McDonalds Korea – 5 Quick Tips about Fast Food in Korea – Seoulistic

McDonalds Korea – 5 Quick Tips about Fast Food in Korea

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McDonalds is a global fast food chain that is unavoidable in nearly every corner of the world. So you’ll be sure to run into a few on your trip to Korea. But no matter if you love or hate fast food, read up on these tips to see what you can expect from Mcdonalds Korea!

Note: Most of these tips can be applied to Burger King Korea and Lotteria as well.

Quick tip #1: McDonalds Korea offers free refills for soda pop.

Head over to a McDonalds Korea and get the smallest cup for soda pop. You can get free refills for when you need to take a break from your shopping spree in Myeongdong.

Update: No longer offering free refills 🙁

Quick tip #2: McDonalds Korea only gives 1 ketchup packet & 1 napkin.

Fast food chains in other parts of the world don’t have to worry about ajummas loading up on free ketchup packets and napkins to take home. But McDonalds in Korea does. If you want more, they’ll give it to you. Just ask!

Quick tip #3: Use their bathrooms for whenever you need to go go.

The good thing about restaurant chain bathrooms is that they have employees to clean up on a regular schedule. Also, no one cares if you use the bathrooms even if you’re not a customer! (This tip is not just for McDonalds, but all chains in Korea, such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Dunkin Donuts, etc.)




Quick tip #4: McDonalds delivers straight to your door.

McDonalds Korea has delivery service straight to your door 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Absolutely free, and usually quick, this service keeps burger addicts happy on their couches. Order to your hotel room by calling 1600-5252.

Note: Delivery is not typically available for Burger King. Lotteria has delivery (thanks Seoulfoodyo!).

Quick tip #5: McDonalds Burgers in Korea – Shanghai Spicy Chicken Burger & Bulgogi Burger 

Of course you should eat Korean food while you’re in Korea, but if you want to check out some McDonalds Korea burgers, the Shanghai Spicy Chicken Burger and the Bulgogi Burger are Korea specialties. Both are Korea-specific, and the Shanghai Spicy Chicken Burger is the #1 selling burger for McDonalds Korea!

What’s McDonalds like in your country?

Keith
Keith
Keith Kim is a Korean-American who has been living in Korea for almost a decade. Being in a unique position as both a Korean and a non-Korean, he's put all his experience and knowledge for surviving in Korea in Survival Korean . Read it to learn how you can survive in Korea. Follow him on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

27 Comments

  1. Mía says:

    Too bad here in Brazil we don´t get soda pop refills and the bathrooms are dirty. You can go as many as you want even though you´re not a customer but you have to deal withe the dirty bathrooms. And the deilvery is only for the biggest cities and the good neighborhoods.

    • Felipe says:

      Where do you live in Brazil? ‘Cause in my city (I live in Brasília), I’ve never seen a Mc Donald’s bathroom dirty. Especially ’cause Mc Donald’s is proud of their hygiene standards.. It’s true that they won’t refill your soda pop for free, but if that’s a service you really want, you can always go to Burger King, where you can actually refill your soda pop as much as you want.

  2. The Bobster says:

    McDonald’s is not unavoidable. If you see one, you can avoid it. There are almost always other places to eat. Pretty much always, close by. The things that are avoidable in life are the ones that take you by surprise. Mickey D’s is not one of those places..

    The rest of what you say might be correct, even though your first sentence was wrong. I have successfully avoided McDonald’s for most of a decade, so I’m here to tell you it can be done.

    • JSL says:

      Well they do have a gaz station monopoly on freeways in many parts which is check mate if you don’t have a sandwich prepared from home. Surprise, your hungry and don’t have your lunch box on you.

  3. seoulfoodyo says:

    Lotteria does deliver, although it isn’t 24 hours. http://www.lotteria.com/Shop/HomeService.asp

    Also, for McD’s delivery, menu items cost more and there is a 7,000 won minimum. So basically, if you’re eating alone, you can’t just order a Big Mac set, you have to order more stuff.

  4. Keith says:

    @TheBobster – I was more referring to them being all over the world 🙂
    @seoulfoodyo – thanks again! you’re bomb 🙂

  5. Shannon says:

    Wow… McDonalds Korea sounds really amazing.
    In Brazil we don’t have free refills for soda pop. If we want more we have to buy it.
    We don’t have free delivery service (at least not in the neighborhoods I lived), delivery service is not 24/7 and it’s not fast.
    Our bathrooms are really disgusting. I never used one…
    Sounds like our McDonald is horrible. Actually I think it’s pretty good. I like the food. But after reading this I realized how much I want it to change.

  6. Tifnifnif says:

    Thank you for the post, I was really wowed by the refilling and the delivery thing, (I mean how great is that!) I’m from Morocco, and here also you can use their (clean) bathrooms whenever you need to, but I always dreamt about a McDo delivery, glad to see that it does exist eleswhere… just need to move over there ^^”

  7. fouge642 says:

    McDonalds doesn’t deliver in the US. But they do have free refills. Any restaurant that has the soda machines out for you to use generally has free refills.

  8. Chris says:

    Are you sure about those free refills? Seems Iikey they quit that a couple years back (McD’s alone among the fast food chains). Last time I tried to get a refill, even offering to pay, it was refused. They made me buy a second cup at full price. I’m hoping your report here indicates a reversal of that crazy policy.

    I also noted they are real stingy with the sauces. In fact, you can’t get extra sauces for your chicken fingers. I find this amusing, when at the usual Korean restaurant you get free refills on your side dishes!

  9. Kevin says:

    I went over to the mac in myeongdong but they told me there’s no refill for the soda pop.

  10. Nini says:

    McDonald’s in Manila offer delivery services, for a fixed price of Php50 or around $1 USD. They offer Spaghetti and Burger McDo (a ground pork burger served with a Thousand Island dressing-like sauce to appeal to local tastes). They also sell Chicken and Rice meals. So Asian :))

  11. Keith says:

    Thanks for the update on the soda! Post has been updated 🙂

    Chicken and rice at McDonalds? Why not go cheaper with the local food guy??? 😛

  12. Andre says:

    My tip: if you want something which is outside of standard menu/service (like a spare empty cup) – ask in English! Even if you know how to do it in Korean – don’t! The thing is by asking in English you’ll make the job of just giving you an empty cup to be easier than explaining (in English) why they cannot give one to you.

    I know, not fair. But hey, it’s Korea, it works!

  13. Darkpbj says:

    You know who does have free refills in Seoul? Taco Bell 😀

  14. Steph says:

    Mcdonalds in the philippines have rice in their menu!

  15. lvmama says:

    Here in hawaii you can get a breakfast platter at Mcdonald’s that has portuguese sausage, eggs and rice. or SPAM, eggs and rice. And they also sell Saimin noodles. Can’t get that in Las Vegas though. 🙁

  16. lvmama says:

    oh yeah… and you can get free refills in Hawaii.

  17. superman says:

    I was at a McDonald’s in Seoul today. Asked for a free refill… Was refused!

  18. Dems says:

    McDonald’s delivery in Manila has $1 charge :3

  19. Neil says:

    Here in the philippines we have this McSaver meals where you can eat at 50 pesos or equivalent to $1 you can eat a chicken fillet with rice, chicken burger or spaghetti. The best sellers were usually their chicken ( Chicken McDo) their chicken fillet with rice ( usually to students ) and their sundae ^^

  20. Mimi says:

    In the U.S. you can get free refills, plus the small cup size here cost the same as the large, so always get the largest cup!

  21. Terence Caoagdan says:

    I grew up in saudi arabia. Fastfood chains like McDonalds offer local versions of their burgers. Ours is called McArabia, a sandwich with your choice of beef or chicken, wrapped in khubus, a local flat round bread. Aside from the McArabia, they also offer burgers from around the world, like “the mexican”, “the asian”, “the brazillian”… etc. which change every month. I also compared McDonalds from around the world, Ours are Big in comparison and what you see in the commercials or Adv. are usually what you get when you order. Even fries and drinks are much fuller. Overall fastfood chains are easy to recognize from people around the world.

  22. AW says:

    We tried to stay away from “Western” food while in Korea but after about a week and a half I had a real craving for a burger. Didn’t get to eat McDonalds but did try Lotteria for a quick burger and fries fix. Saw a Shakeshack in Gangnam but I’m not a Shakeshack and throw in the line, no thanks. In N Out will always be King.

  23. […] and decide to call up Mickey D’s in the middle of the night, you might want to try some of the Korean specialties, such as the Bulgogi Burger and the Shanghai Spicy Chicken […]

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