McDonald’s originally emphasized barbecue before developing its modern hamburger identity.
The McDonald brothers opened their first restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant. Its early identity was associated with a broad drive-in menu and car-service model rather than the highly standardized hamburger format later made famous by McDonald’s.
In 1948, the brothers reorganized the business around a smaller menu and faster counter service. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes became central, laying the foundation for the brand identity that Ray Kroc later expanded.
The barbecue phase is often overlooked because the Golden Arches and hamburger imagery dominate modern memories of McDonald’s. It is nevertheless important branding history: the company’s name and visual identity existed before its most famous menu positioning fully emerged.