Which city had the first McDonald's restaurant built with the famous Golden Arches in 1953?

The first McDonald's restaurant built with the famous Golden Arches opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953.

Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the building for McDonald's franchisee Neil Fox. The arches were large yellow structural features at either side of the restaurant, making the building visible from the road and giving the business a distinctive roadside identity.

The Phoenix location is important because it preceded the later logo version in which two arches were combined into an “M.” The physical arches were originally architectural elements, not simply a printed corporate symbol.

A common mix-up places the first arches in San Bernardino, where Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their original restaurant. San Bernardino was the brothers' starting point, but Phoenix was the site of the first restaurant designed around the arches.