McMeal

On April 15, 1955, Ray Kroc opened his own McDonald’s franchise in Des Plaines, IL - the ninth location of the franchise. Eventually, he bought out Richard and Maurice McDonald for $2.7 million, and expanded out of America, first to Canada, then Costa Rica, Panama, Japan, Europe and Australia. Some interesting menu items from around the world include:

•Quebec has a regional treat known as poutine, which is a dish with French fries and cheese curds covered in gravy. McDonald’s in the area serve this as a popular side dish.

•Throughout Canada, you can order chicken fajitas from McDonald’s. However, they're not aviable in American states where fajitas are a popular staple of Mexican restaurants.

•In Egypt, you can find Big Macs with chicken or fish in place of beef and a “McFalafel” sandwich.

•Throughout the Middle East, McDonald’s offers a “McArabia” sandwich, which is a piece of flat bread with chicken or beef patties. They also serve a special wrap called the Paneer Salsa wrap, which takes fried, seasoned cottage cheese and wraps it in flat bread with veggies.

•Most Indian menus are largely different than those in America, as pig and cow products are not served outside of Southern India. The chicken and fish are also prepared in separate areas because or strict religious laws regarding the preparation of food for vegetarians. One of the area’s specialties is the Maharaja Mac, which was originally made with lamb meat but now is made with chicken. They also serve a dish called the McCurry pan, which consists of a bowl made from flakey dough filled with chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. Of all the international McDonald’s menu items, I think this is the one I’d want to try the most.

•Throughout Asia, you can order a side of McRice in place of fries, this is just an order of plain rice with a cool name.

•In China, you can enjoy pineapple and taro pies and a Shogun burger with teriyaki pork. You might also consider the Rice Fantastic, which is like a beef or chicken sandwich with rice patties in place of buns.

•On the Chinese island of Cheung Chau, you can also enjoy mushroom burgers in place of beef during the local Bun Festival.

• In Japan, they serve something called the Ebi Fillet-O, which is a fried shrimp sandwich. There is also a Tamago Double Mac, which has three beef patties, a poached egg, bacon and pepper sauce. You can even top off your meal with tea milkshakes.

• In Thailand they sell corn pies.

• In Finland and Norway, you can have wraps with fried fish instead of chicken or beef.

• In El Salvador, you can often have French fries made with yucca instead of potatoes.

•In Mexico, a popular breakfast option is the McMolletes, English muffins with refried beans, cheese and pico de gallo salsa.

•In New Zealand, a popular favorite is the Kiwiburger, which has beef, a poached egg, veggies, cheese and beetroot.