McHappy birthday: Bathurst McDonald's to mark 30th birthday on August 1

The iconic restaurant with the golden arches opened its doors for the first time on August 1, 1989, with an old Western Advocate article explaining more than 700 people packed into the fast food outlet at lunchtime, with queues reportedly stretching out into the car park.

Thirty years on, McDonald's remains just as busy.

Today's franchise owner Todd Bryant, who's owned the outlet for five years now, explained that when the restaurant originally opened in 1989, it was the first one in the Central West region.

"We're really lucky to have some local people working with us today," she said.

"Pamela Park, she's an assistant manager here now and she celebrated her ninth birthday her not too long after it opened."

While the fast food outlet opened its doors on August 1, 1989, it wasn't until August 12 that it celebrated its official opening.

It was on a day when Ronald McDonald made his first visit to Bathurst, with hundreds of children in attendance at the restaurant to see him.

McDonald's has been a strong member in the Bathurst community, supporting many different organisations.

"We're proud to still be here after 30 years and we're proud to be a strong part of the community, with our most recent achievement being the Bathurst Winter Festival," Mr Bryant said.

"If you go back and look at history, the block where McDonald's is now used to be a part of Governor Macquarie's property and the gates were on this site."

The original Bathurst McDonald's restaurant was owned by Geoff and Joanne Lewis, opened at 7am and initially employed 130 people.

The expenditure for the fast-food outlet cost $2.3 million, including the purchase and demolition of four cottages.

Bathurst McDonald's will celebrate its 30^th birthday on Thursday with decorations and a cake cutting at 2pm.

A family fun day will be held on September 8, with Happy Meals to cost the price they cost back in 1989, with lucky dips and face painting taking place as well.

McDonald's was originally founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald, before Ray Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955 and later purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers.

McDonald's is now the world's largest restaurant chain by revenue, with over 37,000 outlets across the world.