McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in the Soviet Union in 1990.
The restaurant opened in Moscow on January 31, 1990, after years of negotiations and preparation. Its arrival became a highly visible example of a Western consumer brand entering the Soviet market near the end of the Cold War.
The Moscow restaurant was notable for its scale, organization, and effort to source ingredients locally. McDonald’s presented familiar branding and service standards while operating within a very different economic and political environment.
The opening is sometimes dated to the late 1980s because discussions and construction began earlier. The restaurant itself opened to customers in 1990, which is the key date in McDonald’s international branding history.