Back To The Future At Newington McDonald’s
NEWINGTON — The golden arches have returned to the site of what was once the oldest surviving McDonald’s restaurant in Connecticut, but they’re soaring a lot higher than they did in 1959.
A $2 million redevelopment of the McDonald’s on the Berlin Turnpike, near the intersection of Route 287, now dwarfs the original restaurant, which had opened with only walk-up counter service.
Although the new restaurant’s exterior has the same look of the 1950s shop, with its familiar bookend-style arches, the similarities end there.
Inside, the restaurant is pure 21st century. It includes the state’s only “McCafe,” which borrows a page from Starbucks by offering baked goods and a place where parents can get cappuccinos while their kids munch on Happy Meals. There are some retro touches, such as the Rock Ola jukebox and a 1950s-vintage mural, but the restaurant also plans to feature the latest in Wi-Fi accessibility.
The restaurant’s opening last month is part of McDonald’s corporate attempt to reinvigorate its brand, giving its restaurants a new look that might appeal to a broader cross-section of customers.
McDonald’s also has rolled out healthier menu choices, is redesigning interiors to encourage lingering and has pursued the goal of not only being fast, but good. The fast-food giant is also focusing on non-traditional meal times because breakfast, lunch and dinner have shifted as workers put in longer days.
The Newington site was rendered in what is called the “1950’s Concept” design, which was presented in 2005 during a 50th-anniversary celebration at the site of the original McDonald’s in Chicago. This design is currently seen on just 125 restaurants in the country, and will only be available at restaurants that had that design originally.
Four plasma TVs are mounted above different sorts of seating arrangements, including cozy turquoise booths for two; spacious, hot-pink booths for six; single “grab and go” counter spots in the restaurant; and tables for two in the cafe zone, along with regular floor-mounted tables and loose chairs.
Owner-operator George Michell, of Michell Enterprises, owns five McDonald’s in the state. He bought the Newington restaurant in 2001 and said the decision to rebuild in Newington was an easy one.
Since the 50-year-old building needed much more “than just a face lift,” Michell decided “to pull out all the stops” after seeing the “1950s Concept” revealed in Chicago.
“We want our customers and crew to be comfortable and safe,” said Tyrone Davis, director of operations for the five restaurants and a 16-year employee, referring to more than $200,000 in improvements. They include new kitchen equipment, such as state-of-the-art deep fryers and bun toasters that help save energy.
There was no outcry to save the old restaurant building because it no longer resembled the original, according to Newington town officials. In the 1970s, as with many McDonald’s, the building was given a red mansard-style roof and brick facing, and its golden arches were scaled back, Town Planner Ed Meehan said.
The new design closely resembles the original 1959 building, after a 1964 addition provided indoor seating for customers, Davis said. It maintains the big, yellow arches that stem from the ground upward and down again, and a sloping roof, a significant feature in the original style.
Originally, the restaurant only offered walk-up counter service. It now encompasses 4,800 square feet, room for 125 diners and parking for 100 vehicles.
“We liked the nostalgia of the design,” said Davis, who estimated that the restaurant will recoup its $2 million investment within six years.
The brightly lit bakery is the first thing customers see as they walk through the front door. It’s a change that always surprises customers, said chef Efrain Hidalgo, a 26-year McDonald’s employee. The cafe zone, which added $250,000 to the total project cost, features a wall-sized mural of an authentic 1950s McDonald’s drive-up scene.
“It’s McDonald’s, so you think hamburgers, and here we’re using cups, saucers and plates,” Hidalgo said.
Dana and Garrett Havens of New Britain have visited the new McDonald’s a few times with their two preschoolers. Although it’s no shock that both children love to visit the new, brightly colored space, their mother said she appreciates the choice to order something from the bakery, such as a cappuccino, while her kids enjoy Happy Meals.
The bakery’s glass cases are filled with dozens of cakes, pies, cookies, bread and other treats, such as cannolis and Napoleon torte, and fancier coconut and chocolate cakes, fruit pastries and muffins. The recipes were all developed by Hidalgo, along with professional baker George Servant, the general sales manager for Michell.
Michell’s fast-food workers are paid $9 an hour to start and go up from there, he said. The Stamford resident knows that “minimum wage is just not going to cut it” for quality employees who might commit to a job for the long term. The Newington restaurant will soon offer a new training room to provide computer-assisted classes.
Across the state, 42 Connecticut McDonald’s have been renovated within the past three years, but only Michell has chosen a complete rebuild with the retro, 1950s design. Others are updating the look inside, adding new playscapes, but keeping the red mansard roof.
“The Berlin Turnpike has a colorful history,” said Michell, adding that this McDonald’s has played an important role in that history, too.
“It’s impressive how [the Berlin Turnpike] recovered so well after the major interstates were created.”
By KATHLEEN SCHASSLER, Special To The Courant
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