McDonald’s original restaurant name was McDonald’s Bar-B-Q when the McDonald brothers opened their first location in San Bernardino, California, in 1940.
Richard and Maurice McDonald began with a drive-in restaurant offering a broad barbecue menu. The name reflected that original business model, which was different from the streamlined hamburger operation that later defined McDonald’s branding.
In 1948, the brothers reorganized the restaurant around a limited menu and faster production system. They eventually emphasized hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes, helping create the foundation for the modern McDonald’s identity.
A common mix-up is calling the first restaurant McDonald’s Famous Hamburgers. That name belongs to the later hamburger-focused phase; the original 1940 restaurant was McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.