What was McDonald’s first name before the company shortened it to McDonald’s in 1948?

McDonald’s first name before the 1948 change was McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.

Maurice and Richard McDonald opened the McDonald brothers’ first restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It operated as a barbecue restaurant under the McDonald’s Bar-B-Q name and offered a larger menu than the streamlined hamburger operation that followed.

In 1948, the brothers closed the restaurant temporarily, reorganized the kitchen, and reopened with a smaller menu centered on hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes. This change accompanied the development of the Speedee Service System and the restaurant’s shift toward fast, standardized service.

The name is sometimes confused with McDonald’s later “Speedee Service” branding or with the McDonald brothers’ personal surname. McDonald’s Bar-B-Q was the original restaurant name; McDonald’s became the shortened name after the 1948 reinvention.