We just got a first look at McDonald's secretive new spinoff restaurant CosMc's

A construction site in Bolingbrook, Illinois, presumed to be the first location of CosMc’s. Scott Fredrickson

• McDonald’s has been reluctant to share many details about its planned new restaurant concept CosMc’s.
• But new posts on social media reveal a few hints.
• McDonald’s has said it will reveal more details during its investor’s day conference next week. 

We know just a bit more about CosMc’s, McDonald’s super-secret new restaurant concept based on an obscure McDonaldland character from the late ’80s.

The spinoff restaurant is the latest nostalgia play by the chain and was first mentioned by McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski during the chain’s second-quarter earnings call this summer.

“CosMc’s is a small-format concept with all the DNA of McDonald’s but its own unique personality,” he said. Additional details were scant.

But recent posting on social media and a search of Google Maps appear to show where the first restaurant will be located and what consumers can expect, namely a lot of drive-thru lanes.

TikToker Snackloator who chronicles new snacks, posted a tour of a construction site in Bolingbrook, Illinois, which appears to be the future home of a CosMc’s. The TikToker noted the site had four drive-thru lanes.

“The kind of conventional thinking is that this is going to be something of a competitor to like Starbucks, where it’s going to focus on the McCafe stuff and the coffee and the drinks as opposed to serving burgers and fries, which makes even more sense when you realize that this CosMc’s is being built directly next to an existing McDonald’s,” Snackloator says.

A construction site in Bolingbrook, Illinois, presumed to be the first location of CosMc’s. Scott Fredrickson

A Google Maps search indicates the building is a former Boston Market restaurant that is indeed next door to a McDonald’s.

CosMc’s on Google Maps Google Maps

Scott Fredrickson posted a few photos of the building’s exterior on Facebook. He told Business Insider he passes by the location several times a week. The building appears to have a blue exterior and the CosMc’s sign logo has a retro feel.

McDonald’s, or course, declined to comment on the record.

Do you have an intel on CosMc’s or a story to share? Contact Gloria Dawson via phone, text, or the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-516-721-6598) or email ([email protected]).