WcDonald’s—sure, with a “W”—has popped up with free meals in a storefront in a West Hollywood strip mall that’s been flipped into an immersive eating room. Alright, so… what precisely is happening right here?
Let’s again up first: WcDonald’s has been a fixture in anime and manga for greater than 4 many years, a approach to skirt round trademark legal guidelines by flipping the McDonald’s golden arches upside-down. However now the quick meals big has determined to partake within the parody too with a rollout of manga packaging and savory chili WcDonald’s sauce across the globe.
L.A., although, is the one place that you just’ll discover this WcDonald’s immersive eating expertise. OpenTable reservations bought out virtually instantly for the free meal on March 9 and 10, which I assumed was really a reasonably enjoyable although very foolish expertise. Service runs from 11am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday, with seatings on the hour—sure, it is a seated expertise, restricted to 60 folks at a time. Although we had been initially advised the pop-up might accommodate a restricted variety of same-day guests, McDonald’s has since tell us that walk-ups received’t be accepted.
You’ll simply spot the house on La Cienega Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard by its “W” signal. Inside, you received’t discover a typical McDonald’s; as an alternative, it’s a largely empty house other than the tables and chairs, although each wall and floor has been blanketed in projections. To start out, these mimic what appears like your on a regular basis McDonald’s, however because the half-hour present goes on, you’ll end up transported into just a few completely different anime-inspired environments.
In your tabletop, you’ll play mini video games that require you to maintain transferring round your sauce packets, and also you’ll be handled to some animated sequences earlier than and after your free meals comes out. Truthfully, I don’t actually wish to spoil rather more than that as a result of I feel the animation and results are all fairly cool—no less than actually for one thing that’s completely free.
In any case, upside-down-M or not, that is nonetheless finally a typical McDonald’s meal—particularly rooster McNuggets, fries, a Sprite and an Oreo McFlurry. The final time I used to be a McDonald’s common was in all probability once they had these mini Beanie Infants, however even I can inform you that, yep, these 10-piece McNuggets positive style like McNuggets. The WcDonald’s sauce with it jogs my memory of spicy teriyaki, candy and savory with just a bit little bit of chili warmth. However hey, should you’re capable of safe a reservation or wait in line, free is free (other than the merch, which can run you $25 for shirts and $50 for sweatshirts).
The WcDonald’s Immersive Eating Expertise is open March 9 and 10 from 11am to 8pm; reservations are required. Discover it at 8505 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood.
UPDATE: Although we had been initially advised a restricted variety of same-day spots could be accessible, a consultant for the expertise has tell us that walk-ups received’t be accepted. We’ve up to date this story accordingly.
