Sierra Vista, Arizona, became home to McDonald’s first drive-through window in 1975.
The location was positioned near Fort Huachuca, a United States Army installation. The drive-through was created to serve soldiers who could not easily leave their vehicles while wearing military uniforms. This practical local need helped produce a service feature that later became central to McDonald’s restaurant identity.
Drive-through service was not part of McDonald’s original 1940 restaurant model, which began as a barbecue drive-in in San Bernardino, California. The company later developed a faster counter-service format, and the Sierra Vista experiment extended that convenience to customers who preferred to remain in their cars. The feature spread widely and became an important part of McDonald’s branded customer experience.