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“I still remember how insanely huge the milkshake looked and I didn’t know how to hold a Big Mac with my tiny hands”

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The Soviet Union dissolved on December 26, 1991

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Setting a record for the number of customers served by a single McDonald’s in a day

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In total, over 30,000 customers passed through the doors on the opening day of the restaurant

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And people couldn’t get enough

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A Big “Mak” was selling for 3.75 rubles

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And in the country where the average salary was about 150 rubles per month

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Including Boris Yeltsin who later became the 1st President of Russia

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The opening drew many important people

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“And it is also a story about the Soviet who saw a sign outside reading ‘Rubles Only’ – and who said to me, ‘This is my restaurant'”

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“This is a story about co-operation between nations”

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“I’m particularly proud of the people story behind the first opening, both from Canada and Russia, learning from each other and working as one team”

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A plan first envisioned when George Cohon, founder and CEO of McDonald’s Canada, met Soviet officials at the ’76 Summer Olympics in Montreal

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The Moscow McDonald’s initiative was a joint venture between McDonald’s of Canada and Moscow city council

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On January 31, 1990, the first Soviet McDonald’s opened, in Moscow

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“Nothing like our fat old ladies in white gowns sitting in front of empty shelves, pyramids of dusty canned food as window dressing”

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“Once inside we were blown away by the number of young cashiers behind the huge counter, smiling, moving like bees, serving one meal after another”

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“That wasn’t so much of a problem as we were used to standing in lines for days just to get our monthly ration of sugar and tea”

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“We stood under the melting sun for around eight hours,” one visitor said

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The summer came but the lines just kept growing. People from other cities were flocking the restaurant just for a single hamburger

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Reportedly, the restaurant expected to serve around 1,000 during its first day, but more than 5,000 Russians lined up in Pushkinskaya Square before it even opened

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And you could say that the appearance of this notorious symbol of capitalism was a sign that times were changing

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The venture had been in talks with the Soviet officials since 1976

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Around 600 were hired

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In a country where unemployment did not exist, 35,000 people applied for a job in the fast food restaurant

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And a venue with 900 seats needed a lot of employees, too

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It was the largest McDonald’s in the world at the time of its construction