by Ashley Harness

Created on: June 20, 2008

McDonald's Restaurant

McDonald's was originally established as a restaurant in 1940, on the West Coast of the United States in San Bernardino, California. Before McDonald's there were no actual "fast-food" restaurants. It actually started out as a hot dog stand called "Airdrome" that began in Arcadia and ended up in San Bernardino and owned by the two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald. They then started up a roadside restaurant, selling twenty-five menu items, that were mostly barbecue. Eight years after the McDonald's restaurant opened, they closed down the restaurant for about seven months to revamp their whole way of doing business. The traditional carhops were fired, the menu items changed drastically, and in 1948, the "Speedee Service System" was introduced.

The menu now consisted of hamburgers at 15 cents each, french fries, and milkshakes. The price of hamburgers at McDonald's were half that of what they were at other diners, plus they were made fast, and sold fast with the assembly line efficiency of the Speedee Service System. In 1953, the McDonald brothers discovered the magic of a franchise system, and began to branch out. However, it was a year later in 1954 when they met Ray Kroc, who would later become the franchising authority on McDonald's restaurants outside the state of California. Ray Kroc eventually took over the business, drove the McDonald's restaurants into success, while driving its original founders, Dick and Mac McDonald, out of business. Today the McDonald's Corporation has restaurants all over the world, and makes billions of dollars every year.

Eating healthy at a McDonald's restaurant is not impossible; you can have both nutrition and great tasting food. There are plenty of low fat, and low in carb alternatives on the menu for the health conscious. McDonald's has revamped their menu to include many different meal alternatives for both children and adults, to support a healthier lifestyle through the food they serve. Getting a meal for the family? You can substitute french fries in the Happy Meal for Apple Dippers, or yogurt. You replace soda with apple juice, or milk as well, for a healthy alternative for your child. If you're getting lunch or dinner for yourself, skip over the items you know will be high in fat. The Premium Chicken sandwiches come in both grilled and fried, and all are served on a wheat bun. Then of course there are several choices for salads. You could try a salad with hot grilled chicken instead of friend chicken pieces; or no meat on your salad at all. Even without meat, the different varieties of salad include different veggies and ingredients to keep every salad option both nutritions, and maintain a variety. When eating at any restaurant, the decision to eat healthy lies in your hands.

Learn more about this author, Ashley Harness.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.