[URBAN NOTE] "McDonalds opens first standalone McCafe at Union Station"

[rfmcdonald]

If McDonald's can make the transition described by the Toronto Star's Lisa Wright, the more power to them. McDonald's coffee really is very good, you know.

When he started out at McDonald’s in 1970, John Betts never pictured grilled cheese would one day be on the menu, let alone Campbell’s chicken soup or chocolate chunk brownies.

And soy lattes were absolutely unheard of back when the chief executive of McDonald’s Canada was flipping burgers in Southampton, New York.

Just don’t ask for a Big Mac at Canada’s first standalone McCafe, which opens this morning at Union Station, followed by a new 19-seat cafe to be launched in January at First Canadian Place.

“A cup of coffee got us here today. It’s an amazing story because we’re a hamburger place,” Betts said in an interview Tuesday, as the finishing touches were being put on the chain’s splashy new café in the York concourse.

He explained it’s a natural progression from the 138 million free cups of coffee McDonald’s Canada has handed out to customers since its popular brew launched in 2009, when he took the helm of the stagnating burger brand.