Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's restaurant under the franchise agreement in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Kroc opened the Des Plaines restaurant on April 15, 1955. He had become interested in the McDonald brothers' highly efficient restaurant operation after supplying them with Multimixer machines, and he pursued the opportunity to expand their model through franchising.
The Des Plaines restaurant became an important symbol of McDonald's corporate history. It was later reconstructed as a museum, although the museum closed in 2017 and the building was subsequently removed.
This location is distinct from the McDonald brothers' original restaurant in San Bernardino. Oak Brook, Illinois, later became the company's corporate headquarters, but it was not the site of Kroc's first restaurant.