia turned out to be short-lived: soon after the chain celebrated its 30th anniversary of coming to our country, it was decided to say goodbye to it. This happened in March 2022. The American chain was quickly replaced by a Russian one – with a different name, but approximately the same assortment.

All materials of our most delicious section "Kitchen of the Motherland" – HERE