McDonald’s original restaurant concept before the company became known primarily for quick-service restaurants was McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.
Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their first restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It was a drive-in barbecue restaurant with a broad menu and carhop service, reflecting the popular Southern California restaurant model of the period.
In 1948, the brothers closed the restaurant temporarily and reorganized it around a smaller menu, counter service, and faster preparation. The resulting operation became associated with the Speedee Service System and focused on hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes.
“Speedee Service System” is therefore not the name of the original restaurant concept; it describes the later production method. “McDonald’s Drive-In” also sounds plausible because the first restaurant used drive-in service, but the documented early name was McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.