The McDonald’s at 40th and Walnut streets hosted a grand opening event on Oct. 4 to celebrate its reopening in University City.
The event was a public celebration of the return of McDonald’s after a nearly two-year absence due to construction. The grand opening lasted from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring student DJs from DJ@Penn, giveaways, raffles, and the McDonald’s mascot, Grimace.
“This event was our way to welcome the community and let everyone know that we are back,” Ryan Doane, the restaurant’s owner and operator, told The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The restaurant first reopened on Sept. 23 after it had been closed for construction since January 2023. The revamped McDonald's boasts a new digital ordering system, a modernized layout and design, and an entirely new staff of employees.
“[McDonald's] has been closed since the year before we came to Penn,” second-year dental student John Kim said. “They were teasing us a little because every day we would walk past it and see the McDonald’s logo, but it wouldn’t be open; now it’s finally here.”
Kim and his friends have been regular customers of the McDonald’s since its reopening, frequenting the restaurant twice a week. They said that its close proximity to the School of Dental Medicine, which is also located on 40th Street, makes it an ideal location for dental students to eat.
“It’s really close by, and the prices are better than most places on campus,” second-year dental student Kevin Fan said. “It’s cheap [and] convenient and has really good deals and promos.”
Second-year dental student Elaine Zeng agreed, describing McDonald’s as an “easy and convenient” way to get food in between classes.
“They made it really nice inside; I’m even thinking about studying there,” she said. “It’s all very clean and new.”
McDonald’s General Manager Isabella Borgesi told the DP that the restaurant's goal for the event was to “get the community involved.”
“The Penn community has been genuinely so welcoming that we are excited to continue nurturing those relationships and planning new collaborations,” she said.
Borgesi added that the opening event was one of many collaborative events scheduled with student groups at Penn, and she hopes that the restaurant will continue to engage with the Penn community.
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