Located on a far-flung island in Alaska sits a McDonald’s seemingly frozen in time, with the original drive-thru menu still on display and the interiors untouched from the day it closed in 1993.
Canadian videographer and photographer Chris Luckhardt recently paid a visit to the abandoned fast food restaurant on Adak and he documented what he found.
His YouTube video shows the windows and doors shuttered up, but a sign remains outside displaying some of the items on offer decades ago – as well as the incredibly low prices that each one went for.
Back then, a BigMac was priced at $2.45 (the equivalent of $5.10 today) and a hamburger coming in at 99 cents (the equivalent of $2.08 today). Today, those same items cost around $7.19 and $3.39, respectively, depending on your location.
As a sign of the times, when Jurassic Park was a smash hit in movie theaters, one sign on the drive-thru stand advertises a ‘Dino-Size’ meal. The blurb explains: ‘Get Dino-Size fries and a large soft drink in a free Jurassic Park collector cup.’
One photo uploaded to Flickr by user Travis S. also reveals the interiors of the eatery, with a terracotta tiled floor and retro-style plastic seating.
Located on a far-flung island in Alaska sits a McDonald’s seemingly frozen in time, with the drive-thru menu still on display and the interiors untouched from the day it closed in 1993
Canadian videographer and photographer Chris Luckhardt recently paid a visit to the abandoned fast food restaurant on Adak and he documented what he found
His YouTube video shows the windows and doors shuttered up, but a sign remains outside displaying some of the items on offer decades ago
Filmmaker Luckhardt notes in his video how the McDonald’s is located in the ghost town of Adak, which once served as a bustling naval base with more than 6,000 residents.
The grassy outcrop served as an important strategical base during World War II and beyond, to safeguard against a Japanese invasion.
However, once tensions cooled off, the base closed in 1997 and many people living in the community had already relocated by that point.
Luckhardt told DailyMail.com that the Adak McDonald’s opened in July 1986 and the navy ‘helped the franchisee ship everything in.’
Prices at the restaurant were higher than mainland America as everything had to be flown or shipped in.
One veteran told Luckhardt that he paid more than $6.00 for a 20-piece McNugget meal when the restaurant opened.
Despite the comparatively high prices, another veteran said people weren’t deterred and it was ‘packed daily.’
And, when compared to the modern day McDonald’s menu, those prices seem much more reasonable – with a Filet-O-Fish costing just $1.95 back in 1993, while today, the same sandwich would set you back around $5.99.
For years the restaurant remained a popular spot but when military efforts started winding down, the owner decided to shut up shop.
One photo uploaded to Flickr by user Travis S. also reveals the interiors of the eatery, with a terracotta tiled floor and retro-style plastic seating
Adak once served as a bustling naval base with more than 6,000 residents. However, the base closed in 1997
Luckhardt explains: ‘The franchisees left Adak when the Navy base was decommissioned and they went on to open two McDonald’s in Oregon.
‘They later moved to Texas and opened two other McDonald’s.
‘When they closed their business in Adak, the McDonald’s corporate team set a crew in late 1994 to retrieve the arches that stood by the main road.’
After standing empty for many years, the McDonald’s restaurant was repurposed as a staff dining facility from 2011 to 2013 by a local fish processing plant.
‘Icicle Seafoods gutted the kitchen, but the pastel-colored seating remained intact based on a 2018 interior photo,’ Luckhardt says.
The restaurant was then boarded up after ‘some unfortunate vandalism shortly before the pandemic’ which led to ‘at least one of the restaurant windows being smashed.’
As a sign of the times, when Jurassic Park was a smash hit in movie theaters, one sign on the drive-thru stand advertises a ‘Dino-Size’ meal
After standing empty for many years, the McDonald’s restaurant was repurposed as a staff dining facility from 2011 to 2013 by a local fish processing plant
The McDonald’s captured from above. The restaurant was boarded up after ‘some unfortunate vandalism shortly before the pandemic’
According to Luckhardt, there are now 33 permanent residents still living in Adak. One of the residents leases out intact buildings to tourists
Like the McDonald’s, most of the other buildings in Adak have been left abandoned.
Luckhardt’s drone footage reveals a patchwork of unoccupied buildings left to the elements with parked vehicles also left to rust.
One building fitted with antennas was used for ‘radio navigation and intelligence gathering,’ while there was also a hospital, pub and city hall on the base.
Today, according to Luckhardt, there are 33 permanent residents still living in Adak.
Some are employed by the small local government, some work at the airport where there are two flights from Anchorage a week, while a group also run lodgings for tourists, with some of the draws including hunting, fishing and bird watching.
Several homes in Adak are listed on Airbnb, with rates starting from around $200 per night.
A map of the tiny community on the local government website reveals that some of the facilities still operating include a bar and grill, liquor store, gas station, school, and post office.
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