The McDonald's name first appeared in 1940, when the McDonald brothers opened their restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
Maurice and Richard McDonald opened the restaurant as “McDonald's Bar-B-Q” in 1940. It began as a drive-in barbecue restaurant before the brothers reorganized the operation around a faster, limited menu and standardized preparation.
That later operating model became the foundation for the McDonald's brand and franchise system. The restaurant's name therefore predates the 1948 Speedee Service System and the 1952 Golden Arches architecture.
A common confusion places McDonald's branding only in the 1950s, when Ray Kroc expanded the chain. The name and original restaurant existed earlier; Kroc's major role came after he became involved with the brothers' operation in the 1950s.