What Happened To McDonald's CosMc's Locations?

If you spaced out on McDonald's cosmic-themed spinoff launched in 2023, it's now officially too late to grab a CosMc's beverage. As of May 2025, the drinks-focused concept, which was still in its testing phase, was shut down by the global fast food chain (via McDonald's). McDonald's spinoff attempt had a menu consisting largely of sweet beverages with catchy flavor combinations like Sour Cherry Energy Burst, Churro Cold Brew Frappé, and Island Pick-Me-Up Punch. It was originally launched with the aim for McDonald's to break into the highly lucrative beverage and coffee market; the customizability of the drinks hinted at the chain going after the Starbucks and Dutch Bros format, with options like boba, energy, and vitamin C shots, while also appealing to a younger customer base.

The idea was unveiled with the opening of a single takeaway and drive-thru location in Illinois, in the town of Bolingbrook near Chicago. The initial response was explosive, with excited customers and out-of-towners alike queuing up for hours and even causing minor traffic disruptions in the small town. The zesty drinks menu was also good internet fodder, quickly going viral. By early 2024, McDonald's had opened additional outlets in Texas, around the Dallas-Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio areas.

In early 2025, however, some CosMc's locations were scheduled to be shuttered. At the time, it still seemed like part of the trial, since more locations were simultaneously slated to open. Sadly, McDonald's announced just a few months later that all remaining CosMc's locations, as well as its app, would be shutting down, with plans for McDonald's locations to feature CosMc's-inspired beverages, instead.

As the testing ground for the first (and, for a while, only) CosMc's outlet in the world, Bolingbrook was where McDonald's beverage spinoff seemingly caused the largest flurry, with one would-be customer even flying in from London to sample the new concept (per Fox 32 Chicago). The drive-thru only outlet opened in December 2023. A year into the project, the fast food chain had collected data from the location on what customers were enjoying the most. Favorite beverages included Island Pick Me Up Punch, Churro Cold Brew Frappe, and Sour Energy Burst. Considering the fast food chain's plans to introduce some CosMc's-inspired drinks at its original outlets, we may be seeing some of CosMc's best drinks at the Golden Arches pretty soon.

The hubbub from CosMc's maiden outlet and how quickly it died down seems to be symbolic of the beverage chain's trial. Per one Reddit thread, residents seemed quite indifferent to the outlet shutting down. "Girlfriend and I talked about going when it first opened. Heard about the lines, said forget that. Eventually, lines died down, but by then we both lost interest and literally forgot about it," said one local. The outlet, which was closest to the McDonald's headquarters in Chicago, was shuttered in June along with the rest of the spinoff's outlets.

The CosMc's location in Watauga, Texas opened on April 2, 2024, and like previous branches, drew large crowds and long wait times on its first day. With a drive-thru as well as an in-person ordering kiosk that also featured a small dining area, this was seemingly one of the large-format CosMc's outlets opened in a repurposed former McDonald's outlet. Unfortunately, customer reaction soon turned unfavorable.

While some leeway can be given to McDonald's still being in the testing phase of its new concept, there were just too many negative reviews to chalk it up to teething issues. Low scores came from disappointed customers pointing out that the drinks were overpriced and, while some exclusive CosMc's food items were good, the limited snacks menu was disappointing. Still, others questioned why anyone would go to this new, overpriced version of McDonald's instead of the original, with one guest review stating: "I was warned this McDonald's spin-off wasn't good [...] Thank goodness customer service was good, and the place was clean. It doesn't make up for the unsatisfying beverages and food... What's the point of a spin-off with additional menu items that aren't good?"

The outlet was part of the first wave of CosMc's closures that McDonald's announced in January 2025. The company announced it was shutting down its large format stores, and while the Watauga branch wasn't specified, it stopped appearing on the list of CosMc's locations soon after (via Montgomery Advertiser).

The CosMc's branch in Arlington was opened on April 8, 2024. The opening was scheduled to coincide with a solar eclipse — a callback to the new chain's cosmic theme. This outlet could be one of the shortest-lived CosMc's branches since it, along with the Watauga branch, also appears to have been shuttered in the first wave of closures around January 2025 that targeted large-format branches. 

At the time, McDonald's announced that it would be closing three CosMc's locations while opening two more. The spinoff brand was being tested across large and small outlets, the statement explained, and the larger locations would be closing down since small locations were more conducive to testing the drive-thru beverage-focused brand. Much like the Watuaga outlet, the Arlington branch also stopped showing up as a CosMc's location on the company's website following the news of its closure.

The largest concentration of CosMc's outlets, as well as the area where the first test outlet in Texas opened, Dallas-Fort Worth had multiple outlets of the McDonald's spinoff. The first, which opened in March 2024, was on Campbell Road in Dallas. A press release issued at the time stated that two menu items would be added for the Dallas release: Beach Protein Frappe and Melon Herb Chiller (via Culture Map). The outlet, purely takeaway, had drive-thru, counter service, as well as facilities for customers to walk up and order.

Another branch subsequently opened on McPherson Boulevard in Fort Worth, as well as one on West Stacy Road in Allen. Once again, however, these outlets closed down along with the others in June the following year. In fact, the outlet in Allen appears to have closed down earlier, around February 2025 (via Culture Map Fort Worth).

There were likely more outlets slated for this area, since McDonald's had initially announced nine total CosMc's outlets in Texas. Some of them would be repurposed McDonald's outlets, while others were smaller outlets custom-designed from the ground up to be CosMc's. With the pilot program not panning out, the Dallas-Fort Worth area also saw the first closures. Ultimately, Texas had seven CosMc's outlets in total for a very limited time.

San Antonio was home to two CosMc's outlets, neither of which kept its doors open for very long. The openings took place in August and October of 2024. Like the other outlets, these opened with much fanfare, and the opening weekend in August featured discounts, free samples, and giveaways. San Antonio was also home to one of the larger CosMc's outlets, which had an outdoor patio for customers and some spacey lighting elements. Still, the format of the outlet was predominantly drive-thru and digitized through kiosks and the app, since these were the aspects McDonald's wanted to test out with the spinoff brand.

Both San Antonio outlets were shuttered in mid 2025 when CosMc's closed up shop for good; neither one open for longer than a year. Reports of now-closed San Antonio CosMc's outlets feature gray buildings, originally designed to be outlets for McDonald's new spinoff, lying empty. It's possible that some of these outlets were reverted to regular McDonald's outlets. Still, there will be signs of the fast food company's ill-fated beverage spinoff in certain upcoming changes in McDonald's, like a colorful new drinks menu with space-themed offerings.