Top Bathrooms: Brand New McDonald's

Let's face it: Road Warriors had better know the best and the worst of the public bathroom options.  Miscalculations in planning can result in the dreaded emergency stop, which could involve scenarios as bad as pulling over to the side of the road, or using an outside entranced gas station bathroom.  These are to be avoided at all costs.

Properly familiarizing oneself with the top bathroom options is relatively easy and well worth the time and effort expended.

A new McDonald's ((built within the last 6 months)) bathroom ranks fairly high on the top bathroom list for a number of reasons.  I stopped at this location last night in Lagrange, GA :

1.  McCafe: Coffee Shop ambiance somehow makes it feel less like a dirty fast food restaurant.  While not all of the newly remodeled McDonald's (to be reviewed at a later date) do an adequate job of capturing the coffee house feel, a new McDonald's almost certainly has fake slate stone walls, exposed wood beams, plasma televisions, and a neutral color scheme.

2.  Bathroom location:  Most McDonald's have a secondary entrance on the side of the building that allow for almost direct access to the bathroom, minimizing the risk of encountering an employee, and making an in-and-out trip as painless as possible.  Compare to Wendy's, Krystal's, or Taco Bell.

3.  Size:  When dealing with a multi-person bathroom, it is crucial that there be room enough to maneuver around the masses (or easily escape if needed).  McDonald's bathrooms are easily double the size of the aforementioned  fast food chains.

4. Foaming soap: (Although they have crap air dryers.  It would have been nice if they'd gone with an XLerator.)

5. Multitudinous locations:  While finding one of the new locations may be slightly more difficult, there is literally a McDonald's at every exit in the state of Georgia.  Ok, not really, but close, and most all of them have at least undergone a renovation within the last year.

6.  Access to cheap, drinkable coffee (we'll get into the coffee rankings later) as well as free Wifi.

All in all, a new McDonald's ranks fairly high on my list of public bathrooms, followed closely by a renovated McDonalds's.  Plan accordingly.  Know your stops.  Don't fall prey to an emergency break!!