The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

A Very Caledonian New Year - Do Fries Go With That Shake Up?

A couple months ago, the Q was musing over the possible futuristic fate of the fabled McDonalds at Ocean and Parkside. Turns out, I wasn't far off at all. Have you peeked inside? Holy Angus! McDonalds has gone all McFancy. What with all the shiny new glass, it's hard to see inside, but a keen pair of eyes will note the incandescent light fixtures and mod furniture.


Most of the trad McDonalds facade seems to have been ditched in favor of subtler hues and lines.

But nothing prepared me for these bizarre wallpaperings. I have no idea who that laughing guy is...looks a bit like maybe Ronald McDonald without makeup? Kim Jong Il? (and were you like me, thinking for years that Kim Jong Il was actually Kim Jong II? As in Kim Jong the Second? People kepts saying "eel" and I couldn't figure out where that was coming from.)
It's like they're going for a Shake-Shack style makeover. I have my doubts that Brooklyn's trendiest will ever again set foot in a McDonalds even if you lured them with free PBRs. There's too many options out there, and the factory-food PR damage has been done to Mickey D's reputation. Still, a better looking fast food joint is all good news for that corner. I may even stop in for one of their much ballyhooed McSmoothies.

Now, across the street, I snapped the below photo. Can anyone explain to me what's going on here? All I can say is that this marketeer has cajones!

6 comments:

Daran C-W said...

Aw damn, when I was walking past that the other day, I was really interested in what it could have been. Interest gone.

Anonymous said...

I saw this today and was hopeful a McD's had failed and something new was comin to town but no....fail. It is interesting in a way I might buy the cheapest cup of coffee & crank on their internet after using enough sugar to negate the profit.

Anonymous said...

Give me McDonald's over Rays and that dump on Flatbush/Winthrop. And the other dump next to ParkSidez

Bob Marvin said...

That's VERY faint praise anon 1/2 8PM but, FWIW, I too would take McD's over what appears to be, functionally, a criminal enterprise.

JDB said...

I know everyone loves to hate on McD's and I do as well but it is a legit business that does employee a fair number of people. Plus there coffee is cheap and not bad.

theQ said...

You know, as a carnivore, I don't generally like to take sides in debates about fast food. I eat it from time to time, and try not to think of the impact, because frankly eating beef for dinner is among the worst things you can do environmentally, worse than driving 30 miles a day I just read. Watching the proliferation of Shake-Shack types of bizzes, one has to wonder if people have managed to deny the fact that grass-fed doesn't necessarily mean humane or earth-friendly. Grass-fed doesn't even mean "pasture fed." Most cattle get grass in their early years then get force-fed grain only in the last couple months. Frankly, you couldn't feed America's zeal for burgers on pasture-fed beef alone. To date, there's a bit of a scaling problem with that!

I don't like McDonalds. I don't like the food very much, though it has gotten better since they went all "Angus" on us. But hating on McDonalds while not changing one's general eating habits is probably a tad hypocritical. Personally, I feel very ethically compromised by my inability to give up the beef.