What was McDonald's original business name when it opened in 1940?

McDonald's original business name when it opened in 1940 was McDonald's Bar-B-Q.

Maurice and Richard McDonald opened the first McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It began as a drive-in barbecue restaurant, reflecting the car-oriented restaurant culture of Southern California at the time. The business did not initially resemble the streamlined hamburger chain that later became famous.

In 1948, the brothers reorganized the restaurant around a smaller menu and faster self-service operation. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, beverages, and milkshakes became more important than barbecue, and the restaurant's identity shifted accordingly. The brothers later licensed the operating system to franchisees, including Ray Kroc, whose expansion transformed McDonald's into a global company. The original barbecue name is therefore an important reminder that the brand began as a regional drive-in rather than as the standardized hamburger chain known today.