What was McDonald’s original restaurant name before the company adopted its famous brand name?

McDonald’s original restaurant name was McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.

Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940 under a barbecue-focused name. The menu and operating model later changed substantially when the brothers reorganized the business around a limited selection of hamburgers, fries, and drinks.

In 1948, the restaurant reopened as a self-service hamburger operation. That change was central to the development of the Speedee Service System and the fast-food model that McDonald’s became known for.

The original name is often overlooked because the later hamburger identity became much more famous. It also should not be confused with McDonald’s later corporate name or with the restaurant’s earlier roadside signs. The barbecue name belongs specifically to the brothers’ first 1940 operation.