What was the full name of McDonald’s restaurant before it was shortened to McDonald’s?

Before it was shortened to McDonald’s, the restaurant was called McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.

Maurice and Richard McDonald opened the original restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. Its first identity centered on a broad barbecue menu, and the name reflected that focus. The brothers later redesigned the operation around a limited menu, rapid preparation, and self-service.

In 1948, the restaurant reopened as a hamburger stand after the brothers changed their business model. The shorter McDonald’s name suited the streamlined restaurant and eventually became the basis of the global brand.

The earlier name is easy to confuse with the later McDonald’s identity because hamburgers became the company’s signature product. However, the original restaurant’s name explicitly emphasized barbecue before the famous Speedee Service System was introduced.