A McDonald’s in New Zealand Lets Diners Eat Inside a Decommissioned Airplane

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Airplane food takes on a slightly different meaning in Taupo, New Zealand.

That’s because the small resort town on the North Island is home to one of the world’s most unique McDonald’s restaurants, which happens to be attached to a decommissioned airplane.

h/t: insider

Eileen Byrnes

While you can’t order your food from the old Douglas DC-3 — the counters are located in the McDonald’s next door — 20 diners can eat their Big Macs inside the aircraft, which still features its original cockpit behind a glass door.

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The plane, emblazoned with the McDonald’s logo on its exterior, has sat in its current spot for over 30 years. It used to advertise a car dealership, the Aeroplane Car Company, but was purchased by McDonald’s in 1990 and made part of that location.

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Eileen Byrne and her husband Des have owned this McDonald’s since 2000, and have been franchisees since 1995. She says they were “thrilled” when they found themselves topping the Daily Meal’s list of the world’s coolest McDonald’s in 2013, and that the location has since become a huge tourist attraction.

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“We got a lot of publicity from all over the world and our locals are very proud of it. It has become a landmark here in New Zealand,” McDonald’s owner Eileen Byrne told Insider of the restaurant, which has its dining room inside a Douglas DC-3 plane.

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She said that she and her husband, Des, added an Instagram-worthy area beneath the nose of the plane so that visitors can take photos.

Eileen Byrnes