What was McDonald’s restaurant chain originally called before it was shortened to McDonald’s?

McDonald’s restaurant chain was originally called McDonald’s Bar-B-Q before the name was shortened to McDonald’s. Richard and Maurice McDonald operated the original restaurant in San Bernardino, California.

The brothers opened their first restaurant in 1940 as a barbecue drive-in. Its menu and service model later changed substantially. In 1948, they closed the restaurant temporarily, removed many barbecue items, and reopened with a much smaller menu centered on hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes.

The shorter name matched the restaurant’s simplified identity and helped distinguish the new fast-service concept from the earlier barbecue drive-in. The brothers’ system became the foundation for the franchise business later expanded by Ray Kroc.

McDonald’s Bar-B-Q is sometimes confused with the Speedee Service System, which described the restaurant’s operating method rather than its original business name. It is also separate from the later “McDonald’s Famous Hamburgers” wording used in branding.