The Story of the First McDonald’s in Moscow

The Soviet Union dissolved on December 26, 1991

xFrancis X. Clines of The New York Times interviewed a pipe factory worker who said he forked over four days’ wages for a Big Mac, cheeseburger, apple pie, and two milkshakes. Customers were reportedly impressed by American customer service’s culture of politeness, a sharp contrast to Soviet stolidness. “There is a lesson to be drawn from this for the country,'' teacher Tatyana Podlesnaya told Clines in 1990.