patrick.net

On Sunday, the new Russian fast-food chain that bought out McDonald’s, opened its first 15 restaurants in Moscow. Vkusno & tochka plans to eventually reopen all 850.

At a grand opening on Moscow’s Pushkin Square, the restaurant appeared to be an intentional copy of the American chain. Fish burgers, chicken nuggets and double cheeseburgers were all on the menu. “Our goal is that our guests do not notice a difference either in quality or ambience,” said Oleg Paroev, chief executive of Vkusno & tochka. The restaurant served old packets of McDonald’s hot mustard sauce marked up to erase any reference to the fast-food chain.

The new name was an appeal to the nostalgia of many Russians, who have become accustomed to western goods and brands, even as the Kremlin has decried the influence of the west. “The name changes, the love remains,” read the new restaurant’s slogan. Slogans sewn on the employees’ uniforms said: “The same smiles.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/12/mcdonalds-restaurants-in-russia-reopen-under-new-brand

я люблю это!