Downey, California, is home to the oldest surviving McDonald’s restaurant building.
The Downey location opened in 1953 and preserves the early McDonald’s drive-in style associated with the company’s original expansion. Its design includes the distinctive Golden Arches and illustrates how the brand used architecture as a roadside advertising tool.
The restaurant is often discussed alongside the McDonald brothers’ original San Bernardino location. San Bernardino is central to McDonald’s origins, but the surviving Downey building is generally identified as the oldest surviving McDonald’s restaurant structure.
Another source of confusion is the word “oldest.” The oldest surviving building is not necessarily the site of the first McDonald’s restaurant, and a historic location may have different ownership or operating status from a modern corporate restaurant. Downey’s importance is architectural and branding-related as well as historical.