What was McDonald's first name before it became known as McDonald's?

Before it became known as McDonald's, the restaurant operated as McDonald's Bar-B-Q.

Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the original restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It began as a drive-in barbecue restaurant with a broad menu and carhop service. The name reflected that barbecue-focused format rather than the limited-menu, high-speed identity associated with the chain today.

In 1948, the brothers closed the restaurant temporarily and reopened it after developing the Speedee Service System. They reduced the menu, emphasized hamburgers and fries, and reorganized the kitchen for faster production. That operational change laid the foundation for the later McDonald's brand.

The name is sometimes shortened in historical retellings, but McDonald's Bar-B-Q is the specific earlier name generally given in the company's history. The modern branding developed after the restaurant moved away from its original drive-in barbecue model.