A couple of brief articles from Decanter and the Examiner, as well as something a little more in depth from MSNBC, all recently highlight the American fast food chains’ slow move towards putting a couple alcoholic beverage options on the menu. No move from any of the big chains yet, although surprisingly Starbucks has released plans to rebrand some of their stores and add wine and beer to the menu.

I have been to Taylor’s Automatic Refresher in San Francisco, which features an awesome little beer and wine list (especially the reasonably priced half bottles) and it is a magical place. Simply, it offers gluttonous yet well-made burgers and other junkfood-style fare with the option to have a glass of decent wine along side it (or bring in your own bottle for a mere $5 corkage).

If you’ve been to McDonald’s in Spain or France (which sadly I have a fair amount due to their free wi-fi), you’d know that accompanying your Big Mac meal, you have the shameless option to drink a pint of Kronenberg instead of Coca Cola. Germany is an unimaginable place to someone who grew up in the land of sparse and restricting liquor licences and heavily controlled alcohol sales. Beer and wine at almost every coffee shop and donair stand? A beverage opener on the corner store counter for those who simply can’t wait to have a beer at home?? Yes, perhaps a little extreme, but it’s liberating to be able to enjoy a glass at a diverse array of venues.

In Vancouver we do have some fast food style restaurants offering a small assortment of drinks but nothing done overly well. You can get a pint of Granville Island at Vera’s Burger Shack, or a bottle of Corona at Taco del Mar but we’re not talking about lists of crafts beer or good wine that I would consider inspiring. Beer at McDonald’s isn’t going to sway me into going any more often, but it would be awesome to see someone locally pair a good beverage program with some very casual food similar to Taylor’s.