McDonald's
Fast food restaurant · River North
600 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60610
Highlights
Modern McDonald's with trees on roof, solar panels, charging stations
Modern McDonald's with trees on roof, solar panels, charging stations
"A former Chicago Bull sharpshooter was arrested over the weekend and accused of punching a security guard at a River North McDonald’s." - Ashok Selvam
"A global fast-food giant that helped pioneer celebrity-branded menu items and audio-marketing: an early high-profile tie-up with Michael Jordan produced a custom Quarter Pounder with cheese, smoked bacon, and barbecue sauce that launched in select Chicago outlets in March 1991 and, after strong demand, expanded regionally through 1993. In 2003 the company deployed an enduring “audio logo” campaign engineered with the Neptunes and a Justin Timberlake single (with Clipse contributions) to restore momentum after a sales slump; the campaign became the brand’s longest-running global marketing effort. Across the 2000s and 2010s it repeatedly partnered with high-profile and international artists (from Destiny’s Child to Travis Scott, J Balvin, and BTS) to sell signature meals, merch and in-app content—strategies that generated large upfront fees and substantial ancillary revenue (for example, the Travis Scott collaboration reportedly included a $5 million up-front payment and sizable merchandise returns). These celebrity tie-ins bolstered cultural relevance even as the company faced labor disputes, criticism over lobbying and pandemic workplace practices, and scrutiny about whether promotional gestures could substitute for deeper commitments to employees; the corporation also made public donations to civil-rights groups following nationwide unrest in 2020." - Shamira Ibrahim
"Under national scrutiny, the company faced coordinated strikes in 13 cities organized by Fight for $15, drawing celebrity and political support as workers demanded $15/hour and the right to unionize. Recent legal filings — including about 20 EEOC claims, multiple civil suits, and an OSHA complaint from a South Side Chicago restaurant — allege persistent sexual harassment and retaliation (examples include a supervisor cutting a woman’s hours after she reported a coworker exposing himself, an area manager pressuring a financially vulnerable worker for sex and then retaliating when she refused, and a teenager whose family lost jobs after she rebuffed a supervisor). A National Employment Law Project report documents at least 721 media-reported incidents of workplace violence from 2016–2019 (many involving guns), and workers describe frequent emergency calls, managers advising staff to defend themselves with hot oil or coffee, and daily fear on the job. Corporate leadership says it has partnered with RAINN, encouraged franchisees to adopt new policies, rolled out training and a complaint hotline, and secured shareholder approval for executive compensation, but workers and advocates call these measures insufficient and point to the largely franchised model (roughly 90–95% franchised) as a barrier to holding corporate leadership accountable." - Jenny G. Zhang
"A new flagship location that opened this morning in downtown Chicago throws a multitude of modern amenities at customers. This new design features 27-foot windows and a mini-arboretum with trees poking out from the restaurant’s roof." - Ashok Selvam
"The future is here for McDonald’s as the fast-food giant today in Chicago unveiled a shiny new 19,000-square-foot restaurant enclosed by 27-foot windows and trees popping out from the roof. The restaurant, in the city’s River North neighborhood, replaces the Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonald’s. It opens on Thursday morning at 600 N. Clark Street." - Ashok Selvam
