McDonald's Tests Four International Menu Items in U.S. Restaurants

Mike Pomranz
Updated
Stroopwafel McFlurry, anyone?

A complaint sometimes heard about McDonald’s—and fast food in general—is that many of these large international chains will offer awesome experimental menu options overseas that never find their way to the States, no matter how much buzz they get here. Whether you like McDonald’s or not, it’s frustrating to hear about things like Finland’s McVegan burger, Japan’s pumpkin and chocolate sauce French fries, or Uruguay’s caramel-filled pancakes and realize that you can’t try them even if you wanted to. But recently, McDonald’s has heard America’s pleas, and when the burger giant opened the massive public restaurant at its new headquarters in Chicago in April, the brand decided to offer a rotating menu of global food and drink options—with our own taster later writing that “often, the food is far better than you were expecting.”

Of course, Chicago is a lot closer for Chicagoans, but what about the rest of the country? Well, this week McDonald’s announced it’s taking this international infiltration to the next level. For a limited time, the company has begun testing four popular global items at 50 locations in South Florida billed as “Flavors from Abroad.” Here’s what Floridians can expect to find:

  • From Spain, the Grand McExtreme Bacon Burger is a single or double fresh quarter-pound burger topped with McBacon sauce, Applewood smoked bacon, Gouda cheese, and slivered onions, served between a sesame seed bun.

  • From Malaysia, the BBQ McShaker Fries are your usual McDonald’s fries served with a smoky BBQ seasoning.

  • From Hong Kong, the McSpicy Chicken is a crispy chicken fillet marinated with spicy seasoning and topped with the classic mayo and lettuce.

  • From the Netherlands, the Stroopwafel McFlurry is vanilla soft serve blended with caramel waffle cookie pieces and caramel sauce.

Sadly for stroopwafel fans outside of Florida, according to Nation’s Restaurant News, restaurant analyst Mark Kalinowski of Kalinowski Equity Research suggested that this Flavors from Abroad test was probably only that—a test. “It’s doubtful, for example, that we’re going to see a nationwide rollout of the Stroopwafel McFlurry, no matter how delicious that menu item tastes,” he was quoted as saying. You can quote us a saying, “So close, yet so far.”