I certainly didn't. But it turns out that there have actually been two of them. The first of which was posted up in St. Louis, Missouri. This floating McDonald's was a dream come true for the company. It lived for about 20 years before being shut down. And it did some pretty good business. Not surprising when you could see the arch while eating at the 'Golden Arches'.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Floating McDonald's
Yeah, they really threw a McDonald's on a river. In March of 1980, it officially opened its doors in the shadow of the St.Louis Arch.
The boat itself was designed to look like one of the old, popular riverboats. Which, honestly, is a very novel idea. An idea that could genuinely do even better in today's day and age. (Gotta love nostalgia bait.)
There was room in the boat for 134 people inside and an additional 200 outside. Yeah, they had outdoor dining at this McDonald's. Talk about bougie.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, though, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows building this thing. The riverboat restaurant idea was initially met with some opposition from the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. But after some back and forth, a 25-year lease was signed in 1979.
The McBarge ended up making $100,000 in tax revenue annually. That's pretty freaking good for a boat that doesn't move. Samuel Haynes, McDonald's real estate manager at the time, talked with the Dispatch about the success of the location.
He stated, "If we can find a large group of people together, we should be able to feed them, The Arch draws more than 3 million people a year." He then added, "We looked down at the river and saw a lot of people taking advantage of it, so we thought there was no reason why a company as adaptable and progressive as McDonald's couldn't do it."
A Second McBoat Cruise?
(Sorry about the sub-header, I'm just having some fun now.) But there was a brother to this magnificent vessel. It was called the Friendship 500 and was built for the 1986 World Expo in Vancouver.
Sadly, it too has gone under. Underwater, that is, as it started sinking this past March into the Fraser River.
Maybe now McDonald's can start doing some ghost tours!
