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Fifteen years ago, I was at a Subway in Besançon, France. After finishing my meal, I threw out my trash and took my drink cup back to the fountain to get another Diet Coke (“Coca Light” in France) when the Subway worker scolded me. I realized that I didn’t know the word for “refill” in French, so I mumbled an apology and left.
As it turns out, the concept of “free refills” is kind of an American thing—and it’s much newer than you’d think. Self-service soda fountains did not gain popularity until the ’90s and have now become ubiquitous at many of our favorite fast-food chains. In fact, it was Taco Bell that offered the first “free refill” in 1988 through a promotion with Pepsi. As someone who has lived their entire life in the “free refill” era, it makes sense that this is such a norm to me and my peers.
But in 2023, McDonald’s announced that it would be phasing out self-service soda fountains in its restaurants. Here’s what this shift actually means for you and the future of unlimited Diet Cokes.
What does this transition entail?
McDonald’s is phasing out self-service soda fountains in its restaurant dining rooms. The chain announced this in 2023, with plans to complete the transition by 2032. The first state where this took effect is Illinois, which makes sense since the McDonald’s corporate headquarters is in Chicago.
I live in Illinois, and I first noticed a change in December 2025 when I ordered the Grinch Meal. The cashier asked me what drink I wanted with my meal, and I simply said that I wanted a large fountain drink. He clarified that he needed to know which drink specifically, since they were going to fill it behind the counter. I was thrown off, and he did apologize for the confusion. But when my food was ready, so was my large Diet Coke. There was still a self-service fountain available, but I didn’t end up using it that day.
While the concept of removing the self-service stations is gaining a lot of media buzz over the free refill aspect, it’s not actually the full story.
Does this really mean that free refills are going away at McDonald’s?
Here’s the kicker: Even though the self-service soda fountains will be removed, free refills will still be available. You just have to bring your cup up to the counter and ask for a refill instead of getting it yourself. It’s a small shift, but it’s not really that much different from filling your cup yourself. It still involves walking to a designated part of the restaurant. And even if you need to wait a minute for the next available team member, it’s pretty similar to having to wait for someone else to finish filling up their soda anyway.
From what I can gather, getting rid of the self-service machines is a decision that McDonald’s made for sanitation and staffing reasons. The soda machines can get grimy and sticky, and they need to be cleaned often. Instead of devoting time to cleaning the self-serve area, ideally McDonald’s employees can focus on getting orders together more quickly. It’s also easier to keep an eye on any malfunctioning equipment or to spot when the syrup needs to be refilled.
As someone who used to work in a restaurant, I can attest to the fact that cleaning soda machines is a pain. There are a lot of different components that need to be soaked and/or scrubbed down!
When will it take effect?
This change varies by region and restaurant. Some places have already started doing a shift like my local McDonald’s. This way, cashiers can get customers used to ordering their drinks at the point of purchase. Considering how big of a project this is, it makes sense that the company gave its stores a long runway of nearly a decade to put it into effect.
