International McDonald’s menu items that should come to the US

• Photojournalist Gary He has traveled to over 55 countries and tasted many McDonald’s menus.
• In his upcoming book, he has captured the cultural essence of McDonald’s locations around the world.
• Speaking to Business Insider, he revealed the top 10 dishes he wishes were on American menus.

During a trip to Marrakesh, Morocco in 2019, Gary He, a Brooklyn-based photojournalist, encountered an unexpected surprise with his regular McDonald’s order.

A packet of dates paired with a chebakia – a Maghreb sweet made from fried dough shaped like roses and drizzled with honey syrup – a tomato and legume soup called harira soup and a bottle of laban, or salted buttermilk, all packed into a tiny box.

Curious about the box and its meaning, he turned to Google to find out more… but found there wasn’t much information available online.

“When I started looking for McDonald’s specialties in other countries, there was very little information and most of it was very scattered,” he told Business Insider.

This is where He came up with the idea of ​​documenting one of the largest restaurant chains in the world. He recalled, “The opportunity presented itself to play a journalist and documentarian while also taking a lifelong love of McDonald’s and combining them into a single project.”

Five years later, the James Beard Award-winning photojournalist has traveled to more than 55 countries on six continents and compiled a 420-page book, “McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches,” which will be published in November. The book contains over 200 photos of menu items and architectural wonders that show how this American chain has integrated itself into all cultures.

Given that about 27,000 of the brand’s 40,000 restaurants are located outside the U.S., one way the company can maintain its popularity and boost its international sales is by introducing locally popular products with a McDonald’s twist. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that these local items account for about 30% of the brand’s grocery sales.

While some of these dishes were introduced to American audiences in 2018 as part of the rotating menu at the brand’s international restaurant in Chicago, most of the others are still a plane ride away.

Even he — who has tried and sampled many of the brand’s local offerings, from Iftar specials in the Middle East (like the one he was served during Ramadan in Marrakesh) to celebrity chef-inspired sandwiches in Europe — wishes he could they get a piece of it without always having to travel across the ocean.

Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 global items he wishes were on American menus.