MANISTIQUE, Mich. (WLUC) – The wait is over for Manistique residents as the new McDonald’s on US-2 has opened its doors and its drive-thru.
Manistique High School Junior Landon Weber and two of his friends came to the new fast-food joint on their lunch break.
“It’s awesome,” Weber said. “We finally get like a nice easy place to eat. Nice and fast.”
And the french fries?
“Probably the best fries I’ve had in my life,” Weber added.
Owners Tim and Cathy Wilson already own the Gladstone and Escanaba McDonald’s stores. The couple cut the ribbon to their new Manistique franchise at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Within half an hour of the ribbon cutting, there was a steady stream of cars through the drive-thru and the inside was packed, which Tim said did not come as a surprise.
“People are really enthusiastic about us being here. So that’s been wonderful,” Tim said. “The location is great. We’re right on US-2. Right on, pretty much right on the water. It’s a beautiful location. It’s one of the probably the most beautiful locations for a McDonald’s in the U.P., I would think.”
City Manager Corey Barr attended the ceremony. He said the new restaurant will help the local economy.
“We have a lot of sports in Manistique, you know, high school students that are on a bus,” Barr said. “We really didn’t have a good place for them to eat after they got done with their sporting events.”
Barr said that’s not the only benefit the eatery will bring to the area.
“The employment opportunity it provides for the youth and some older people to be the managers and the assistant managers, you know,” Barr said. “Again, development with job growth, it’s a win, win.”
Barr hopes the new McDonald’s will serve another purpose besides filling bellies and providing work.
“Manistique, we’re short on overall restaurant space, you know, and just development in general,“ Barr said. ”So, to have this development on the highway and very visible, our hope is with some more vacant property that’s still available, it’ll spur development.”
Wilson said the restaurant is hiring for all shifts. If interested, text “Mi076″ to 38000.
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