After dropping barbecue from its name in 1948, the restaurant business used the name McDonald’s.
Richard and Maurice McDonald originally operated a drive-in restaurant that served barbecue and other foods. In 1948, they changed the business model to focus on a limited menu of hamburgers, fries, and beverages prepared through their Speedee Service System.
The shortened name matched the new hamburger-centered identity. It also created the foundation for the national brand that Ray Kroc later expanded through franchising.
The change was more than a simple wording adjustment: it reflected a major repositioning of the restaurant. The brothers’ original business had been broader, while the revised operation emphasized speed, standardization, and inexpensive hamburgers.