Blue Whale’s Eye, Catoosa, Oklahoma. Photo by David Fisk.
Largest McDonald’s In the World?
Largest McDonald’s In the World?
Spanning the Will Rogers Turnpike, I-44, near Vinita, Oklahoma is this 29,135 square foot McDonald’s restaurant. Seating some 300 hungry hamburger enthusiasts, it was once touted as the largest McDonalds in the world.
Later another “World’s Largest McDonald’s” was acclaimed to be in Moscow, Russia. But now, the true leader is in Orlando, Florida, in a building decorated to look like a large bag of French fries.
But this McDonald’s spanning over the interstate is still an interesting photograph opportunity, if not still the “World’s Largest.” With a highway exit on each side and a golden arch on the facade, visitors can take a view in a window seat to watch the nation roar by mere inches below.
Vintage postcard of the Glass House long before it turned into McDonalds.
However, McDonald’s didn’t build this restaurant. In the 1960’s it was known as the Glass House Restaurant, when Howard Johnson’s was the “flavor of the decade” rather than McDonald’s, and life was a little slower.
While it still touts itself as the World’s Largest McDonald’s, and square footage wise, it is large, the McDonald’s portion of the building is about the same size as what you would find in any shopping mall. The rest of the area is taken over by tourist information, a gift shop, seating areas, and other retail centers.
© Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated November, 2010.
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