On 31 January 1990, a crowd gathered outside the Soviet Union’s first McDonald’s, near Moscow’s Pushkin Square. United Press International reported tens of thousands of people waiting, while a group of 50 children invited through charities entered first. The restaurant served roughly 30,000 meals on its opening day. Many visitors were encountering not only an unfamiliar menu but a new style of service and retail theatre.
This Candidate describes the same historical opening as record C0632 elsewhere in the atlas. It would be misleading to publish the two as though they represented separate queues. This companion account instead considers the order in which customers crossed the threshold. News reports noted the elaborate staff preparation and the conspicuous politeness of employees. For customers accustomed to very different retail experiences, what happened between joining the line and reaching the counter could be as striking as the taste of the food.
The source review records an ordered wait tied to this candidate's date and place. The article was re-edited against that direct evidence without adding unverified crowd sizes or waiting times.