McDonald’s restaurants are found in 120 countries and territories around the world and serve nearly 54 million customers each day. The company also operates other restaurant brands, such as Piles Café and Boston Market, and has a minority stake in Pret a Manger. The company owned a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until completing its divestment in October 2006. Until December 2003, it also owned Donatos Pizza. It also has a subsidiary, Redbox, which started in 2003 as 18-foot (5.5 m) wide automated convenience stores, but as of 2005, has focused on DVD rental machines.More…

Most standalone McDonald’s restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or McDrive as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined; it was first introduced in Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. In some countries “McDrive” locations near highways offer no counter service or seating. In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through service. There are also a few locations, located mostly in downtown districts, that offer Walk-Thru service in place of Drive-Thru.

Specially themed restaurants also exist, such as the “Solid Gold McDonald’s,” a 1950s rock-and-roll themed restaurant. In Victoria, British Columbia, there is also a McDonald’s with a 24 carat (100%) gold chandelier and similar light fixtures.
To accommodate the current trend for high quality coffee and the popularity coffeeshops in general, McDonald’s introduced McCafés. The McCafé concept is a café-style accompaniment to McDonald’s restaurants. McCafé is a concept of McDonald’s Australia, starting with Melbourne in 1993. Today, most McDonald’s in Australia have McCafés located within the existing McDonald’s restaurant. In Tasmania there are McCafés in every store.

As of the end of 2003 there were over 600 McCafés worldwide.

Some locations are connected to BP gas stations/convenience stores[1], while others called McDonalds Express have limited seating and/or menu or may be located in a shopping mall. Other McDonalds are located in Wal-mart stores. McStop is a location targeted at truckers and travelers which may have services found at truck stops[2]

Children’s areas

Some McDonald’s in suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds, called “McDonald’s PlayPlace” (if indoors) or “Playland” (outdoors)[citation needed]. The first PlayPlace with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the USA, with many more being constructed soon after. Some PlayPlace playgrounds have been renovated into “R Gym” areas.

“R Gyms” are in-restaurant play area that features interactive game zones designed for children aged 4 to 12. Equipped with stationary bicycles attached to video games, dance pads, basketball hoops, monkey bars, an obstacle course, and other games which emphasize physical activity.[3]

The “R Gym” features the Toddler Zone, an active play environment with age appropriate games that develop physical coordination and social skills; the Active Zone, designed for children aged four-to-eight that promotes physical fitness through fun play; the Sports Zone which features a series of sport oriented activities to promote aerobic exercise for children aged 9-to-12; the Parent Zone which features seating and provides a monitoring area for their children; and the Dining Area which allows families to eat.

In 2006, McDonald’s introduced its “Forever Young” brand by redesigning all of their restaurants, the first major redesign since the 1970s.[4][5]

The new design will include the traditional McDonald’s yellow and red colors, but the red will be muted to terra cotta, the yellow will turn golden for a more “sunny” look, and olive and sage green will be added. To warm up their look, the restaurants will have less plastic and more brick and wood, with modern hanging lights to produce a softer glow. Contemporary art or framed photographs will hang on the walls.

The exterior will have golden awnings and a “swish brow” instead of the traditional double-slanted mansard roof.

The new restaurants will feature areas:

* The “linger” zone will offer armchairs, sofas, and Wi-Fi connections.

* The “grab and go” zone will feature tall counters with bar stools for customers who eat alone; Plasma TVs will offer them news and weather reports.

* The “flexible” zone will be targeted toward families and will have booths featuring fabric cushions with colorful patterns and flexible seating.

Different music will be targeted to each zone.