This Long Island McDonald's Location Is Stuck In The '90s (And Fans Love It)

Among the casualties of the gray-ification that is the "modern" restaurant remodel, McDonald's is among the most tragic. The drab new iterations of the fast-food giant couldn't be more different than the colorful, kid-friendly McDonald's that they replaced. If you'd never seen an old McDonald's, you might not even know what the "golden arches" refer to, let alone the "PlayPlace." Almost all the McDonald's of yesteryear are gone. The brightly colored seats and chairs, the strange wall art featuring characters like The Hamburglar and Birdie the Early Bird, the ball pit — all no more. However, one Long Island McDonald's seems to have never received the memo.

In Hicksville, New York, there is a McDonald's that seems almost frozen in time. The walls are still tiled in red and yellow. There is an unnerving statue of Ronald McDonald, gesturing toward a sign advertising birthday events. The metal chairs are all colors of the rainbow, and the PlayPlace jungle gym remains open.

There are novelty-themed sites all around the world; the coolest McDonald's locations include a UFO-shaped one in Roswell and a McDonald's train car in Barstow. A retro restaurant is certainly not unheard of — the oldest operating McDonald's location is still up and running and delightfully midcentury. But this McDonald's seems to be something else entirely — a location that was left behind as the tide swept the brand, and the rest of the world, out into modernity. Its existence has become a local legend in Reddit posts and social media. It's impossible to know how long it can stay stuck in the '90s; if you want your nostalgia fix, you might want to plan your trip to Hicksville sooner rather than later.

The internet has been waxing nostalgic about this Hicksville anomaly. Yearning for the aesthetics — and economy — of the '90s has reached a fever pitch over the past few years, and if online comments are any indication, consumers demand a return to those better days. Instagram comments on photos of the location are adamant; one such comment demands, "Protect it at all costs." Another proclaims, "This is what McDonald's SHOULD look like." One redditor on a /retailporn post filled with photos of the location got more visceral: "I want to smell it."

While the unchanged interior of the Hicksville McDonald's is a nostalgia haven all around, it's the still-intact PlayPlace that has the internet feeling most wistful. One Redditor says, "I'm a parent, and I always wished my daughter could experience a '90s PlayPlace so she could see how magical it was for us growing up." 

While Yelp reviewers don't seem as affected by the retro charm, they also seem pleased about the PlayPlace that remains — a testament to the fact that no matter what year it is, kids love to climb around in germ-ridden plastic, and parents appreciate a much-needed break.