Huge crowds braved long lines in Moscow for a taste of the mysterious “Beeg Mak” in 1990.
Factory worker Mikhail Negilko stood beneath a pair of glistening golden arches, preaching to the crowd with the enthusiasm of a convert. He had seen the future — and it tasted good.
The launch of the Bolshoi Mak is, in some ways, the ultimate challenge-for both the world’s largest fast-food chain and the world’s largest country. Restaurants in the Soviet Union are renowned for their surly service, appalling hygiene, intimidating doormen, deafening bands and absence of half the items on the menu. Reserving a table can be an achievement in itself.
“Finding a decent place to eat is one of our biggest problems,” complained Gena Popov, an auto mechanic, standing in line with his wife, Rima. “This place looks different just from the outside. Everything is so clean and bright.” The workers — 27,000 applications were received for 630 jobs — are paid 1.5 rubles an hour, close to the Soviet average wage. “It’s too little — we have to work much harder than most Soviet workers,” said Marina Komolova, a student at Moscow Financial College, who was scrubbing tables furiously.
“They’ll use these disposable plates and cups for one and a half months. Then they’ll go back to dirty saucers and glasses, like we have in our restaurants. It will all go downhill. We don’t know how to run a restaurant like this,” said Andrei Grushin, an engineer.
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