Cayuga Restaurant Group formally re-opens Auburn McDonald’s following renovation project

AUBURN — The McDonald’s restaurant on Genesee Street in Auburn on Nov. 15 hosted a formal re-opening ceremony after a renovation project that represented a “complete rebuild.”

The ceremony included a ribbon-cutting event led by local McDonald’s franchise owner Courtney Feehan, per a company news release.

The McDonald’s location re-opened to customers on Oct. 11, after the four-month long renovation. The remodel included a new kitchen, along with digital menus in both the dining room and drive-thru area.

The Cayuga Restaurant Group, Feehan’s company that owns the McDonald’s restaurant, declined to disclose the project cost in an email to CNYBJ.

The project sought to “enhance customers’ experiences,” the Cayuga Restaurant Group said. Customers can order as usual at the front counter, but the new restaurant now offers new self-ordering kiosks, delivery through UberEats and DoorDash, a mobile order and pay app, and a dual lane drive thru. 

The restaurant has also added a new position called the guest experience leader. That employee works to “lead the hospitality experience in the dining room by providing a friendly and inviting environment, tableside service and assistance to guests as needed,” per the release. 

The guest experience leader is among 30 new employees hired at this location, a figure that brings the total employee count to 85, the Cayuga Restaurant Group said.                                                                                                                                      

The Genesee Street and Grant Avenue restaurants in Auburn are part of the Cayuga Restaurant Group, which includes eight restaurants across the Southern Tier and Central New York. The rebuild of the Genesee Street restaurant is the most recent “major” investment Feehan has undertaken. She plans to remodel the Grant Avenue restaurant in the near future, per the release.

Feehan lives in the area and is a Cornell University graduate. She has owned and operated local McDonald’s restaurants since 2012.