MANISTICHI, Mich. (WLUC) – The wait is over for Manistique residents as a new McDonald's has opened along US-2 and the drive-thru is now open.
Manistique High School senior Landon Weber and two friends came to a new fast-food restaurant during their lunch break.
“It's amazing,” Weber said. “Finally, we have a nice place to go for a casual meal. It's nice and fast.”
And what about fries?
“Probably the best fries I've ever had in my life,” Weber added.
Owners Tim and Kathy Wilson already own McDonald's locations in Gladstone and Escanaba. The couple held a ribbon cutting for the new Manistic franchise at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Within 30 minutes of the ribbon-cutting, cars were pouring into the drive-thru, filling it to capacity, which Tim said wasn't surprising.
“People are really enthusiastic about us coming here, which has been great,” Tim said. “The location is great. It's right on US-2. It's right, almost on the water. It's a beautiful place. Probably one of the most beautiful McDonald's locations in the state of UP.”
City Manager Corey Barr attended the ceremony. The new restaurant will help the local economy, he said.
“There's a lot of sports going on in Manistique. High school kids on the bus,” Barr said. “There really wasn't a good place for them to eat after the sporting event was over.”
Barr said that's not the only benefit the eatery will bring to the area.
“Employment opportunities are being offered to young people and some older people to become managers and assistant managers,” Barr said. “Again, development with increased employment, that’s a win, a win.”
Barr hopes the new McDonald's will serve other purposes besides filling bellies and providing jobs.
“Mr. Manistique, we just don't have enough space for the whole restaurant. And then there's the whole development thing,” Barr said. “So our hope is that this development will be very visible on the highway and that there will be more vacant properties that are still available and that will encourage development.”
Wilson said the restaurant is hiring employees for all shifts. If you are interested, please text “Mi076” to 38000.
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