McDonald’s Korea said Monday that it will open its first Asian outlet serving beer later this month in Pangyo Techno Valley, Gyeonggi Province.

The new outlet with 90 seats will serve glasses of OB Premier draught beer exclusively with the company’s customizable gourmet “signature burger” menu.

“We have concluded that it is time for a ‘burmaek’ (a compound of ‘burger’ and ‘maekju’ -- beer in Korean), just as Korea has become the epicenter of ‘chimaek’ (chicken and beer) and ‘pimaek’ (pizza and beer) craze,” a McDonald’s Korea spokesman said. 



The Signature Burger is a handmade burger allowing customers to build their own burgers by choosing from more than 20 ingredients. They are pricier -- about 7,000 won, double the price of usual burgers -- but fits well with the growing “burmaek“ trend, the company said.

Pangyo Techno Valley tends to attract young, hip, well-paid and tech-driven customers, differentiating this store from the other 434 ordinary McDonald’s family-oriented outlets, the company spokesman said.

The Pangyo outlet will be the first Asian McDonald’s outlet to serve alcohol. In Germany, beer is served in Mcdonald’s outlets while wine is served in French outlets. 

“At the moment this is a beta test, and we do not have plans to increase the number of outlets (where this is offered) in the near future,” the company spokesman said. However, market insiders say that alchohol is likely to be sold in 20 other Signature Burger outlets in the country.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)