What was the name of McDonald’s first restaurant in the Soviet Union?

McDonald’s first restaurant in the Soviet Union was McDonald’s Pushkin Square.

The restaurant opened in Moscow on January 31, 1990, at Pushkin Square. Its opening was a major international branding event because it brought a prominent American fast-food company into the Soviet market during a period of political and economic change.

The restaurant was notable not just for its location but also for the scale of public interest surrounding it. Long lines were reported at the opening, and the site quickly became associated with McDonald’s entry into a country that had previously been largely closed to Western consumer brands.

The name is often shortened to the Pushkin Square McDonald’s, but “McDonald’s Pushkin Square” identifies the specific restaurant. It should not be confused with McDonald’s first restaurants in other European countries or with the company’s earlier Canadian expansion.