Which country has a fast food restaurant called Mash Donald's?

The global success of the McDonald's franchise has seen its fast food stores pop up in countries all around the world, except in Iran. Along with other Western fast food establishments, McDonald’s has been banned in the country since 1979, due to the nation’s complicated political relationship with the U.S.

However, that doesn’t mean fast food isn’t popular with Iranians. Mash Donald's is a loving tribute to one of America’s best-known cultural exports, serving halal burgers, crispy chicken nuggets, and French fries to customers craving a taste of American-style fast food.

Fast food restaurants began setting up shop in Iran in the mid-20th century, but after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, they were swiftly shut down. However, in the 1990s, knockoffs began to crop up in cities all across the country.

Not only the names have been changed; the menu is not quite what one would expect to find at McDonald’s, either. The Mash Donald’s menu includes a falafel sandwich and a 1.5-foot (46-cm) super-long sandwich. Diners may also be puzzled a bit by the flavor of the restaurant’s version of the classic Big Mac; the “Mash Donald’s Baguette Burger” includes meat, cheese and turkey ham.

Besides Mash Donald's, Iran has other faux-fast-food chains: Pizza Hat, ZFC (think KFC), and Burger House, to name a few. There’s even a chain of coffee houses, called Raees, which features a mustachioed-guy-in-a-top-hat logo which (oddly) strongly resembles the Starbucks mermaid.