What name did McDonald's give its fast, limited-menu service system introduced in 1948?

McDonald's called its fast, limited-menu restaurant format the Speedee Service System when it introduced it in 1948.

Richard and Maurice McDonald developed the system after closing their San Bernardino drive-in restaurant and redesigning its operation. They reduced the menu, removed traditional carhop service, used standardized preparation methods, and arranged the kitchen so workers could produce food quickly and consistently.

The name connected the system with Speedee, an early McDonald's mascot represented by a chef-like figure. Speedee appeared in the company's early visual identity before Ronald McDonald became the dominant advertising character.

The Speedee Service System helped establish ideas that later became associated with fast food: limited choice, assembly-line preparation, standardized portions, and predictable service. Ray Kroc later expanded the brothers' model through franchising, but the system itself originated with the McDonald brothers.