What was the original name of the McDonald's restaurant opened by Dick and Mac McDonald in 1940?

The original 1940 restaurant opened by Dick and Mac McDonald was called McDonald's Bar-B-Q.

The brothers opened the drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California, offering barbecue and other food served by carhops. Its name reflected the barbecue-focused menu rather than the limited hamburger system that later defined the company.

In 1948, the McDonalds reorganized the business around a faster, self-service system and removed barbecue items from the menu. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, and soft drinks became central to the new identity.

The restaurant's later branding is often treated as if it began with the Golden Arches, but McDonald's first operated under the longer Bar-B-Q name. The famous arches and the simplified menu came after the original drive-in period.