The McDonald brothers' original 1940 restaurant was called McDonald's Bar-B-Q.
Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It began as a drive-in barbecue restaurant with a broad menu and carhop service. The brothers later reassessed the business and closed it temporarily in 1948 while they developed a faster, more standardized operating model.
After reopening, the restaurant focused on a much smaller menu centered on hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, and beverages. This transition produced the Speedee Service System, which became the operational foundation for the McDonald's franchise model. The original barbecue identity therefore predates the branding most customers associate with the chain.
The name is sometimes confused with the later “McDonald's Famous Hamburgers” wording used after the menu change. The 1940 name specifically preserves the restaurant's first barbecue-oriented business model.