World's 'worst' McDonald's in Ottawa shuts down after infamous fights and callouts

A McDonald’s outlet deemed as the ‘worst in the world’ is finally having its doors closed permanently after almost four decades of serving hungry patrons, The Mirror reported. The restaurant, which is located in Canada’s Ottawa, has garnered a fair share of stardom for all the wrong reasons. Police have responded to 800 callouts from the eatery within a year, including one that involved a raccoon.

The restaurant’s shutdown has been mainly cited to lease problems, and surprisingly not the weekly incidents ruining its reputation and that of the Golden Arches. "The city tore up Rideau Street and put the subway in, then they re-tore it to enhance it, put curbing in. The freedom rallies and we had COVID; all these things are upheavals that can’t make it easy for a steady, reliable operation,” said building owner Peter Crosthwaite.

"They are a pretty dynamic organisation, they have the right to look at different spots and maybe they felt the time was right. But there’s maybe things that made it seem more right than usual,” he added. Stating that he is unsure why the lease was not simply extended, Crosthwaite told news outlet Ottawa Citizen that McDonald’s had been “a great tenant for almost 50 years. They’re smart people. Maybe it was time for a change - maybe they didn’t feel comfortable.”

Why was the eatery so infamous?

The outlet opened doors for fast food lovers in 1985 but only got to make headlines in 2013 after a brawl between customers erupted and a man pulled out a raccoon from his clothing. A clip of the incident went viral on social media. Ever since then, things took a turn for the worse at the restaurant.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau addressed the grievances to McDonald’s Canada President and CEO in a letter that touched upon the "ongoing criminal activity and social disorder" at the location. As a result, the eatery’s opening hours changed from 24 hours to 6 am-10 pm.