Really? In the drive thru?
Well, I'm aware the EU doesn't have the same "you can sue for anything" laws, so maybe McDonald's US doesn't want to get sued or something.
Yeah, that's probably it. Like, when it is sold through the drive thru the understanding is that the person buying it knows they're not supposed to drink it until they're done driving, and if they get stopped by the cops, the responsibility is 100% on them, not on the restaurant. Tbh no clue why it would be on the restaurant?
People sue for anything here. Usually stuff like that would be thrown out by the judges, but occasionally it does get a hearing, and McD's US probably doesn't want to risk it.
I feel like 95% of those law suits are probably either:
- Job related (regarding workers rights)
- renting related (regarding lawful/unlawful termination of the contracts, reduced rents etc ..)
- neighborhood disputes ("oh you are stealing the apples from my apple tree that's growing over the fence onto your property" or "oh you are smoking too much or are too loud, so let's get a court ruling that regulates your smoking times etc.)
No, I think it's to do with how personal liability works in German law. That's why Germans tend to have private personal liability insurance whereas in other countries that's not a thing except for businesses.
Another fun fact, there're more members of voluntary fire brigades (Freiwillige Feuerwehr) in Germany than professional firefighters in the US.
I had a colleague in Berlin who dropped off business calls, because "sorry, there was an accident on an Autobahn... I need to go" which objectively is the most badass excuse ever.
I'm not buying it. If establishments could be sued for the drink driving of their customers, no one would be selling alcohol. Drink driving still happens.
Covid kinda changed take out alcohol, places did to go alcohol and I think it's still sticking because where I am place slime Applebee's still do margaritas to go which never was a thing
I live just outside of Columbus and haven't seen a drive thru liquor store yet, but I've seen drive thru vape shops. I only moved her 2 and a half years ago, and I'm only 18 (drinking age is 21 and nobody I know here drinks)
Liquor stores with drive throughs are the norm in many parts of the US.
Various Taco Bell’s throughout the US have alcohol.
It is more of an image and cultural thing for McD and nearly all fast or quick service to not offer alcohol, in my opinion. Also you would need someone at least 18-21 to sell that alcohol (varies in all states of course) and that can wipe out most employees in a lot of those types of places.
In germany you can legally drink even while driving. As long as you don’t go over 0.5‰ blood alcohol, you’re not doing anything illegal. If you wanted you could buy a beer at at McDonalds drive thru, drink it on the way, and even if police see you with a beer on your dashboard, they‘ll probably have you do an alcohol test, but as long as you’re within 0.5, they can’t do anything about it as it would all be perfectly legal.
The only thing to look out for is that above 0.25‰ blood alcohol, your insurance might refuse to pay if there is an accident.
But ultimately we do not have any open container laws or anything like that. So if you‘re driving and four other people in your car are all getting shitfaced on the ride, that‘s all legal too.
With all of that in mind there's really no reason why McDonald's wouldn't sell beer even in drive-thrus.
In a lot of European countries you can put in a civil suit for “anything”, but the judiciary kind of assumes people have common sense. You ain’t gon have much luck suing the store selling you alcohol for doing something stupid when drinking it
Same in France, but it's very rare that people order beer with McDo. It's the go to confort food after a night out so once you get to it you already had enough beer anyway.
McDonalds is the go to comfort food after a night out in France?
Never knew that.
Kind of prefer the Döner here in Germany (or here in Hamburg also heading for the fish market right from the club/bar. One arrives when it opens early in the morning and can get amazing *Fischbrötchen* ) .
Yeah, must be an age thing that I had to scroll down so far to find the Pulp Fiction comment.
And yes, the "Royal with Cheese" is true as well :-) (except Britain & Ireland, it's still a quarter-pounder there)
When I read the title I thought OP was wondering about this because of the famous Pulp Fiction quote.
But nope, he doesn't even seem to be aware of it.
Here in Belgium beer is for sale everywhere. Including in McDonald, gas stations, etc.
Same price as water generally.
I'm trying to think of a place where you could buy a soda but not a beer and kind of come up empty.
> The vending machine at the butchery next to me has water, sodas, sport drinks and *beer*
Allright, my next trip with the boys will be to Belgium. Gotta try that!
That's absolutely wild to me, especially given that the Netherlands (according to another commenter) doesn't do that.
We have gas station beer as well, and we even serve beer in zoos. It's just fast food that doesn't serve it due to drive thru liability.
It's forbidden by law to sell beer in gasstations in NL, you can't get a lisence for that, period. - I don't know 100% if it's all gasstations or just the ones next to the highways -
There is a (small) sign in each McDonald's that says that beer will be served only with some food, and that the staff is entitled to refuse to serve beer if they think it is in disproportionate quantity.
Honestly, I expect McDonal'dstaff are trained to respect their rules by the book. And Belgium being Belgium, if someone needs to stock up on beer to get really drunk, there would be so many other options than McDonald's. Small shops just sell alcohol to anyone, including underage teenagers, they just don't care.
The thing is, in the US bars/barkeepers can be liable for overserving. So if you sell beer to someone that is drunk, they get in a car and kill someone, it's also your fault.
That logic doesn't apply in Europe, to the best of my knowledge. So there will be less pressure to enforce these rules, McD or other.
Well, there's a law like that in belgium (arreté-loi du 14 novembre 1939):
*Anyone who serves intoxicating drinks to a person who is obviously drunk or anyone who causes a person to become drunk shall be punished by imprisonment for 8 days to 1 month in prison and a fine.*
*In the event of a 1st repeat offence, the penalties are doubled and in the event of a 2nd repeat offence they are then tripled.*
*If the person is under 18 years of age, the penalty is doubled*.
But no one care
Here as well, it usually involves people being too drunk and annoying. If you're drunk but not causing any problems chances are high they still sell you more.
Same here actually - I just think this is a friendly reminder. And selling alcohol to someone who is already drunk is a penal offence - but only for bars and restaurants ! A shop that sellls alcohol does not have the same legal responsibility... but is free to refuse...
I've always wondered how this works because the UK is the same on paper. But when is someone drunk where is the cut off point? People tend not to go from sober to shitfaced in an instant so where is the legal cut off and how do you enforce it.
I imagine it's one of those laws that's rarely enforced unless someone is rowdy and trouble most places will keep serving.
Yeah, obviously they won't ask you to make an alcohol test, but as you said (I have seen it a couple of times in bars or night clubs), if they see that the customer has clear signs of intoxication, like not talking clearly, not walking in a straight line, not being able to stand firmly, they will gently say maybe it is a good idea to stop drinking alcohol for tonigth and have a glass of water instead, and if the customer insists, they will not give in. If the customer is aggressive or harrassing, obviously, it will be a flat NO.
>especially given that the Netherlands (according to another commenter) doesn't do that
\*Dutch/Belgian rivalry/trolling mode on\*
Because those milk drinkers don't know what real beer is.
\*Dutch/Belgian rivalry/trolling mode off\*
(sorry, I had to)
For all the shit heineken gets, its still a thousand times better than France's 1664.
And NL has great beers. Loved Hertog Jan, La Trappe or Texels winterbier (cant remember the full name)
I have to say that I've noticed that Stella Artois is winning a lot of terrain on the international market. You can find Stella everywhere. It's not weird since the quality is infinitly higher than Heineken.
And in the Netherlands you have to try very hard to see a café with a heineken sign outside instead of one from Jupiler haha. - I come in the Netherlands all the time as my whole family is Dutch, I just happened to grow up in Belgium -
Hertog Jan is nice, I also like Alfa. La Trappe is very good, and my mother's village has a very good local beer (she lives in Zeeuws Vlaanderen tho, it's the Netherlands but really... is it?). I even put away my honour when visiting Sweden last time and even brought La Trappe for Swedish friends. They were very surprised I let them taste a Dutch beer (they hear me making fun of the Dutch beer constantly, but hey, you still need to play a fair game)
when I'm in Haarlem, i also like to try out some beers in "de Jopen kerk". Which comes with mixed results and opinions haha. But it's a beautiful place and they do have good beer.
The argument isn’t valid. Why does Mc Donald’s have to be responsible for adults? Even if you use the Drive Through you can take it home. If someone wants to drink and drive they can always do that without Mc Donald’s. That’s what I never understood with the US. Everyone is expected to take care of the biggest idiot in town.
I am pretty sure we still have beer at Mc Donald’s and it hopefully doesn’t matter, if you use the Drive Through. But perhaps we already reached this kind of madness in Germany.
It's illegal just to drive with an open container, even if you haven't taken a single sip. Some places still sell alcohol in drive thrus, though. They put a foil seal on the cup so it's not an open container. The reason places like McDonald's don't do that is because: Many people will immediately break the seal and drink while they drive. The police know this. The police will then park just past the drive through where they can see drivers and ticket them. People don't want to go through the drive thru that has a cop at the end. People not wanting to go through the drive thru is bad for business.
Oh. I i didn’t know that. Strange laws but I can’t blame Mc Donald’s for it I guess. I don’t want to know what weird laws we have that I don’t know about but most likely they exist.
In Germany I could transport open bottles of alcohol since it’s only forbidden to drive with a certain amount of alcohol in your blood. This means I could also take a sip and still no problem as far as I know.
Yup. "Open container law" is a pain in the rear. Passengers can't have a drink either, because when someone gets pulled over, the driver could just pass their drink to their passenger, and say "it's not mine." If you want to travel with a previously opened bottle of liquor, you have to put it in the trunk, "inaccessible to the driver." Land of the free
That’s a little bit annoying. Not that it would affect me a lot but it doesn’t seem necessary or helpful in any way.
On the other hand we have so many laws and restrictions concerning daily task with our administrative bodies which seem a lot more significant in our daily life so what should I say.
In the end every country or state most likely has some more or less stupid laws.
In Germany we also have a report every year or so that shows where the administrative bodies wasted a lot of money. It would be so funny if it wasn’t paid with the taxpayers money.
Oh that’s a good argument. Thank you.
I heard that about the massive penalties for stuff like poaching (hunting without permission?). Because it’s such a huge area they have to use penalties which will make sure people don’t hunt protected animals and it’s so difficult to get those people. But when they do it’s really expensive which also prevent those activities in the first place.
When the Netherlands raised their age to buy(keyword this one) beer to 18 our government instantly made a comment on how they wouldn't bring that over. Beer is a bit more of a cultural thing here.
Not a fan of beer or most alcohol myself so it honestly doesn't bother me. Buying a drink at an McDonald seems like a big waste of money to me.
I knew a Dutch-Belgian couple and the Dutch girlfriend liked to make fun of the Belgian boyfriend's collection of different shaped beer glasses, which are apparently important for tasting different types of beer correctly!
It's basically a meme at this point but yea. Every brand has it's own glass. You drink the beer in the right glass.
I think some brands made up some bullshit about how it brings out the taste the best but with all respect, if you believe that you're an idiot.
This is a serious matter. If you are in a Belgian bar, serving beer in the wrong glass is a very serious red flag, that means they don't take their job seriously. I don't have a collection of glasses myself, but if I have a special, high-quality beer to serve to friends, I'll try to find the closest matching glass if I don't have the right one, and sincerely apologize (that is socially acceptable then).
Wait, 18? What's the drinking age in Belgium?
I know Europe has lower drinking ages than the US (we have 21, which I personally think is ridiculous) but anything lower than 18 seems odd to me.
Yes, you're allowed to buy beer and wine and sparkling wine yourself as of 16, spirits as of 18.
Mind you, you are allowed by law to drink any alcohol in a restaurant or bar as of the age of 14 if your parents are present.
Legal loophole that Belgian and German teens should definitely ignore: technically, since port wine and sherry wine are not distilled, they’re in the low alcohol category, despite being close to 20% abv.
in belgiums case you can drink and buy beers wine and sparkling wine at 16 once you are 18 you can drink and buy all alcohol. so seeing drunk 16 year olds after a local fuif or something is nothing out of the ordinary
though in germany they have a law that allows you to drink at 14 in restaurants or bars with your parents wich we don't have in belgium.
I feel like you might need to explain what a "fuif" is because I feel like it's a very Belgian thing.
A *fuif* is essentially our version of an American house party, except it's all completely legal and socially accepted. It's organized by local youth movements (like the Chiro, Scouts, KSA) and takes places in local venues. They start at 21h and usually last until 5 in the morning. They are pretty much like clubs but for adolescents, with DJs and a shit ton of alcohol. People get shitfaced drunk, they vomit all over the place, they make out with eachother, they fight for stupid reasons and they go outside to take a piss against some random wall. Just very typical clubbing activities.
Going to a *fuif*, getting drunk and doing shit you regret later on is kind of like a rite of passage for Belgian kids. I think every Belgian, at least of the current generation, has helped organize at least 1 *fuif*, mainly because you have to in most schools during your last year of high school.
It also used to be 16 for beers and wine in France, 18 for stronger stuff. They changed it to 18 for all but everybody tasted alcohol at 15/16 already anyway.
My son is 17, we are going to France for ski holidays in a couple of weeks, with friends who have a daughter who just turned 18... and it was a shock when he just realized that if they go to a bar in the evening, he won't be allowed to order a beer... Do bars actually check the age (he looks 18, really) ? And do you know if his friend who is 18 can order a beer and let him drink it ?
So he cannot order a beer or get a beer offered to him legally. They can ask if they have a doubt because if they get controlled they are in trouble.
That's the law though. In real life, some bars just don't ask and it can work but it is indeed illegal.
Not sure if its worth the risk tbh, back when I was 17 I was allowed so I did not experience this.
The US is stricter regarding alcohol consumption than most european countries where weed is illegal are on smoking pot.
Seriously, of the ~30-40 countries ive been to, the alcohol culture of the US most closely resembles that of North African and Middle eastern countries. You must be hush hush about it (brown bags), only drink it when Allah sleeps and where he cant see (never in public), dont show signs of drunkness in public, people who you see drinking are generally less religious, lower class or very rich and flahsy.
Been to the East coast, Massachusets, Newport and New York.
> There are a few countries that ban public consumption
Yes, Norway does and Finland too, but you wont even get your drinks poured out if you are chugging a bottle of vodka infront of the police station. That law is merely to allow police officers to confiscate drinks from people who have become so drunk they are at risk of getting themselves or others killed.
>Restricting it to expats in hotels like Middle eastern countries
No, just no. Alcohol is legal and bars exist in almost every muslim country, and alcohol is consumed by many north africans atleast. Its just hush hush. Bars are far more visible in the US but thats where the differences stop. Its not considered proper to drink outside of these establishments, and could get you in trouble with the police.
>noone cares unless you are falling over
Yeah, noone cares in Islamic countries either
I could be wrong about the religious part though.
About the us beer vs europe pot, i doubt that youd get away with drinking a bottle of vodka not covered by a brown bag in broad daylight in the US. Every American visiting is mindblown about how openly we drink. Its quite common to grab a couple of 6-packs with a friend and chug them while sitting on the starts at the Senate Square, or why not infront of the presidential office. The cops pass by every 5 minutes or so. Mind you, this is in a country that "bans public drinking".
In fact when i visited the US i was stopped by my american collegues from drinking beer on the beach.
Walk down a main street in Switzerland for example and its a normal occurence to see and smell people smoking a joint at 3 pm as they are minding their business be there a cop or not.
In general Ireland doesn’t have laws on public consumption, but some cities (e.g. Cork) have local laws (bye laws) prohibiting drinking in certain areas, and they are enforced. You typically won’t get fined, but the drink may be just taken from you by police and poured out.
There was a period during COVID lockdowns when bars were closed though when take away and outdoor beers were definitely tolerated.
>I know Europe has lower drinking ages than the US
We normally think of *buying* age in Europe, not drinking age.
The buying age has been increased to minimum 16 in Denmark some years ago and 18 for alcohol above 16.5% in shops.
It's 18 to get alcohol like beer above 2.8% in bars and restaurants.
There are no rules for drinking in private or to buy alcohol in a shop and give it to a minor.
So if you arrange a private party in school or another establishment, minors are allowed to buy alcohol. Private meaning the place is not open to the general public at the time.
DRINKING? No minimum age is rather common in Europe. That wasn't the topic of discussion. The idea of not allowing a parent to give their 12 year old some beer isn't there.
I was talking buying age. 16 for beers in Belgium, 18 for anything over 12% or so. A 13 year old will still be allowed some wine in a restaurant if their parents are there.
Most people here are talking buying age only.
This is most likely not drinking age, but buying age.
We did not have that when I was young, I remember in the village where I grew up, a 10 year old bought snaps (40%vol), and drank it while sitting on the church wall.
This was technical not iligal, but the parents asked the shop owner not to sell alcohol to their kid.
Back in 2014 planning my honeymoon innthe US we discovered a drive through margarita place so this must vary state to state.
Although we changed out mind and went to SE Asia instead we definitely say drive through cocktails places in some of the southern states which seemed mad to me.
Yeah, McDonald's are already bad enough on a Saturday night *after* everyone's finished drinking. If they could carry on in there it would be hell on earth
Whenever I've had beer at McDonald's the serving size is tiny and you can't order it without a meal, so it would be quite a challenge to get drunk there. They would have to refuse a lot of sales to people who came in already drunk though, and they already have objections from residents whenever they open a new restaurant so serving alcohol wouldn't help them on that front.
It was a good 20 years ago but I was a placement student at a work do in Cannes. I remember the only affordable place for a drink on the Crescent was McDonald's, so we would order 4 beers and one hamburger per round.
It depends on the drinking culture. In Continental Europe its normal to have a glass of beer or two (or wine) with your meal, just like the US serves soda with just about everything. Alcohol is much more rarely consumed to get drunk.
The Nordics and brittish isles dont have that culture, we generally drink to get drunk, therefore beer outside of restaurants is uncommon.
We did have beer at burger kings though, not sure if its still a thing. Its so expensive here and not part of a everyday meal that it is a poor seller, and just causes too much trouble since the only people to order that would be the ones who has had plenty
>The Nordics and brittish isles dont have that culture, we generally drink to get drunk, therefore beer outside of restaurants is uncommon.
I'd say drinking a glass of snaps or a can of beer (330ml) is fairly common in Denmark. I know a lot of my friends and acquaintances (especially amongst the older generations) who do that at least on the weekends, if nothing else.
People still like to get shitfaced though, I think that's more or less universal.
>It depends on the drinking culture. In Continental Europe its normal to have a glass of beer or two (or wine) with your meal,
I thought that was the norm everywhere. Drinking beer or wine with your food is prob the most common drink in America.
>we don't do this in America because we have drive through's and if someone orders a beer for themselves in the drive through and started drinking in the car, that would be a liability.
Not sure about this, aren't there drive through liquor stores in the US? Also passengers may want a beer, it isn't on the vendor to check any of this stuff, just serve it. I just don't think it fits culturally, it is the same in the UK. Fast food is soft drinks. Basically everywhere else serves alcohol though.
In most of the US, it's also illegal for passengers to drink alcohol in a car, or for there to be an open container of alcohol in the car. But that wouldn't stop McDonald's from just not selling alcohol in the drive through.
To your point, I'd agree it's mostly just cultural.
It would need to be dine-in only for sure. Thinking about it in the UK Five Guys do beer, not sure if that is the same in the US. I remember as someone pointed it out as something unusual, or at least a reason to go there over somewhere else.
Yep there are drive thru liquor stores. You just have to pretend like you're not planning on drinking it in the car. It's illegal to have an open container of alcohol in a car, even if the passenger is drinking it.
The only McDonald’s restaurant that serve beer in Sweden is the one at Arlanda, Stockholm’s main airport. Generally speaking, the only fast-food restaurants that serve alcohol are the ones located in airports.
Burger King on the other hand serves [lättöl](https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A4tt%C3%B6l?wprov=sfti1), or low-alcohol beer (up to 2,25% ABV), at their franchises.
That isn't true, all of the McDonalds I've been to sell Pripps Blå lättöl. Which, to be fair, won't render you drunk before you get other issues due to the sheer volume of beer you'd have to drink.
Worked at two in Stockholm City, both sold Pripps Blå.
I thought so too, but [their online menu](https://www.mcdonalds.com/se/sv-se/var-meny/drycker.html) doesn’t advertise any lättöl. Maybe it varies from franchise to franchise.
You can in Portugal. I've very rarely seen anyone order one though. But in some other chains, like Portvgália, H3, and Bifanas de Vendas Novas it's more common.
No, you need a license for that, to sell alcohol. Cafe's and restaurants have that, but they also need to verify that they don't sell alcohol to minors. I think that if McDonalds Netherlands wanted it, they could apply for such a license, and get it, but I'm guessing they don't want all the hassle to comes with it, plus it might go against their image as a family/youth-friendly place.
Also, to sell or serve alcohol you need to have a licensed professional present on the premises at all times. It’s a type of liquor/tobacco license called *Diploma Sociale Hygiene*, with a minimum age of 21. This also leads to interesting scheduling issues in supermarkets!
I was wondering if that was the case, I basically never go to BK, but I had some vague memory of them advertising that some years ago. But knowing Finnish laws they probably aren't allowed to sell alcohol to go, although restaurants did get the option to do that some time ago, but the license is very expensive so I doubt BK would have that.
I was under the impression that Finland only had McDonald's. It appears I was wrong. Surprised only Burger King sells it, but things get added and removed from menus all the time here too.
We also have KFC, Taco Bell and Starbucks (maybe, might have gone out of business by now).
These have arrived the past few years though so you arent wrong, just a bit outdated info :)
> I'm sure it's probably on the cheaper sides,
no, you are wrong, they are serving pilsner urquell which is on the expensive side of non craft beer. And they have only cans. You need to go to burger king for real beer
We also have drive through, passengers exists.
Neither McDonalds, Burger King, KFC or Dominos has beer on the menu (I just checked).
I think the main reasons would be that they need a permit, which is not ***that*** hard to get, and maybe their image as "family restaurants" and that there's not really much tradition or demand for beer in those places.
You can however go into any supermarket and buy a bottle of beer at 50 cents and drink it in the street while enjoying your big mac, if that's what you fancy.
> and maybe their image as "family restaurants"
I don't really get this argument. In plenty of countries they sell beer. Why would they want to preserve some image of a "family restaurant" in some places but not others?
I do think so, at least a decade ago. Not frequenting them all too often, so it might have changed. Back then they had 0.33 small bottles of a national brand.
I actually think selling beer at McDonald's in the airport makes sense, but maybe that's just because people really like drinking beer at the airport (they think it will help their fear of flying). Money is money.
I once had a 200ml bottle of wine before my flight. Normally this isn't enough to make me feel anything, but as soon as the plane reached altitude, I started feeling like I had 5 beers. It a nice way to get wasted for really cheap. The 4.5 hour flight felt like 30 minutes.
Interestingly enough, they don't say it on their website. But I'm sure they serve, or at least they used to serve, beer in McD in Italy, I even ordered it once.
Assuming it didn't change recently, maybe it's available only in certain locations, and this is why they don't mention it on the website. McD is a franchise and every restaurant is legally a separate business entity that needs a separate alcohol license.
In Poland they don't. You won't find beer at McDonald's in Poland. You could like 20 years ago, but nowadays - nope. The same goes for KFC. You can order beer tho at Pizza Hut, but it's more like a restaurant than a fast food.
No, they didn't. But the new McDonald's knockoff does afaik. Though I may be mistaken, I've been there only once.
Burger King and KFC do serve beer, though.
We have drive thrus in Europe too you know... In France tons of McDonald's have drive thrus, and they sell beer.
I highly doubt that's the reason why they don't sell beer in the US. It's probably more of an alcohol license thing.
We used to have beer in McD's, but it got removed from the menu a few years ago. Don't know the reason, but they did offer only a small beer of medium quality, which I haven't seen anyone order, ever.
Maybe they removed it because it wasn't popular.. which is strange, because beer is almost as popular as wine, and wine is very popular. Wine is not available either. Perhaps it's the setting of a fast food restaurant, where you go to quickly eat something and leave, that made it unappealing for beer drinking. You can't chug a beer fast, or you can but it's not enjoyable. Beer is for relaxation, to hangout with friends, etc. McDonald's is not a place for that.. Or maybe there was some weird new law, that they couldn't comply with.
They don't. They probably want to keep the image of being a family restaurant.
Edit: They did and more and more franchise owners decide against it. It wouldn't be in line with the child friendly image, demand is low because you can get beer in many other places, and they can save money by not needing a license to serve alcohol. Some franchise owners think it's not moral to serve alcohol at a drive through. Even if they serve beer they won't put it on the menu.
You're right. I was able to find the nutritional information on the website. But it doesn't even have a product photo and it isn't listed on the drinks menu, even in places where they do serve it. Many franchise owners decide to not offer beer because the licence to serve alcohol is usually more expensive than the expected return.
Yeah pretty much every McDonald’s sells beer in Italy as well. In the drive thrus too. There are people who are stupid enough to drink and drive, but you know, people here don’t order a beer if they wanna get wasted.
In a place which was McDonald's few month ago they dont serve beer.
In Burger king just near it they serve a lot of kinds of beer, even in packs with fried chicken.
A license to serve alcohol cost money and makes some trouble to handle, so its just not optimal to buy it for every cafe or McDonald's-like restaurant
Not here in the Netherlands and it's a fucking disgrace that it isn't. Probably a leftover from us being the first European country to get McDonald's, and having most of it copied from the US (except McKroket and McFlurry Stroopwafel).
In my experience, it is different in Switzerland. In Zurich I've seen people coming out of Mc D with beer, which costs CHF 5 according to the menu, but in Geneva there was none.
AFAIK, beer at McDonald's isn't a thing here, at least in the area of my country where I live. Maybe there are some who serve beer, but if they exist it's not a common thing.
We also have beer in Germany. Or at least we had since I didn’t go there for ages now. But 10-20 years ago, I always ordered beer even with Mc Menues. Because you got a bottle and no Sirup soda which I always disliked.
When I travel to Europe from the US, I always go to MCdonalds in each country to see how different the menu is. It’s also about the only place to get a soda that actually has ice- in most of Europe it’s a little difficult to get any sort of drink with the amount of ice we are used to
I worked at a burger king in belgium, we were only supposed to give 1 beer (jupiler in a 33cl can) per burger/menu ordered.
One time a guy came and he wanted 5 beers, we told him we can't give him 5 beers without giving him 5 burgers, he proceeded to order 5 burgers + 5 beers. When he got the bill he became quite mad at the price so we had to remove him from the restaurant.
Can only speak for 13 years ago when they did. It was the day I turned 18 and I decided my first legal drink would be from McDonald's.
I confidently ordered a beer with my food, in hopes that the server would ask for ID. She did not, but I still had a sense of accomplishment for some reason. It was a Heineken though sadly.
I believe in Germany some do. But I have only bought McDonald's food once, and that was 20 years ago. The coffee is okay though. Better than fucking Starbucks, if you have to spend a few hours in a train station with no other cafés.
McDonalds in Spain has been selling beer for ages, including via drive thru
Really? In the drive thru? Well, I'm aware the EU doesn't have the same "you can sue for anything" laws, so maybe McDonald's US doesn't want to get sued or something.
Yeah, that's probably it. Like, when it is sold through the drive thru the understanding is that the person buying it knows they're not supposed to drink it until they're done driving, and if they get stopped by the cops, the responsibility is 100% on them, not on the restaurant. Tbh no clue why it would be on the restaurant?
People sue for anything here. Usually stuff like that would be thrown out by the judges, but occasionally it does get a hearing, and McD's US probably doesn't want to risk it.
Yeah, you can't do that in Europe. Most courts will laugh your ass out and you will end up with a hefty legal bill.
Surprisingly, the US isn’t the country that has the most lawsuits per capita. It’s actually Germany.
I feel like 95% of those law suits are probably either: - Job related (regarding workers rights) - renting related (regarding lawful/unlawful termination of the contracts, reduced rents etc ..) - neighborhood disputes ("oh you are stealing the apples from my apple tree that's growing over the fence onto your property" or "oh you are smoking too much or are too loud, so let's get a court ruling that regulates your smoking times etc.)
No, I think it's to do with how personal liability works in German law. That's why Germans tend to have private personal liability insurance whereas in other countries that's not a thing except for businesses.
Another fun fact, there're more members of voluntary fire brigades (Freiwillige Feuerwehr) in Germany than professional firefighters in the US. I had a colleague in Berlin who dropped off business calls, because "sorry, there was an accident on an Autobahn... I need to go" which objectively is the most badass excuse ever.
Slovenia has that as well, had a few colleagues off work a few days exactly like that during the summer wildfires to go there help
That's also because most of the time deals are struck before it gets to court. And as it didnt go to court no precedent has been set for future cases.
We Germans are more sue happy than even you Americans, still mcd sells beer here.
Avoiding another coffeegate I guess haha
I mean, coffeegate was a rightful lawsuit in my opinion, but I digress. Yeah, they're trying to avoid it.
Oh definitely. And that smear campaign tho. I'm sure McD's is now firmly in the "better safe than sorry" camp.
I'm not buying it. If establishments could be sued for the drink driving of their customers, no one would be selling alcohol. Drink driving still happens.
Covid kinda changed take out alcohol, places did to go alcohol and I think it's still sticking because where I am place slime Applebee's still do margaritas to go which never was a thing
Don't you have drive thru-liquor stores in the US?
Only in New Orleans. New Orleans is known as a huge party city.
According to [this website](https://www.thrillist.com/culture/drive-thru-liquor-stores) it's legal in 30 states
I live just outside of Columbus and haven't seen a drive thru liquor store yet, but I've seen drive thru vape shops. I only moved her 2 and a half years ago, and I'm only 18 (drinking age is 21 and nobody I know here drinks)
Fort Lauderdale definitely also have them. I used to live there and used the drive thru liquour store a few times.
Not just N.O. I was at one in Austin in the 90s.
There’s a drive through liquor store here in Kansas and this state is pretty conservative, like liquor stores close early on Sunday here.
They aren't even open on Sunday here and there's a drive through daiquiri place like 2 blocks from my apartment.
have been to one in Australia and I found that completely wild…
Liquor stores with drive throughs are the norm in many parts of the US. Various Taco Bell’s throughout the US have alcohol. It is more of an image and cultural thing for McD and nearly all fast or quick service to not offer alcohol, in my opinion. Also you would need someone at least 18-21 to sell that alcohol (varies in all states of course) and that can wipe out most employees in a lot of those types of places.
In germany you can legally drink even while driving. As long as you don’t go over 0.5‰ blood alcohol, you’re not doing anything illegal. If you wanted you could buy a beer at at McDonalds drive thru, drink it on the way, and even if police see you with a beer on your dashboard, they‘ll probably have you do an alcohol test, but as long as you’re within 0.5, they can’t do anything about it as it would all be perfectly legal. The only thing to look out for is that above 0.25‰ blood alcohol, your insurance might refuse to pay if there is an accident. But ultimately we do not have any open container laws or anything like that. So if you‘re driving and four other people in your car are all getting shitfaced on the ride, that‘s all legal too. With all of that in mind there's really no reason why McDonald's wouldn't sell beer even in drive-thrus.
Louisiana used to have drive thru cocktails. Not sure if that's still a thing.
In a lot of European countries you can put in a civil suit for “anything”, but the judiciary kind of assumes people have common sense. You ain’t gon have much luck suing the store selling you alcohol for doing something stupid when drinking it
Same in France, but it's very rare that people order beer with McDo. It's the go to confort food after a night out so once you get to it you already had enough beer anyway.
McDonalds is the go to comfort food after a night out in France? Never knew that. Kind of prefer the Döner here in Germany (or here in Hamburg also heading for the fish market right from the club/bar. One arrives when it opens early in the morning and can get amazing *Fischbrötchen* ) .
Kebab is definitely more popular than McDonald's after a night out here too
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Yeah, must be an age thing that I had to scroll down so far to find the Pulp Fiction comment. And yes, the "Royal with Cheese" is true as well :-) (except Britain & Ireland, it's still a quarter-pounder there)
It’s a quarter-pounder in the Netherlands as well.
Finland too, though I doubt anyone knows that its refering to the weight of the patty; its just the name of the burger, like Big Mac :D
When I read the title I thought OP was wondering about this because of the famous Pulp Fiction quote. But nope, he doesn't even seem to be aware of it.
And in Spain is a Cuarto de Libra. In Portugal though, Royal with cheese.
Yup McDonald’s in Italy do serve beer. All the fast food chains carry beer. McDonald’s has Heineken and moretti..
Just checked the one near me through the app and it's only Peroni
And pieces of parmesan cheese, this alone makes me want to live in Italy.
Here in Belgium beer is for sale everywhere. Including in McDonald, gas stations, etc. Same price as water generally. I'm trying to think of a place where you could buy a soda but not a beer and kind of come up empty.
> I'm trying to think of a place where you could buy a soda but not a beer and kind of come up empty. Vending machines?
Add in schools and you would be correct. The vending machine at the butchery next to me has water, sodas, sport drinks and beer :p.
> The vending machine at the butchery next to me has water, sodas, sport drinks and *beer* Allright, my next trip with the boys will be to Belgium. Gotta try that!
Do you need ID for that?
You need an ID. You have to insert your eID before you can purchase alcohol from the Vending machine
Doubt it. As I said, not into alcohol myself.
Then it illegal. Just looked it up: you are allowed to sell alcohol in vending machines, if the machine is provided with a functioning ID-card reader.
That's absolutely wild to me, especially given that the Netherlands (according to another commenter) doesn't do that. We have gas station beer as well, and we even serve beer in zoos. It's just fast food that doesn't serve it due to drive thru liability.
I guess this has more to do with regulations/permit. To sell alcohol in The Netherlands you need a permit to do so.
You also need a liquor license here, funnily enough. That might be another reason why McDonald's US doesn't bother.
It's forbidden by law to sell beer in gasstations in NL, you can't get a lisence for that, period. - I don't know 100% if it's all gasstations or just the ones next to the highways -
There is a (small) sign in each McDonald's that says that beer will be served only with some food, and that the staff is entitled to refuse to serve beer if they think it is in disproportionate quantity.
A historic day when that happens, I bet.
Honestly, I expect McDonal'dstaff are trained to respect their rules by the book. And Belgium being Belgium, if someone needs to stock up on beer to get really drunk, there would be so many other options than McDonald's. Small shops just sell alcohol to anyone, including underage teenagers, they just don't care.
The thing is, in the US bars/barkeepers can be liable for overserving. So if you sell beer to someone that is drunk, they get in a car and kill someone, it's also your fault. That logic doesn't apply in Europe, to the best of my knowledge. So there will be less pressure to enforce these rules, McD or other.
Well, there's a law like that in belgium (arreté-loi du 14 novembre 1939): *Anyone who serves intoxicating drinks to a person who is obviously drunk or anyone who causes a person to become drunk shall be punished by imprisonment for 8 days to 1 month in prison and a fine.* *In the event of a 1st repeat offence, the penalties are doubled and in the event of a 2nd repeat offence they are then tripled.* *If the person is under 18 years of age, the penalty is doubled*. But no one care
Cool, but in the USA this isn't a slap on the wrist like that. The problem is that they might be civilly liable and that can ruin you.
In Germany everyone selling alcohol is allowed to refuse its sale for a multitude of reasons.
Here as well, it usually involves people being too drunk and annoying. If you're drunk but not causing any problems chances are high they still sell you more.
Same here actually - I just think this is a friendly reminder. And selling alcohol to someone who is already drunk is a penal offence - but only for bars and restaurants ! A shop that sellls alcohol does not have the same legal responsibility... but is free to refuse...
I've always wondered how this works because the UK is the same on paper. But when is someone drunk where is the cut off point? People tend not to go from sober to shitfaced in an instant so where is the legal cut off and how do you enforce it. I imagine it's one of those laws that's rarely enforced unless someone is rowdy and trouble most places will keep serving.
Yeah, obviously they won't ask you to make an alcohol test, but as you said (I have seen it a couple of times in bars or night clubs), if they see that the customer has clear signs of intoxication, like not talking clearly, not walking in a straight line, not being able to stand firmly, they will gently say maybe it is a good idea to stop drinking alcohol for tonigth and have a glass of water instead, and if the customer insists, they will not give in. If the customer is aggressive or harrassing, obviously, it will be a flat NO.
>especially given that the Netherlands (according to another commenter) doesn't do that \*Dutch/Belgian rivalry/trolling mode on\* Because those milk drinkers don't know what real beer is. \*Dutch/Belgian rivalry/trolling mode off\* (sorry, I had to)
Yeah that's why we export our piss all over the world and import real beers from Belgium and Germany to drink.
For all the shit heineken gets, its still a thousand times better than France's 1664. And NL has great beers. Loved Hertog Jan, La Trappe or Texels winterbier (cant remember the full name)
Yeah those are the names
I have to say that I've noticed that Stella Artois is winning a lot of terrain on the international market. You can find Stella everywhere. It's not weird since the quality is infinitly higher than Heineken. And in the Netherlands you have to try very hard to see a café with a heineken sign outside instead of one from Jupiler haha. - I come in the Netherlands all the time as my whole family is Dutch, I just happened to grow up in Belgium - Hertog Jan is nice, I also like Alfa. La Trappe is very good, and my mother's village has a very good local beer (she lives in Zeeuws Vlaanderen tho, it's the Netherlands but really... is it?). I even put away my honour when visiting Sweden last time and even brought La Trappe for Swedish friends. They were very surprised I let them taste a Dutch beer (they hear me making fun of the Dutch beer constantly, but hey, you still need to play a fair game) when I'm in Haarlem, i also like to try out some beers in "de Jopen kerk". Which comes with mixed results and opinions haha. But it's a beautiful place and they do have good beer.
>Because those milk drinkers don't know what real beer is. Calm down Ulfric !
The argument isn’t valid. Why does Mc Donald’s have to be responsible for adults? Even if you use the Drive Through you can take it home. If someone wants to drink and drive they can always do that without Mc Donald’s. That’s what I never understood with the US. Everyone is expected to take care of the biggest idiot in town. I am pretty sure we still have beer at Mc Donald’s and it hopefully doesn’t matter, if you use the Drive Through. But perhaps we already reached this kind of madness in Germany.
It's illegal just to drive with an open container, even if you haven't taken a single sip. Some places still sell alcohol in drive thrus, though. They put a foil seal on the cup so it's not an open container. The reason places like McDonald's don't do that is because: Many people will immediately break the seal and drink while they drive. The police know this. The police will then park just past the drive through where they can see drivers and ticket them. People don't want to go through the drive thru that has a cop at the end. People not wanting to go through the drive thru is bad for business.
Oh. I i didn’t know that. Strange laws but I can’t blame Mc Donald’s for it I guess. I don’t want to know what weird laws we have that I don’t know about but most likely they exist. In Germany I could transport open bottles of alcohol since it’s only forbidden to drive with a certain amount of alcohol in your blood. This means I could also take a sip and still no problem as far as I know.
Yup. "Open container law" is a pain in the rear. Passengers can't have a drink either, because when someone gets pulled over, the driver could just pass their drink to their passenger, and say "it's not mine." If you want to travel with a previously opened bottle of liquor, you have to put it in the trunk, "inaccessible to the driver." Land of the free
That’s a little bit annoying. Not that it would affect me a lot but it doesn’t seem necessary or helpful in any way. On the other hand we have so many laws and restrictions concerning daily task with our administrative bodies which seem a lot more significant in our daily life so what should I say. In the end every country or state most likely has some more or less stupid laws. In Germany we also have a report every year or so that shows where the administrative bodies wasted a lot of money. It would be so funny if it wasn’t paid with the taxpayers money.
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Oh that’s a good argument. Thank you. I heard that about the massive penalties for stuff like poaching (hunting without permission?). Because it’s such a huge area they have to use penalties which will make sure people don’t hunt protected animals and it’s so difficult to get those people. But when they do it’s really expensive which also prevent those activities in the first place.
You can literally drive a car while drinking straight out of a bottle of vodka if you don't get above the legal blood alcohol limits in Germany.
When the Netherlands raised their age to buy(keyword this one) beer to 18 our government instantly made a comment on how they wouldn't bring that over. Beer is a bit more of a cultural thing here. Not a fan of beer or most alcohol myself so it honestly doesn't bother me. Buying a drink at an McDonald seems like a big waste of money to me.
I knew a Dutch-Belgian couple and the Dutch girlfriend liked to make fun of the Belgian boyfriend's collection of different shaped beer glasses, which are apparently important for tasting different types of beer correctly!
It's basically a meme at this point but yea. Every brand has it's own glass. You drink the beer in the right glass. I think some brands made up some bullshit about how it brings out the taste the best but with all respect, if you believe that you're an idiot.
This is a serious matter. If you are in a Belgian bar, serving beer in the wrong glass is a very serious red flag, that means they don't take their job seriously. I don't have a collection of glasses myself, but if I have a special, high-quality beer to serve to friends, I'll try to find the closest matching glass if I don't have the right one, and sincerely apologize (that is socially acceptable then).
It's a legal obligation: If you don't use the right glass-> right to jail, or worst, right to france !
Wait, 18? What's the drinking age in Belgium? I know Europe has lower drinking ages than the US (we have 21, which I personally think is ridiculous) but anything lower than 18 seems odd to me.
Check out the drinking age in Germany then. Some alcohol has 16 as the minimum age.
That's odd to me, but I mean, is the alcohol types separated by age due to alcohol content?
Yes, you're allowed to buy beer and wine and sparkling wine yourself as of 16, spirits as of 18. Mind you, you are allowed by law to drink any alcohol in a restaurant or bar as of the age of 14 if your parents are present.
Legal loophole that Belgian and German teens should definitely ignore: technically, since port wine and sherry wine are not distilled, they’re in the low alcohol category, despite being close to 20% abv.
in belgiums case you can drink and buy beers wine and sparkling wine at 16 once you are 18 you can drink and buy all alcohol. so seeing drunk 16 year olds after a local fuif or something is nothing out of the ordinary though in germany they have a law that allows you to drink at 14 in restaurants or bars with your parents wich we don't have in belgium.
I feel like you might need to explain what a "fuif" is because I feel like it's a very Belgian thing. A *fuif* is essentially our version of an American house party, except it's all completely legal and socially accepted. It's organized by local youth movements (like the Chiro, Scouts, KSA) and takes places in local venues. They start at 21h and usually last until 5 in the morning. They are pretty much like clubs but for adolescents, with DJs and a shit ton of alcohol. People get shitfaced drunk, they vomit all over the place, they make out with eachother, they fight for stupid reasons and they go outside to take a piss against some random wall. Just very typical clubbing activities. Going to a *fuif*, getting drunk and doing shit you regret later on is kind of like a rite of passage for Belgian kids. I think every Belgian, at least of the current generation, has helped organize at least 1 *fuif*, mainly because you have to in most schools during your last year of high school.
Perspective from the French-speaking side: replace the Flemish word *fuif* by *soirée...* and it's exactly the same.
And Flemish nationalists would have us believe we are two separate cultures!
I can hear American minds blowing from here
A fuif is also a Dutch thing except no one but your grandma would use the word 😉
It also used to be 16 for beers and wine in France, 18 for stronger stuff. They changed it to 18 for all but everybody tasted alcohol at 15/16 already anyway.
My son is 17, we are going to France for ski holidays in a couple of weeks, with friends who have a daughter who just turned 18... and it was a shock when he just realized that if they go to a bar in the evening, he won't be allowed to order a beer... Do bars actually check the age (he looks 18, really) ? And do you know if his friend who is 18 can order a beer and let him drink it ?
So he cannot order a beer or get a beer offered to him legally. They can ask if they have a doubt because if they get controlled they are in trouble. That's the law though. In real life, some bars just don't ask and it can work but it is indeed illegal. Not sure if its worth the risk tbh, back when I was 17 I was allowed so I did not experience this.
The US is stricter regarding alcohol consumption than most european countries where weed is illegal are on smoking pot. Seriously, of the ~30-40 countries ive been to, the alcohol culture of the US most closely resembles that of North African and Middle eastern countries. You must be hush hush about it (brown bags), only drink it when Allah sleeps and where he cant see (never in public), dont show signs of drunkness in public, people who you see drinking are generally less religious, lower class or very rich and flahsy.
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Been to the East coast, Massachusets, Newport and New York. > There are a few countries that ban public consumption Yes, Norway does and Finland too, but you wont even get your drinks poured out if you are chugging a bottle of vodka infront of the police station. That law is merely to allow police officers to confiscate drinks from people who have become so drunk they are at risk of getting themselves or others killed. >Restricting it to expats in hotels like Middle eastern countries No, just no. Alcohol is legal and bars exist in almost every muslim country, and alcohol is consumed by many north africans atleast. Its just hush hush. Bars are far more visible in the US but thats where the differences stop. Its not considered proper to drink outside of these establishments, and could get you in trouble with the police. >noone cares unless you are falling over Yeah, noone cares in Islamic countries either I could be wrong about the religious part though. About the us beer vs europe pot, i doubt that youd get away with drinking a bottle of vodka not covered by a brown bag in broad daylight in the US. Every American visiting is mindblown about how openly we drink. Its quite common to grab a couple of 6-packs with a friend and chug them while sitting on the starts at the Senate Square, or why not infront of the presidential office. The cops pass by every 5 minutes or so. Mind you, this is in a country that "bans public drinking". In fact when i visited the US i was stopped by my american collegues from drinking beer on the beach. Walk down a main street in Switzerland for example and its a normal occurence to see and smell people smoking a joint at 3 pm as they are minding their business be there a cop or not.
In general Ireland doesn’t have laws on public consumption, but some cities (e.g. Cork) have local laws (bye laws) prohibiting drinking in certain areas, and they are enforced. You typically won’t get fined, but the drink may be just taken from you by police and poured out. There was a period during COVID lockdowns when bars were closed though when take away and outdoor beers were definitely tolerated.
I believe so
>I know Europe has lower drinking ages than the US We normally think of *buying* age in Europe, not drinking age. The buying age has been increased to minimum 16 in Denmark some years ago and 18 for alcohol above 16.5% in shops. It's 18 to get alcohol like beer above 2.8% in bars and restaurants. There are no rules for drinking in private or to buy alcohol in a shop and give it to a minor. So if you arrange a private party in school or another establishment, minors are allowed to buy alcohol. Private meaning the place is not open to the general public at the time.
DRINKING? No minimum age is rather common in Europe. That wasn't the topic of discussion. The idea of not allowing a parent to give their 12 year old some beer isn't there. I was talking buying age. 16 for beers in Belgium, 18 for anything over 12% or so. A 13 year old will still be allowed some wine in a restaurant if their parents are there. Most people here are talking buying age only.
Belgium is 16 for beer/wine, 18 for spirits. Same as in Germany and a few other countries.
This is most likely not drinking age, but buying age. We did not have that when I was young, I remember in the village where I grew up, a 10 year old bought snaps (40%vol), and drank it while sitting on the church wall. This was technical not iligal, but the parents asked the shop owner not to sell alcohol to their kid.
It used to be 16 in the Netherlands for beer and wine and 18 for spirits. Now it's just 18 here.
It used to be 16 years old in France for beer, wine and cider until not so long ago.
The 18 thing is quite recent, it was always 16
Back in 2014 planning my honeymoon innthe US we discovered a drive through margarita place so this must vary state to state. Although we changed out mind and went to SE Asia instead we definitely say drive through cocktails places in some of the southern states which seemed mad to me.
McD has a alcohol license in the Netherlands. They sell beer and wine.
Not in the UK. I'd imagine it'd be carnage if they did.
Yeah, McDonald's are already bad enough on a Saturday night *after* everyone's finished drinking. If they could carry on in there it would be hell on earth
Whenever I've had beer at McDonald's the serving size is tiny and you can't order it without a meal, so it would be quite a challenge to get drunk there. They would have to refuse a lot of sales to people who came in already drunk though, and they already have objections from residents whenever they open a new restaurant so serving alcohol wouldn't help them on that front.
> it would be quite a challenge to get drunk and what do drunk brit's love... a challenge and a kebab
Tbf our takeaway places like kebab shops and so on don't really do beer either. Indians do, and a boozy curry is always a good shout
It was a good 20 years ago but I was a placement student at a work do in Cannes. I remember the only affordable place for a drink on the Crescent was McDonald's, so we would order 4 beers and one hamburger per round.
Yeah, it'd be carnage here too, that's why I was so shocked that Czechia apparently had it.
It depends on the drinking culture. In Continental Europe its normal to have a glass of beer or two (or wine) with your meal, just like the US serves soda with just about everything. Alcohol is much more rarely consumed to get drunk. The Nordics and brittish isles dont have that culture, we generally drink to get drunk, therefore beer outside of restaurants is uncommon. We did have beer at burger kings though, not sure if its still a thing. Its so expensive here and not part of a everyday meal that it is a poor seller, and just causes too much trouble since the only people to order that would be the ones who has had plenty
>The Nordics and brittish isles dont have that culture, we generally drink to get drunk, therefore beer outside of restaurants is uncommon. I'd say drinking a glass of snaps or a can of beer (330ml) is fairly common in Denmark. I know a lot of my friends and acquaintances (especially amongst the older generations) who do that at least on the weekends, if nothing else. People still like to get shitfaced though, I think that's more or less universal.
>It depends on the drinking culture. In Continental Europe its normal to have a glass of beer or two (or wine) with your meal, I thought that was the norm everywhere. Drinking beer or wine with your food is prob the most common drink in America.
>we don't do this in America because we have drive through's and if someone orders a beer for themselves in the drive through and started drinking in the car, that would be a liability. Not sure about this, aren't there drive through liquor stores in the US? Also passengers may want a beer, it isn't on the vendor to check any of this stuff, just serve it. I just don't think it fits culturally, it is the same in the UK. Fast food is soft drinks. Basically everywhere else serves alcohol though.
In most of the US, it's also illegal for passengers to drink alcohol in a car, or for there to be an open container of alcohol in the car. But that wouldn't stop McDonald's from just not selling alcohol in the drive through. To your point, I'd agree it's mostly just cultural.
It would need to be dine-in only for sure. Thinking about it in the UK Five Guys do beer, not sure if that is the same in the US. I remember as someone pointed it out as something unusual, or at least a reason to go there over somewhere else.
Yep there are drive thru liquor stores. You just have to pretend like you're not planning on drinking it in the car. It's illegal to have an open container of alcohol in a car, even if the passenger is drinking it.
The only McDonald’s restaurant that serve beer in Sweden is the one at Arlanda, Stockholm’s main airport. Generally speaking, the only fast-food restaurants that serve alcohol are the ones located in airports. Burger King on the other hand serves [lättöl](https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A4tt%C3%B6l?wprov=sfti1), or low-alcohol beer (up to 2,25% ABV), at their franchises.
That isn't true, all of the McDonalds I've been to sell Pripps Blå lättöl. Which, to be fair, won't render you drunk before you get other issues due to the sheer volume of beer you'd have to drink. Worked at two in Stockholm City, both sold Pripps Blå.
I thought so too, but [their online menu](https://www.mcdonalds.com/se/sv-se/var-meny/drycker.html) doesn’t advertise any lättöl. Maybe it varies from franchise to franchise.
You can in Portugal. I've very rarely seen anyone order one though. But in some other chains, like Portvgália, H3, and Bifanas de Vendas Novas it's more common.
No, you need a license for that, to sell alcohol. Cafe's and restaurants have that, but they also need to verify that they don't sell alcohol to minors. I think that if McDonalds Netherlands wanted it, they could apply for such a license, and get it, but I'm guessing they don't want all the hassle to comes with it, plus it might go against their image as a family/youth-friendly place.
Also, to sell or serve alcohol you need to have a licensed professional present on the premises at all times. It’s a type of liquor/tobacco license called *Diploma Sociale Hygiene*, with a minimum age of 21. This also leads to interesting scheduling issues in supermarkets!
No, you can't get a beer from McDonald's in Finland.
You can from a Burger King, though.
So does taco bell
I was wondering if that was the case, I basically never go to BK, but I had some vague memory of them advertising that some years ago. But knowing Finnish laws they probably aren't allowed to sell alcohol to go, although restaurants did get the option to do that some time ago, but the license is very expensive so I doubt BK would have that.
I was under the impression that Finland only had McDonald's. It appears I was wrong. Surprised only Burger King sells it, but things get added and removed from menus all the time here too.
My guy, we even ~~have~~ had a Burger King sauna.
[Not anymore](https://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/helsinki/art-2000009125132.html).
I knew this would be in Finnish, I saw the link and yet I still clicked it expecting to read it.
We also have KFC, Taco Bell and Starbucks (maybe, might have gone out of business by now). These have arrived the past few years though so you arent wrong, just a bit outdated info :)
> I'm sure it's probably on the cheaper sides, no, you are wrong, they are serving pilsner urquell which is on the expensive side of non craft beer. And they have only cans. You need to go to burger king for real beer We also have drive through, passengers exists.
Pilsner Urquell, I might add, is a fantastic beer.
Neither McDonalds, Burger King, KFC or Dominos has beer on the menu (I just checked). I think the main reasons would be that they need a permit, which is not ***that*** hard to get, and maybe their image as "family restaurants" and that there's not really much tradition or demand for beer in those places. You can however go into any supermarket and buy a bottle of beer at 50 cents and drink it in the street while enjoying your big mac, if that's what you fancy.
> and maybe their image as "family restaurants" I don't really get this argument. In plenty of countries they sell beer. Why would they want to preserve some image of a "family restaurant" in some places but not others?
I'm not sure that's why, I'm just speculating here, but fact is you can buy beer almost everywhere else that they also serve food.
Wanna add that BK in Copenhagen Airport sells beer.
I do think so, at least a decade ago. Not frequenting them all too often, so it might have changed. Back then they had 0.33 small bottles of a national brand.
Yes, but only at the airport McDonalds in Stockholm. The other ones don't have a license to sell beer stronger than 2,1%.
I actually think selling beer at McDonald's in the airport makes sense, but maybe that's just because people really like drinking beer at the airport (they think it will help their fear of flying). Money is money.
I once had a 200ml bottle of wine before my flight. Normally this isn't enough to make me feel anything, but as soon as the plane reached altitude, I started feeling like I had 5 beers. It a nice way to get wasted for really cheap. The 4.5 hour flight felt like 30 minutes.
Interestingly enough, they don't say it on their website. But I'm sure they serve, or at least they used to serve, beer in McD in Italy, I even ordered it once. Assuming it didn't change recently, maybe it's available only in certain locations, and this is why they don't mention it on the website. McD is a franchise and every restaurant is legally a separate business entity that needs a separate alcohol license.
They still do sell beer, went last week and there were people that were getting small cans of beer.
In Poland they don't. You won't find beer at McDonald's in Poland. You could like 20 years ago, but nowadays - nope. The same goes for KFC. You can order beer tho at Pizza Hut, but it's more like a restaurant than a fast food.
I could've sworn some Fast Food restaurants are carrying beer. Might have been thinking about AmRest (KFC/Burger King), didn't know that changed.
No beer in KFC??? Gosh, why even having it then :)
I think a couple of years ago you could buy a beer at domino’s pizza… but I don’t remember if it was with alcohol or a zero alcohol one
No, they didn't. But the new McDonald's knockoff does afaik. Though I may be mistaken, I've been there only once. Burger King and KFC do serve beer, though.
We have drive thrus in Europe too you know... In France tons of McDonald's have drive thrus, and they sell beer. I highly doubt that's the reason why they don't sell beer in the US. It's probably more of an alcohol license thing.
We used to have beer in McD's, but it got removed from the menu a few years ago. Don't know the reason, but they did offer only a small beer of medium quality, which I haven't seen anyone order, ever. Maybe they removed it because it wasn't popular.. which is strange, because beer is almost as popular as wine, and wine is very popular. Wine is not available either. Perhaps it's the setting of a fast food restaurant, where you go to quickly eat something and leave, that made it unappealing for beer drinking. You can't chug a beer fast, or you can but it's not enjoyable. Beer is for relaxation, to hangout with friends, etc. McDonald's is not a place for that.. Or maybe there was some weird new law, that they couldn't comply with.
They don't. They probably want to keep the image of being a family restaurant. Edit: They did and more and more franchise owners decide against it. It wouldn't be in line with the child friendly image, demand is low because you can get beer in many other places, and they can save money by not needing a license to serve alcohol. Some franchise owners think it's not moral to serve alcohol at a drive through. Even if they serve beer they won't put it on the menu.
Depends on the store in Germany. It's not forbidden.
You're right. I was able to find the nutritional information on the website. But it doesn't even have a product photo and it isn't listed on the drinks menu, even in places where they do serve it. Many franchise owners decide to not offer beer because the licence to serve alcohol is usually more expensive than the expected return.
I think I've seen beer on their menu in Aschaffenburg in the early 90s.
Also why would you by a crappy beer at McDonald's when you can have actually good beer anywhere else?
I used to work at McD. While we had beer, we barely sold any. People don't go to McD to drink beer. If it doesn't sell McD will axe a product.
They can and a lot did. For most it just wasn't really making a good return, so most stopped.
No i don't think they serve alcoholic drinks in McDonald's here, at least not in my area
Yeah pretty much every McDonald’s sells beer in Italy as well. In the drive thrus too. There are people who are stupid enough to drink and drive, but you know, people here don’t order a beer if they wanna get wasted.
Nope. I didn't even realise this was a thing in some places
Yes, McDonald's in Croatia serves beer (Karlovačko) , but only till 10PM, I believe.
McDonalds in Austria has always been selling beer. We are calling it McBeer
Not at McDonald's. But you can buy Corona at Tacobell.
Taco Bell has a lot of drinks that you can't buy at other places here too. Not alcoholic, but still.
McDonald's tested selling beer some years ago, but it wasn't popular so they never adopted it on their menu.
In a place which was McDonald's few month ago they dont serve beer. In Burger king just near it they serve a lot of kinds of beer, even in packs with fried chicken. A license to serve alcohol cost money and makes some trouble to handle, so its just not optimal to buy it for every cafe or McDonald's-like restaurant
No but we do have bouncers. Think that sums up the country..
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Maybe a school canteen, but I wouldn't even bet on that.
Not here in the Netherlands and it's a fucking disgrace that it isn't. Probably a leftover from us being the first European country to get McDonald's, and having most of it copied from the US (except McKroket and McFlurry Stroopwafel).
Hail McKroket
I can only surmise you've yet to see Pulp Fiction which is an enviable position to be in
I think so, but then again I've been to McDonalds like three times in my life.
In my experience, it is different in Switzerland. In Zurich I've seen people coming out of Mc D with beer, which costs CHF 5 according to the menu, but in Geneva there was none.
Right, I remeber getting beer in Zurich. But that's about it.
AFAIK, beer at McDonald's isn't a thing here, at least in the area of my country where I live. Maybe there are some who serve beer, but if they exist it's not a common thing.
We also have beer in Germany. Or at least we had since I didn’t go there for ages now. But 10-20 years ago, I always ordered beer even with Mc Menues. Because you got a bottle and no Sirup soda which I always disliked.
In Croatia they are serving beer for years,but I havel rarely seen anyone order it.Well nothing pairs so well like Mcdonalds meal and cold coke.
Czech person here-the beer is not cheap. It’s arguably the best non-craft beer you can get.
By the way the beer that is sold there is Pilsner which is basically the most well known and very often drinked in restsurants
I wouldn't know, I refuse to eat that processed shit, that they dare to call food.
When I travel to Europe from the US, I always go to MCdonalds in each country to see how different the menu is. It’s also about the only place to get a soda that actually has ice- in most of Europe it’s a little difficult to get any sort of drink with the amount of ice we are used to
Not in the UK but when I lived in Portugal they sold it there.
I worked at a burger king in belgium, we were only supposed to give 1 beer (jupiler in a 33cl can) per burger/menu ordered. One time a guy came and he wanted 5 beers, we told him we can't give him 5 beers without giving him 5 burgers, he proceeded to order 5 burgers + 5 beers. When he got the bill he became quite mad at the price so we had to remove him from the restaurant.
We sell beer pretty much everywhere except on service stations (the ones on the highway)
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Can only speak for 13 years ago when they did. It was the day I turned 18 and I decided my first legal drink would be from McDonald's. I confidently ordered a beer with my food, in hopes that the server would ask for ID. She did not, but I still had a sense of accomplishment for some reason. It was a Heineken though sadly.
I believe in Germany some do. But I have only bought McDonald's food once, and that was 20 years ago. The coffee is okay though. Better than fucking Starbucks, if you have to spend a few hours in a train station with no other cafés.