Rome has been resisting foreign invaders for over two thousand years, but in 1986, the city met a new kind of adversary: McDonald’s. When the fast-food giant opened its first Roman location near the base of the Spanish Steps, the reaction was swift and furious. Locals protested the “Americanization” of their city’s culinary and cultural identity. Italian food activist and journalist Carlo Petrini helped organize demonstrations, and the uproar around the golden arches helped inspire what would become the global Slow Food movement. That first Big Mac on Piazza di Spagna ignited a whole new way of thinking about tradition and food sovereignty.

The Spanish Steps McDonald’s is still there today, just as cavernous and pastel-hued as ever. It seats eight hundred people and has adapted to local tastes, offering Italian pastries and numerous espresso drinks at the McCafé counter. While tourists inevitably flock to the location, McDonald’s Italy reports that most customers in Rome are locals—students, families, commuters, and workers grabbing something predictable, fast, and air-conditioned.

Since that first opening, McDonald’s has spread throughout Rome, now boasting over fifty locations, many of which adapt to the city’s ancient landscape. At the Termini Station location, you can eat your McCrunchy Chicken and fries next to the Servian Wall, the fourth-century BCE defensive fortification that once encircled ancient Rome. Then there’s the location in Frattocchie near Ciampino Airport that incorporates a subterranean archaeological site and museum directly beneath the dining room. Through a glass panel in the floor, visitors can peer down at a second-century CE pavement and funeral monuments, complete with human remains.

Before McDonald’s took over the city, Italians had their own homegrown fast-food chain: Burghy. Founded in Milan in the early 1980s and owned by the Cremonini family, Burghy slung burgers and fries across Italy before being bought out by McDonald’s in 1996. The Cremoninis didn’t exit the game, though. They pivoted to food supply and became the primary meat distributor for McDonald’s in Italy, effectively feeding the beast they once tried to compete with.

In 2023, McDonald’s opened its newest Roman branch just a few steps from the Mercato di Testaccio. Not a protester in sight. What helped ease McDonald’s transition from foreign invader to domestic convenience were its high-profile collaborations with Italian culinary royalty. In 2011, the late Gualtiero Marchesi, arguably Italy’s most revered chef, designed two burgers for the chain, one of which came topped with pancetta, grilled eggplant, and balsamic vinegar. It scandalized food purists but subtly signaled that eating McDonald’s didn’t necessarily mean turning your back on Italian food culture. Two years later, the brand entered its first of many partnerships with restaurateur and TV host Joe Bastianich, whose My Selection menus blend Italian and American influences.

Rome, of course, persists. The Gran Crispy McBacon is unlikely to edge out suppli or pizza by the slice anytime soon. But its presence is a reminder that convenience always wins. Whether you see it as cultural erosion or just another quirky layer in the city’s culinary collage, McDonald’s is part of the landscape now, wedged between ruins and monuments, feeding Romans who live, work, and snack in a city that never stops changing.