In which California city did the first McDonald’s restaurant open in 1940?

The first McDonald’s restaurant opened in San Bernardino, California, in 1940.

Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the restaurant as a barbecue drive-in on May 15, 1940. They later redesigned the business around a limited menu, rapid preparation, and high-volume hamburger service.

The San Bernardino location became the model for the Speedee Service System, introduced in 1948. That system helped shape the standardized, assembly-line approach associated with modern fast food.

People sometimes identify the first McDonald’s with Ray Kroc’s Illinois restaurant. Kroc opened the company’s first franchised location in Des Plaines in 1955, but the original McDonald brothers’ restaurant was in San Bernardino.