What was the name of McDonald's original 1940 restaurant before it became a drive-in hamburger chain?

McDonald's original 1940 restaurant was called McDonald's Bar-B-Q.

Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. Its name reflected the barbecue-focused menu they initially served, rather than the limited hamburger menu later associated with the brand.

In 1948, the brothers closed the restaurant temporarily, redesigned the operation, and reopened it as a self-service drive-in specializing in hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes. This change created the faster, simpler service model that became central to McDonald's identity.

A common mix-up is assuming the modern McDonald's brand began with hamburgers in 1940. The restaurant did open that year, but the barbecue name and menu came first. Ray Kroc later helped expand the system nationally after becoming involved in the 1950s.