What was McDonald's original name before the 1940 restaurant opening?

Before the 1940 restaurant opening, McDonald's operated under the name McDonald's Bar-B-Q.

Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their first restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It was a drive-in barbecue restaurant, reflecting the menu and service style of the period rather than the limited hamburger-focused format later associated with the brand.

The brothers redesigned the business in 1948, dropping most barbecue offerings and introducing a faster self-service system centered on hamburgers, fries, and beverages. The restaurant's branding and operating model gradually moved toward the familiar McDonald's identity.

A common mix-up is treating the 1940 opening as the beginning of the modern fast-food chain. The original barbecue drive-in came first; the standardized hamburger concept followed later, and Ray Kroc's expansion began in the 1950s.