What was the original name of the first McDonald's restaurant when it opened in 1940?

The first McDonald’s restaurant, opened in 1940, was originally called McDonald’s Bar-B-Q.

Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the drive-in on May 15, 1940, in San Bernardino, California. It was a typical carhop restaurant, with a large menu centered on barbecue foods rather than the streamlined burger menu later associated with McDonald’s.

The brothers eventually discovered that hamburgers generated most of the business. In 1948, they closed the restaurant temporarily, redesigned its operation, removed carhop service, and reopened with a much smaller menu and a faster self-service system. That system became known as the Speedee Service System and helped establish modern fast food.

The original 1940 restaurant should not be confused with Ray Kroc’s first McDonald’s franchise, which opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955. Nor was the 1940 location the surviving McDonald’s restaurant in Downey, California; that later site opened in 1953. The Bar-B-Q name belongs to the McDonald brothers’ original San Bernardino business.