Once I’d made the decision to drive to Randy’s Donuts, stopping at the McDonald’s in Downey was easy — it was pretty much right on the way from Ingleside to Ontario.
This was the third McDonald’s restaurant, opening August 18, 1953. It was franchised by the McDonald brothers before Ray Kroc got involved. It still has its original arches on the side of the building and a Speedee sign from 1959.
There’s a small museum on site in a separate dining area. I was wandering about looking at the displays when a young Hispanic woman came out of the bathroom. She said “Are you totally being a tourist?” I replied that I totally was. She said, “I’ll use their bathrooms, but I won’t eat here. This place is the evil empire.” (She didn’t say it quite that nicely.)
I ordered a quarter pounder with cheese, fries and a drink and put them in the car. I then grabbed the red chair and took a couple pictures. It must have been 10 minutes after our first encounter when the same young lady pulled up next to me in her car and said, “Seriously, you need to do some research and see how bad this food is for you. You’re wasting your life, man.”
She could have made a pretty good case that I was my wasting my evening, but my entire life? I thought that was a bit harsh. But perhaps she knew of what she spoke. The food was awful, even by McDonald’s standards.
