Where is McDonald’s oldest surviving restaurant, famous for retaining its 1950s Golden Arches?

McDonald’s oldest surviving restaurant, famous for retaining its 1950s Golden Arches, is in Downey, California.

The restaurant opened in 1953 at 10207 Lakewood Boulevard. It was built by Roger Williams and Willard Scott, early McDonald’s franchisees who used the architectural arches associated with the rapidly expanding chain. The building preserves the restaurant’s early roadside appearance and includes a period museum.

Downey’s restaurant is often described as the oldest surviving McDonald’s location. It is not the site of the brothers’ first restaurant, which was in nearby San Bernardino and no longer operates as the original restaurant. The distinction matters because “first restaurant” and “oldest surviving restaurant” refer to different places.

The site became a landmark for studying the chain’s early visual identity, before later restaurants adopted more standardized designs.