McDonald's opened the restaurant now recognized as the oldest surviving McDonald's building in 1953.
The restaurant is in Downey, California, and was opened by Roger and June McDonald, who were unrelated to the original McDonald brothers' San Bernardino operation. Its design preserves the early roadside identity associated with McDonald's, including the distinctive Golden Arches.
The building is especially important to branding history because it shows how the arches functioned as architecture before the symbol became a simplified corporate logo. The site later became associated with a museum and historic preservation efforts.
The restaurant should not be confused with the original McDonald brothers' restaurant, which opened in San Bernardino in 1940. The Downey location is commonly described as the oldest surviving McDonald's restaurant building, not the first McDonald's restaurant ever opened.