Reporting from McDonalds McCafé in Berlin Hauptbahnhof

[VIXI2008]

i was 2 times in america and one time in germany and i must say that polish mcdonalds is the best in the world :DD

[ImTheCanadianEh]

@VIXI2008 which one? In Warszawa? or all of them?

[VIXI2008]

@ImTheCanadianEh evry polish mcdonalds :D but yes it could be in warsaw

[ImTheCanadianEh]

@VIXI2008 I was at Germany mcdonalds Berlin Hauptbahnhof & many Poland mcdonalds including .. and i have to say Germany's McDonalds are way better :p but the one in Krakow is the nicest out of all aha.

[NitekMuscle]

We have a relatively upscale McDonalds in the CBD.

[NitekMuscle]

I have a penchant for Iced Caramel Mochas

[TheGrandvoyager]

As an American I refuse to eat in any McDonalds, domestic or foreign.

[rono190]

lost my cellphone there....dayumn

[carmen14201]

I love the McCafe!

[FireStormBaller]

Haha, there's also a sink in Thailand fast food restarants too. KFC and McDonalds. XD

[shtzi]

WAIT! WRONG! not the undergroudn area is only used for international trains... like RE (regionalExpress) are driving from Berlin Südkreuz (southern Cross) to Berlin-Wansee! and upstairs are also intl. Trains.. like every Saturday D 711 from Berlin-Zoo to !!!Kiev Pass!!!

[slypsi]

McDonalds McCafe was an Australian concept. The first McCafe was opened in Melbourne in 1993. IMO the the McD Latte is alot nicer than the Starbucks one but the Starbucks hot chocolate wins over the McD one.. :-)

[hellokittygym3]

I'v been there

[skyline777]

mcdonalds is awesome outside of america.

[12345obama]

EVERYTHING is awesome outside of America. The USA just plain sucks.

[VIXI2008]

@12345obama Stop complaining about your country. USA is the most powerfull and richest nation all over the world

[canascot02]

@VIXI2008 yeah and they sell don't have universal healthcare lol

[fender5s]

Competition is good. I like Starbucks but I am glad they are getting challenged.

[mueffelbaer]

This video has a funny vibe to it "look, they have trains in Germany, and fancy McDonalds McCafés". Somehow I fail to see the significance for this to end up on AdAge, or is the situation really that dire for McD?

[chrisabraham]

It's just a simple report from a simple expat on something I found amusing from the AdAge GIN blog -- sort of "seeing things fresh, from Europe."

[SubscribeToSubscribe]

Does McCafe still serve Mcdonald's food? Like burgers?

[kierandempsey1]

@SubscribeToSubscribe no there's a mcdonalds and then a mc cafe next door :') that particular station's mc cafe is awsome i go there most days lol

[superjooo]

I'm still not impressed, McDonalds may be going in a better more refined direction, but it still seems like they have the same attitude toward the customer. It looked they had just taken Starbucks, and deep fried it to look like McDonalds

[CloudOutLouder]

Cool :)

[CloudOutLouder]

Starbucks has gone in the gutter largely because they've diluted their brand. Merchandising, music label, magazine, low budget food and instant coffee (they used to ground and brew for each cup).

[chrisabraham]

"they used to ground and brew for each cup" That was a long time ago. I have never seen that and I have been drinking Starbucks for over a decade.

[chrisabraham]

I guess I have only know Starbucks v2

[StefSoleil]

Starbucks may have started selling instant coffee, but they do not use it for the coffee they sell. If you get a drip coffee, your coffee was not ground right before brewing, but at least within the last 24 hours, most likely much less than that. If you get anything with espresso in it, you still get freshly ground coffee for every single shot. Have you never looked at the machines at Starbucks, or seen a barista refill the whole beans? A lot of things are wrong with Starbucks, but not that.

[CloudOutLouder]

I still think it would dilute the brand. But forget about that, any shrewd business person would know the ROI be too low for it to be beneficial.

[chrisabraham]

I don't think you're correct. Starbucks doesn't make sense, either. It improves their brand, in fact, which has gone to the gutter. This will mean that they can compete in an environment where JUST a cafe or JUST fastfood would not be a good enough generator -- they can balance the two. Starbucks doesn't offer both, so it could be more vulnerable. We'll see what happens. The only thing is, this version of it is not half-ass. I think the US versions might be half-ass, more like Dunkin' Donuts.

[CloudOutLouder]

Commenting on what you wrote: I think opening this in the States would dilute the brand.I bet if you researched it you'd find the majority of McD customers, in the States, are in the lower tax brackets and the lifeblood of the operation. This model would likely alienate them, but the clientele attracted to McCafe would not pick up the slack, causing the business to suffer.I'm interested to know if that is different in Europe.What do the majority of the McD customers look like there?

[chrisabraham]

I don't think it would dilute brand. There are not McCafes everywhere because they're expensive. They're only possible in certain markets where there needs to be competition with Starbucks and other mid-level brands. Trucks stops would not need them, nor would inner-city or rural McDonalds. The McDonalds at Frankfurt train station doesn't have one. Coffee is sipped out of a Styrofoam cup, like anywhere else. McDonalds is still the home of teenagers and the under-employed. There is a "Euro menu."

[CloudOutLouder]

Does it still smell like McDonalds?

[chrisabraham]

The closer you get to the coffee, the more the coffee covers up the fry cook smell. The station is also very airy and kept pretty clean. It is obviously a exemplar store, proving concept in the train station of the future that Berlin Hauptbahnhof is.

PS: Sorry for the sniffling... I guess I either have a horrible habit or a head cold.

[iamsemjaza]

Here the McCafe is just an extended menu. I think they got it right in Berlin though. :)