American highways harbor some of the country's most unusual fast-food landmarks, from a palatial McDonald's mansion to a UFO-themed burger joint in Roswell, New Mexico. These quirky restaurants, as listed on Atlas Obscura, can make a trip to get a burger feel like a novel experience.
In Sedona, Arizona, McDonald's was forced to paint its iconic golden arches teal to comply with the city's strict aesthetic guidelines. When Freeport, Maine wouldn't allow a typical McDonald's building, the company renovated an 1850s home instead. The Denton House McDonald's in New Hyde Park, New York operates from inside a grand colonial mansion. San Bernardino, California hosts an unofficial McDonald's museum on the site of the very first location.
"The history of the U.S. Interstate Highway System is inexorably bound with a quintessentially American invention: the drive-thru," writes Diana Hubbell for Atlas Obscura. "Henry Snyder, the co-founder of In-N-Out Burger, is often credited with inventing the two-way intercom ordering system in 1948 in Baldwin, California." Next time you find yourself on roadtrip, you can revisit this fun list to see if any of them are on your route.
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