Thanks to eagle-eyed social media investigators, we now know just a tad more about McDonald’s shadowy new restaurant concept, CosMc’s, Business Insider reports. Photos posted online and various TikTok videos show the construction for the spinoff restaurant currently underway in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
Although it is visibly evident that the retro-looking concept is in the works, McDonald’s has been extremely tight-lipped about the details of the new project.
What is CosMc’s?
In the summer, CNN reported McDonald’s plans to roll out a brand-new restaurant concept based on one of the brand’s lesser known characters from the ’80s. CosMc is a mischievous alien character that would visit McDonaldland from time to time and interact with the chain’s better known characters like Grimace, Birdie, and Ronald himself. In one 1987 commercial, CosMc attempts to steal the gang’s lunch in an unfair trade, but Ronald drags him backward with a giant magnet and they all end up sharing their food.
Aside from CosMc’s role in McDonaldland, the company has not shared much else about the new restaurant or what it will serve. “CosMc’s is a small-format concept with all the DNA of McDonald’s but its own unique personality,” said McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski during the chain’s second quarter earnings call.
What we know about CosMc’s so far
Despite McDonald’s vague description of CosMc’s, it must be closer to opening than we knew; social media users were able to spot the new restaurant in Bolingbrook, Illinois with its retro, purple exterior and “CosMc’s” sign already up on the building.
Google Maps indicates that the new restaurant is taking over a space that was previously a Boston Market. The rotisserie chicken chain has been on the decline for some time now and reportedly shuttered at least 50 locations within the first eight months of 2023 (potentially related to a whole lot of lawsuits).
The social media account @snackolator, which tracks and reports on fast food and snack releases, posted a TikTok video noting that the new construction had four drive-thru lanes. Plus, the new restaurant is located directly across the street from an existing McDonald’s location, which has led some to speculate CosMc’s might focus more on the brand’s McCafé offerings such as coffee and pastries.
Users in the comment section of the TikTok video have speculated CosMc’s might finally bring back McDonald’s all-day breakfast menu that was discontinued in 2020 due to the pandemic. McDonald’s is set to have its next investors day on December 6, so hopefully the company will shed a little more light on what this alien concept is bringing to the table.