In the United States (as well as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) offers Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), which allows those accepted into the program to pay for groceries and various food items with SNAP benefits. This monthly stipend is offered to individuals and families with low incomes to provide extra money for healthy meals. Many retail stores across the country accept SNAP benefits, like Walgreens, CVS, Target, and even virtual stores like Amazon and DoorDash.
Certain states also participate in the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP), in which EBT users can purchase prepared meals at restaurants instead of groceries. The RMP has much stricter guidelines than the overarching SNAP benefits — all members of a household must be either elderly, disabled, homeless, and/or married to an RMP member to be considered. On top of its stringent application requirements, only nine states currently participate in the RMP: Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Fortunately, anyone accepted into the RMP and residing in one of the aforementioned states can enjoy a hot lunch at various McDonald’s restaurants (as long as local regulatory agencies approve the store).
McDonald’s locations that participate in SNAP benefits
While there are McDonald’s locations that accept EBT cards for payment in RMP-participating states, they are actually pretty far and few between. McDonald’s restaurants in Rhode Island, Illinois, Michigan, and Maryland do not accept SNAP benefits despite being RMP states. The quickest and easiest way to collect this information is by contacting a participating state’s EBT office and requesting information regarding fast food chains that accept EBT cards. Otherwise, restaurants websites or management may be able to answer questions about SNAP benefits if asked directly.
The good news is that even though it’s very hard to find SNAP-accepting McDonald’s locations, the chain’s subpar hamburgers (one of the many items you should avoid ordering) and breakfast items can easily be duplicated at home with easily accessible items from a grocery store. While a Big Mac (one of the chain’s worst burgers in our ranking) can be ordered and devoured in a jiffy, those using EBT cards for groceries can give you more bang for their buck by recreating these menu items at home for not only a better deal but a much more authentic taste.
