Granted, the new restaurant is in India. I’d have to take a $750 flight to get there. But still, this is really exciting!
This sounds insane, but it’s true: McDonald’s is opening a restaurant this year that sells no meat products whatsoever, in the northern Indian city of Amritsar. This is partially because the city is a holy city for Sikhs, but also because India is a huge market for vegetarian restaurants. After all, traditions of both Hindus and Muslims (groups that compose most of the population of India) include restricted meat consumption. More than respecting the religious beliefs of Indians, this is a way for McDonald’s to tap into one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. It’s a brilliant business move.
Personally, this makes me very excited. I’ve written before about being a vegetarian and how you have to be extra-vigilant about fulfilling your dietary needs. In that article, I forgot to mention how difficult it can be to find food at fast food restaurants that I can eat that isn’t totally unhealthy. Usually I’m force to get either a dressing-heavy salad, a tiny parfait, or French fries. But it sounds like this restaurant is addressing this problem with items like the McAloo Tikki burger, made with a potato-based patty. I tracked down a picture, check it out!
It’ll be interesting to see if more vegetarian Mickey D’s restaurants spring up in other places around the world. Maybe in Tokyo? Austin, Texas? London? We’ll see. In the meantime, I’m going to be happy that India got the first (there’s a second one due to eventually open in Kashmir). India’s just an awesome country in general, though. In my opinion, at least. For Pete’s sake, they make movies like this:
[via BBC News]
Is McDonald’s still McDonald’s if it offers no meat products for sale? Do you think this restaurant will do well?
guest
That is AWESOME, a dream come true. I definitely hope the trend comes to the states, mainstream. I want to visit LA, I hear there are sooo many vegan-friendly areas there. Unfortunately I’m all the way up in the North-east.
guest
To vegetarians that’s gotta be a little bit like hitler opening one YMCA with regular showers.
guest
How is a fried potato patty on a bun any healthier than french fries?
sunflower / 291 posts
Wait…WHAT? You are a vegetarian. Okay. You eat at McDonalds sometimes. Okay. You expect to find healthy food at McDonalds (vegetarian or not)? EH?
guest
Interesting.
guest
I think it’s a good business move in India, but it would fail in other countries. Why can’t they just sell these options in their regular restaurants – why the need for a separate vegetarian one? Also, how the hell is a potato patty in a bun from McDonald’s any healthier than just ordering fries?
guest
@agnophilo@xanga - LOL
guest
@daydreams_nightmares@xanga - “Why can’t they just sell these options in their regular restaurants”
Yeah seriously. Burger King has a veggie burger I don’t understand why McDonalds can’t do the same. It’s not like it’s a perishable food item, you store it in the freezer.
guest
@ShimmerBodyCream@xanga - mmmm! I didn’t know they had a veggie burger. Might have to order BK delivery after all.
guest
@DrummingMediocrity@xanga - @ShimmerBodyCream@xanga - @AncoraImparo@xanga - WHAT THE FUCK???
guest
@agnophilo@xanga - hahaha. It is!! I don’t know why my fellow vegetarians/vegans are getting excited about this. It’s still a company that profits off the slaugtering of animals, and has found a way to enter another market too. What the fuck?\
It’s like supporting Nike because they have opened ONE factory that isn’t a fucking sweat shop.
guest
@ShimmerBodyCream@xanga - RU SERIOUS
guest
@amateurprose@xanga - wellll perhaps if more people bought the veg stuff/showed support for the veg options they’d get the hint! Also BK received PETA’s “Most Improved National Food Chain” award a few years ago. Hey it’s a start
orchid / 109 posts
Well, it is still junk food, but it let people in Occident speaking about vegetarianism… It is a start. I would not go there as a vegan, but it is better than opening other “meat” restaurants.
guest
Even though it’s still a money-hungry business, McDonald’s actually
adapts its menus depending on which country/market they enter. When I
studied abroad in Tokyo (I don’t see a vegetarian McDonald’s opening
because the Japanese actually do consume a fair amount of meat – beef,
pork, chicken, and seafood – along with rice and vegetables), most of
the items couldn’t be found in American locations; same deal in India
when I went last year, except the ratio of veg-friendly products to
chicken was 2 to 1.
Also, to all you commenters wondering how a
fried potato patty isn’t the same thing as french fries – it’s called a
McAloo Tikki burger for a reason, based on the aloo tikki snack, which
consists of potatoes and seasonings/spices. Indian food/dish, therefore
Indian name of McDonald’s burger. French fries are just potatoes cut in
slices and sprinkled with salt after deep-frying.
guest
Anything for a buck. It’s the American Way, even in India.
guest
Wow, I’d try it. I wish them the best of luck! Very smart business move.
guest
I don’t know; I think the idea of adapting the core principles of anything in order to please every possible group of people is cheap. But, that’s the entire point of capitalism so I’m not surprised.
It’s like those products that claim to be shampoo/conditioner/body wash all in one. It wants to be everything, therefore it is GOOD at nothing.
If I were to go vegetarian or vegan, I’d take McDonald’s off my list.
guest
@books8137@xanga - it’s not that its the same thing, it’s that it’s no healthier than eating regular fries, which is what the OP is implying.
guest
OP I hope you know that McDonald’s fries are infused with beef fats, rendering them a non-vegetarian product.
guest
@daydreams_nightmares@xanga - No, I understood that, but I didn’t agree with the assessment because deep-frying isn’t common in Indian cuisine (at least not the regional varieties I’ve experienced). Most likely the McAloo Tikki patties are pan-fried or pan-seared after the spices are applied as a coating. I could be wrong though, since McDonald’s has some common “standards” across all their locations, in which case the patty would basically be the same thing as french fries lol
rose / 807 posts
LOLOLOLOL
As a vegetarian this doesn’t do anything for me. Does not turn me on one bit. Eat local! Support local! I wonder if this “burger” won’t deteriorate just like the other ones because of all of the preservatives in it. Disgrace.
guest
If they’re already producing the vegetarian products they might as well start offering them in regular McDonald’s… Not that I would trust anything that McD’s made for me, but if I got really desperate & had to eat there I’d opt for the veggie-friendly stuff