McDonald's in Ecuador

Despite their insistence in using the terrible "I'm lovin' it" campaign (bring back What you want is what you get or even We love to see you smile), I am a fan of McDonald's. Yes, I know that their food is bad for me and that they represent an 'evil corporate culture', but their food is comfortable and consistently delicious.  

Thanks to my friend Serge, I found out that there is a McDonald's in every country I am planning to visit except for Vietnam.  Magge and I have thus decided that we are going to try a McDonald's in each country; not because we need American food and don't want to try the local cuisine (for proof, read yesterday's cuy entry), but because we want to approach it as an anthropological and cultural study (worst justification ever? maybe).  To kick off this recurring feature, here is our look at a McDonald's in Ecuador.


Location:  Quito at Ave. 6 de Diciembre and Ave. 10 de Septiembre
Cost of a Big Mac value meal:  $4.50.  They only displayed prices for value meals and not for individual burgers.  I don't know if they sell individual burgers or not.
Comparative cost to local food:  Pretty expensive.  For the price of a Big Mac value meal, I can get at least two set lunches, which consists of much more food.
Special menu items:  Disappointingly, there did not seem to be anything unique on the menu.  There was a Mexican burger, which obviously isn't a local item, and I assume it appears in most Latin American McDonald's.
Taste test:  The fries are similar to their American counterparts.  The ketchup is sweeter, which Magge says will be common throughout our travels in South America.  The burgers actually get a slight edge over the American versions, as the beef seemed fresher and of higher quality (our Spanish teacher said that they get their beef from Chile).
Popularity:  By far the busiest place we've had lunch in so far.  That's a little surprising given the much better value almuerzos present, but maybe not so suprising given the evil corporate culture lure of the golden arches.
Other comments:  Even though we got the medium size value meals, and the fries were the American equivalent of a medium, the drinks were the American equivalent of a small, much to our dismay.  We looked around, and most of the locals were smart enough to have upsized.  I'm sure they were laughing inside at the stupid gringos and their tiny cokes.