In which city did McDonald's first restaurant open in 1948?

McDonald's first restaurant opened in San Bernardino, California, in 1948.

Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the restaurant there after operating an earlier drive-in business. In 1948 they reorganized the operation around a simplified self-service system, a smaller menu, and faster preparation, creating the foundation of the McDonald's model.

The San Bernardino site is central to the company's branding history because the restaurant's service concept and visual identity developed there before the later franchise expansion associated with Ray Kroc.

Des Plaines, Illinois, is often confused with the original location because it became home to an early McDonald's museum and a famous reconstructed restaurant. It was not the site of the McDonald brothers' first restaurant; that landmark was in San Bernardino.