McDonald’s first franchised restaurant opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953.
The restaurant was operated by Neil Fox and used the new architectural style associated with McDonald’s expansion, including the Golden Arches. This location helped demonstrate how the brothers’ fast-service restaurant could be reproduced outside San Bernardino, where the original McDonald’s operated.
The Phoenix opening came before Ray Kroc’s first McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. Kroc opened that Illinois location in 1955 after becoming the company’s national franchise agent. Because the Des Plaines restaurant is preserved as a museum and is closely tied to the corporation’s formal growth, it is sometimes mistakenly called the first franchise.
Phoenix therefore occupies an important place in the brand’s visual history. It was an early test of the recognizable building design and standardized restaurant experience that would later make McDonald’s easy to identify across the United States and internationally.