If you’re not acquainted with the inner workings of the iconic Golden Arches outside of North America, you may be gobsmacked to learn that McDonald’s is a proponent of menu anarchy when the situation calls for it. Indeed, beyond the confines of the fast food chain’s original stomping grounds, the options tend to range as far as your McImagination can roam.
Speaking of which, TikTok foodie @biteswithlily recently took an excursion to Rome, Italy, where she was greeted by what might be the single most gorgeous McDonald’s establishment out there, and the food they offered seemed to compound that first impression spectacularly.
Beyond the marble, statue-laden walls of Rome’s McDonald’s, Lily indulged in a variety of goodies ranging from a chicken wings, panzerotti, and McNugget bucket and a Big Mac in McWrap form, to a single block of cheese and a helping of McTiramisu of all things. Suffice to say that Rome’s take on Ronald McDonald’s calorie kingdom is a cut above the burgers and fries most often consumed by inebriated clubgoers nearing the end of a long, strobe-heavy night.
Of course, it’s no big deviation from European fast food in general, which tends to be lighter, healthier, and more nutritious than American fast food on account of using fresh ingredients over processed ones, preferring to bake or grill their menu items over deep-frying them, and being bound to stricter laws around food service. The tradeoff? You’ll have to shell out much more money to get your hands on the McGoods in Europe, as Lily alluded to in the video.
Indeed, perhaps a glimpse at what McDonald’s is packing overseas will ruin fast food for us North Americans forever, and when you consider what we’re actually eating when we take a bite of an American Big Mac, that’s probably for the best.