McDonald’s shortened the name of its San Bernardino restaurant from McDonald’s Bar-B-Q to McDonald’s in 1948.
Richard and Maurice McDonald originally opened a drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It was known as McDonald’s Bar-B-Q and offered a broader barbecue-oriented menu. In 1948, the brothers temporarily closed the restaurant, redesigned the operation, and reopened it with a much smaller menu centered on hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, and soft drinks.
That 1948 change created the Speedee Service System, a production-line approach that reduced waiting time and standardized food preparation. The shortened name matched the new, more focused identity.
The later corporation grew through franchising, especially after Ray Kroc became involved in the 1950s. Although the first restaurant was founded by the McDonald brothers, Kroc’s expansion strategy helped turn the name into an international brand.