McDonald's adopted its restaurant name in 1948, replacing the earlier McDonald's Bar-B-Q name.
Maurice and Richard McDonald opened their first restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It originally operated as a barbecue drive-in, offering a broad menu and carhop service. In 1948, the brothers closed the restaurant temporarily, redesigned the operation, and reopened it as a faster, self-service hamburger restaurant.
The 1948 change was more than a name adjustment. It marked the beginning of the Speedee Service System, which emphasized a limited menu, standardized preparation, and quick service. The new identity helped distinguish the streamlined hamburger business from the original barbecue operation.
Ray Kroc later expanded the concept through franchising, but the McDonald brothers had already established the restaurant name and operating model. The company’s later Golden Arches identity developed after this foundational 1948 shift.