McDonald’s oldest surviving restaurant, famous for its original arches, is in Downey, California.
The Downey restaurant opened in 1953 and was operated by Roger Williams and Burdette Landon, franchisees of the McDonald brothers. Its design preserves the distinctive red-and-white building style and prominent golden arches associated with early McDonald’s restaurants.
The site is often described as the oldest surviving McDonald’s location because earlier restaurants either closed, were demolished, or were substantially replaced. It is not the same as the first McDonald’s restaurant, which the McDonald brothers opened in San Bernardino in 1940.
Another frequently confused location is the McDonald’s in Des Plaines, Illinois. That restaurant was the first opened by Ray Kroc, in 1955, and is now represented by a museum. Downey therefore matters specifically for its surviving early architecture and its connection to the pre-Kroc franchise era.