Il first McDonald's in Italy it was inaugurated on March 20, 1986 a Spanish Steps in Rome. The opening of the new "restaurant" tells a story of protests, curiosities and a divided city. On the one hand, the hordes of indignant intellectuals and men and women of entertainment who opposed the famous American chain multiplied; on the other hand, interest in the novelty of the fast food. An article on the inauguration, on the curiosities and on the characters who took turns on that day in March more than thirty years ago.
First McDonald's in Italy: 1986
A revolution. A protest with spaghetti and forks. In Rome, in 1986, a real war broke out against the largest chain of fast food restaurants in the world. A battle that lined up on one side there carbonara, pizza and trattorias and on the other hand burgers and chips and a new restaurant concept. A culinary colonization that sparked the disapproval of characters like Renzo Arbore, Valentino (the designer, with his atelier a few steps from McDonald's, feared that his clothes might be affected by the stench of fried food) and Claudio Villa. A change that tickled the palates of the kids and the many onlookers who crowded the most famous square in Italy. The Americans had aimed high. (Piazza di Spagna has always been a symbol and the center of the cultural and tourist life of Rome).
The opening of the first McDonald's in Italy, despite what the Americans surely thought (in 1986 there were already 500 branches located throughout Europe), was seen as an affront. Who feared for the destruction of the palace, who for the archaeological finds and who fought for the preservation of the Mediterranean food tradition and the good living room of the city. To these reasons was added the refusal for food considered like garbage. The McDonald's of the Eternal City, however, he used only Italian ingredients. There meat came from the city of Bolzano, bread from Milan and ketchup from Bologna.
From the protest to the various McDonald's in Italy (and some curiosities)
The protest resulted in a losing battle by the supporters and defenders of traditional cuisine; a great victory, on the other hand, for the American giant who recorded the presence of 4 people on the morning of the inauguration alone. At the end of the day? A window broken by intense enthusiasm and a good fifty million in proceeds for the first McDonald's in Italy. A few years later, in 1990, McDonald's stores in Italy will become eight, in 1997 it will reach 100, 300 in 2001 and 400 in 2010. Subsequently it will be the turn of the introduction of the service McDrive (the lane reserved for cars for take-away orders) and in 2009 the McCafè (coffee bar).
A curiosity: the first McDonald's to open in Italy was the one in Bolzano. It was 15 October 1985 and it was inaugurated in the central Walther von der Vogelweide square. The restaurant will close on July 4, 1999. The one in Rome is considered the first McDonald's in Italy because already in the 70s the Americans had decided to enter Italy. Furthermore, the premises in Piazza di Spagna had already been chosen for several years.