The Des Plaines, Illinois, location is commonly identified as the first McDonald's restaurant opened by Ray Kroc's franchise company in 1955.
Ray Kroc opened the restaurant on April 15, 1955, after becoming interested in the McDonald brothers' efficient restaurant system. It was the ninth McDonald's restaurant overall, because the brothers' original San Bernardino operation and earlier franchise locations came first.
The Des Plaines restaurant became a symbolic starting point for the corporate McDonald's expansion associated with Kroc. The building was later preserved as a museum site, although the original structure was demolished and a reconstruction was created nearby.
A common mix-up is to call Des Plaines the first McDonald's restaurant of any kind. The first restaurant opened by Richard and Maurice McDonald was in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. Des Plaines was the key first location in Kroc's corporate franchise story.