MOSCOW -- More than 30,000 Soviets lined up on Gorky Street Wednesday to eat at Moscow's first and the world's biggest McDonald's -- and the record-breaking opening-day throng was served with courtesy that left them in disbelief.
'We opened the doors and literally 500 people came through. It's going very exciting, ecstatic,' said George Cohon, 52, president of McDonald's Canada, who worked 14 years to realize his dream of bringing McDonald's to Moscow.
As tens of thousands waited in line, 50 youngsters sponsored by children's charities were the first through the doors and the first to eat hamburgers and drink milk shakes.
'Half the proceeds go to the children's funds, and we thought it would be keeping with what we do around the world to allow those 50 kids in, and that's what we did,' said Cohon. 'And then we opened the doors for everyone.'
Restaurant officials said more than 30,000 Soviets ate at in the restaurant on its first day, shattering the McDonald's opening-day record of 9,100 transactions set in Budapest, Hungary, as well as the all-time record for any single day, 14,000 in Hong Kong.
'More than 30,000 Soviets had their first meal at McDonald's in Moscow today,' a company statement said Wednesday night. 'Today's sales broke all opening-day records for McDonald's worldwide.'
Cohon added, 'The overwhelming acceptance of McDonald's from our new Soviet customers is the result of the teamwork and cooperation of our partners in the Soviet Union and the McDonald's family throughout the world.'
Beginning at 10 a.m., the Russians kept arriving, eating and leaving shocked at the courtesy shown by polite young Russians who waited on them from behind 27 automatic registers.
'They told us thank you, come again,' people repeated as they left.
Klavdiya Degtyareva, a 67-year-old World War II veteran, said she stuffed herself with an apple pie and a Big Mac followed by a cheeseburger -- and was on her way back to try the fish fillet.
'It was all wonderful -- soft. Even people like me without teeth can eat it and the apple pies were exceptional,' she enthused.
'I'm thinking of coming back with my children and grandchildren. I think everyone will come back. These restaurants shouldn't just be in Moscow. We must get the pleasure and the owners will get the profits,' she added.
Outside, other Russians waited, but not for long. 'The lines are moving unbelievably well,' said Cohon, who had promised no long waits. 'I was just at the end of the line, and people can't believe it. The Soviets are moving along slowly. They are used to standing so they are now just walking along slowly.'
With the familar golden arches high above the restaurant, Muscovites could in no way recognize the old cafe Lira, a watering hole known for its rowdiness with brawls spilling out late at night onto Pushkin Square.
Instead, what Cohon calls the world's most modern and biggest McDonald's now graces the spot, with 700 seats inside and 200 outside, ready to serve 15,000 people each day -- certainly to be exceeded Wednesday. In the end, Moscow is slated to get 20 McDonald's.
Residents of 51 other countries feasted on Big Macs before they became a symbol in the heart of the communist world, to some, of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's program of economic and political restructuring -- perestroika.
It took 14 years of planning and bargaining for the golden arches to vie with the colored cupolas of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square as the country's chief landmark.
His staff of Russians were trained at McDonald's schools abroad. Cohon assembled the serving staff from among students, in a city where part-time work for students previously was unthinkable.
Unlike nearly all foreign food ventures in the Soviet Union, McDonald's is selling Big Macs with fries and milk shakes for rubles, not dollars, breaking what Russians cynically call perestroika's 'ruble apartheid.'
Those dollars-only establishments keep most Russians out, their mouths watering, while foreigners or privileged Soviets with dollars eat or load their cars with groceries.
Nearly all the food, from the crispy French fries to the meat, comes from the Moscow region and is processed in a plant built by McDonald's.
