When you see a big M next to an M Cafe and some Golden Arches in Kazakhstan, it is not McDonald’s you are seeing, but instead the knockoff iM Burger, or rather I’m.
Why though, may you ask, is this the case, after all Kazakhstan was never under sanctions? Well it is all linked in a very weird way to the sanctions placed on Russia due to the war in Ukraine. And the result is a pseudo McDonald’s that is supplied by a fake Russian McDonald’s, with Kazakhstan being part of the illustrious “former McDonald’s” nations.
Is iM Burger any good though, or just a cheap knockoff? Well a bit of both really…..
Table of Contents
The McDonald’s Kazakhstan Story
The history of McDonald’s in this part of the world is a weird one. McDonald’s first entered the Soviet Union in 1990 with the legendary opening of its Moscow branch, where people queued for hours just to taste what was then the ultimate symbol of Western capitalism. After the collapse of the USSR, the brand slowly expanded throughout the former Soviet states, eventually arriving in Kazakhstan quite late (2016) under the local Food Solutions KZ franchise.
For a few years things went well, with McDonald’s opening around two dozen restaurants across the country. Then came 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the resulting sanctions. Although Kazakhstan was not sanctioned, the country’s McDonald’s supply chain was heavily tied to Russia. With McDonald’s leaving Russia and supplies becoming complicated, the Kazakh branches eventually shut down and the famous Golden Arches disappeared – at least briefly……
The replacement came in the form of iM Burger, which was launched by Food Solutions KZ, the same company that had previously operated McDonald’s in Kazakhstan. Essentially it was a case of changing the name while keeping almost everything else. By 2025, iM Burger had taken over all of the former McDonald’s locations in the country, with around 24 stores operating nationwide.
The brand has proven popular enough, mainly because people were already used to the locations, the food, and the whole experience. It might not officially be McDonald’s anymore, but for many Kazakhs it is close enough. Is it fully legal though? Who knows….
The iM Burger Vibe
Driving past iM Burger, going inside, or hell even seeing the advertising, and you would be truly hard pressed to spot the difference between this and a “real” McDonald’s. Essentially everything has been done here to show continuity. This is even down to the fact that they have the culinary abortion that is the iM Cafe. If you go to any fast food “cafe” you are simply a loser.
And this whole racket continues to the machines, the play area, and even the smell. Which leads one to wonder if there are no sanctions and you want to copy this much, then why not just get supplied from China? The answer is probably just money. Am I a conspiracy theorist? Perhaps……
The iM Menu
Well would you guess it but the menu is quite literally same shit, different name. This is fairly funny in that surely most everything they do has got to be copyright infringement, so what’s a little Big Mac between friends?
Main menu items include:
• Big Burger (Big Mac equivalent)
2,790 tenge ($5.50)
• Cheeseburger (same as McDonald’s Cheeseburger)
990 tenge ($2)
• Double Cheeseburger (same as McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger)
1,590 tenge ($3)
• Chicken Burger (McChicken equivalent)
1,490 tenge ($3)
• Chicken Nuggets (same as McNuggets)
From around 1,690 tenge ($3.30)
• French Fries (same as McDonald’s fries)
From around 700 tenge ($1.40)
Of course they also have all the usual extras such as Coke, milkshakes, coffee and the various other bits and pieces you would expect from a McDonald’s clone.
But there’s also the deep fried shrimp things and other type burger that I think at least are kinda unique to here.
So, is iM Burger any good?
As the old adage goes “if it looks, smells and tastes like shit it must be shit”! And honestly iM Burger is just about there, while also falling short.
I delved deep into the menu by starting with their version of the Big Mac. This was right in everything except the sauce and bun being ever so slightly out. The same could be said of the fries that seemed to lack a bit of flavour. The double cheeseburger was legit though, as were the nuggets (even without sauce).
There was though not all that much different on the menu to try, with both genuine Indonesian and Indian McDonald’s for instance having more variety. The one big difference though was their deep fried shrimp things, which were OK if not amazing.
And that would be the best way to sum up the restaurant overall, great, but not amazing. But squint hard enough and you just about have a McDonald’s experience in Kazakhstan. Will I though be going back for their breakfast? Probably……
Click to see my YPT Tours to Kazakhstan.