McDonald's first franchised restaurant opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953.
The restaurant was franchised to Neil Fox and became an early example of how the McDonald brothers' operating system could be reproduced outside their original San Bernardino location. Its design used the now-famous Golden Arches, created by architect Stanley Clark Meston for the Phoenix restaurant and another early McDonald's site.
This Phoenix restaurant helped establish visual features that became closely associated with the company, including the bright arches and a standardized building form. The arches originally functioned as architectural signs rather than the standalone corporate logo used later.
People sometimes identify Des Plaines, Illinois, as the first franchise location. That was the restaurant Ray Kroc opened in 1955, while Phoenix was earlier. The distinction matters because McDonald's expansion involved both the brothers' original franchising activity and Kroc's later national organization.