What was the third country to have a McDonald's restaurant?

The story behind the answer

Costa Rica is correct: McDonald’s opened in San José in 1970, making it the third country with a McDonald’s after the United States and Canada (1967). Japan and Australia followed in 1971, and France later, so Costa Rica beat those larger markets by a year or more.

Context helps: McDonald’s expanded first within the Americas before moving to Asia, Oceania, and Europe. Remember it as “U.S. → Canada → Costa Rica,” a North America to Central America progression, both of the latter starting with C. This early foothold in Latin America showed how the chain adapted to new regions through local franchise partners, setting the stage for its rapid global spread in the 1970s.