The McDonald brothers opened their first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino in 1940.
Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the restaurant on May 15, 1940, in San Bernardino, California. It began as a drive-in restaurant before the brothers developed a faster, more standardized service system that became known as the Speedee Service System.
The original operation was not yet the fully developed global brand associated with the Golden Arches. Its later innovations in kitchen organization, limited menus, and rapid service provided the foundation for McDonald’s branding and business model.
The year 1940 is sometimes confused with 1955, when Ray Kroc opened his first franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois. The earlier date belongs to the McDonald brothers’ original restaurant and marks the company’s beginning.