It’s a concept of cosmic proportions.
Nosh-talgic golden arches supporters have a new reason to be excited for the holidays.
A crack team of McDonald’s buffs and industry insiders has offered intel on the burger chain’s top-secret spinoff restaurant CosMc’s that every fry fan’s been buzzing about.
“The emphasis is going to be on taking orders out as opposed to sitting down and eating there,” the Snackolator, an influencer who tries various snacks, postulated in a TikTok video with nearly 500,000 views.
First announced in July by company CEO Chris Kempczinski, CosMc’s is reportedly based on the six-armed alien-robot hybrid character of the same that relocated to the fictional world of McDonaldland after discovering McDonald’s burgers and fries, per Golden Arches canon.
The intergalactic burger lover’s backstory was first outlined in a 1980s ad that also featured Grimace, Ronald McDonald and McDonaldland’s Professor.
Unfortunately, not much else was known about CosMc’s eponymous restaurant concept; Kempczinski only disclosed that it was a “small-format concept with all the DNA of McDonald’s but its own unique personality.”
The Golden Arches boss added that the fast food subsidiary would be tested in a handful of sites in “a limited geography” come early next year.
Fortunately, thanks to some internet sleuthing and videos from Big Mac buffs and industry insiders, we may have an inkling about what this spinoff eatery may entail.
In the aforementioned clip, the Snackulator shared a now-viral picture of a blue building with the retro-looking CosMc’s logo on the side that’s being constructed in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
He noted that the structure had a staggering four drive-thru lanes and was being built next to a preexisting Golden Arches (a Google image search revealed that CosMc’s is being built on the former site of a Boston Market, Business Insider reported).
From these clues, the foodfluencer deduced that CosMc’s would be a to-go concept rather than a dine-in eatery.
As for the actual menu, the Snackulator posited: “The kind of conventional thinking is that this is going to be something of a competitor to like Starbucks, where it’s going to focus on the McCafe stuff and the coffee and the drinks as opposed to serving burgers and fries, which makes even more sense when you realize that this CosMc’s is being built directly next to an existing McDonald’s.”
Ex-McDonald’s corporate chef Mike Haracz, who is well known for spilling the “secret sauce” on everything McDonald’s, floated a similar theory.
“What I’m thinking CosMc’s is is a dining list so you cannot walk in,” the corporation’s former manager of culinary innovation theorized, adding that the restaurant’s likely made for “ultra speed.”
In that vein, Haracz estimated that a “lot of technology would be involved,” perhaps even artificial intelligence, which has become increasingly prevalent in the restaurant sector.
“I’m also assuming a lot of technology will be replacing humans in the restaurant,” he surmised.
The concept is part of McDonald’s ongoing nostalgia offensive, which recently saw the release of a purple milkshake in honor of the aubergine-esque mascot Grimace’s 52nd birthday.
Despite the beverage’s somewhat grimace-worthy appearance, CEO Chris Kempczinski credited it with causing McDonald’s sales to skyrocket during the latest earnings quarter.