The McDonald’s Paradox: Plans Vegetarian-only restaurants in India

We all know the words “vegetarian” and McDonald’s don’t go together, but it seems they will now in India.

Spokeswoman Lisa McComb said it’s just a natural extension of McDonald’s policy to offer culturally appropriate menus. Most of the chain’s international restaurants offer local variants on classic dishes. The company’s bestseller in India is the McAloo Tikki burger, which features a fried potato patty and is responsible for a quarter of sales.

“McDonald’s respects local cultures and has adopted our menu and dining experience to local preferences. In India, our McDonald’s kitchens have always been divided into separate sections for cooking vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, and the restaurants there do not sell beef or pork,” said McComb.

“The new restaurants in pilgrimage areas will be vegetarian-only because of the specific area and customer base. This further speaks to McDonald’s efforts to cater to local tastes.”

The new locations will open in Amritsar and Katra next year. There’s no word on whether the company is considering opening veggie restaurants in North America. [via]

I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve never heard of a fast “healthy” food chain, and we all know how “fresh” their ingredients usually are, and how good they are handled.

In my honest opinion, I think McDonald’s should just invest in a new vegetarian chain. Let’s be honest here, whoever goes to McDonald’s just to get a salad and bottled water is just lying to themselves.

So, here’s a poll for ya: