What McDonald's brand name was used for its original 1940 restaurant in San Bernardino?

“McDonald's Bar-B-Q” was the brand name used for the original 1940 restaurant in San Bernardino.

Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It began as a drive-in barbecue restaurant, offering a much broader menu and service style than the later simplified hamburger operation.

The brothers reorganized the business in 1948, closing temporarily and reopening with a limited menu centered on hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, and drinks. This change created the Speedee Service System and became the foundation of the modern McDonald's format.

The original name is often mixed up with later branding. “McDonald's Famous Hamburgers” belonged to the simplified hamburger-focused operation, while “McDonald's Bar-B-Q” describes the first restaurant's earlier identity.